Additional Marketing Tips
 Sales & Marketing:
Tips on Exhibiting Success
All efforts at a trade
show ultimately impact sales. A relationship can begin or be
enhanced, an image reinforced or adjusted, personnel trained or
recruited, products demonstrated and feedback obtained about new
products introduced. They all support acceleration of the sales
cycle.
So how can sales and
marketing become allies in this most powerful marketing
communications tool?
- Plan together
from the beginning.
- Discuss the
rationale for show selection.
- Create
objectives that are meaningful in terms of the organization’s
overall goals
Prepare
an integrated pre-show communication program
What will marketing
do?
- Obtain targeted
mailing lists and e-lists from the show producer
- Create a new
page on your website for the show highlighting what the exhibit
experience will be
- Prepare
specific trade press advertising
- Advise the
press of the organization’s participation
- Organize press
kits and press conferences.
What will sales do?
- Generate a
mailing list of current customers, prospects called on, but not yet
closed and prospects on the list that have not yet been called.
Evaluate the current
booth layout to determine if it will work for the next event. If
not, why, and what can be done about it? Together, sales and
marketing have to evaluate what activities will be planned for the
exhibit and determine if they are workable. In most organizations,
the first time that sales sees the exhibit is at the show during the
walk-through, just hours before the show opens – too late to
make any changes that might be necessary or advantageous to
accommodate the sales function.
Trade shows work. They
work for organizations that understand how exhibiting fits in to
their marketing mix, and understand that both the Sales and the
Marketing functions have to work in sync to achieve a positive return
on their exhibiting investment. Trade shows work if Sales and
Marketing plan completely, execute aggressively, and follow-up
thoroughly, together.
5 tips for goal driven giveaways at trade shows
If you plan to use giveaways in your booth, what's your strategy? An effective promotional premium should reinforce your company's image and message in addition to supporting your communications goals at the show. With budgets tight, no one can afford to waste money on a premium that doesn't fulfill objectives. So before you order those pens and key chains, a quick review of the desired results might be in order.
-
Is your market highly targeted? Choose high-end premiums for qualified prospects and a lesser giveaway for everyone else.
-
Do you have a new product or service and you want everyone in attendance to know about it? Choose a premium you can give to visitors you come in contact with.
-
Want to pull your primary prospects to your booth? Try sending a premium pre-show that has a second half or related item that's obtainable at your booth.
-
Want prospects to order on site? Provide a special premium for on-site orders with upgraded premiums the more they buy.
-
How about lead cards? Offer a premium for those visitors who fill them out or sit through a presentation or demonstration.
25
Ways to Build Permission-Based Email Lists
Developing
a cost-effective email list poses a challenge.
As
you browse the list below please keep these helpful tips in mind:
1. Feature a Sign-Up Form on Each Page of Your Site –
Be sure to remember this basic concept. Sign-up opportunities should
be ubiquitous throughout your site.
2. Promote Benefits on the Sign-Up Page – Enhance
subscription value with sample emails, testimonials and strong call
to action copy.
3. Offer Opt-In Incentives – Incentives like
white papers, and special reports significantly increase conversion
rates.
4. Optimize Your Site for Search Engine Placement –
Optimize current and archived newsletters for search engines to
increase traffic and subscriptions.
5. Pay for Search Engine Services and Promote Your Email on the
Landing Page – If you pay for search services like
Google AdWords be sure to include email subscription information on
the landing page.
6. Add Opt-in Check Boxes on Demo Requests, White Papers and
Registration Forms – Well-executed forms and pages may
improve conversion rates by 50 percent or more.
7. Include “Send to a Friend” Options –
Generate new subscribers with minimal effort if bundled with
promotional campaigns.
8. Use Direct Mail and Catalogs – Encourage email
subscriptions on all print ads.
9. Direct Employees to Include Messages and Links in Email
Signature Lines – Add “Subscribe to the Company
X Email Newsletter” to employee email signatures.
10. Direct Call Center and Sales Employees to Obtain Permission
and Capture Email Addresses Over the Phone – Instruct
call center and sales staff to ask customers and prospects if they’d
like to receive newsletters or promotional email.
11. Send Post Cards to Customers Encouraging Them to Subscribe to
Email – If you have postal contact information for
customers but not email addresses, send a post card with opt-in
sign-up offer and URL.
12. Hand Out Sign-Up Forms at Public Speaking Engagements and Seminars – Promote your newsletter in presentations and handouts.
13. Implement Rented List Campaigns and Subscriptions –
Promote your company in email campaigns and landing pages when you
rent email lists.
14. Promote Sign-Ups in Confirmation/Transaction Emails –
Add messages and links to opt-in pages of all confirmation and
transaction emails.
15. Include Opt-in Line on Credit Card Receipts –
Not an obvious method, but may be quite effective.
16. Add Opt-in Message to Warranty and Product Registration
Cards.
17. Add Sign-Up Message to Invoices.
18. Promote Your Email/Newsletter in Articles and Article
Attribution – Include a reference and link to your
newsletter after the byline on articles in trade and consumer
publications.
19. Promote Your Email/Newsletter in Other Company Publications –
Promote online newsletters in print newsletters, magazines and
brochures. Add “Sign up for our monthly newsletter at
www.companyX.com/subscribe.html” after “Visit
www.companyX.com for more information.”
20. Include Newsletter Subscriptions in Trade Show Lead Generation Forms – Obtain permission to send your monthly newsletter to booth
visitors.
21. Promote Your Newsletter/Promotional Emails in Industry
Directories and Sites.
22. Distribute Press Releases Based on Newsletter Articles – Newsletters with topical articles may warrant a press
release. Make sure the press release includes links and information
on how to subscribe.
23. Include Information and a Link to Your Newsletter in Press
Releases – A good option for smaller companies.
Include your company newsletter and other resources in press release
copy.
24. Include Opt-in Information on Customer Satisfaction Surveys – Ask permission to communicate valuable information via email
newsletters and promotions.
25. Include Opt-in Forms in Product Shipping Boxes –
Advertise email promotions on packing slips and direct mail cards
with links to your site. Many retailers and catalogers also include
promotional offers from non-competing companie
E-mail marketing continues to be a low-cost, effective and measurable strategy. This is especially true for suppliers targeting a technical audience that prefers to communicate online.
Yet every marketer looks for ways to increase response rates to their e-mail programs. Increased response can be measured in terms of higher open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates. Depending on the size of your list and the nature of your offer, a slight increase in any of these metrics can have a noticeable positive impact on your bottom line.
First and Foremost: Match Message to Audience
The number-one factor in determining response rates is matching message to audience. The better you understand the needs and wants of your audience and can target your message to meet those ideals, the higher your response rates will be.
Once you have a good match between message and audience, here are five other ideas to try to increase response rates to your marketing e-mails.
1. Write Compelling Subject Lines
Like writing headlines for newspapers, subject line writing is an art in itself. Good subject lines hint at what the e-mail is about and are relevant to your audience. Better ones also include an element of urgency and uniqueness.
2. Personalize the "From" Line
If your marketing e-mails are always sent from your company name, try using a person's name in the "from" field instead. It can be your Applications Engineer, Sales or Customer Service, or an individual salesperson. Remember, people do business with people build relationships with people, and buy from people.
Having an e-mail come from a person also opens up opportunities to use a more conversational and personal tone in the communication, rather than the impersonal, businesslike tone so many e-mails have.
3. Clarify Your Call to Action
It's surprising how many marketing e-mails lack a clear or obvious call to action. Whether your intention is to have recipients download a technical specification sheet, make a purchase or register for a Webcast, your call to action should appear near the top of the e-mail and be visually apparent.
If your e-mail is HTML, use graphic buttons or other images to attract the reader's attention to your call to action. Asking users to register for an event? Use a bold button saying, "Register Now." Promoting a new product? Show a photograph of the product with a link to more information.
4. Make Links Speak to Benefits and Action
Your marketing e-mail likely contains one or more links back to your Web site. But the old standards of "more info" and "click here" are weak. Links should work harder for you, promising benefits and results. Here are two examples of strong link text: "Request Your Copy of DC Motors Digest" or "Read about new developments in laser technology." They're a bit longer than "click here" — and much more compelling. Which one would you click on?
5. Pay Attention to Landing Pages
Marketing e-mails often link to landing pages on your Web site, a single page focused on a specific idea and a clear action you want the visitor to take. Its purpose is to convert a visitor into a lead or sale. While not part of the e-mail itself, a well-designed landing page will help increase conversion rates on your e-mail campaigns.
The appearance of the landing page should be related to the look and feel of the e-mail, if you are using HTML e-mail with graphics and layout. This lets readers know they are in the right place and creates a sense of familiarity. Landing pages should also be rich in specific content related to the call to action, allowing visitors to get what they came for.
Keep Track of Your Tactics
When you try the above ideas, be sure to keep track of changes in response rates to find out what is working and what isn't. With each marketing e-mail you can continue to gain intelligence that will help you continually improve response rates.
Want to know how exhibitors select trade show
events?
The following research conducted by Trade Show Week revealed
the following:
How Do Exhibitors Select Events?
- (tie)Lead gathering opportunity
(tie)Tradition, we go to same
shows annually
- Perceived ROI or ROO potential
- Attendee demographics
- If competitors are participating
- Attendance numbers and projections
Primary Exhibit Marketing Goals
- (tie)Gathering leads
(tie)Brand awareness
- PR and media impact
- Providing audience education and interaction
Exhibitor Challenges:
Booth Design and Drayage
- Challenge: keep the booth “fresh and cutting
edge while sticking to the show budget”
- Design and drayage
costs are seen as easier to control 73% of exhibitors “very
closely” and “somewhat closely” track
the weight of their exhibits and materials
- More common: lighter
metals, fabric, lighting and sound
- Modular and portable exhibit
houses are generally in a stronger position than pure custom
houses
What is the Best Time
to Send an Email Promotion or Newsletter?
1. Send Duration (SD)
Are you sending out 400 emails or 40,000? Depending on
the technology solution or provider you use and volume
being sent, it might take anywhere from a few minutes to
many hours for your software or ASP solution provider to
actually send the emails out to ISPs for delivery to the
end recipient. ACTION: Monitor and understand this duration
period and make sure you factor it into your calculations.
2. Queue Factor (QF)
Are you are using an ASP solution or sharing a mail server
with others in your company? If so, keep in mind that when
you've pressed the send button your emails will go "in
the queue" to be sent. If you schedule them on a day
and time such as Tuesday morning (when a large percentage
of emails are sent), your emails may be in the queue behind
many other companies or departments of your company, and
may take longer than you anticipated before they are actually
sent. ACTION: Understand if the "queue factor" applies
to you and add this estimated time into your calculations.
3. ISP Factor (IF)
Not all ISPs are created equal. Some ISPs deliver emails
they receive immediately, while others may take an hour
or in some cases 12 or more hours to process emails. Secondly,
some ISPs utilize volume-based filters, so sending too
many emails to a single ISP within a short time may cause
your emails to be blocked - and sent to the ISP blackhole.
4. Schedule Time (ST)
If you've followed this far, you now have a good understanding
of all the factors that may affect email delivery and open
times. So let's put the formula to work with an example:
Formula: DOT - (IF + SD + QF) = ST
Example: 1 p.m. - (1 Hour + 1 Hour +.5 Hour) =
10:30 a.m.
In this example, through exhaustive research and analysis
you've determined that the ideal time for your emails to
reach customers & prospects - 10:30 a.m.
Even if you don't take the time to undertake the analysis
outlined above, at minimum you should do the following:
Put a stake in the ground as the ideal time you want your
recipients to open their email.
If you are sending a high volume of emails, schedule your
emails well in advance of the desired open time. If your
volume is fairly low, then perhaps an hour or so in advance
might suffice.
Get out of the habit of referring to "hits" on your website
One of the terms frequently thrown around regarding website traffic is "hits". What most people mean by "hits" is the number of visits the site gets. But, technically, "hits" actually refers to the total number of files that are requested from the server. Therefore, the number of hits to a site is always going to be significantly higher than the actual number of visits to the site. This is because a typical visit to a website will include "hits" on a number of pages. Not only is each page counted as a hit, but all the graphics on every page requested also register as uniquely requested files, a.k.a. "hits". Given the number of graphics on a typical webpage (including the navigation bar, highlight states of graphic menus and so forth), the difference between hits and visits is substantial. It would not be uncommon for a traffic report to show ten or even twenty times as many hits as actual visits.
Getting
a higher return on investment from your marketing communications
From a marketing communications perspective, conventional wisdom
used to be “throw some money at advertising and marketing
to create awareness and sales will follow.” Marketers were
more interested in building awareness and brand recognition,
and there was no linkage between sales and marketing. Lots of
assumptions were made and there was little accountability.
All that has changed, especially within the past few years.
Now, sales and marketing are inextricably linked, and it’s
all about return on investment. Marketing budgets are now scrutinized
to squeeze the most value out of media plans and PR activities.
Return on investment (ROI) … what is it and how do you
get it when you’re trying to reach a target market with
sales information about your product or service?
Getting a better ROI from marketing communications is all about
taking the time to really understand who you are trying to reach
and what it is that they really want. It also requires finding
the most cost-effective way to reach that very specific target
audience.
So what do you do? You practice something called targeted marketing.
You find multiple, more focused ways to reach a highly qualified,
targeted audience. And you start by doing your homework on whom
you really want to reach. For example, don’t say that your
target audience is engineers. Go that extra mile to confirm that
the person you really want to talk to is the senior design engineer
who’s driving specifications for board-level components.
Target, target, target.
Now you can concentrate on how to most effectively reach your
highly qualified target. Because you’ve selectively reduced
the audience to a critical few, perhaps they can receive a hand-addressed
postcard or letter, or a personalized email with helpful links
and a relevant white paper or case study. And everything you
do should drive them to your website for more information and
an interactive contact vehicle that enables them to query you
and provides some details on what they really need. Send abstracts
of white papers to relevant trade journals for use as articles
to further reinforce your credibility. Tweak your website to
include a wide range of links to relevant trade publications
and industry or trade association websites, and try to get these
sites to post links to yours. All these things cost very little
money, yet they can go a long way toward creating visibility
for your company and product or service.
Five tips for achieving a higher marketing communications ROI:
-
Know your target customer. Do your homework and research
to determine who REALLY would buy your product or service.
-
Hone your message. Focus on customer pain—the thing
or things that really present a challenge to your potential
customer—that your product or service will “cure.” Communicate
with clarity.
-
Be creative in disseminating your message. Don’t blindly
rely on traditional methods that may or may not work for
your specific circumstances. Seek alternative methods, such
as Internet-based initiatives.
-
Find ways to “get found.” Generate case studies,
abstracts and articles for trade publications. Make sure
your website is updated regularly to include new and better
content and links for increased visibility. Foster online
relationships with industry marketplaces, trade journal sites
and professional organizations. Position yourself as an industry
expert—line up speaking engagements and conduct seminars
when possible.
-
Repeat. Once you find the right mix of message and media,
repeat as often as possible. If you have a limited budget
(and who doesn’t?), don’t mail a fancy, full-color
brochure once; produce several less expensive direct mail
flyers instead so that you can hit your target several times
for increased awareness.
Good ROI for your marketing communications efforts comes from
doing your homework, understanding what you’re trying to
accomplish and setting goals. Do this and you can sleep easy,
knowing your program is working as hard as it possibly can.
1. Engineers look down on advertising and advertising people, for the most part.
Engineers have a low opinion of advertising. The lesson for the B-2-B marketer? Make your advertising and direct mail informational and professional, not gimmicky or promotional. Avoid writing that sounds like "ad copy." Don't use slick graphics that immediately identify a brochure or spec sheet as "advertising." Engineers want to believe they are not influenced by ad copy - and that they make their decisions based on technical facts that are beyond a copywriter's understanding.
2. Engineers do not like a "consumer approach."
There is a raging debate about whether engineers respond better to a straight technical approach, clever consumer-style ads or something in between. Those who prefer the creative approach argue, "The engineer is a human being first and an engineer second. He will respond to creativity and cleverness just like everyone else." Unfortunately, there is much evidence to the contrary. In many tests of ads and direct mailings, I have seen straightforward, low-key, professional approaches equal or outpull "glitzy" ads and mailings repeatedly. Engineers respond well to communications that address them as knowledgeable technical professionals in search of solutions to engineering problems.
3. The engineer's purchase decision is more logical than emotional.
Most books and articles on advertising stress that successful copy appeal to emotions first, reason second. But with the engineering audience, it is often the opposite. The buyer carefully weighs the facts, makes comparisons and buys based on what product best fulfills his requirement. Certainly, there are emotional components to the engineer's buying decision. For instance, preference for one vendor over another is often based more on gut feeling. But for the most part, an engineer buying a new piece of equipment will analyze the features and technical specifications in much greater depth than a consumer buying a stereo, VCR, CD player or other sophisticated electronic device. Copy aimed at engineers cannot be superficial. Clarity is essential. Make it immediately clear what you are offering and how it meets the engineer's needs.
4. Engineers want to know the features and specifications, not just the benefits.
In consumer advertising it is known that benefits are everything, and that features are unimportant. But engineers need to know the features of your product - performance characteristics, efficiency ratings, power requirements and technical specifications. Features should especially be emphasized when selling to OEMs, VARs, systems integrators and others who purchase your product with an intention to incorporate it into their own product.
5. Engineers are not turned off by jargon - in fact, they like it.
Jargon can actually enhance communication when appealing to engineer and other technical audiences. Why is jargon effective? Because it shows the reader that you speak his language. When you write direct response copy, you want the reader to get the impression you're like him. Speaking his language will accomplish that. Actually, engineers are not unique in having their "secret language" for professional communication. People in all fields publicly denounce jargon but privately love it.
6. Engineers have their own visual language.
What are the visual devices through which engineers communicate? Charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, blueprints, engineering drawings, and mathematical symbols and equations.You should use these visual devices when writing to engineers for two reasons. First, engineers are comfortable with them and understand them. Second, these visuals immediately say to the engineer, "This is solid technical information, not sales talk". The best visuals are those specific to the engineer's specialty. Electrical engineers like circuit diagrams. Computer programmers feel comfortable looking at flow charts. Systems analysts use structured diagrams. Learn the visual language of your target audience and use these symbols and artwork throughout your communication
Improve Your Effectiveness with Pre-Show and At-Show Promotions
Promotions are the hidden weapon for attracting foot traffic when you have committed your company to trade shows.
Done correctly, they work!
Consider these statistics: 1. The average trade show has over 400 exhibitors, where the average attendee will visit about 21 exhibits. That attendee walks the show with a list of 75% of the exhibitors he/she wants to see. 2. You can boost your trade show lead counts by 33% with promotions, even though they require only a small percentage of your trade show budget.
Pre-show promotions could consist of direct marketing(both direct mail and email) programs to attendee list sorted by job function,customer/prospect contacts, advertising in show magazines, in-room promotions or publicity announcing new product/service capabilities. At-show promotions could consist of on-site demonstrations, promotional giveaways, white papers, or press relations.
Does Your Website Pass Muster?
Your web presence should be part of your business plan, regardless
of your business goals.
Sure, it comes with all sorts of problems, but no other tool
is as adept at task-accomplishment. And no channel provides anywhere
near the wealth of analytic data. But since the Web is still
a relatively new medium, there is no shortage of models and postulates
for how to run a site. Spend any time on the Web and you'll find
that many of them are dead wrong.
Like most companies with a Website, you probably could be doing
a better job with yours, but perhaps aren't sure where to start.
Before you start tweaking and troubleshooting, you need to make
sure you have a clear idea of what it is you want your Website
to do.
Is your goal simply to sell? build an online community of your
products' users? or are you simply promoting your company's core
capabilities?
Only once you know what you're trying to do can you go about
measuring how well you're doing it.
Design of the Times
One of the most basic areas to look at is how your site is designed.
The graphical interface is important here, but so is architecture.
We've learned from IBM ads that your logo in flames looks "really
cool" but does next to nothing for sales.
What you should be looking for in terms of a graphical interface
is something reflective of your company's brand image and marketing
campaigns, and above all else, intuitive and easy to use.
There are several ways to go about discovering whether or not
your customers are having an easy time navigating your site.
First off, you can ask them:
Conduct a usability study wherein you set people down
in front of computers with your site and then ask questions about
the experience.
Another option is to employ a pop-up survey that asks,
between pages, why certain choices were made and what is expected
of the next page.
Other sites simply analyze server logs to see what paths
customers take through the site, where bottlenecks occur and
where they exit.
Make It Personal
The great thing about the Web is that it can be hardwired to
your database. From there, you can do all sorts of personalizing
based on what you know about your customers. But because you
can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should.
Are You Interacting?
While the spam deluge means that e-mail prospecting will remain
problematic, the Internet still is magic when it comes to dealing
with your house file.
Where your web site factors into your customer service and CRM
programs is through cost avoidance. Think of your Website as
a 24-7 customer service rep.
Example:
Add a FAQ page that answers customers'
and prospects' questions.
Put a series of case studies/white papers on a page(and
update it regularly) that provides solutions to users in different
industries.
Remember,
the key to a strong Web presence is a sense of purpose
How To Plan and Promote
a Webinar
One great way to interact with customers and prospects is a
seminar. However, busy schedules and tight budgets often limit
the number of people who can attend. But recent technology has
made seminars on the web, called "webinars", a cost-effective
alternative. Here's how to plan and promote a successful webinar.
Determine your goals
Do you want to educate your customers and prospects? Generate
qualified sales leads? Launch a new product? Develop and maintain
loyalty? You should know exactly what you hope to gain before
you start planning your event. Don't simply host a webinar because
it's the trendy thing to do.
Select a valuable topic
It should have value for your audience, not just for you. It
can be about industry trends, legislation, management issues,
manufacturing strategies, marketing tactics, or any topic that
would be helpful and relevant. It can also be about new products
or services your company offers, however, it should be educational,
not a blatant sales pitch. The more valuable your topic, the
more attendees will get out of it and the easier it will be to
promote.
Choose an experienced speaker
Speakers can be company executives, managers, product specialists,
and others who are knowledgeable about the topic and have good
presentation skills. Your speaker should have all materials and
activities prepared well ahead of time, including PowerPoint
slides, interactive polls, Q&A, demonstrations, etc...
Work out your technical issues
If you choose to host the webinar yourself, make sure you have
people on staff who have the appropriate experience, especially
technical staff. If you choose to hire an outside provider to
host your webinar, be sure you know well in advance exactly how
it will work and what services are included in their fee. You
should also be able to tell attendees how to participate.
Promote your webinar widely
Treat it like a major event and get the word out with a mix
of media, including direct mail, email, newsletters, news releases,
website announcements, space ads in industry publications, etc...
Seeing your message in a variety of places increases the excitement
and boosts enrollment.
Get the word out early
Since webinars do not require travel arrangements or time away
from the office, you don't have to provide as much advance notice
as traditional seminars. However, it helps to get people thinking
about it and anticipating the event. It's a good idea to announce
your webinar and start the enrollment process about six to eight
weeks in advance with reminders every week or so until the event.
Use direct mail and email
These are the media that are most likely to reach each of the
people in your target audience. Ads,
news releases, newsletter blurbs, and other outlets can easily
be missed. However, mail is delivered to particular people. Direct
mail in particular is ideal for putting your announcement in
front of every member of your audience.
Make registration fast and easy
The best way to do this is to create a special registration
page on your web site. All of your promotional announcements
should direct people to this page where they can enter information
in a form. However, you should also offer other options, such
as a reply form in your direct mail, toll-free phone number,
and fax number.
Use good direct marketing techniques
If you plan to charge a fee for attending your webinar, be sure
to charge enough to make the event seem valuable but not so much
that you exclude a large portion of your audience. And use incentives,
an early-bird discount, guarantee, and other persuaders to boost
enrollment. If you prefer to make the webinar free, emphasize
the potential value and exclusivity of the event.
Maximize your investment
After your webinar is over, you can offer transcripts of the
presentation, provide results from polls, issue news releases
based on information presented by speakers or attendees, make
offers for additional information, announce upcoming webinars
and so on. You can also post a streaming video of the event on
your web site or offer it for sale.
Estimating
Response to Business-to-Business Direct Mail
The question: "What kind of response can I expect
from my lead-generating mailing, and what percentage is considered
good for business-to-business (B-to-B) direct mail?"
Percentage Response
The number of inquiries produced per thousand pieces mailed
varies dramatically depending on a number of factors. However,
we can make the following generalizations.
If your mailing has a hard offer, you can expect a response
rate in the range of 1 percent to 1.5 percent. A hard offer is
any response choice that forces the prospect to try the product
or have direct contact with a salesperson. These include meetings,
demonstrations, presentations, so-called "free consultations" (sales
meetings in disguise), demo diskettes selling for nominal fees,
and 30-day trial offers.
On the other hand, if you have a soft offer–such as the
offer of a booklet, gift or special report, you can expect a
response of 1 percent to 4 percent; some mailers with good offers
and highly targeted lists can get 5 percent or more.
Sales
Some practitioners object, stating that percentages are irrelevant
and that sales results are the only true measure of direct mail
success.
The problem is, sales are more difficult to tally in lead-generating
programs than in mail order. One reason is that the direct mail
piece does not do the whole job of selling; many other factors
contribute. What's more, many companies don't have an adequate
system for tracking leads through to sales and reporting on the
results.
Still, if you're able to track sales, then percentage response
may not be as important to you. Some companies, for example,
sell a product so highly specialized that their percent response
is miniscule–a small fraction of 1 percent. Yet the large
dollar amount of each sale more than pays for the cost of mailing
large quantities to get those few hot leads.
Establishing a Baseline
The first mailing gives a "baseline" against which
future efforts can be measured. If you're pleased with the level
of response generated by mailing No. 1, then consider that a
good response for your product in the marketplace. If mailing
No. 2 equals or a exceeds that level of response, consider it
a winner.
Products
The nature of the product itself has a dramatic effect on response
rates. If it is used by a large number of the prospects you mail
to, response will be higher (an example might be selling bandages
to hospital purchasing agents). On the other hand, if your product
is highly special- ized and of interest to only a small portion
of the market, the response will be significantly lower (an example
might be a specialized type of heart monitor of interest to only
one hospital in 100).
Format
Format can make a big difference in how well your mailing pulls.
As a rule, sales letters mailed in business envelopes pull better
than self-mailers. But sometimes this is not the case. Letters
can make an appeal to the prospects' rational or emotional sides
in order to build their interest in the product.
But, if they are already predisposed to buy the product–e.g.,
if it's something they're familiar with and don't have to be
sold on its merits then a self-mailer, featuring a photograph
that readily identifies the product being sold, may do as well
or better.
Offer
As stated earlier, the specific offer being made in the mailing
can make a big difference in response rates.
One area of indecision among mailers is whether to use the
popular "free
booklet strategy." In this type of mailing, the reader is offered an incentives
free booklet, report or other helpful information he will receive for responding.
Usually the booklet or report offers how-to or technical information
the reader can use on the job. For example: "How to Improve
Direct Mail Results"–from a firm offering direct mail
services.
These offers can boost response and are especially effective
in markets where prospects are flooded with direct mail offers
or are not excited about services and products and need an extra
incentive to take action.
The key is to know how to introduce the booklet offer without
overstressing it. If the whole mailing is based around the booklet
offer, you will get a high volume of low quality leads–people
who just want a free booklet but don't want to hear about your
product.
A better approach is to talk about the reader's problems and
how your company, service or product can solve these problems.
Then bring in the booklet offer as an extra sales incentive,
without putting complete emphasis on it. Experiment with copy
approaches until you achieve the right balance between quality
and quantity in your response.
Follow
These Simple Rules To Create and Manage a Successful B-to-B Direct
Marketing Program
10 COMMANDMENTS
B-to-B marketers continue to shift considerable
resources toward direct marketing, both on-line and off-line.
The rationale is a nearly universal mantra:
The good news about direct marketing is that it's measurable.
But measurability is a two-edge sword, and there's
a dangerous flip side to the direct marketing promise:
The bad news about direct marketing is that it's measurable.
When programs work, everybody takes the victory
lap. When programs fail, the program manager takes the fall,
no matter how much "help" he or she receives from other
team members. Much of the help others give is personal opinion,
rather than professional judgement. You constantly hear things
like, "that doesn't send me", or "I wouldn't respond
to that" - all from people who don't even qualify to purchase
the product.
You can defend yourself from the well-meaning interference of
others and reduce your chances of error dramatically by avoiding
the mistakes other have made. Just follow these 10 b-to-b direct
marketing commandments-professional, not personal, judgements
proven in head-to-head testing.
1. Lists are not an inventory item.
Too often, lists are treated like an inventory item, not
a key strategic component of the campaign. The first and perhaps
the most important thing to do is to research the available list
universes and put together the best list targeting possible.Then
do the best job you can of defining the key emotional drivers
within each segment. For example, a CEO may have very different
concerns than a CFO or a design/engineer. You can't start the
creative process until you know what makes these people tick.
2. Avoid objective pile on.
The kiss of death for a direct marketing campaign often
starts with the seemingly innocent statement, "As long as we're
already talking to them, why don't we..."Just say no! If
the goal of a campaign is to generate a lead, that should be
the
sole objecitve. When you add additional objectives-increased
company or product knowledge are good examples-response rates
go down.
Add even more objectives, response rates go down again.
3. Sell salvation, not products.
Too many b-to-b direct marketers create "product sheets
in drag" programs-feeds, speeds and technobabble only a
product manager could ever care about. People don't want your
products;
they want what your products do for them. You have to appeal
to their self-interest, not yours, to be successful.
4. Make an emotional connection.
You have 12 to 20 seconds to grab them and avoid the trash
can or the delete button. The best way is to make an emotional
connection, not a rational one. For example, here are two ways
to brand the same white paper:
12 ways you can avoid the coming technology downturn
or
12 reasons you should consider Acme's version 2.0
Testing proves the emotional position beats the more rational
position hands down.
5. It's the offer, stupid.
Offers are the best and fastest way to make an emotional
connection. A good offer will not only generate an initial response,
but it will also generate higher readership of the rest of the
communication. Quite simply, an offer is the fastest way to communicate "what's in it for me?" and
get consideration.
6. Don't give them a choice.
When you make an offer, don't give them a choice. Confronted
with a choice, prospects are afraid of making the wrong one and
protect themselves by making none.
7. Work backwards from point-of-sale.
Start with the customer and then work backwards to define
how the selling system works. Then build your program around the
way the selling system works in the real world. You won't change
customer behavior. So don't try. You can't change tele-sales or
field-sales behavior either, so understand what they do and how
they do it and then support the selling systems that are already
in place to maximize sell-through.
8.Avoid thundershower marketing.
Too often b-to-b marketers key off of product launches or
arbitrary campaign plans and ignore field capacity issues. If,
for example, the field organization can handle 100 leads per week,
give them 100 and no more. If you give them 2,000, they can still
only work 100, and the rest go down the drain.
9. Avoid panic marketing.
Panic marketing almost never works. If the customer needs
nine months to make a decision, direct marketing can't affect
sales this quarter. If the customer needs 18 months to make a
decision, direct marketing can't affect sales this year. Panic
marketing almost always leads to thundershower marketing, which
makes things even worse. The proper way to use direct marketing
is to generate qualified leads on an ongoing basis. Then, if the
quarter needs help, the sales force can use incentives to convert
the qualified prospects on file into buyers.
10. Simplify the approval process.
Research shows that the more complicated the approval process,
the lower the response rate. To improve program performance, get
as many people out of the approval loop as possible. Next, change
the approval rules to limit people's input to those areas where
they can apply professional judgement. Personal opinion is an
unqualified marketing survey of one, and we all know what that's
worth.
Following these 10 simple rules should help you
create and manage more successful b-to-b direct marketing programs.
From: Target Marketing, September 2000
How
do you create synergy among your direct mail, e-mail and web
site
marketing strategies?
Test, measure and track results.
It's the only way to know for sure what's right for your audience
and offer. It's also an excellent way to stay informed about changes
in your customers' behavior.
Stay sharp.
Because the Internet is an impulse medium, the response cycle
to offers made on your web site or in e-mail promotions is faster
than with direct mail. What works and is appropriate for another
company and its customers isn't necessarily appropriate for you
and yours. Visit other web sites. Read your own e-mail carefully.
The more relevant, the more effective.
Critical to the success of every customer communication vehicle
is how successful you are at making the message as personally
relevant to the individual as your data, budget and know-how will
allow.
Direct mail has more staying power and is portable.
When your customers or prospects turn off their computers, your
e-mail messages to them and your web site disappear. However,
because of its physical presence, your direct mail piece or catalog
has staying power. This also explains why direct mail has a longer
response cycle than e-mail.
Direct mail is perceived as more personal than e-mail. Indeed,
because of direct mail's portable physical presence, it can be
taken on business trips or passed along to a colleague. Plus,
when you add your URL to the piece, you've produced a portable
billboard for building web site traffic.
Give your customer or prospect a specific reason to visit
your web site.
For example, the National Arbor Day Foundation (www.arborday.org)
recently produced an integrated direct mail and space advertising
campaign inviting people to cast their votes online for a national
tree. Their goal was two-fold: increase Americans' awareness of
the value of trees, and generate web site traffic.
Testimonials remain a useful marketing tool for all three
communication channels.
Solicit testimonials and use them on direct mail components, as
well as on your web site's home page, your all-testimonial web
page, or as a compelling opening or closing for a push e-mail.
Current studies show that direct mail is more effective
than e-mail for driving people to a web site. Test this
to see if it holds true for your audience as well.
Test sending an e-mail follow-up to a direct mail piece.
Or try sending an e-mail announcement of an important customer
mailing that will follow. One of the marketing advantages of e-mail
is that it's fast, easy and inexpensive to produce compared to
traditional direct mail. Test how you can use this to help increase
direct mail response rates.
Make it easy to contact you however they choose.
Put your URL on all your offline communications - space ads, order
forms, letters, brochures, catalogs, Yellow Page ads and package
inserts.
As with traditional direct mail, e-mail overload is increasing.
There's more in people's "in" boxes to sift through
and less getting opened and read. Here's another case when sound
direct marketing techniques apply. Use your subject line to entice
readership, much like your teaser copy gets people to open the
outer envelope. Make your opening sentence as compelling as the
opening benefit statement of your direct mail letter. And give
your reader a strong incentive (that is, offer) to take action.
Be as creative with your web site and e-mail offers as you are
with those used in your direct mail.
Make it as easy as possible for customers to communicate through
whichever channels catch their fancy at any given moment. It should
be simple, seamless and more than just satisfactory. The result
will be stronger customer relationships and an impressive return
on your investment of time and money.
A
Checklist Of No-cost or Low-cost "Must Do's" That Will
Increase Your Marketing Effectiveness
Calling Customers.
It costs practically nothing to get on the phone to interview
your customers and prospects, but the information you get from
these conversations can make-your company millions of dollars.
If you know how customers buy and how they want you to sell to
them, you can avoid marketing sin numero uno: guessing. No need
to conduct a fancy focus group. You just have to get on the phone
and have a conversation with your customers. Don't "survey"
them-it's rude, boring and nonproductive. Call a customer a week,
and you will be miles ahead of your competitors whenever the market
shifts.
Testing concepts.
Again, a cheap but critical action. After you've got a mockup
of an ad, brochure or web site, show it to a couple of the more
helpful customers you've talked to. Use their input to make it
better. Call first, then, while you're on the phone, email a PDF
of the ad or printed piece (or fax it), or email a link to a web
site and have them tell you what they think as they see it for
the first time. This act will ensure that the piece will actually
work.
Tracking.
Your company is probably still trying to get up and working
a CRM system that will track every lead through to the eventual
sale. But you're not there yet. Instead, use individual URLs that
aren't difficult to type, as in www.mycompany.com/free1.
Specific web site pages.
Don't just send your prospects to your homepage. Send them
to a page that is a perfect, seamless follow-on to your ad, including
the same graphics and message. If your managers want you to send
them to your homepage "so they can see everything we offer,"
tell them that it is much better to put a big, obvious "HOME"
button on a more campaign-specific site. Otherwise, you end up
making prospects hunt for the specific product(s) you advertised,
which wastes your advertising and web site dollars-and irritates
potential customers.
Include an offer and a call to action.
These days, all marketing should be considered "direct"
marketing. You send them to a specific web page, then to register
to receive the white paper or other free-but-useful information.
Give salespeople hot leads.
Salespeople do respond to urgent, hot sales opportunities.
How about an email that says, "At 10:52 today, this person
downloaded the white paper on network solutions. Please call this
person within the next 24 hours and let me know, by replying to
this email what happened. Such "they just downloaded"
emails can be set up to go out automatically to the right rep.
For example, when you capture the prospect's email address, have
them identify their region (Northeast, South, etc.) from a pull-down
menu of your sales rep territories. Or, you can have the leads
go to your pre-qualification group.
Map out the entire buying process.
Spend a few hours with your top salespeople breaking the
typical sale into its specific stages - i.e., "awareness,"
"exchange of information," "presentation,"
"justification," "close" and "ongoing
satisfaction." The idea is to identify all of the players
involved in the buying process, the questions they ask, the answers
that satisfy them, and the best way for marketing to deliver the
information needed to complete the sale.
Going through the above process often reveals holes in your
selling process. Your salespeople will admit, "We have no
problem getting their attention, and the presentation goes fine,
but we often lose the sale in the "justification" phase.
Fix it and your sales will go up.
Educate your executives.
Most top managers don't come from marketing, yet their decisions
affect everything you do. Your best defense is a good offense:
devote at least 5 percent of your time educating your top execs.
If you do these things, and your competition doesn't, you will
gain marketshare. And gaining marketshare is the best way to move
up in a down market.
Positioning
your product.
When your customer is an engineer, brand is irrelevant and positioning
is key. Positioning is informing your customers on how to use
your product and why that product best serves their purposes.
The goal is to elevate the stance of the company with important
and significant customers. Today, the strategic fundamental is
demonstrating value. Marketers need to focus on fashioning a position,
not a brand. Focus on a defensible position by accurately and
continuously reevaluating customers and competitors. Why brand
when positioning will do?
10
Major Trends for the 2000s
- Overseas economies boom. It is just over ten
years since the Berlin Wall fell. The 15 countries of the European
Union now comprise a gigantic 375 million people. Another six
countries with 63.3 million people are preparing to join. Asia
roars back. In 1999, Japan's Topix index had its biggest annual
gain in 27 years. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index had its
best gain in six years. Russia will continue to be the exception
to the boom, though even there is hope. The new acting president,
Vladimir Putin, has spent time in the West and is aware of the
benefits of law-based capitalism.
- E-commerce will get personalized. Software
tools for making great e-commerce sites will explode in number
and sophistication. So will the demand for them.
- The hot IPO market of 1999 will switch to
Europe and Asia, where IPO frenzy is just taking hold.
- The Wal-Marts of the world will learn e-commerce
and, hopefully, bring customer service to the Web. Many of
the plucky startups that promised the "lowest prices on the
planet" will find their going suddenly getting very tough.
- Advertising will dry up for smaller dot coms
with dubious business models, and heavy reliance on mythical,
gigantic advertising revenues.
- Linux will take off. Despite Windows 2000
making a huge splash, Linux will increase its popularity. Companies
like Red Hat (RHAT) will make Linux easier to use. Pretty soon,
operating systems won't be universal, but will have niches,
e.g. Linux as a Web server.
- Business to Business e-commerce will explode.
Sites, services and tools. Buyers get lower cost supplies, a
broader range of supplies and potentially zero inventory. Sellers
get broader markets. The ultimate global marketplace.
- Electronic payments schemes will get much
better. Smart cards, credit cards and micro-transactions on
the Web will become easier, more accepted. Digital signatures
will become broadly accepted. In October, Jesse Ventura became
the first governor to put his digital signature on a document.
- Telemedicine will explode. Today patients
travel half way across the globe to have doctors view their
X-rays and speak with them. It will all be done electronically.
- Forecasting, as usual, will stink. Business
Week's 50 famous stock pickers guessed end-1999 NASDAQ at 2,081.
It came in at 4,069.31. John Kenneth Galbraith says economists
are great at predicting the past.
At
the beginning of the new Millennium, we present eight immutable
marketing truths, as well as tactical guidelines to follow over
the next 10 years.
- You will never have perfect customer data.
Set clear expectations that your data will never be more than
90 percent accurate. Establish more realistic targets of 70
percent to 80 percent accuracy for data collected by technological
means (e.g., the Web or an automated teller machine) and lower
targets for data collected by humans.
- You will never analyze all your customer data.
Marketers seeking to identify their most-valuable data must
begin by categorizing it, based on its source and its likely
accuracy; prioritizing analysis, based on this categorization;
and comparing sampling methods to determine which can be used
to save time and resources. In addition, marketers should design
a formal "data waste disposal" process for shedding
old data that is no longer worth keeping.
- You will never control every customer interaction.
Resist the temptation to construct "one-size-fits-all" rules
for marketing. Realize that, in the decade ahead, the marketing
department's new responsibility will be to 1) design
programs that encourage employees across the enterprise to
share and utilize marketing best practices and 2) identify
which marketing
best practices are appropriate under which conditions.
- You will never have enough in-house marketing
expertise. Marketers looking to increase their salaries should
stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and refresh their
skills at least once every 18 months. Enterprises should expect
the average salary of a technology-savvy marketers to double
over the next five years and should be aware that these employees
will be pursued aggressively by other employers.
- You will never be content with your in-house
IS expertise. When working together, marketers and IS departments
should be explicit about their respective expectations and agendas
and should work toward a common set of goals and strategies.
Marketers opting to hire an external party to handle IS organization
responsibilities should still ask the internal IS department
to be involved in vendor selection and periodic evaluations.
- You will never achieve the vision of one-to-one
marketing. Marketers should realize that, since costs grow with
increased granularity in a marketing campaign, the goal of one-to-one
marketing is not to approach customer segments of one, but to
identify the point at which it no longer makes economic sense
to refine segments any further.
- You will never have a centralized marketing
dashboard. Marketers should expect the current proliferation
of marketing applications to persist for the next five years.
They should also expect application and data integration to
account for as much as 60 percent of the cost of a technology-enabled
marketing project.
- You will never be immune from legislation.
Marketers, particularly those in global corporations, must keep
up-to-date with pending and enacted legislation to mitigate
risk and determine appropriate investment plans, geographic
expansion and technology expenditure.
From "GartnerGroup's
Laws of Technology-Enabled Marketing"
(Strategic Advice Research Note)
1) FEATURED FINDINGS
* FREE! GartnerGroup's Datapro Says Server
Synchronization to Increase Productivity for Enterprises Using
Handheld Devices
As more workers try to have real-time, online
access to their business applications when using portable devices,
such as handhelds and smartphones, server synchronization software
will be the technology that makes this happen more efficiently,
according to Datapro, a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (Press release:
http://www.gartnerweb.com/dq/static/about/press/pr-b9971.html)
* FREE! GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says Mobile
Satellite Services Market to Reach 8 Million Terminals by 2004
With several operators expected to become operational
during the next two to three years, the market for satellite voice
services is forecast to grow from an estimated installed base
of 211,212 terminals at the end of 1999 to 8.32 million terminals
by 2004, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group,
Inc. (Press release: http://www.gartnerweb.com/dq/static/about/press/pr-b9970.html)
* FREE! Demonstrating IT's Contribution to
Business Success
For senior managers, communicating key performance
metrics and the contribution of the IS organization to business
success is essential. An annual IT report is an excellent way
to achieve this goal. (Commentary: http://www.gartnerweb.com/public/static/hotc/hc00085200.html)
2) GARTNERGROUP NEWS
* FREE Trial of Gartner Letter - Internet
Business Strategies
Receive a free 60 day trial of Gartner Letter.
Gartner Letter is designed to help you make informed decisions
about how to use the Internet to deploy e-commerce and interactive
marketing initiatives. https://gartner11.gartnerweb.com/secure/gletter_form.html
3) EVENTS
* Gartner Clarity - February 3, 2000, New York
City, New York
E-business strategy...Got one? On February 3, GartnerGroup presents
an all-day event to answer the question: "What should I be doing
now to make sure my company can play to win in a world forever
changed by e-business?" Visit http://www.gartnerclarity.com to
find out more about how to experience the e-business event of
the year, either on-site or via the Web!
* GartnerGroup and Advanstar Communications
present iEC: Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition:
Business to e-business at the Jacob K. Javits Center, New York,
New York, February 29 - March 2, 2000.
The world of electronic commerce moves at warp speed. Don't be
left behind grappling with traditional business models. This iEC
conference sorts it all out and takes you to the next level of
e-commerce, e-business and e-services. Plus, you'll hear from
our six fascinating keynote speakers who have carried success
in e-commerce to dizzying heights: Cramer of TheStreet.com; Diller
of USA Networks; Jones of Travelocity.com; Malamud of Invisible
Worlds; Nacchio of Qwest Communications; and Walker of Priceline.com
http://www.iec-expo.com
4) CLIENT AUDIOCONFERENCES
Note: Audioconference participation is open to
clients of the sponsoring service. If you would like more information
on audioconferences, please call 1-800-780-0857.
* Evaluating CRM Solution Vendors
January 28, 2000 * 9:00 a.m. & 1:00 p.m. EDT
Given the immaturity of the Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) marketplace, it is difficult to differentiate
which products constitute a viable Front Office Application Suite.
Customer Service and Service and Support, Sales Force/Marketing
Automation, and Field Service software packages offer varied,
and often confusing, solutions and strategies from different types
of vendors, but none is a complete panacea for end-users. http://www.gartnerweb.com/public/static/events/atc/jan00atc/ddi_nit.html
* Networking E-Business Imperatives
January 31, 2000 * 10:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m. EDT
The demands that will be placed on network executives
for network planning and implementation will no longer be confined
to one's own enterprise. With the imminent arrival of e-business,
clients must not only determine which networking issues will become
important components of their e-business development strategies,
but also which networking issues will become networking e-business
imperatives. http://www.gartnerweb.com/public/static/events/atc/jan00atc/nbm.html
True,
False or Neither?
No doubt consumers believe advertising has many
fine qualities. Truthfulness, alas, is not one of them. In a
survey conducted for Adweek by research firm Alden & Associates of
Hermosa Beach, California, people were asked, "Do you think
advertising generally tells the truth?" A huge majority (80.8
percent) of respondents said "no"-and not, we fear,
because they believe advertising invariably tells the truth.
Women
were more likely than men to be naysayers, by 82.7 percent to
78.4 percent. In the face of such skepticism, some advertisers
will redouble their efforts to seem truthful. Others may decide
believability is such a lost cause that they should focus their
messages in more promising directions. Indeed, more and more
advertising
features an off-the-wall brashness that makes any question of
truth or falsehood seem quite beside the point.
From Catalog Age Weekly, on marketingclick.com
34
Test Ideas for 2003
Consider these tips when you're looking for ways to up your response
In search of ways to boost your response rates
this year? Look no further. Here are a host of test ideas for
you to consider.
- Add the word FREE to your outer envelope teaser
copy or to the subject line of your e-mail sales message.
- Focus on "selling" your offer, not
your product or service. Give your targeted audience a good
reason to respond.
- Let your customers choose how they want to
respond (phone, mail, online, fax), and use this information
for future two-way communications.
- Study customer complaints as a source of breakthrough
response-generating ideas.
- Use double envelopes to reach multiple audiences
at the same address and at the same time(meaning:glue/tip a
smaller envelope on the outside of a larger one, or put one
envelope inside the other; i.e. To the Design Engineer, To the
CFO).
- Eliminate or shorten voice mail menus and
customer waiting time.
- Focus on one major benefit that differentiates
you from your competition. If you have several major benefits,
create a series of mailings, ads or e-mail messages that focus
on one major benefit at at time.
- When you're budgeting for advertising remember
that 20 percent of your customers produce 80 percent of your
sales-identify that 20 percent, then budget and communicate
accordingly.
- Segment your customer and prospect audiences
and create targeted messages to each audience (keeping in mind
that the same product or service may have different benefits
for different audience segments).
- Know where the "hot spots" for highest
readership are in your direct response advertising and use
them effectively.
- Studies show that ad headlines draw 28 percent
more attention when placed in quotation marks. Why? Because
it appears more important.
- Never assume the decision-maker is the only
individual with whom you need to communicate; decision-influencers
can be door-openers to big sales.
- Test a phone follow-up to non-respondents
(especially within your customer base).
- Keep it simple to respond whether by phone,
fax, online or mail.
- Use a two-step sale (lead generation and lead
generation fulfillment kit for sales follow-up) for complex
and high-ticket products and services.
- Provide a special 800 number to your best
customers to put them at the front of the queue with no voice
mail menus and a real, live person to talk to right from the
start. Promote it as a special Preferred Customer Only privilege.
- Give people a reason to visit your Web site
or pick up the phone and call NOW-use offers to create urgency
and response.
- Always include your guarantee-and make it
a benefit to your prospects and customers.
- Put your deadline on the outside of your envelope
or in the subject of your e-mail-especially when writing to
customers.
- Don't let the excitement of new technology
divert you from what you know works. Instead, integrate proven
ideas into new applications.
- Make it fast and easy to respond by pre-filling
response cards and order forms with as much information as you
can.
- Make sure to include a business reply envelope
(BRE) whenever you ask for confidential information.
- Reactivate catalog sales by sending a postcard
with a reminder photo of the most recent catolg mailed and a
strong offer for orders placed by a quickly approaching deadline.
- Print your Web site address and 800 phone
number on everything.
- Change the color of the outer envelope of
your control mail package (leave everything else the same).
- Dramatically minimize time required to download
sales information and graphics at e-commerce sites.
- Send immediate cross-sell and/or upgrade bounceback
offers after making a sale: happy, satisfied customers are more
likely to buy again.
- Use stores, online and print catalogs to reinforce
each other-you never know where your customer may start window
shopping, or through which medium he or she will ultimately
buy.
- Include a deadline in your offer (along with
a believable explanation for it).
- Invest in saying, "thank you"-every
customer communication doesn't have to generate a sale.
- Use direct mail to generate Web site traffic;
use e-mail to announce important customer mailings.
- Product photos with a human or human element
in them attract more attention and generate more reponse than
those without.
- Update e-commerce sites often; 80 percent
of Web site visitors are repeats and timely information is the
number one reason people give for visiting Web sites.
- Develop a memorable direct response message
and reinforce it in all media.
Have
You Done Your Homework On Japan?
Direct Marketing Facts You Should Know
Japanese are avid collectors of facts and statistics
and there is a wealth of information available for any marketer
doing business in Japan. The breadth and depth of data the Japanese
government and other Japanese organizations collect allows easy
access to statisticians, market researchers and anyone who needs
accurate information fast. Unfortunately, many U.S. companies
marketing in Japan do not utilize a lot of the information that
is available, and probably for the simple reason that it often
isn't available in English (or they do not seek it out).
Surprisingly, even the most basic information-such as how orders
by mail are placed, phone rates and payment methods-can help U.S.
direct marketers modify their tactics to succeed in the world's
second largest economy. For example, one U.S. company marketing
its seminars by mail noticed a 25 percent increase in response
when it offered payment by postal remittance to its Japanese customers.
Although the logistics of setting up an account from the United
States took time and patience, it succeeded in lifting its response
significantly.
Apart from boosting response, knowing the market and its customers
can also help save money. Knowing that Japanese prefer to place
orders in writing, one catalog company adapted its order form
to encourage its customers to order by fax or mail. This strategy
succeeded in lowering its average order cost for Japan.
Placing orders in Japan
Compared to the U.S. direct mail market where
some 98 percent of orders are placed by phone, the number of Japanese
phone orders is relatively small.
The high cost of calls is the main reason that orders by phone
are fewer in Japan than in the United States. Customers are reluctant
to pay such costs, and many marketers are also reluctant to pay
and do not offer toll-free dial services. A three minute phone
call can cost as much as 78 cents in many locations.
Japanese telephone rates are based on increments of 10 yen (8.6
cents). Ten yen will buy three minutes for a local call, but the
farther away, the less time it will buy. Although privatization
and new competition are predicted to lower costs, no significant
changes have yet occurred.
When you consider that 100 kilometers is only 62.5 miles, a three-minute
call to outside your immediate environment can easily cost up
to 78.3 cents. All local calls up to three minutes will cost 8.6
cents.
In addition to the high cost of telephone calls, Japanese tend
to prefer written orders since they are more accurate than verbal
orders. A written order also can serve as a record in case any
disputes arise. Another reason many Japanese prefer written orders
is that some Japanese names are difficult to spell, and it is
sometimes hard to explain the correct kanji over the phone.
Another way of placing orders that is gaining popularity is through
the Internet. Significant growth in online orders is expected
this year due to the current Internet boom in Japan. Japanese
analysts predict that the number of Internet orders will exceed
fax orders in the next 18 months.
From an article by James Dempster
in Target Marketing
How
Will the Internet Age?
Predictions for the 21st Century
- Connectivity will become ubiquitous.
The capital markets enthusiastically support the growth of connectivity
by whatever means, including wireless, copper cable, and fiber
optic. Connectivity becomes an assumption, not a complicated
arrangement, and it's definitely not about wires.
- The future will be streamed, not downloaded.
It's a commonly held assumption that digital distribution will
replace the analog distribution system that traditionally delivers
services and information-based products.
- Flat-fee pull will be the norm.
Digitization and data networks liberate content from control
over its quantity and destination, in much the same way that
broadcast of radio and television remove control over the number
and location of listeners or viewers. Control over quantity
and destination are customary requisites for establishing pricing
schedules that leverage maximum price over marginal cost. If
control is lost, price falls and hovers at or near marginal
cost of delivery.
The Net of the future will exhibit flat-fee/no-fee pull, where
we choose to monetize our presence by tolerating advertisements
or by paying a subscription fee to banish the ads and the loss
of privacy. We've already seen online services adopt the flat-fee
model, as have telephone companies such as Sprint and AT&T.
Where these companies once billed us for our activities and
their duration, we now enjoy a smorgasbord of communication
for one price.
- The future is a small, small world.
Technology and the Internet will shrink the world at least two
ways, by eliminating distance and by making smaller the devices
we create. Nanotechnology will shrink the devices we use and
the materials we need, more efficiently allocating scarce resources.
- There will be a renaissance of creative expression.
Technology's deepest impact will be from enabling the digital
delivery of art, such as music, movies, books, and other intellectual
property. The effects will go deeper than just changing the
way we listen to popular music. Currently, we kill art regularly
due to our need to balance the costs of distribution with its
rewards. Once a delivery is digitized, art need never die, and
new art can come to life that might not otherwise find an audience.
From an article by Jim Griffin
in Business 2.0
Use
the Internet to Drive Your Direct Mail
The Internet may turn out to be a direct marketer's
best friend. Rather than viewing cyberspace as a threat to traditional
mailing, savvy innovators are using the Web as an enabling force
for customization.
There's a new movement afoot to take advantage
of digital technology and create real-time, turn-key direct mail
programs.
Companies with two- or three-level distribution have struggled
for years to find ways to support re-sellers and dealers with
customized direct mail programs. The challenge has been finding
ways to support highly personalized, customized four-color printing
for small quantities.
Where the Web Comes In
Enter the Internet. The beauty of the Internet
process is that those end-users can enter information directly
into a database at the front end. For business-to business marketers,
this small insight can pay big returns in a direct mail program.
Imagine for a minute that you have a distributed
sales force of 5,000 independent reps; each wants a customized
mailer for 200 customers. And each has Internet access. The solution
is to establish a promotional extranet, where reps can come online
to a password-protected Web site and customize their own direct
mail programs. The customization database is built in real time,
with each rep selecting the components of the mailer.
Reps then view prepress proofs through the Internet
and a compiled printing file goes straight to a digital press
or prepress.
From an article by Jeffrey Morris
in Target Marketing
E-commerce
Companies Find Direct Mail Essential for Internet Economy
A mailing study by Pitney Bowes, the postage meter
company, reveals that 59% of all companies who market on the Internet
increased their mail volume as a result of their e-commerce efforts.
Direct mail is used by nearly 70% of survey respondents, and
direct mail was cited also as the most effective tool for getting
customers to go to a Web site.
Build
Your Own Database
Direct marketing databases are what separate
efficient and successful direct marketers from the lucky and less
successful ones who try to rely on creative skills and instinct
alone.
E-Mail
Marketing as a Two-Way Street
Extend the value of existing relationships.
One of a business' most valuable assets is the
customer file, the list of customer contacts with whom a relationship
has been established. By extending these valuable contacts to
the electronic channel, direct marketers can leverage e-mail to
generate profitable relationships and increase returns through
cross-selling and upselling opportunities. Thus, using e-mail
as a two-way response mechanism, businesses can develop highly
relevant and personalized outbound campaigns, and extend offers
that are not economically feasible through other channels, such
as fax and postal mail.
attributed to B-to-B Special Report
Customer
Relationship Management
Direct marketers work hard to acquire customers
which requires both monetary and human resource investment, observes
Gerald Reisberg, vice president, Dun & Bradstreet. "Managing
them is key to growth," he says.
Why is customer relationship management paramount? "It costs at least five times as much to acquire revenue
from new customers than existing customers," says Reisberg.
One tool that can help direct marketers better
manage customer relationships is computer telephony integration
(CTI). Through the use of pop-up screens, this technology allows
customer service representatives to:
- Use profiles of customer buying habits to make
more relevant suggestions;
- View a customer's billing history to expedite
questions and facilitate better resolutions; and
- Quickly identify merchandise in stock and delivery
times.
According to Reisberg, the key to successful customer
relationship management is empowering your associates to facilitate
customer relationships. Remember, your customer service representatives
are the front line of your business.
Empowering your reps will also allow you to turn
a negative into a positive. You should "hope to encounter
problems so you can turn problems into opportunity and create
customer loyalty." You can ensure the loyalty of your customers
by seeking out any area of dissatisfaction and remedying the
situation,
turning a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied customer.
attributed to Target Marketing
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