Branded or non-branded Direct Response campaigns?

Many people will probably look at the title and be perplexed, because why would you not brand your own direct response campaigns? Isn’t that the purpose; Not only to generate sales but build the brand to support retention?

I would completely understand their point of view.

On the other hand, there are huge advantages by running unbranded DR campaigns. First off, you are not limited to brand guidelines. Secondly, it’s easier to run Black Hat campaigns…. (Yes, I mentioned “BLACK HAT” and it sounds grim, but it doesn’t have to be).

 If you have ever run a Black Hat initiative, you will know that they can be hugely successful (often only in the short run). They tend to have an expiry date just when the performance peaks.  

 

Not Sticking to Brand guidelines

Brand guidelines are in place for a reason, a very good reason to be honest. If Coca-Cola started using Pepsi colours in their marketing, this would confuse the consumer. If they started using a tone of voice that could be seen as offensive to some, they would slowly alienate the very same people they are trying to convince. I could easily fill a page on the advantages of having brand guidelines in place, but this post is not for that.

I will play the devils advocate and discuss the opportunities that can be gained by playing on an open playing field. A field strategy that relies on actual performance and can be 100% formed by data-driven decisions.

Freedom of testing

Anything that can hinder testing possibilities is a hindrance to performance. If you have free range in terms of words, tone, colours, images, content and even the name the product/service is served under, the potential is limitless.

Content

Creating content under different names and different sites minimises the risk of negative publicity. If a plan backfires, it can be shut down and not traced back to the original product. Due to full creative freedom, you can come up with content that defines a new era for your business.   

 

Bad reputation of “Black Hat”

Black hat tactics. Tactics that are on the edge of what is allowed and what is not.

When talking about Black Hat techniques, one of the first thing most on people’s minds are Black Hat SEO. The definition of Black Hat SEO, accordingly to WordStream;

“…refers to a set of practices that are used to increases a site or page's rank in search engines through means that violate the search engines' terms of service. The term "black hat" originated in Western movies to distinguish the "bad guys" from the "good guys," who wore white hats.”

This way of thinking can be applied to many other areas than only SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

The fact that these techniques takes advantage of loopholes and operate in often suspicious ways, have given them a bad name. Justifiably so.   

 

Approved Black Hat success stories

Some exploitation's are hailed as some of the most genius growth hacks. Let’s for example take Airbnb in their early years;

Airbnb took advantage of a glitch on Craigslist. They reverse engineered how Craigslist managed new listings and then re-created them with their own program. Airbnb listings were seen at a lot higher rate than ever before, which caused an influx of new users, and best of all, it was all generated from free traffic.

The title as one of the all-time greatest growth hacks, is understandable when looking over the results. Craigslist eventually discovered the loophole and patched it up. However, by then, Airbnb was already flying.

If you want to know more case stories like the one above, I recommend the book Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown.

The Airbnb case story took a lot of ingenuity. A growth hack created by an engineer. Not a marketer.  

A black hat strategy does not have to be super complicated. In recent years, platforms like Facebook have had many features that could be used in ways that I’m sure they did not intend to.  

Here is one of those instances;

As recent as a few years back, you could refresh meta data and update wording and creative on a previously published post without losing any engagement on it. You basically had a blank canvas (post) with tons of engagement on. This was obviously not intended to work this way, and sure enough, when more people got on to it, it was eventually patched up.  

This hack has undoubtedly brought millions to risk tolerant Marketers.

The issue with Black Hat strategies is that they are short lived and due to the potential consequences, can harm a business going forward.  

It can often feel like dancing blindfolded on the edge of a cliff. It’s exciting, but bound to end bad at some point.  

 

Disclaimer; I’m not promoting the exploitation of platforms like Craigslist or Facebook or that such initiatives will automatically lead to massive growth. Not following policy, brand and/or compliance guidelines can have huge consequences for any business. It can lead to being banned from platforms, so any consideration around this subject should be carefully handled.