“For more than 50 years readership studies have shown that comic strips are among the best read features in publications.  Making an ad look like a comic strip can greatly increase readership.”

So why aren’t more marketers using cartoons and comics in 2010?

Is it because they no longer work?

Or, we’ve become too sophisticated?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I believe there are several reasons, but one of the biggest is that with all the technology advancements we have, we all tend to forget the more basic and fundamental strategies for boosting response (this is the reason all smart marketers and copywriters use CopyDoodles).

Tapping into the emotional connection of cartoons is an example of this oversight and it leaves the smart marketer with a huge advantage.

Advertising Age magazine had a huge advantage with the success it created with their personalized cartoon campaign back in the early 1990’s.   By using a personalized cartoon on the envelope, letter and response form, Advertising Age created a super successful marketing campaign.

Now you too can tap into the power of personalized cartoons and I show you exactly how to do it on the video above.  I have used these strategies successfully and so have many of my students and I believe so much in the power of cartoons and comics, I have created over 330 CopyComics, which can be found on our CopyDoodles member site.

CopyComics are copyright-free cartoons that you can quickly and easily personalize.  You can use them either for print marketing or Internet marketing and in both cases, when used correctly, they will boost the attention-grabbing power of your marketing!

Check out the video above and figure out a way you can use the power of personalized CopyComics in your marketing!

In more practical terms, what I mean by “marketing context” is the appropriateness and sensibility of a particular marketing message delivered to a particular target in a particular way.

For example, you should be talking to your current customers/clients/patients differently than you would talk to a cold prospect.  When talking to a customer, the context of your relationship allows you to be more informal and personal because of the existing relationship.

With a prospect, the relationship has yet to be created, so the context of the relationship is one of a “warm-up period” where, over time, you allow them to get to know, like and trust you.  I always use the analogy of dating.  Chances are most people do not ask their spouse to marry them on the first date.  There is a courting period, an engagement period and finally marriage.

Let me share a specific example of marketing context and how it relates to day-to-day marketing.  My friend and mentor, Bill Glazer, often talks about his most successful marketing piece which was a four-page letter on yellow legal paper that appeared to be hand-written.  The piece generated a ton of business and Bill even won an industry award because of its success and uniqueness.

Other marketers see this letter and try to emulate Bill’s success.  In particular, I heard about one story where a marketer basically did the same thing Bill did, but got ZERO RESPONSE.

The reason Bill was successful and this other person was not was because Bill understood the context of how to use the handwritten letter, whereas the other person did not. In Bill’s situation, he sent the letter to people who already knew him and knew what he stood for (including some pretty outrageous marketing).  The context of the relationship was familiarity and a hand-written letter from Bill was congruent with the relationship.

On the other hand, the marketer who copied the letter, sent it to COLD PROSPECTS!  Think about this for a second.  You receive a funky-looking, handwritten letter from somebody you don’t know.  Does this make sense?

Probably not, which is why his response rate was zero.

I teach people how to improve the attention-grabbing power of their marketing by using copy cosmetics.  These are proven techniques to grab attention and keep the reader reading.  In the case of Bill Glazer’s sales letter he used several techniques, including simulated handwriting.

So even though I am a huge fan of copy cosmetics there are times when the marketing context dictates I use only a few copy cosmetic techniques.  For example, when I create a multi-step, lead-generation direct mail sequence, I tend to use only the basic copy cosmetic techniques like underlining, boldfacing, subheads, etc.

However on subsequent steps, I may techniques that convey a more informal approach, such has handwritten notes, because I have already started a relationship with the reader.  Their use is suitable as the reader starts to get to know me.

You should always be considering the context of your marketing message and consider whether or not it makes sense for your target.  Is it appropriate for the current state of your relationship and the situation surrounding it?  Most importantly, remember, the context is from the point of view of your target – NOT YOU!

If you do the math… that’s a return on investment of $130 for every dollar he spent – not bad, huh?  I want to share what Justin did because it’s a classic example of three important strategies.

First, Justin understands the importance of getting attention and standing out.  Second it uses the power of testimonials and third it shows Justin’s ability to get things done and not worry about perfection.

I also want to share it with you because it’s such a simple strategy ANYBODY reading this post can use.

So what did Justin do to get such an amazing return on investment?  Did he spend weeks reading books on how to create an ad?  Did he look at what his competition was doing and do the same?  Did he spend hours upon hours “researching?”

Not quite.

Justin took out one of those little business card ads in a local publication (a good market to media match), but rather than simply photocopy his business card (like everyone else does) Justin used my UltimateResponseBoosters.com site and created something that looked like a handwritten testimonial from one of his clients.

Click on the ad to see the larger version and tell me that Justin’s ad doesn’t get your attention when compared to all the other “business cards?”

It’s beautifully simple in its effectiveness and its ability to capture attention.

Now the funny thing is when Justin shared this with our group, we all immediately started to try to “fix it” and make it better.  Sure he could have made an offer.  Sure he could have offered multiple ways to respond.  But you can’t argue with success.

He’s already gotten one deal worth over $3K and several other new leads that could turn his measly $25 investment into one of his most successful marketing efforts this year.

In this day and age of marketing that looks the same wherever you go, it’s critical you create marketing that stands out and gets attention.   Whatever you do, don’t create “plain vanilla” marketing!