I have come to similar conclusions over a few years of thinking, but coming from a different angle.

I came from the hot, primordial soup that was web design – a discipline that’s only just over twenty years old. So I (and my contemporaries) had zero education in marketing, never mind direct response! The result is a lot of money wasted, repeatedly, by a lot of clients.

Last year I wrote a book, “Web Design is Dead”, where I explain that the old, broad web designer / developer / webmaster role is becoming extinct, thanks to a tipping point in online publishing that happened at some point in the last few years… Today, it’s not only cheaper, quicker, and easier to use pre-made web page templates, but the result is also BETTER. You can now get a BETTER bare-bones website for $49 than you could have got for $49,000 just five years ago.

The question that concerns me is, “What does that mean for practising web designers now?” And I figured that they need to go in one of a few directions. One is to go in-house (similar to what you’re suggesting), either for a big-budget brand, or for a company that makes web design artefacts (themes etc.).

The other main direction is to grow into being a marketing strategist, not a web designer. The focus should then be to figure out which of the plethora of options is likely to be the most effective for a brand. Execution should then be done by specialists in those areas, but all conducted by the Strategist.

Of course, whatever medium we use, from pay-per-click to long-form copy to video to webinars… there’s one thing that unites them. Everything is linguistic. So I maintain that copy will always be the most powerful weapon we have… It’s just gotten a lot more challenging to decide where to point it!

Getting to be a tough gig, much tougher than it used to be even 5 years ago.

Interesting points raised and I’m looking forward to seeing how everything progresses in the next 5!

Cheers, James

I’d like to start a conversation about “The One Thing”.

What is your email, please?

Thanks in Advance,
Laurie

With the growing move online, reader habits are also changing. Audiences are no longer as focused on the message because of the many competing distractions – flashing ads, pop-ups, slide-ins, cell phone alerts, and so on. Attention spans are shorter, unless it is something they really, really want to know about.

Extended performance data on short form vs. long form content in the online (especially mobile) environment would be very informative, as well as data on evolving design trends to maximize the delivery environment’s reading styles.

Coming from a web development background, I have to agree with Ben Hunt that the most valuable marketing and copywriting team members are not only going to be copywriters that can accommodate different reading environments, but are also market strategists.

Internet marketing has become complex enough that specialists are needed (SEO, online ads, promo design, testing against continually evolving display technology, legal considerations, ordering security issues, analytics, live A/B testing, and cross-media promotions, to name just a few), but there really needs to be a market strategist overseeing the bigger picture.

Coming back to your point, Brian, because of shorter promo lifespans market immersion specialists will likely have an edge. Those that can provide copy and creative with a full understanding of the online environment will be even more valuable. Add in an understanding of and ability to set up complete online sales funnel strategies, and that’s going to be someone that can deliver outstanding results.

I have come to similar conclusions over a few years of thinking, but coming from a different angle.

I came from the hot, primordial soup that was web design – a discipline that’s only just over twenty years old. So I (and my contemporaries) had zero education in marketing, never mind direct response! The result is a lot of money wasted, repeatedly, by a lot of clients.

Last year I wrote a book, “Web Design is Dead”, where I explain that the old, broad web designer / developer / webmaster role is becoming extinct, thanks to a tipping point in online publishing that happened at some point in the last few years… Today, it’s not only cheaper, quicker, and easier to use pre-made web page templates, but the result is also BETTER. You can now get a BETTER bare-bones website for $49 than you could have got for $49,000 just five years ago.

The question that concerns me is, “What does that mean for practising web designers now?” And I figured that they need to go in one of a few directions. One is to go in-house (similar to what you’re suggesting), either for a big-budget brand, or for a company that makes web design artefacts (themes etc.).

The other main direction is to grow into being a marketing strategist, not a web designer. The focus should then be to figure out which of the plethora of options is likely to be the most effective for a brand. Execution should then be done by specialists in those areas, but all conducted by the Strategist.

Of course, whatever medium we use, from pay-per-click to long-form copy to video to webinars… there’s one thing that unites them. Everything is linguistic. So I maintain that copy will always be the most powerful weapon we have… It’s just gotten a lot more challenging to decide where to point it!

Exactly the revelation I’ve been coming around to — a little begrudgingly, by the way — for the last couple of years too.

The full-on shift to online selling has been great in that it radically upped the demand for copy… and great because it’s cracked open whole new ways to reach untapped audiences.

But, absolutely, great writing — and, to one of your readers in this forum thread, there’s no “wasted money” when it comes to studying those copywriting secrets you just paid for — isn’t enough anymore.

I say that as a just-turned-50 24-year-veteran who’s now trying to soak up as much stuff as he can on marketing funnels, display ads, etc… before it all gets outdated and replaced with the next new thing.

I’m also, after a year or so of spending a lot of time trying to write less but more perfect copy — which is a huge gamble when some of it inevitably misses the market — I’m back to doing what I did at the start of my career, trying to write faster. A lot faster. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, I’d love to see more from you on this.

Specifically, I’d love to see more on which skills you feel the copywriters… say the Halberts, Bencivengas, and more… would need to pick up, if they were to come back into this brave new world of copy-marketing.

Great article. Love the ‘total immersion’ approach. That’s the path I’m taking.