The competition for your attention is in full swing…and it’s survival of the fittest.  Getting to the top of the pile has always been a challenge for direct marketers, no more so than now when time is at such a premium.

No, direct mail is not dead.  Far from it.  One client of our drops over 4 million pieces of mail each year and generates a very healthy ROI, thank you very much.

There are a number of tactics you can use to improve the response of your direct mail program.  Lead among them is the use of variable print data.  Enabled by technology, personalized messages can be created on each piece by pulling information from your database.

Research shows that mail with your name on it, along with a relevant message, generates a significantly higher response rate than those without it.  The additional costs of variable printing can be highly justified by the higher returns generated.

Does it makes sense for you?  Calculations depend on a number of factors including -

- What is the value of an individual sale?
- What has it cost you in the past to generate a qualified lead?
- What other elements are included in your communications mix?

Direct mail is a highly measurable form of lead generation.  Testing the effect of variable printing is a matter of organizing and tracking the effort properly.

On Saturday 11/21, Lego – they of Danish building block fame – put on an event called Lego Kids Fest at the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut.

They promoted it in their magazine received by Lego Club members across the country, on their website, in calendars, all over locally and was picked up in many corners of cyberspace.

My son and his mom drove the 2 1/2 hours from Albany yesterday afternoon, he’s a Lego-head and a member of the club.

Turns out, they weren’t even allowed to get off the exit for the arena.

The event was mayhem.  It was oversold and over capacity.  The fire department started to eject attendees.  Hundreds of 7 year olds stood outside with their parents howling in disappointment.

My wife called Lego in San Diego and a customer service rep said that they hadn’t promoted it and were taken by surprise.  When informed that it was promoted everywhere an event could be, a supervisor came on and came clean.  “I’ve gotten calls from several families.  We just weren’t prepared.”

OK.  Fine.  A case of be careful what you wish for.  Now we’ll see how Lego will respond.

What would you do?

Posted by: Steve Banis

A brief glance across the room. Penetrating eye contact and a smile. A brush of the hand…

Well you get the idea.

Good marketing aims to move beyond seduction.  To take a “passer by” beyond fascination with your shiny new thing to legitimate and immediate target.  That means dinner, dancing, and dating.

It’s rational economics.  Moving them through the sales cycle by helping them see the true cost of NOT acting.

Stoke their fascination. Make friends. Have rational conversations. You offer a solution, or excitement, or notoriety. Whatever problem they really want to solve.  And you do it at a justifiable cost.  It’s not just money. Sometimes its not money at all.

Its time, comfort, or prestige for example.

Make it easy for them to talk to you. Online, offline, in person. Let them get involved with you – with forums, social media, and live events.

What brought them to your door was only skin deep.

What brings them into your living room is the comfy couch, great music, good coffee, and intelligent conversation that connects.

Posted by: Steve Banis

This is a tool offered within better equipped email platforms that allows you to program a series of messages to be delivered to your target lists at designated intervals.

What makes this so powerful is the ability to let these campaigns run by themselves. Further, with some extra work, you can separate, qualify, and bring your targets closer to doing business with you by following multiple communication paths.

Scooby Doo, where are you?

For example, say you want to reach customers that are interested in collecting old lunchboxes. (I had Scooby Doo in 2nd grade.)  Some of these babies go for thousands of dollars. (Mine got thrown out, along with my baseball cards. Thanks mom.)

So you set up a landing page showing off examples of some boxes you have for sale.  It also explains that you have a real nose for locating those hard to find boxes that make a collector drool.

Then your targeted communication program brings you visitors to your site who sign up to receive more information.  Now here’s where the autoresponders get to work.

You’ve written a series of messages that goes to every new person who signs onto your list.  Out goes a welcome message immediately.  Next day, you send them a little biography about yourself, and the big finds you’ve made in the past and how you’ve seen some of your clients make lots of money on their lunch box investment.

Lead them to water

One week later, you send out a testimonial letter with a story from one of your customers.  It says that you helped him relive his childhood and connect with his son by finding him the exact box he had when he was 8 – the Rocky and Bullwinkle one with a bright blue background. It made him cry.

Two days later, you send an email asking your reader to let you know what kind of interested party he is…a real collector looking for that hard to find, expensive treasure or someone just interested in the topic.  You can now create two lists from those who respond – qualified buyers and tirekickers.

Now separate them into two lists, and send each their own set of email messages. For the qualified list, it may pay off to make them personalized.  All the while, you’re bringing the qualified prospects closer and closer – without ever picking up the phone.

It takes thought, creativity, intuition, hard work, and a little bit of talent. But once you’ve got your process, it’s all automatic.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Consumer telemarketing has achieved the unfortunate reputation achieved by used car salesman, carnival game operators, and Bernie Madoff.

However, to reach the communities you’ve built over time – your customers, prospects and other contacts – using voice to deliver your message can be both courteous and extremely effective.

The people on your lists expect that you will engage in ongoing communication with them by virtue of your relationship. So you’ve already received their permission to contact them. That makes you compliant with CAN-SPAM and perfectly OK to pick up the phone.

Boston College did just that.  Well, sort of.

Kickoff

The Boston College football team had a strong 2007 season, eventually going on to its first ever Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) title game.  The game was set to take place on December 4, 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Great news.  Except that the Eagles clinched their spot only two weeks before the ACC Championship game.  BC had just two weeks to sell as many tickets as possible and ensure solid support for a game taking place 1,160 miles away.

They needed to drum up support from alumni and get fans to travel down . And they needed to do it quickly and cost-effectively.

Nothing like the spoken word

Boston College used an automated voice-messaging solution to target more than 115,000 season ticket holders and alumni.

They had their star quarterback Matt Ryan record the message, explaining the historic event and the sense of urgency to participate – and then offered up a call to action.  Even if fans couldn’t come, they asked them to donate their tickets to a Jacksonville-area charity to help fill the stands.

The response was immediate, with ticket sales flying through the roof on the day of and the day following the message’s release. In all, close to 5,000 tickets were sold, with more than 400 purchased and given to charity.

In the end, Boston College was able to ensure it was well represented in Florida and managed to profit $200,000 from a campaign that cost $10,000 to launch.

The phone is alive and well my friends – it’s just living a different existence in your marketing mix.  It’s extremely cost effective.  And it can work very well when delivering a timely message.

Have a particularly important piece of news to deliver?  A once in a lifetime sale?  A special event you don’t want people to miss?

Use voice.  But don’t use it too often.  Like endless jabbering from the person seated next to you on the plane – it loses its charm quickly. Then it’s just annoying.

[case study was reported on Marketingprofs.com]

Posted by: Steve Banis

There is opportunity now. But where? With whom?

I need to hang onto my customers What’s the best tack to take?

I’m determined to get aggressive. Where’s my best bang for my buck?

Last year’s questions might have been about branding, advertising, or how to go “viral”. Many wanted to talk about that. And agencies are only too happy to oblige as these are the highest margin products and services they sell.

Today it’s different. It will stay different.

The right questions to ask today are who, what, and what’s the return on that? For the most part, that means starting with the few and working outward.

Back on April 2nd, Seth Godin wrote a little about this approach. Begin with 10 utterly loyal clients, friends, associates, etc. and work from there. Start slowly and let it build.

Depending on your situation, the place to start is with your team, moving onto your key customers, and then finally to dedicated FOOs (friends of the organization).

Let your team in on the secret…you need them. They need you. You both have roles to play. Yours is to lead – provide vision, direction, tools, and resources. Theirs is to perform their jobs with gusto. Relate to customers better than ever. Spread the word with more sincerity and urgency. Share ideas.

Strength in numbers

Same with your customers. Not only do you want to keep your important customers happy, you also need them to know that you need their help to succeed with other customers as well. Testimonials, invitations to present within their circle of influence, and asking for their ideas is not only helpful, it can also be flattering.

FOOs can also be a fountain of good ideas. They have exposure to other industries, competitors, and can help you get a handle on things that might be working for others. Also, because they typically have no axe to grind, any referrals from them, even those that may not lead directly to business, may lead to something more concrete.

Bottom line? Yes, there is opportunity now. Yes, there are customers out there up for grabs. Most of the best ones seem to be laying low.

Now’s not the time for a big splash. Now’s the time to throw a bunch of pebbles into the water and make many little ripples. In time they’ll all connect to make a big wave.

Posted by: Steve Banis

Typical sales lead database breakdown

7% – Sales ready; buy within 90 days

9% – Duds; competitors, perpetual tire kickers

84% – Mid to long range prospects

If you’re focused on sales, you’ll most likely lick your chops over those 7% ready to buy now. But if you’re like many I’ve come across, those 84% longer term prospects may get a newsletter or a nudge here or there, but they’re not a real focus.

Here’s the killer though: 80% of them will buy your product or service – either from you or someone else – within 24 months. Will you be right there when that 90 day clock starts ticking?

Posted by: Steve Banis