Monthly Archives: January 2012

Effectiveness of Direct Mail Marketing

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Effectiveness of Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail may not be a popular medium but most definitely is an effective one.  It can be personalized, flexible, allows for early testing, gives you time in the marketplace with your prospect before the competition knows what you are offering, cost effective, and breaks through the marketing clutter. The effectiveness of direct mail marketing is something to be considered when trying to reach qualified prospects.

Although the cost per thousand to target prospects is higher than with other media, the prospects reached are more qualified for purchases as well as charitable contributions.

The keys to effectiveness of direct mail marketing can be reached by scrutinizing 5 main elements:

 

Objectives

To increase sales and profits are the usual objectives to any marketing campaign. Direct mail can also achieve other objectives such as lead acquisition, brand recognition, educating consumers, strengthening current customer relations, and reinforcing buying decisions. To increase the effectiveness of direct mail marketing, It is important to know what it is that you want to accomplish with your mailing beginning with the end in mind.

Prospect Selection (Target Market)

A prospect turns into a customer when the magic three line up: ready, willing and able to buy.  The sales cycle length can vary based on your industry and brand recognition of your product.  Direct marketers usually apply the R-F-M (recency, frequency, monetary amount) formula when targeting prospects. How long ago was their last purchase? How many times have they purchased? How long have they been a consumer of this type product?

Models can also be built on the data of your current customers to anticipate certain buying propensities to build a prospect list.  Take for instance if the average age of your customer is 38-47 then you can easily eliminate the 65 and older prospect to maximize the effectiveness of your direct mail marketing.

Offer

What is it that you want your customer to act upon and how do you want them to accomplish this task.  If you are selling a product – then the easiest way to fulfill this offer is to give the customer an order form. If you sell a service – then the offer would be to action upon the benefit to the feature of your service to the prospect. Phone response, email, PURL (Personalized URL), QR (Quick Response) code, or online ordering are all ways for your prospect to fulfill the offer for your direct mail marketing piece. Reducing the time and ease of use for your prospect is a key to increasing effectiveness in this area.

Testing Elements

By the nature of the design of direct mail marketing, it gives the advantage of the ability of testing under real market conditions. Measurement of response with first class mail can happen as soon as 2-3 days. Elements available for testing include but are not limited to images, copy, offer, mailer type, envelope, prices, data list, and response mechanism.

Cost/ Measurement/ ROI

By adding up planned costs, average customer expenditure, average gross margin, minus the cost of customer acquisition and maintenance (discounting the opportunity cost of money over a period of time), a marketer can figure out the needed break-even response rate. Even if the direct mail campaign fails to break-even on an individual drop, the long-term profit on all future purchases can factor in profitability.

How many customers do you need to get this year (offsetting those you will lose) and what are you willing to invest to get them? Even the most savvy business owner/manager will lose customers that must be replaced.  What is your customer worth?

Knowing and maximizing these areas of direct mail marketing make the most effective use of this medium. Direct mail is and always has been a workhorse in the toolbox of any marketer. Using direct mail in combination with other marketing mediums makes good business sense.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.comTom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Maximize Your Marketing Budget with Direct Mail Marketing

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Maximize your marketing dollar with repeated consumer touches through direct mail marketing

Anyone in the marketing or advertising business has heard the John Wanamaker’s quote at some time in their travels: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”   Known by some to be the father of advertising, Wannamaker was also appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to be the United States Postmaster General at one point in his career.  He knew the value of direct mail marketing.

Knowing what works and how to repeat its effectiveness may be high on your goals for 2012. You may have already finished your budget for 2012 and know exactly where every dollar of your marketing budget will go this year.  I challenge you to keep it as a living document that you revisit and examine on a regular basis.  You should look at what works and test. Just because something worked well in one campaign does not mean that it will continue to work as efficiently without some maintenance.

Think about the analogy of the golden goose.  Would the golden goose continue to lay golden eggs if she was never fed or given water?  If you cut open the golden goose to go straight for the egg will you find it? Marketing is a science that must be honed, tested, refined, tested again, re-examined and tested again.

Take a look at Marketing Sherpa’s report on the average allocation of B2B marketing budgets. The majority of marketing budgets are spent on tradeshows.  Remember the last trade shows you attended.  How many vendors are you using as a result of attending a tradeshow?  How many times did that vendor court you through emails, direct mails, and phone calls before you agreed to purchase their good or service?

How many marketing touches are necessary for you to make with a prospect before they will purchase?  There are several schools of thought regarding this subject but in general the statistics look like this:

  • 2% of the sales are made on the 1st touch. These are either brand loyal prospects that just needed reminded of your brand or someone who has previously done their research and knew what they wanted.  They just needed contacted and asked for the sale to move forward.
  • 3% of the sales are made on the 2nd touch.  A good portion of these consumers is also brand aware but may not have one portion of the ready, willing, and able mix to complete the purchase of your good or service.
  • 5% of sales are made on the 3rd touch. These consumers need convinced that the features of your good or service are of benefit to them.
  • 90% of sales are made on the 4th touch or beyond.

The hard reality of these numbers is that most sales persons/ marketing teams stop before the 4th touch. If a marketing team sends out a direct mail campaign and there isn’t an instant 3% response rate, they are likely to stop direct mailing.  This goes against the powerful nature of direct mail marketing.

Direct mail marketing is most effective when planned and executed on a consistent basis.  No call center or sales staff wants to see a ton of leads they can’t get to and then no phones ringing. Mailing consistently equates to a reliable flow of leads.

Analyze what you are doing but do not get caught in the analysis paralysis.  Don’t over analyze your marketing to the point that it is no longer effective. Look at where your customers are and use direct marketing to reach out to exactly whom you need to touch with your message. When looking at direct mail marketing as a powerful tool in your marketing kit, remember that consistency is key and don’t stop until your prospects either purchase or tell you to stop. Consistent touches with the prospect will separate the businesses that succeed in this economy and those that don’t.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.comTom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Direct Mail Marketing is Not just Printed Email Marketing

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Direct Mail Marketing is Not the Printed Form of Email Marketing

A great number of marketers have turned away from direct mail marketing in lieu of the less expensive email marketing.  Mistakes marketers make in this change is thinking that email is the electronic version of direct mail marketing and vice versa.

Saying that an email is the electronic version of a direct mail piece is like saying a helicopter is the air version of a car.  They are both methods of transportation much like direct mail and email are both methods of communication, but each have unique characteristics and design that make them drastically different.

Direct mail is tangible and in the 1980’s proved to be a science.  Direct mail can be viewed with statistical probability. Other marketing mediums with their shotgun approach try to blast the targeted audience and with spam email may be more detrimental to you your brand than doing nothing.

Direct mail is more than just a printed version of an electronic message. By nature the tangible part of direct mail lasts much longer in the minds of consumers than email does based on how the brain functions.

Millward Brown, a leading international research company substantiated these findings in an October 2010 research study. Founded in 1973 with offices in 51 countries, Millward Brown studied the Neuroscience behind direct mail versus email.

  •  Tangible materials triggered a much deeper level of emotional processing and generated more activity in the area of the brain associated with integration of visual and spatial information (the left and right parietal).
  • More emotional processing meant the images were embedded in the memories of the test subjects. The tangible material was more “real” to the brain.
  • More emotional processing also led to more positive brand associations, suggesting a deeper internalization of the advertisements.
  • The brain’s default area of activity appeared to be more active when viewing direct mail versus looking at the screen. Activity in this area suggests an internal emotional response associated or attached to outside stimuli.  The test subjects were relating the direct mail pieces to their own thoughts and feelings.

Email is not replacing direct mail any more than the helicopter is replacing the car as a mode of transportation. Each marketing medium has their own unique set of strengths and abilities to reach your targeted audience. There is a lot of marketing clutter that your prospects see. Knowing how and where to reach your clients is the job for a professional marketing agency who can help navigate the cluttered waters and get your brand in front of ready, able and willing consumers.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.comTom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Direct Mail Marketing Images Important as the Copy

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Direct Mail Images are as Important as the Copy

Direct mail marketing is a science that is honed by those in the industry on a daily basis as the consumer changes in the market place.  With desktop publishing software reasonably priced and graphic images as easily obtainable as looking through Google images, it has brought the temptation to put together in-house design pieces by non-graphic designers.

Fancy borders, typefaces that look like handwriting, and clip art of every image you could ever want are nice if you are designing a birthday card for a friend.  In the world of direct mail you need to filter your creativity.

Direct mail is composed of mainly three pieces: the message, the offer, and the creative.  If your prospect opens the envelope you are only through the threshold to getting their attention.  You have approximately 3 seconds to get that attention and engage them to read further or they will discard the mail piece in the trash.

Images should be unique to your direct mail marketing piece or campaign

With images so available to the general public they are often over used.  How many different styles of dollar signs are there? I typed it in Google this morning and returned a result of 1,250,000 results. Because of the ubiquity of the images they fail to grab the attention of the prospect and don’t manage to break through the clutter.

Images should support what you are selling or whom you are selling to

With today’s digital technology you can insert variable images based on the demographic of your client.  The more personal the piece the more connected your prospect will feel like they are directly being spoken to. Depending on your product, timing, and sales cycle length, this can be a necessary component to your direct mail marketing piece.

Images should keep your audience engaged

Carefully placed images can keep your prospect engaged to continue reading your copy. The images you choose can enhance the effectiveness of a marketing message.  Make sure that the images are chosen carefully to move the reader through the direct mail piece and not to just fill white space.

Images should drive conversion to sales

Images should be designed to foment action upon the prospect to act upon the offer. The message, the offer and the creative must form a cohesive bond that compels the prospect to do what it is you have asked them to do. Call you. Email you. Fill out a form. Lack of momentum in the sales process is not a desired result in your direct mail marketing campaign.

Images should be tested

As we often say in the direct mail industry: test, test, test. It is not feasible to run all of your direct mail pieces past focus groups before mailing; however, you can run smaller quantities with different images and measure your response rates. The most salient example of a test could be using the image of a QR (Quick Response) code to see if your prospects use that call to action.

Remember that you are not designing the marketing piece for attractiveness but attentiveness. Make your direct mail images be powerful and actionable and see the results of your actions in the form of increased sales.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.comTom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Direct Mail Marketing:Extra Tool in the Core of a Basic Business Model

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Direct Mail Marketing: Extra Tool in the Core of a Basic Business Model

Any great company must execute at a higher level to reach more customers and retain current ones. Success comes from getting back to the core of the business and taking care of basic of customer service. These are the three basics that will lead to not only more sales, but also consistent success.

  • See More People
  • Sell More of the People You See
  • Retain More of the People You SellSales Increase with Direct Mail

How you get from where you are to where you want to be is by building on what direct mail marketers do well: leverage your strengths! Direct mail marketing is at the core of seeing more people. Direct mail companies sell benefits and get them to your door. You sell features that suit the needs of your clients and together you retain more of the people you sell.

See More People

Sales are and have always been a numbers game. The more people you offer your products or services the more prospects you can convert into customers. Direct mail marketing firms, through refined mailing lists, get qualified leads calling your phones and walking through your proverbial doors. Direct mail marketers know how to design an effective piece that will break through the three second threshold it takes a customer to decide whether or not to open a piece of mail. Through following basic design elements, clear messages, graphics that support the message, and other direct mail marketing tools, your “silent salesman” will be opened by qualified individuals looking for a loan.

Direct mail gives you a qualified lead which equals less work to see more people. Consistent direct mail prevents peaks and valleys in business. Direct mail, by nature, allows some “private” time between you and your prospect in the sales marketplace. You have time to “offer” your prospect a deal before the competition has time to react or respond. Educating the borrower on the superiority of your products makes the sales presentation that much easier.

Sell More of the People You See

Converting a prospect to a client is about, if your product or service suits the needs of the prospect at the time of the sales interaction. The customer is looking for perceived value and your sales presentation can be the difference between a sale or not. Direct mail can “warm up” the customer to the sales environment. The direct mail piece you send can cover lots of information, which you may either omit in your sales presentation or reinforce if the customer’s needs require you to restate it.

Direct mail pieces can also be tailored to suit different demographics. One mail list, for instance, may be targeted to specific age ranges or income levels advertise for the same type of loan. Direct mail also has a measurable call to action. Unlike other media forms, direct mail requests the customer to act immediately to the offer extended. The customer already has in their mindset that a decision needs to be made with some urgency.

Direct mail marketing companies can also reduce overall costs of marketing by providing clean and qualified lists. Clean lists lower mailing costs. Direct mail, although not typically a fixed cost, can be an investment rather than an expense. When utilized in conjunction with other forms of media, direct mail can be a valuable tool in the loan origination process.

Retain More of the People You Sell

Retaining customers when the sales cycle is longer is crucial to maintaining the relationship with the customer. Direct mail can help with that to stay connected and keep the customer engaged in the process.

This can be exemplified for mortgage brokers when their clients have applied for a loan for a new home. In the time it takes for the builder to complete the home, you do not want the customer “shopping” for a new mortgage loan originator. The keys to happy customers are great service and consistent communication about the process. If this is the customer’s first mortgage, their co-workers, friends, etc. will be filling their heads with their own past experiences. This can set a negative tone about how they feel about you without you doing or saying anything. Direct mail pieces can alleviate uncertainty by continuing your branding message to the client and reinforce why they made the right decision about their mortgage.

Appreciation for the services rendered can also be communicated through direct mail pieces. Happy customers tell their friends about the wonderful interactions they have. Referrals are the best measure of outstanding customer service. The customer may or may not have friends looking for the goods and services you provide. Staying top of mind with those customers when their friends do go through life changing events can be the difference of whether or not you make your fiscal year.

Direct mail can be the extra tool in the core of a basic business model. Seeing more people, selling more of the people you see and retaining more of the people you sell is getting back to the basics of what makes the sales process effective, profitable, and in the end easier. Direct mail is like an extra salesman delivered right to their door.

www.premieradvantagemarketing.com Tom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

The 5th and 6th P of the Direct Mail Marketing Mix

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The 5th and 6th P of the Direct Mail Marketing Mix

Any good marketer knows the 4 P’s of a marketing mix: product, price, place, and promotion.  I argue that there is a 5th and 6th P left out of the textbooks: PURPOSE and PEOPLE. In direct mail marketing these are essential to what we do and why we do it.

When you start out to write a marketing plan and you are focusing on your target market, your unique selling position, executing a SWOT analysis and working within a budget you have to start with the most basic concept – PURPOSE.

Why is it that you are doing what you are doing? Is it for brand recognition? Is it for sales increase? What is it that you hope to accomplish with your marketing campaign? Most likely it is for another P – Profit.

The 6th P of Marketing is People. Where in the essential 4 P’s of marketing is the customer?  In today’s marketing environment the discussion and buzz word is “real-time” marketing. Whose time is being measured? The customer! Measuring is the goal of how and where the customer receives the message in real-time when they are ready to make their buying decision.

There are lots of other P’s in marketing we could talk about: persuasion, packaging, performance, perception, or permission.  Seth Godin, a best-selling author of 13 books translated into 30 languages, has even coined the term “permission marketing”. Lots of words are used to describe the breakdown of the very essence of marketing: the right product at the right price to the people who want to purchase.

In the direct mail marketing world we are constantly striving through testing to figure out how to best achieve the best communication through a marketing medium that works. We start with a purpose and focus on the people who will receive the mail. We analyze who your target market audience is and design the mail piece based on demographics and psychographics of that customer profile.

Marketers may never have things figured out – which means that things will never be – PERFECT. It is something that could easily be debated which P is more important. It is a preponderance proposition to perpetuate such propriety as a perception that I perorate when I am in no mood to palaver.

www.premieradvantagemarketing.com Tom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Direct Mail Marketing does not have to include a 5 inch manual

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Direct Mail Marketing does not have to include a 5 inch manual

Direct mail marketing can be confusing considering the Rules and Regulation manual for the Post Office has a 22 page Table of Contents.

There are times when you want to send something with a different shape or size to stand out in the crowd; however, postal automation provides discounts to mailers who stick to standard sizes and shapes for envelopes, postcards, and mailers. There are different ways you can stand out from the crowd and still maintain the postal discounts. Working with your direct mail provider will maximize both creativity as well as cost.

A professional direct mail company looks out for the most cost effective way to handle your direct mail.  They can also save you the most amount of money in the way they manage your mail. There are several services that make your mail not only more deliverable but more cost effective.  This is by no means an exhaustive list but the top 6 to make sure your direct mail provider is aware of:

 

  • NCOA: Run your mailing databases through an NCOA (National Change of Address) process at least every 95 days as required by current postal regulations.
  • Standardization: Fixes data lists so that all addresses are standardized as well as deleting any duplicates.
  • CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System Certification): This system improves the accuracy of 5-digit ZIP, ZIP+4, carrier route and delivery point bar codes.
  • LACS (Locatable Address Conversion System): This updates any rural addresses to city-style addresses.
  • DPV (Delivery Point Verification): This checks the contact name, occupancy and mailing address of the intended recipient. Without the DPV the ZIP+4 can only confirm whether an address falls within the “low to high” address range. The DPV also detects if an address is a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (a “mail drop” that rents mailboxes) or if an address is vacant.
  • Postal Discounts: Knowing how to maximize your direct mail marketing dollar by providing presorting, commingling, co-palletization and drop shipping services.

What makes those that experience the greatest direct mail success from those that don’t is a willingness to stick with the basics of direct mail. Since the days of Benjamin Franklin, people have been anxiously awaiting their daily mail. Don’t let your competitors advertisements be the one YOUR prospects get. As I have said many times.  People may get rid of their landline phones in lieu of a cell phone, but no one is legislating to take away the mailboxes!

www.premieradvantagemarketing.com Tom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

 

Direct Mail Marketing Valued as Marketing Medium of Choice

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Direct Mail Marketing Valued as Marketing Medium of Choice

Direct mail marketing is seen as a valuable marketing medium to keep in your toolbox. Email is a less expensive medium but not necessarily as effective based on the amount of time spent per campaign. Useless email messages will undoubtedly overshadow the attempts of an honest email marketer so much so that direct mail marketing expenditures continue to show strong growth despite rumors that the USPS is closing its doors. People may lose their landline phones in lieu of a cell phone, but no one is writing their congressman saying “Take away my mailbox!”

How many emails need to be sent to sell $100 of Viagra? One study reveals that the answer is 12.5 million messages. That is a lot of untargeted, terribly written junk, otherwise known as spam. It’s no wonder that consumers are fed up with this continual invasion of privacy and waterfall of useless messages.

Direct mail marketing can be optimized if used in conjunction with email to gain strength of both the message as well as the brand recognition. The key to reaching clients is making it relevant, receptive, and reasonable and the client will be searching you out to purchase your good or service.

Relevant: Is what you have to offer the customer in the way of the good or service something that they will need or want?  Direct mail marketing makes that effective in today’s marketing environment.  There is no longer the “spray and pray” method of reaching clients. Direct marketing gets your mail piece, your message, to the person who WANTS to know more about what you are selling.

Receptive: High quality data makes the list you send your message to already receptive to hear what you have to say.  Persons with high credit card debt after Christmas are more likely to want a home equity loan. Persons who have been in their home for a long time may be more receptive to an offer for home improvement type services. The receptiveness of the client and the innate qualities of direct mail make a perfect fit if the client is not currently in the market for your good or service. The ‘long-tail’ reach of direct mail, means the client will hold on to your marketing piece and when they are ready to purchase, you will be the vendor they call or respond to.

Reasonable: The offer needs to be actionable and readily available for the customer to respond to the offer easily.  More work on the client’s end and they are less likely to take advantage of what you have to offer.  Take for instance a QR (Quick Response) Code. If the client has never used the scanning software before and are unfamiliar with the process, then the customer is not likely to use that as the method of response. Know your target audience and use your response options wisely. QR codes are nice if the customer knows how to use them – otherwise leave them off your piece.

Relevant, receptive and reasonable direct mail is responded to and results in the ROI you are looking for. It is a tongue twister for sure but factual in the direct marketing world. Direct mail and email used together strengthens your message and delivers results. Period.

www.premieradvantagemarketing.com Tom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author

Schedule Direct Mail Marketing in Your 2012 Marketing Plan

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Schedule Direct Mail Marketing in Your 2012 Marketing Plan

Direct mail marketing can be a very useful tool in your marketing tool box if you plan and schedule so your leads come in consistently. Was your marketing campaign a little tired for last year?  Are you looking at the revenue numbers and thinking that you didn’t quite end the year where you wanted? Here are our Top 20 ideas how to kick start your marketing plan for the New Year:

1.    Consider a direct mail campaign

2.    Create a unique selling proposition

3.    Monitor your online reputation

4.    Join a professional organization

5.    Plan a website re-design

6.    Start reviewing your website analytics

7.    Revamp your business card

8.    Clean up your email signature

9.    Look into conferences and networking events you can attend

10. Start a blog for your business

11. Develop productive relationships through social media

12. Start an e-mail marketing campaign

13. Create an elevator speech.

14. Give away a free “sample” service

15. Explore affiliate marketing

16. Start writing and submitting articles online

17. Package your product or services

18. Offer incentives for referrals

19. Consider video marketing

20. Do some pro bono work

Starting with Number 1 – Consider a direct mail campaign. Direct mail marketing when scheduled and planned can produce high quality leads on a consistent basis.  Direct mail is a high quality marketing tool that can hone in on your prospects with precision.  It is not a marketing tool to get 24 hour results. High quality mail when scheduled as part of a consistent marketing plan can result in a flow of leads to keep your sales staff busy for 2012. 

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that direct mail doesn’t work if they send out one mailing and they don’t get the response they were looking for.  They need to ask themselves if they started with the end in mind when they planed their campaign.  Knowing how many leads the sales team needs based on their closing ratios will produce the best results. This helps in planning how many pieces of mail to send.  Sales have always been and will always be a numbers game. 

www.premieradvantagemarketing.com Tom Emmerson, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author