Sticky...

Good marketers all want to find the perfect marketing message that sticks.

My wife drew my attention to a different kind of "sticky" ad, recently.

"I want to show you a clever ad that got my attention," Beth said paging through her magazine.

"If it was REALLY a clever ad it would come with it's own bookmark so you could find it again," I teased.

"Seriously. It was very clever," She said slightly irritated. "I know it's here somewhere. Yes. Here it is..."

The ad was for some kind of pod coffee machine. Nothing memorable or remarkable about the product to me.

But what did catch my eye was a Post-it Note printed on the page with a personalized note to Beth on it.

"You mother showed me the same ad when we were there for Christmas," I said handing the magazine back to her.

"She did not!"

"She did." I said. "It's interesting how you both noticed it and pointed it out to me."

"Isn't that great marketing?"

"It would be great marketing if you both ended up buying one," I joked. "But I'd say it was definitely good advertising."

In his book "YES! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways Be Persuasive," Robert Cialdini writes about the power of the personalized Post It Note in a 2005 study.

Three versions of a survey packet were mailed with differing results:

- A printed letter alone generated a 36% response to the survey request.

- A printed letter with a handwritten message on it got a 48% response.

- A printed letter with a handwritten message on a Post-it Note generated a 75% response.

Why did the Post-it Note turbo-boost the response rates? Researchers claim it's "reciprocity".
In essence because of the effort taken to write a personalized note, recipients felt an obligation to reciprocate.

Or maybe people just like Post-it Notes. (Kidding. Just kidding.)

Take Away: As we enter 2009, many of us have smaller budgets that need to do more work.
How can you use personalization and/or reciprocity to your advantage? What do you do to
connect with your prospects and customers? How much more can you do?