They don't care how cool you are.

I received (another) 3-dimensional direct mail piece today. It was a life-sized mail box. That might make sense coming from a direct mail agency touting their service. But, believe or not, this came from a search engine optimization firm. This is a problem I see far too often...the concept looked really "cool" on the story board and it was unique--therefore a sure-fire way to break through the clutter. The problem, of course, is the concept had nothing to do with the offering from the company. Was it cool and different? Yeah. But did I care? No.

The take-away: potential buyers care how you can help them solve a problem. They don't care if your marketing is cool.