By Linda Lindsey, President, Business Marketing Association Atlanta Chapter
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Key Concepts: 1. There are dozens of new and evolving ways for marketers to connect with customers and prospects. 2. Sometimes the best way to connect with customers is through traditional means, such as direct mail. |
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Video killed the radio star. Email killed the hand written note. And now social media is killing email.
Symantec estimated that 90.4% of email messages on corporate networks are unsolicited. So, what is a smart marketer on a tight budget supposed to do?
Maybe it is time to get back to basics. Done correctly, direct mail can generate great results. Here are a few tips and tricks to make a direct mail campaign successful.
Find Your Target.
Find 100 people in your sweet spot. Easier said than done? Try asking your sales force. Sales people know exactly who their big fish are – they know who the players are and they are always on the lookout for creative ways to reach them. You must get buy in from your sales force for this campaign idea to work. If you make your sales force part of the problem, they will help you find the solution.
Think Inside the Box.
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Okay … so, one dimensional post cards or letters in a #10 envelope aren’t getting any response? Agreed. But it’s time to think inside the box. The best way to get a response is to deliver your message in a way that really stands out. To get the best results from your direct mail piece, you must do three things:
1. Whatever you mail, send it in a box. Statistics show that boxes get opened first and make the biggest impact on response rates.
2. Personalize it. The goal here is not to put your logo on a mass produced item, but to personalize the piece to the recipient.
3. Be Clever. The message you develop cannot have the same properties as the item you are mailing. Don’t mail bouncy balls and ask to ‘bounce’ some ideas off your prospect.
Instead consider ideas like these:
An IT services company mailed a bar of Lava soap to a group of businessmen who started their companies in the 80’s when the Internet was evolving. The message was, “Remember when a elbow grease and a little bit of ingenuity could solve almost any problem?”
The same IT services company mailed a roll of Duct Tape to a set of prospects with a message about disaster preparedness and asked the recipients not to rely on ‘Plan B.’
Lighten Up!
When thinking about what item to mail, be sure to factor in the weight of the item. A heavy item can ratchet up postage costs and blow your budget. Depending on the lifetime value of your customer, you should shoot for a combined per piece cost of under $10. This includes the item, the messaging, the packaging, and the postage.
Follow up!
No matter how great your direct mail piece is, it won’t work without follow up. Mail your packages on a Friday and have your sales force call to follow up on the mailing Tuesday afternoon. Done correctly, this approach gives your sales force about a minute to get your value proposition across to the prospect rather than the usual five seconds.
Author Bio:
Linda Lindsey is a leading marketing consultant who has worked for major brands including Ricoh. She is currently the President of the Business Marketing Association Atlanta Chapter and can be reached at Linda@BMAAtlanta.com or via phone at 770-310-0146.
*Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/052609-90-percent-of-e-mail-is.html
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