Episode 82: Meet the Master of Direct Response Marketing, Rick Cesari

Brandstorm

On this episode, our guest has a few ideas to help you use video marketing to increase sales. Rick Cesari has been a pioneer in the Direct Response advertising industry since the early ‘90s and has used Brand Response strategies to help build many iconic brands from scratch, including Juiceman, Sonicare, The George Foreman Grill, OxiClean, Clarisonic, Rug Doctor, Momentus Golf and many others. Rick has helped take companies like GoPro from a start-up to over a billion dollars in sales in just a few short years.

About Rick Cesari

Rick studied biology and was going to be a dentist, but he got tired of school. He moved to Florida, read lots of books about real estate, and went to a seminar to learn how to invest in distressed properties and make a profit. He made $12,000 in a few days. He was so excited about his investment, he went to the editors of Florida Trend, a business magazine, and told them about the seminar. The article about the speaker was instrumental in growing his seminar business, so Rick was asked to help with his marketing. It was the beginning of his highly successful marketing career.

Brand Response Strategies

Rick says the key to being good at direct response marketing is understanding what makes the consumer respond. He uses a formula from Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it and then tell them what you said. Rick adds that making videos is a lot like making speeches. You must capture the audience’s attention at the start, or they will continue clicking through the channels.

Another formula that Rick uses is called AIDA. The acronym stands for

• A - capture the person’s Attention
• I - build Interest
• D - arouse Desire
• A - motivate the person to take Action

Infomercials often seem repetitive and they are. Using Dale Carnegie’s formula, you say what you are going to say, say it and tell the audience again what you said. They must also solve a problem. Rick says if you cast a wide net with video that visually demonstrates different ways to solve the problem with your product, you will hook the consumer who has that problem in. Your product should have a unique selling proposition and a history of past product sales before considering direct response marketing. You also need a call-to-action at the end so the consumer can respond.

Video Persuasion

All of these tips and much more are included in Rick’s new book, Video Persuasion,” which is being released on Amazon on Oct. 15, 2019. At the end of each chapter, Rick includes interviews with industry experts that include great insights about video and video marketing. Here are just a few:

• The messaging is more important than the technical look or quality of a video.
• Apps like Rev.com allow you to inexpensively transcribe interviews, which is very helpful in the editing process.
• Make video tutorials for every product or service you sell.
• Add infographics with pictures listing all the benefits of your product.
• Have good audio. You can buy a good mic for less than $100.
• Lighting is also important. It will take your video to the next step.
• Authenticity is more critical than slickly-produced videos on social platforms.

Rick also includes about 10 apps in his book that will save you money and help you with video production. Apps like Lumen 5 and Content Samurai are just a couple examples of Apps that can help you create video.

As a bonus, if you visit Rick’s website, you can download information about the three most engaging types of video content.

Speaking Engagements

Rick also makes appearances and has a range o topics from how to build a $100 million business using direct marketing to brand building. He should know. Four of his clients made billions in sales, including Sonicare, the George Foreman Grill, OxyClean and GoPro. During this podcast, he shared two great stories about George Foreman and GoPro.

Connect with Rick:

Website: www.rickcesari.com

YouTube: RickCesari.tv