Direct mail marketing copy succeeds because the design is based in science.  Where your eye looks first, what colors the eye is most attracted to, and white space are all a science that is honed by your direct mail marketing experts.

A good advertisement is not one that is funny (although that does help), but one that the prospect remembers the product long after viewing the ad.  How many times have you in conversation with your friends, started off asking if they had seen a particular commercial, but you don’t remember what they were selling?

Start with knowing the basics:

• Features do not sell – benefits sell.
• What your goal of the marketing?
• Use more offline marketing to make more money online.
• Give something away.
• Get to the point.
• Proof yourself.

Features do not sell a product but benefits do.  A customer does not buy a knife because it has special grooves in the blade.  They will buy a knife that has special grooves in the blade that makes cutting easier. Ask yourself the “so what?” question when you think about mentioning a feature in your ad. Make it relevant to your consumer and if you were them, why would you buy from you.

What is the goal of your direct mail marketing? Do you want the customer to call you?  Do you want the customer to go to your website and order? Make sure the goal is clear and then make it easy to do what you ask them to.

Use more offline marketing to make more money online.  Even Google is sending out direct mail to support their small business ads.  The other day, I received a coupon for free advertising in the mail from Google.  Google.  The largest online presence, so much so that pop culture even uses its name to describe a search, knows the value of direct mail marketing.

Give something away, even if it is just knowledge.  Everyone wants and enjoys something free.  Content marketing is one of the hottest trends in marketing today.  Give them what they are looking for – more knowledge.  In the process of reading or getting what you have to offer, they will see what an expert you are.  It is like a free testimonial, only stronger, because they will form that opinion themselves without you needing to convince them.

Get to the point. If you can say the same thing with 5 words that you did with 10 then do so. Make it clear where the call to action is. Make it clear why you are sending the prospect the mail in the first place.  Again, this is a good place to ask yourself the “so what”. If your prospect can’t tell in about 3 seconds why they should continue to read your direct mail marketing – then they won’t and they will throw it away.  Make what you have to say compelling.

Proof yourself. When you look at something, you are more apt to not see an error in the copy, the visual, or the message. Much like in the sentence below.  When you read it – your brain fills in the gaps and reads words and not letters.  You are less likely to catch errors than if someone who didn’t read it, proofs it.

“Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

Crazy isn’t it that you could read that when the letters are a complete mess?

The human brain decides how it will process images, read text, and remember what it is that it has seen in the past.  Knowing that direct mail is a science helps design high quality, effective direct mail marketing.

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You can have the best product in the world; however, if you don’t build a relationship with the person you are trying to sell that product or service to, they will buy from someone else. Direct mail can start the introduction of what you sell to those that need it.

Here are our top five ways to build a relationship with your new prospect starting with our specialty – Direct mail.

1. Introduce yourself.  Put you, your company, and your product in front of the consumer through direct mail marketing.  Today with data lists available to almost any niche you could look for you can mail to exactly who you want to talk to.  This gives you a reason to call and it puts your name top of mind when you do reach out to them.
2. Ask. Find out from your prospect what it is THEY are looking for. It is their problem that your product or service will be the solution for. Don’t make the call or email about you.  It is about them.
3. Be present and listen.  Don’t be overly prepared with your sales pitch.  You will miss key elements that the consumer is trying to convey. If you are just listening for the next opening to begin telling them how wonderful you are, then you are not working on the relationship. Listen to what they are asking and repeat to clarify you understand their problem, then let them know how you can help them.
4. Be honest. If what you sell will not help them – tell them. It may not be what they are looking for right now; however, if you are honest and actually build a relationship with the person they will look you up when you have what it is they need.
5. Follow-up or ask for a referral. If you tell the prospect that you will get back to them with the information that they are looking for – then do so. If what you have is not what they are looking for, politely ask if there is anyone else that they know that might be in need of your good and service.  If you have done a good job at building a relationship they will most likely think of someone who could benefit from your good or service. Direct mail marketing is a great follow-up tool, even if it is just a handwritten thank you.

In today’s economy of information and availability, no one has exclusivity to any product or service and if they don’t like you- they will buy elsewhere. Build a relationship, solve the problem, make their life easier, and they will be back.

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Direct mail marketing is effective when you send it to the person who will read it. This is not always the final person who will make the decision but the person who influences the process. In the marketing and business development game, we are constantly told that we need to reach the decision maker…the CEO or CFO or some other “C” person at the very top of the heirarchy. If we don’t, we will never get a chance to present our unique value proposition to the person who will make the make the buying decision. This set also includes Presidents, Vice Presidents and various Directors of this and that.

In our search for the “Great White Whale” we often just go full speed on direct mail marketing, calling or emailing the target contact with little luck. Since this is the prevailing wisdom, these individuals have constructed elaborate layers of interference and engaged gate-keepers to block access to them. If they didn’t, they would never be able to concentrate on their primary jobs overseeing whatever area of responsibility that has been entrusted to them.

How do we differentiate ourselves from the rest of the crowd jockeying for position?

Let us not forget the invaluable role of the Influencer. In some industries these are referred to as end users. Often when making a change of vendor consideration or writing an RFP, these end users and influencers are instrumental in writing the specifications and requirements for whatever is under consideration. After all, these people are going to be the ones making use of the product or service and effective management knows this. They are consulted more often than not in these decisions.

Direct mail marketing can be drafted so that the influencer sees the value and the decision maker allows you time for discussion. So the next time we are attempting to gain entry into a new account we might want to consider some other titles to contact first. Try to look for Assistants and Coordinators in the directory. Department Managers are also good . A little research will tell you who to contact first. These people are also invariably easier to reach but be warned….they are also less susceptible to tricky or cheesy intros. Treat them with genuine respect and you will be rewarded by good intelligence that will help you identify the client’s real need and add value to your proposition.

Check out our next blog when we discuss how to build a relationship with the Influencer.

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Direct mail marketing is a science. It is the culmination of planning how many leads you want based on your sales conversation ratio. We understand the target market, the data list, and the changes in consumer buying behavior. We take quality, service, and price and turn it into value for you.

Our mission is to be a company committed to our clients’ success delivering high quality direct mail at a reasonable price, with dedication and perseverance, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done to our clients’ satisfaction.

How do we differentiate ourselves from the other guys?  Often that difference is what allows those initial conversations to take place. A prospective client will always ask, “What is different about you”?  The answer is quite simply our direct mail consulting.

During the marketing and selling process business development, marketing and sales people are always trying to discover their “unique selling proposition”. This is the Holy Grail; the thing that separates you from the rest of the competition.

The first thing an organization needs to do is research the competition.   It seems logical on the face of it but many companies either think they know more about the competition than they really do or do not understand its importance.  We call this knowledge your competitive intelligence.

The bottom line is your need to bring value to the client and for that you need real data. You need to anticipate their need and how you can provide it better, faster and cheaper than the competition. Whether it’s BtoB or BtoC, you need good, actionable data.

At Premier Advantage Marketing we use a variety of tools to enable us to see exactly what our clients are doing and what their competitors are doing in the same market. This allows our clients to find their “unique separators” and deliver more perceived value to their clients. The right data can sometimes give companies ideas about new markets and new customer demographics that had not been considered in the past.

This is our direct mail consulting. We can then help you structure a plan to target the people who are most likely to, not only benefit from, but actually purchase your products or services.

Whether you need a market analysis or just would like to find out who is mailing what and where, we can help you make useful decisions based on real information. Knowledge is power when it’s properly applied.

  www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

Why is direct mail modeling effective?
Birds of a feather fly together. This should be a phrase you have heard before.  In database analytics this is helpful because it helps you recreate your perfect customer.   An analytical person would now be discussing variables, deciles, multi-point crossovers, coefficients, outlier trimming thresholds and other such categorical combinations.

What this means to the direct marketer is an estimation to get as close to the perfect prospect as possible.  No matter what your data mining technique, there are basic factors to consider when creating a model. These factors are: business objective, schedule, implementation, consideration, policies and procedures.

When you create a model of your “ideal prospect” you increase the probability that the prospect will buy your good or service.  What you look at is which characteristics of your current client base make them prone to purchase.  Are your customers in the same general age range?  Are your customers in the same general income bracket? What other demographic or psychographic indicators do your current clients share?  When you build this model statistically, you are saying there is a greater probability the list will buy because they are similar to the person who has already purchased from you.

This final output of your current customer model is an equation.  This means that other data files can be ‘scored’ against your model for probability.  You can then rank the scores by deciles and know within ranges of probability you are narrowing your field.
As Occam’s razor points out, the hypothesis that uses the fewest assumptions and simplest explanation is usually the most correct until otherwise proven false. One problem with formulating a theory on principles of complexity and simplicity is the context depends greatly on the user’s prior assumptions.

In the direct mail marketing world, we know that testing, testing, and more testing will improve your model and response rates.  Much like there isn’t a magic diet pill that will instantaneously shed 10 lbs., neither will one direct mail campaign answer all your sales lead problems.

Direct mail is effective.  To maximize its effectiveness, it needs to be used correctly. To judge direct mail after one mailing or after mailing to a poor list is not giving the campaign a fair chance. It would be like using a television advertisement for a children’s product in a 3 a.m. time slot, and concluding the ad was poor when the product didn’t sell.
Working with a professional direct mail service provider means that you don’t need to worry about the small stuff and the simplest answer “Occam’s Razor” style is to hire one. Direct mail marketing professionals who know how to manage your data, and lead list to deliver your mail to the right prospects, are a valuable resource in your direct marketing campaign.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

I saw this on an email today as someone’s email signature and it made me think… Why when marketers know it works — would it be so hard to convince someone that direct mail marketing is the way to go now? And I realized the answer….

You don’t let how you buy effect how you sell.

It’s really not a methodology that is hard to grasp but every rookie sales person has done it and many marketers and advertisers make assumptions about what could be based on their own experiences.

It’s natural to filter all things that you see through your own experiences but as a world-class marketer, you need to know what the buying pattern is of your customer and your prospect.  You want to make sure you aren’t letting how you buy affect how you sell.

This is where data modeling can help you in your direct mail marketing campaign.  You take your house list and create a profile of a typical person you know already buys from you.  This probability helps find others like your current customer and helps to increase your conversation ratios.

Check out our next blog when we share an excerpt from the upcoming issue of STAMPS, a Premier Advantage Marketing publication, provided to our clients and prospects coming out soon with a direct focus on data management.

To make sure you receive that complimentary issue, please contact info@premieradvantagemarketing.com and put STAMPS in the subject heading. We will be happy to get that to you as soon as it is published, which should be within the next week or so.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

We have discussed what are QR Codes and their relevance to direct mail marketing.  Next we discussed why to use QR codes in your direct mail marketing campaigns.  Lastly we would like to discuss HOW to use QR codes in your direct mail marketing.

There are 5 steps to consider when designing QR codes and integrating them into your direct mail marketing campaign:  Have a purpose, have a strong call to action, have a design that is useable, measure and track your results, and lastly, test, test, and re-test your campaigns.

Have a purpose: Don’t put a QR code on your direct mail marketing piece– just because someone said it was a good idea.  Don’t put a QR code on your direct mail marketing piece just because it is the latest shiny direct marketing tool.  Have a purpose with what you want to accomplish with your QR code.  Do you want to share more information with your consumer?  What do you hope to accomplish with your QR code that makes it more efficient that some other form of integrated marketing?

Possible reasons to use a QR code: promote a special product or promotion, if you are a non-profit, you can increase donations by taking them straight to a site to collect money, promote your social media pages, link a landing page with a print mail campaign, etc. The possibilities are almost as limitless as the design of the code themselves.

Have a strong call to action: If you want the consumer to go to a landing page – you had better ask yourself “so what?” when designing it.  Keep asking yourself if the call to action is strong enough to warrant the effort necessary to scan the code.  This is especially true if the consumer doesn’t already have scanning software loaded on their phone.  Make sure that the call to action answers their needs.  QR codes that only link to the homepage are not worth the time necessary to scan the code. The frustration on the part of the consumer will not leave a positive image in the mind of the consumer when it comes to your brand.

Have a design that is useable: Make sure your QR code works.  Scan it before you print it on anything.  Make sure the size is not something that your consumers will have trouble scanning. It needs to be not so big that it over powers the design of the direct mail piece, but large enough that the Smartphones can easily scan it.

Also remember that the consumer is using their Smartphone to snap the code so make sure the site that they are directed to is mobile friendly.  The harder it is to interact with their phone to where you send them – the less likely they will be to continue to interact. Taking them to a full site where they will struggle to press the necessary next step buttons will frustrate the consumer and they will not stay where you have taken them.

Measure and track your results:  You have anticipated what they want and made it easy for them to get it, so measure your results.  If you notice that the users are not clicking on your codes – did you check it to make sure it worked? Track that the consumers did what you asked them to do.

Tracking your results will help you through your next campaign. You will know what worked and what didn’t work.  You will be able to see if your call to action was utilized –and if it wasn’t then you can track down why not. This measurement is essential to the last piece of advice we ALWAYS recommend – test, test, test, and when you are done – retest.

Test, test, and test: Testing in any marketing campaign is a good idea because marketing can and most likely is a moving target.  Between the changing technology and consumer behavior, it is necessary to find out how to best locate and reach your consumer.  It really doesn’t matter if your business is B2B or B2C, you should constantly be evaluating what you are doing with your marketing.

Do you know who your ideal client is?  Why not?  With today’s technology and tools available, you should be ever mindful of how and where to find new business. Integrated marketing is how and where to reach your consumer in “real time” – where they are and when they are ready to purchase your good or service.

QR code marketing should be no different than other traditional forms of marketing.  Testing should just be a natural part of the process and for more information about testing check out a previous post.  QR codes are not the end all answer to a marketing manager’s questions. As suggested, the codes are simply a valuable tool to integrate to your total marketing campaign. For more information about their use, call us and our sales team can explain how to use them to increase your direct mail marketing effectiveness.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

Direct mail marketing is the workhorse in any good Marketing executive’s toolbox.  I have said it before and you will hear me say it again.  Although this is our business –we don’t recommend anyone put his or her marketing dollars in any one basket. Diversity in marketing has always been the balancing act that keeps marketers in business as they struggle to maintain leads to the sales team.

In today’s world of marketing clutter, it takes a multi-dimensional approach to reach the consumer where they are and when they are ready to purchase. QR codes combine the best of the mobile marketing with the best in the tangible marketing. QR codes add value in direct mail marketing.

QR codes are found everywhere: They are in the subways, on the back of bathroom stalls, in magazines, in billing statements, in malls, and on products.  In malls, they are used to track traffic to particular stores.

According to the company ScanLife, 2011 saw a 300% more growth in barcode scanning over 2010 and 1000% over 2009.  They also found that their two biggest scan days were actually after Christmas and many of those people scanning were first time users.

Although this technology has been around since 1994, consumers are still learning to use them and integrating them into your marketing pieces can be a challenge.

There are three kinds of QR codes: static QR codes, re-directable QR codes, and trackable QR codes.

A static code is the most basic.  It is like the one included with this blog.  It directs you to our website and specifically on the page describing direct mail marketing.  As you can see – either method can take you there while on the computer, but on a printed piece of material there are no hyperlinks and the QR code is your connection from the printed material to the Internet world.

A re-directable QR code would take your customer to a different location without the need to re-print the piece.  You could for instance use one QR code on your printed material for your business – and each month change the information on the landing page that they are directed to based on the campaign you are running at the time.

A trackable QR code is one that gives you quantities of consumers using your QR code.  Perhaps you put this on a product or direct mail piece.  You can use the code and the tracking to monitor how many pieces of direct mail were scanned and based on the data file – you can know exactly who is scanning and when.

As more and more people learn what QR codes are and how to use them, they can become a valuable tool in the direct marketers tool kit.  Check out our next blog when we discuss “How to use QR Codes in direct mail marketing”.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

QR (abbreviated from Quick Response) codes seem to old-school marketers as just the shiny new toy on the block.  They were first designed in the automotive industry to track parts and vehicles on the assembly line. Their popularity grew due to the fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC bar codes.  The information encoded can be made up of four standardized types of data and with other supported extensions can almost be limitless. For direct mail marketers you can take your customer to a website, landing page, or order form. The possibilities are as endless as the code designs themselves.

The QR code became the marketing and advertisers dream when they could stream line the conversion sales funnel and take the consumer from the direct mail marketing piece straight to the website to order the product.

The problem with the launch of the new technology back in 1994 is that the general population didn’t know what to do with them.  They might see a colleague scan one with their smart phone, but without proper instruction, it simply looked like you just needed to take the code’s picture.

Although the phone’s camera lens is involved, there is still a necessary step to loading a QR code reader to the phone to be able to translate the code into something useable – such as taking you to where the code directs you to go in the cyberspace world.

Awareness of the QR code in direct mail marketing is on the rise.  A study conducted by comScore found that in June 2011, about 14 million mobile users in the U.S. had scanned a QR code on their mobile device.  These codes are in magazines, billboards, customer statements, in-store displays, malls, subways, etc.

Facebook, Google, and PayPal, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Volkswagen are already using these codes.  PayPal is experimenting in Singapore with accepting QR codes as a form of mobile payment.  Facebook decided to decorate their roof with a GIANT QR code that would be visible from space.  Susan G. Komen is using QR codes to drive visitors to it’s mobile site to view a compelling video prompting and soliciting donations.

Speaking of the driving force behind QR codes, to unveil their new model, Volkswagen ‘wrapped’ their car in a QR code to create buzz with interested drivers around Germany.

If you went up to the car and actually scanned the code you received an exclusive first look at what the new car was all about. Over 5,500+ people scanned the code, which generated Volkswagen lots of online interaction.

Check out our next blog : Why Use QR Codes in Direct Mail Marketing

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com

Direct marketing CAN be profitable.  According to the DMA Annual report for 2011, each dollar spent on direct marketing yields, on average, a return on investment of $11.65 in comparison to non-DM advertising yields an ROI of $5.29.

Many businesses are using direct mail more because other companies have backed out of it.  Think about what you receive in your own mailbox.  If you have 4 pieces of mail and three are bills you already knew about and one was a plain white envelope with your name on it – wouldn’t you open it?

New research by marketing platform provider Luma Technologies has found direct mail is used on a large scale at both the corporate and franchise/branch level among large companies. According to the survey, 73 percent of respondents utilize direct mail programs. Additionally, 82 percent plan to spend the same amount or more on channel marketing programs this year.

If you practice these 7 steps, your direct mail marketing will be effective each and every time:

1.    Do just one thing at a time.

Don’t try to use direct mail as the end-all communication tool.  Use it for one thing at a time. Don’t try to communicate too many things to your prospect/customer.  Focus your direct mail marketing efforts on the most important issue at hand.

2.    Do direct mail differently.

Cutting through the clutter is important to get your information across to those who need to see it.  Direct mail is not effective unless it gets opened.  Getting your mail noticed and taken seriously and not thought of as “junk mail” is important.  Doing your direct mail differently means making your mail something that people are happy and excited to open.  Even if that means you mail in a plain white envelope.  The anticipation that you are sending them something that is not a bill is a good thing.

3.    Add value to your customer/prospect- ask yourself the “so what?”

When drafting your direct mail – ask yourself the “so what”.  Would you respond to your own direct mail if you didn’t know who you were?  Just because you think you have the next great product or service – what is the benefit to the prospect or customer?  WHY would they want what you have?  For instance, if you are an insurance company – it isn’t enough to say you have the lowest rates.  Make it personal and let the customer know what they could be doing with the money they save by using your company.  Especially if the prospect has been doing business with a company for years, you have to create momentum.  Why else would the customer want to change companies if they are happy with whom they have?

4.    Make the offer easily actionable.

Do not tell the customer the great benefits of using your product or service and then not tell them how to act on what they found. It’s like a salesman NOT asking for the sale.

Direct mail marketing works as long as you use it, as it is suppose to be used.  Direct mail marketing is a science.  You don’t mix bleach and vinegar because it causes a chemical reaction and produces chlorine gas – which can be fatal.  Chlorine bleach contains sodium hypochlorite, which exists as hypochlorous acid, a strong oxidizer.  Although sending your own direct mail won’t kill you it may kill your business if you spend the money on it and don’t know what your are doing.

5.    Improve your offer – no one likes stale information

Of the 1000+ B2B marketing professionals surveyed by Marketing Sherpa, 79% found direct mail to either be effective or very effective. These B2B marketers know to keep their offer fresh.  Make it relevant and make it an offer they can’t refuse.  Be very clear about the offer and WHY it is valuable.  Build your entire direct mail package around the offer and it will improve your response.

6.    Measure your responses – Know your numbers

Direct mail is no longer about spray and pray.  You must know your numbers. You need to start with the end in mind and know how many pieces you should mail based on the number of leads you want to generate for the mailing.  Direct mail works because when executed correctly, can provide you a steady flow of leads. Measure your response to your mailing so you know what you need to send the next time and you can also measure the item you tested for use in a future test mailing.

7.    Always be testing.

Direct mail should not be mailed once.  With today’s communication frenzy, the only hope to be successful is to send progressive, impactful, and proven direct mail.  Look at the level of sophistication of the mail you receive in your own home or office.  High quality direct mail commands attention.  Testing what works and repeating the part of the mailer that commands the most attention is what will get the best response.

Direct mail is and always has been the tool in the marketing toolbox that works when it is used correctly.  Much like using a hammer to put in a screw or a screwdriver to drive in a nail – it can get results but not consistently.  Consistent use if direct mail in the way it was designed will get you the responsive leads you are looking for.

 www.premieradvantagemarketing.com