News
How Direct Mail
Can Boost Your Networking Efforts—10 Tips to Help
You Get the Results You Want
---By Joy Gendusa, owner of
PostcardMania
You have to market to stay ahead in business today.
Even if you live in a small community, marketing
plays a big role in making your business creditable.
Consumers today are subjected to anywhere from 1,800
- 3,000 advertising messages per day. With that
large of a statistic, it is no longer viable to rely
only on word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to build a
reputation, but if a competitor's marketing message
comes along that hits your consumers' "buttons,"
they may be likely to leave your business in search
for a better price, closer location, or just plain
curiosity.
You have to continually market to let people know
you exist so they will not forget about you. The way
you do it may vary depending on your type of
business, but there is one marketing avenue that
will get you an excellent return on investment, if
done right.
Direct mail
A survey by the International Communication Research
concluded that people prefer receiving messages by
direct mail.
73% of respondents said that they prefer receiving
new product announcements by mail, versus 18% for
email.
Fewer people trash unsolicited direct mail when
compared to email, 31% to 53% respectively.
Direct mail coupled with community networking and
involvement, and some free internet listings on
local search engines, can markedly increase your
business. With that being said, you need to know how
to do it right.
Do it right
First, you need to know the power of repetition. If
location is the mantra of real estate success, then
repetition is the mantra for promotional success.
Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create
big, measurable results. When you mail every 30 days
for a year, you will cause a dramatic growth in your
business.
With direct mail, you can send your message to a
targeted group of prospects or to your existing
customers for only 25 to 30 cents each, including
postage.
If you put out a blast of communication you will get
inflow — prospects, customers calling or coming in,
and buying. Yes, if you deliver a good product you
will get some business from referrals, some. But you
want that blast repeated over and over and over to
get the inflow that it will generate consistently.
Consistency is where prediction comes in.
Say you send out 5,000 postcards one month:
—Out of that 5,000, 150 hang onto your postcard.
—Out of that 5,000, so many call the 1st week.
—Out of that 5,000, so many call the 2nd week.
—Out of that 5,000, so many call the next month.
There is a dwindling inflow from that first mailing
and therefore can give a false impression of what
occurs from one mailing. Someone sends out a
postcard and says, "I only got four responses from
my mailing!" But there is a whole dynamic that is
going on that is continuing from that one mailing,
way after the person who sent the mailing expects
things to happen. Every month you send out 5,000
postcards you have the scenario happening above.
Eventually, it is going to snowball because it's
coming in from all different places! You are really
putting your communication out there consistently,
in a big way, and you are going to get consistent
and continuous growth.
Likewise, any local community activities that you do
to help get your name out there will get you even
more results if you have a targeted and consistent
direct mail campaign running.
Know your target market
Don't try and sell beer to the Temperance Society or
real estate to people who cannot afford it. You have
to
target your direct mail marketing efforts.
The mailing list is a key factor in a successful
small business direct mail marketing campaign. The
right list targets people who want your
product or service. The wrong list fails to target
people who would want to buy from you. Sent to the
wrong list, your mailing will be treated as 'junk
mail.'
You should also look for local community venues that
cater to your target market. Register to speak at
their functions; sponsor some of their charity
activities; see how you can help them, their
children, and their churches or organizations. But
don't do this type of activity only to get the
business — it will not ring true and you might get a
reputation as a fake. Find some worthy cause to get
behind and help. This will increase the
effectiveness of your direct mail efforts.
Design your direct mail pieces to your target
market
A good design and a good message go a long way to
making your direct mail piece a hit.
Your design should reflect your business/franchise,
be relevant to who you are marketing to, and should
include an offer to create an immediate call to
action. The graphic and headline is what ultimately
prompts your prospect to turn your card over and
read your message, so make sure they communicate to
your target audience.
Don't want your direct mail to end up in the trash
with the rest of the unread mail? These 10 tips will
help you get the results you want:
1. A clear, bold headline.
2. A graphic that supports the message. The
graphic should be easy to understand and add to the
message the headline is trying to convey.
3. Color that pops. Make the headline and
other text stand out by using a color that stands
out from the background color.
4. Subheads that lead into text. If you have
a couple of paragraphs of text with no lead in,
there's nothing to entice people to actually read
the copy. A subhead will give people a place to
start reading.
5. Benefits, benefits, benefits. One of the
biggest errors people make in advertising is stating
features, rather than benefits.
6. The offer. An offer is always a good idea
and should represent a specific reason to call now,
such as "Limited supply".
7. Your company name and logo. Although this
needs to be on the mailer, it shouldn't overshadow
the offer. Customers care most about what you can do
for them.
8. Call to action. Tell prospects exactly
what you want them to do. "Call today for more
information" or "See us online" are two of the most
common desired actions.
9. Contact information. Provide your name,
phone number, and web address directly following the
call to action.
10. Return address. A return address ensures
you'll get returned mail from the post office and
sends a message that you're an established
professional.
Be consistent and commit
One thing about marketing is that you have to
commit.
Consumers rarely get multiple postcards from a
business. Yet, it is such a brilliant idea. When I
receive multiple postcards, I take a look. I think,
"Hmmm, these guys are still contacting me." That
shows persistence, it shows credibility.
You need to hit your prospects with different
communication about the same thing, or hit them with
different products with the same look and feel, or
both. The rest will come.
Moreover, you have to be consistently in the
community speaking, helping, contributing,
networking, and shaking hands. But you cannot rely
on this alone. Direct mail is a very creditable
marketing medium and the two go hand in hand. The
business owner who sends direct mail to his target
market and sponsors their kids' little league
baseball team is going to get more business than the
business owner that only relies on word of mouth.
People are bombarded with messages today — you have
to constantly remind them who you are, where you
are, and what you can do for them. You have to drive
customers to your business.
What you are building with a marketing and community
involvement/networking is credibility. You are
building your business through communication. You
are communicating consistently, so much that people
will believe you (credibility) and they will
respond; they will come, they will buy.
---Source: Reprinted from Mailing Systems Technology
February 2008 newsletter. Joy Gendusa is the owner
of PostcardMania. Visit her web site at http://www.postcardmania.com/.
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