Direct Marketing - It's Not Just Junk Mail

We have all had “junk” mail appear in our mail boxes.  Well, it’s only junk if it doesn’t interest you.  But that doesn’t mean direct response marketing doesn’t work.  If it didn’t work, nobody would do it.   Similar to sales promotion activities, direct response marketing is designed to encourage immediate action.  Things like catalogues, direct mail flyers, sales or fundraising letters, magazine inserts and statement stuffers.  Even some forms of television can be considered direct marketing.  Things like infomercials and commercials that encourage you to “Buy now!  Just call the toll free number on the screen.  If you call in the next 10 minutes, you’ll receive a free bonus gift!”  Direct marketing is very highly targeted to ensure that the advertiser is reaching only a very specific target market as opposed to mass marketing which attempts to reach a much broader audience.

 

Advantages of Direct Marketing:

·         Allows you to target your message to a very specific audience.   Whatever kind of business you have, you will have defined specific target markets when creating your marketing plan.  Mail-outs can be sent specifically to those people only instead of mass mailing something.  Also, each specific piece can be customized to each person in that target market.

·         You can evaluate its effectiveness. If you compare the number of responses to the number of pieces mailed, you can calculate the response rate. If you include coded coupons or response cards you can keep track of exactly who responded and from where.

·         Mail readers are actively involved.  When people take the time to read their mail, your message will have their undivided attention while they open and scan through it.

Disadvantages of Direct Marketing:

·         Many people don't like unsolicited offers and many are skeptical of their validity.

·         Increasingly, busy people don't even open what they view as "junk mail."

·         Using this method of advertising requires thorough maintenance of mail lists. Many small business owners don't take the time to update their mailing lists. With outdated lists, however, mail goes to undeliverable addresses, which is a waste of money.   Another possible glitch - an inaccurate list may misspell names or address a person who has died. These kinds of errors annoy, or worse yet offend, the recipient.

·         Some groups are concerned about the environmental impact of resources used for advertising mailings.

·         It can be expensive.  When creating a direct marketing campaign, you really need to weigh out the cost differential between producing the materials and the profits earned from any new business the campaign will generate.

Tips on Developing Your Direct Mail Piece

·         Focus on customer benefits and do it right at the beginning. The first sentence (the lead) in a direct mail letter should be about benefits.   Your prospective customer only takes a second or two to decide whether or not to keep reading or to pitch it.  So, make sure the benefits of your product or service are offered right up front.

·         Keep the offer simple, easy to understand and persuasive.

·         Include a "call to action."

·         Ask the customer to "call today."

·         Include a postage-paid reply card.

·         Make the offer for a limited time to encourage prospects to act.

·         Make it easy to respond or place an order. Include order forms if appropriate for your product. Include a:

o   toll-free phone number (24-hour ordering if possible)

o   fax numbers

o   email addresses

o   payment options such as credit cards

o   payment plans for big ticket items

·         Use a personal and friendly writing style. Mail is a one-to-one communication; make it sound that way.

·         Create different direct mail pieces to address different audiences - even when you're offering the same product. Your product or service may have a different benefit for different target markets. So, create multiple forms of the same offer for those different audiences.

·         Consider making your mailing "3D" by including an object in the envelope that will peak the recipient's curiosity.

Mailing List Options:

Mailing lists are available for purchase, but they can be quite costly, especially for small businesses on a tight budget.  A better option is to use your house list.  That means that you really need to be diligent about obtaining information from your current customers and people who have inquired about your product or service in the past and maintaining it.  Keep your mailing list current by periodically asking your customers for their current mailing address.

Success Measurements:

When you include coded coupons or response cards, you can track how many you have received and where they came from.  Direct mail experts tell clients to expect anywhere between a .05 percent and 1 percent response rate.  That means that if you mailed out 1,000 direct mail pieces, expect to receive about 10 responses.  That might not sound like a lot, but it’s better to receive 10 actual sales, than 500 “maybes” that you could be chasing down forever.  So, don’t increase the number of mail outs just to increase your response rate.  The quality of the response is what’s important.

Marketing is not just Advertising

Marketing is not just advertising.   It’s about developing a brand, an image that customers will remember.  It’s about delivering a memorable experience.  Sure, advertising is a part of that, but so are a lot of other things.  In the next few weeks, I will be posting an 8 part series centred around creating that memorable impression.   This first post is an overview on how to create that memorable impression.

I often refer to what I call the “marketing wheel”.  (I’m not the first or only one to refer to it this way, nor is my “wheel” the only one out there.)  Here’s how it works.  Advertising messages from different media and different promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company.  So, it stands to reason that marketing is not just about advertising… it’s about the entire package that the company portrays.  So, all of your marketing activities need to work together to deliver the same consistent message.

If you look at the “marketing wheel”, you’ll see that the company website is right in the centre of the wheel.  That’s because these days, if you don’t have a website, nobody is going to know you exist.  Think about it; when you’re looking for a company, do you still look in the yellow pages?  Likely not.  Instead you “Google” it.  So, your entire marketing communications plan needs to centre around your website.  Every other marketing activity needs to lead back to that website.

I love the advertising campaign for Franks Red Hot Sauce.  The old lady that says she “puts that sh#t on everything” is hilarious.  But think about that tag line and use it in relation to your website.  Put it on EVERYTHING!

Advertising is pretty self-explanatory, but a lot of people think that advertising isn’t important anymore because companies have so much more available to them on-line.  And it’s free.  Well, advertising is still extremely important.  Just remember that your traditional advertising needs to reach your intended target market and it needs to present that consistent image.  Your traditional advertising needs to lead your customers back to your website.

Public relations is a great way to get customers to trust you.  Anytime you have the opportunity to get in front of a camera or get an article printed in a newspaper or magazine, you have just solidified your place in the world as the expert in your field.  Make sure that your company spokesperson is articulate and professional.  Remember, you’re trying to create a positive image for your company!

Sales promotions and direct marketing are great for driving traffic into your business.  The downside is that they don’t develop that brand loyalty you want.  However, that’s not to say that they should never be implemented.  These are really important parts of the “marketing wheel”.  Once again, make sure the image you have projected in your website and in your advertising is carried over into your sales promotion activities.

Personal selling is by far one of the most important aspects to developing that brand for your company.  Your sales team needs to know exactly what your company mission and vision are and they need to live that every day.  The last thing you want is for customers to have a bad experience with a sales associate because they will tell a lot of people to never shop in your store ever again. 

And of course, on-line marketing is extremely important to your marketing plan.  15 years ago, this was not something that companies thought about.   Now it’s absolutely vital that you are able to be found on the web.  Remember that whatever you put on the internet stays there forever.  No matter how well you think it might be hidden, it can always be found, so anytime you post anything on the internet think about how that is going to reflect your image.

In the rest of the posts, I will start going into more depth about each section of the wheel, starting with the website.  If you take away only one thing from these posts, I want it to be this:

Advertising messages from different media and different promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company.  So keep it consistent!

Consistency in your image is crucial

Communicating a consistent message is absolutely imperative to any business, from your marketing materials, to your on line marketing to the look of your business.  That includes the visual layout of the store, the cleanliness of the store and the attire of your staff.  Many small businesses just kind of wing it when it comes to marketing, not really knowing what to do when and not having a lot of money to play with.  But no matter what kind of business you’re in, the first impression a potential customer has when they walk into your business is an impression that will stay with them.  So what kind of impression do want to make?

·         Merchandise your products in a way that is appealing to your target market.  For example, a discount store can put racks of clearance stuff out front and centre because that is what that customer is looking for.  As soon as you put a clearance rack in a store that is geared to the wealthy and affluent customer, they’ll be insulted and walk out.

·         Make sure your company signage reflects your brand.  It doesn’t have to have your logo all over it.  It just needs to reflect the core values of the company.  I have a client that sells all natural products to a very elite target market who expect exceptional quality and service at any cost.  With this client, we needed to develop different sets of signage, some that could be used year round and some that could be used seasonally or during a particular occasion or event.  The signage that she uses everyday shows the products along with a description of the product and the manufacturer.  The other signage reflects the feel of the store with earth tone colours and pictures, without overdoing the “natural” theme or plastering her logo everywhere.

Creating that consistent image doesn’t need to cost a ton of money.  Get creative with decorating your place of business.  Better yet, make sure your place of business is clean and inviting.  Make sure your staff is dressed professionally and they greet your customers with a smile as soon as they walk in the door.  The last thing you want is for your customers have a consistently “bad” image of your company.

What's in it for me?

As I said in my previous blog, listening to your customers is an extremely important step to customer retention, but there is no way you’re going to remember everything about every customer especially what they’ve all purchased, how often and how much they spend.  That’s why having an accurate, detailed database is vital.  But, database marketing only works to build retention if the customer benefits from the retention strategies.  Which means that you can have all the information possible about your customer but if your marketing retention strategy doesn’t interest them, there’s no point in doing it.  So, really pay very close attention to the information you have and strategically design your marketing strategies from the customer’s point of view. 

So, what kinds of strategies work?  Well, that depends on your industry and your clients’ preferences, but here are some commonly used things that work well.

·         Membership cards

·         Welcome and thank you communications

·         Satisfaction surveys

·         Enhanced technical support with follow up satisfaction calls

·         Frequent Buyer Programs

Most importantly, as I’ve said before, listen to what the customers want.  Do they want free stuff?  A Frequent Buyer Program might be a great option.  Do they want to share their input on your products, services and company?  Having their voices heard might mean they’d take the time to complete a satisfaction survey.  But, get creative.  Personally, I use a referral program.  When one of my clients refers another client to me, the referring client gets 15% off their next purchase.  As most of my clients are owners of very small businesses, they are more than happy to save some money on professional services.

The key to customer retention is to ensure that you have developed a very comprehensive Integrated Marketing Communications plan aimed specifically at your existing customers, designed to build loyalty.  Have fun with it.  Get creative.  Better yet, ask your customers what they want and give them exactly that.