A quick perusal through my email inbox reveals dozens of messages from companies touting for pay articles, books, seminars and papers on every topic known to marketing all claiming to possess "secrets."
I checked a few out recently and was amazed to learn that things I've considered fairly common knowledge among those experienced with online marketing are actually secrets! Things like Google search engine optimization techniques – many found on Google's own website – are actually secrets someone is willing to share with you for a price! Boy, some secrets are just hard to keep.
I've learned things like what I previously thought were the basics of email marketing has, in actuality, been a number of closely guarded secrets! I wonder who told?
How about a marketing webzine called marketingsh**** proclaiming email marketing expertise trying to sell research papers on email marketing while its emails often end up getting spam filtered at Yahoo? This is a mistake for even a half-competent email marketer. But the practice of pre-testing emails to make sure they get through spam filters of Yahoo, Hotmail and other systems must be a secret to these folks.
Okay, before anyone sends me a defensive email, I do know that the word "secrets" can be very effective in direct response copy. That doesn't mean it's not annoying and even a bit dishonest when marketing magazine, webzine and newsletter publishers and "marketing consultants" profess to be experts and try to spin commonly known information as secrets, especially when they are pitching their wares to marketing professionals.
Can someone please put a limit on the number of times a copywriter can use the word "secrets" during his or her career?
