Direct Response Marketing To Solidify Sales
Direct mail, whilst one of the more time consuming methods of direct marketing, can be extremely effective for a relatively low cost – less than £0.40 in the UK. When that marketing message comes through your door, if you are not a huge brand, managed correctly, it can generate curiosity about who you are, whether they know who you are already and what you can offer that reader. It is certainly a powerful direct response marketing tool.
As the well-worn marketing tenet goes: “The fortune is in the follow up”. Direct mail is an excellent marketing strategy for following up on sales leads and keeping your company at the forefront of a prospect’s mind. I recently signed up for some information online about a conference hosted by the well-known national marketing expert, Chris Cardell. I did not sign up immediately, but a week or so later, I received what looked like a personalised and hand-written note from this marketing guru, which made me curious enough to open it up. What had got my attention, was that the script on the envelope looked as if it had been a hand written letter originally – it was of course printed, but he had the ‘novelty factor’ combined with the flattery factor: “Ooh, someone has written me a letter!”
Generating interest can also involve printing your sales message on a customised graphic post-card template, such as a money bag if the reader is being offered opportunity to win or earn money, an ironing board for the local dry cleaners; you get the picture. This of course, increases price, but it also increases eye-balls on you.
Ideally a target prospect should hear from you immediately for instance, after they have signed up for a newsletter from you and once or twice again at least that week via email if possible, whilst they are still hot prospects. Thereafter, Perry Marshall, international marketing guru to many big-hitter direct marketers out there, recommends getting in touch with your prospect at least 6 times a year.
Direct response marketing this way does not have to be expensive; with a letter and a stamp you can communicate with your target market relatively inexpensively; compare this marketing strategy to sending out brochures regularly, which can get costly. Of course, if you sell large ticket items, this might work well. One particular national home furnishing company sends out a brochure twice a year to all local domestic residences with a mail shot about offers in the local store. It must work for them to continue doing so.
Some tips Perry Marshall offers for your direct mail marketing strategy are as follows:
Letters are more effective than brochures at generating action. Sales letters are more personal than a brochure; they make the reader feel that you care about your customers’ needs. Perry Marshall claims: “A sales letter… will often generate 2-10 times as much response as just sending a brochure.” This is because the tone will be more conversational, as if you were communicating face to face and it conveys more of the personality of the small business owner. This works well, as people like to buy from people. We might love the convenience of the super-store, but we still enjoy the intimacy of corner-shopping.
A sales letter is a letter that answers Four Key Marketing Questions. AND importantly invites the prospect to do something which brings her closer to buying from you (e.g.fill in a survey in return for a limited period coupon or call the office to receive a special bonus). In other words, it gives the reader a good reason to galvanise them into action.
What differentiates a sales letter from a mere covering letter for a brochure is that a “cover letter” doesn’t say much of anything at all, except perhaps give contact details and refer the reader to the attached brochure. Confusing the two makes a difference in response rates.
That being said, choice of marketing media is not mutually exclusive. Sending a sales letter and a brochure is likely to get a greater response than merely sending out one or the other. Remember all marketing should always be part of a MIX.
Direct marketing is increasingly moving towards building relationships with your target market; i.e. ‘Attraction Marketing’ . Bear in mind that personal always gets more responses than corporate mail.
There is a massive double-glazing firm in the UK ,who are certainly a market leader for their product, but I find myself getting irritated every time I receive mail from them. I know it to be junk mail and it goes straight to the recycling bin. Their offers might be great, but I have never had contact with them and have no need for their information, as I already have double glazing I am happy with, thank you very much! Their profits must be pretty huge too in order to afford mass mail out of marketing information at least every few months and offer at least 40% price reductions! (Sure I opened it once, to analyse their marketing techniques… OK I’m an anorak!)
My point is, however, that the UK marketing guru, Chris Cardell, had a great technique – it was apparently hand-addressed in a white envelope and was written in apparent long-hand, in an unusual colour and not standardised type-font. He got my attention and held it for at least five minutes with a few pages of written persuasion! (Sorry Chris, no sale this time, but definitely in the future!)
This brings me to gimmicks…Sexy chicks, empty slogans and groovy logos do not great sales make! They may momentarily grab attention from all the competing demands on a person’s time, but if you are all style and no content, you will be binned by discerning customers who are seeking good value!
Digital donkey work automation is increasingly attractive to marketers. Owning an internet marketing business can make it tempting to use email instead of traditional mail marketing methods. Certainly you cannot dismiss this potentially powerful form of sales communication. Bear in mind, however, that if you’re dealing with people you don’t already have a relationship with, you are increasingly competing with a gazillion other digital media marketers out there stuffing in-boxes full of unwanted time wasting junk!
Sure your message may be entertaining and informative, even making compelling offers, but put yourself in the shoes of your over-worked prospect who is juggling limited time at work or just wants to get on Facebook to chat to friends. This is a really strong plus in favour of snail mail – it’s easier to hit the delete button than resist taking a peek in the journey from the front door to the recycling bin!
Furthermore, with increasing postage rates and the public being more savvy about services to unsubscribe from junk-mail with their post, there seems to be a trend at the moment; is the pile of snail mail on your doormat shrinking? Mine is… Increasingly online marketers are opting for automated mass email strategies, so more and more and email boxes are filling up with spam. Smart email filters and a nifty delete button can give short shrift to e-spam.
Finally, seriously, you should consider sending out a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter. It doesn’t have to be long – about six hundred words is ideal. Use the newsletter to build up your own expertise in the mind of your customer. Give them information about the products or services you offer and news about your industry that speaks to them. Talk about your customers’ needs, troubles and possible solutions. Talk about the things they’re thinking about; the more topical the better.
Remember, your headline is crucial to getting your prospects attention, whether you choose email or snail mail in your direct marketing strategies. You have seconds to encourage your prospect to read on, so don’t blow it on showing off with jargon or gobbledegook: “Check out the latest Zingram multi-purpose hyperlingua xl, model T600x”! Impressed? OK maybe if you’re a little boy who cannot grow up…
Your headline and first few lines in your marketing message should tell the customer the benefits of reading on: “Today only 50% off carpet-cleaning equipment!” Or “Need your car valet fast? We come to any home within ten miles of Sparklesville. Total clean within the hour. Top service or your money back!”
Of course, copywriting is a whole new subject, which I explore elsewhere, but you see how it works in principle.
Other types of direct mail employed by marketers include post-card campaigns – with or without gimmicks; for instance: signed photographs of yourself with your customer, reminding them of when you met, or pictures of you leading a seminar; this builds your leadership credibility and expertise; photograph post-cards with photo’s of you and well-known celebrities; these generate curiosity about the lifestyle of the rich person included in the image.
Some firms specialise in sending out birthday or anniversary wishes on behalf of businesses to their customers whose personal data that business may have collected.
Watch your own mail box for those sales letters and emails which grab your attention. Start to build up your own list of favourite headlines and notes on what you think works and what doesn’t.
Whatever marketing method you choose, remember, it needs to be part of a mix. There are no simple solutions to marketing in today’s markets and you need to get it right. The market is NOT getting any easier folks.
Alternatively, invest in your own marketing skills and knowledge with online marketing training . Possibly your best investment for your long term success in direct marketing.
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