I have always believed that every marketing collateral, creative and campaign is essentially made up of three things, Message, Medium and Transaction.

The problem with practicing Internet marketing is the ever evolving nature of it. There is noting engraved in stone, no set methods as such and few check lists to tick off. You just need to keep updating yourself.

At some level this is what prodded me to start penning down my thoughts and observations on this blog.

As is the case with everything else on the planet, when it comes to  marketing campaigns too we tend to be more inspired by the ones outside India. This exchange of ideas I believe is healthy particularly because the Indian lot is rather heterogeneous. My attempt through this blog is, to showcase the kind of work being done by Indian brands when it comes to online marketing, what has perhaps worked and what failed to make a mark.

I had initially thought of naming this blog “Klick Rate”, the name being inspired from the fact that clicks are essentially the currency of the internet world.

A click is a consent, an engagement, a potential conversion, a valuable impression or so I thought.

While, all of it holds true and will continue to hold true for quite sometime but one needs to think how publishers, advertisers, marketers are continuously thinking to change this measure of online marketing effectiveness.

With more experience in the ever evolving internet industry and online marketing I realized that clicks might cease to exist as the currency of online marketing. This article –

While I was being encouraged to keep blogging, my superiors at my current organization did tell me that “clicks” might cease to exist as the currency of online marketing. They made me refer to an interesting article  which made me realize that I cannot base my entire blog on one small metric.

Which is when a dear friend who also runs an interesting blog on design principles called designquack.in suggested me to go unconventional and gave the blog a name,

“hook, line & clincher”

which is inspired from a phrase called hook, line and sinker, which essentially means,

Etymology: based on the idea of a fish so hungry it swallows the hook (the part that catches the fish), the line ( the string) and the sinker (a weight attached to the line to keep it under water) Source: FreeDictionary

I was apprehensive at the start, however, after thought  made me realize that it makes complete sense. Whatever be the metrics or currency tomorrow, this method will always hold true, not only in online advertising but also otherwise.

The Hook, Line and Clincher method will be applicable more than ever for every marketing collateral, online or offline.

A Hook – The Message

Your copy is and always will be your hook. A compelling copy always connects with the user more than any other element of the marketing communication. If the user is not impressed by what he/she is reading, if the user is not reading, not nodding, not relating, he/she is not hooked.

Once you have the user hooked, you need a solid line, a bait, a string to keep them hooked because with so much clutter on a usual webpage it is very easy to get distracted and sway to something better. A landing page has 8 seconds before someone clicks on the close button, a banner ad exactly has 3 seconds before the user being distracted by something else, while I am quoting these numbers let me also tell you that 83% of the statistics are made at that very moment. The point is, to keep them hooked, keep luring with interesting and relevant imagery, emotional appeal, good color combination and a logical flow of communication. A decent transition and combination of messages, images and incentive to keep them engaged.

A Line – The Medium

Where you are going to showcase and how you are going to target your marketing campaign plays a huge role in its effectiveness. The ever-increasing clutter both online and offline raises the importance of relevant, contextual communication. Your idea may be a very sound one but its execution and distribution will depend a lot on choosing the right medium to propagate it.

A Clincher – The Transaction

If you have the first 2 covered, this would be the easier bit. Your CTA (Call to Action) or a closing line will always act as a clincher. This will usually be a result of a good hook and line It is where your target audience is hooked, engaged and ready to be clinched.

Do feel free to express your thoughts on this method. What I have articulated here is only my personal observation, picked up from how I have approached marketing for my brand.

I have tried at all times to maintain a single hook – a single objective for a particular communication, supported it with different fonts, appearances, design layout, images, contemplated on the correct medium and closed it with the final desired action button where everything will be measured.

We analyze and over analyze big brand strategy campaigns but this is where most of our work is going to lie, creating simple mailers, clear online banners, insightful and easy to understand consumer driven marketing communication.

Prateek Malpani