Direct Marketing News

In the world of a medical transcription service owner, life can be hectic. From hiring and staffing transcribers to collecting from slow paying facilities; MTSO’s have enough on their plate to worry about while they are in the office, let alone when their work pulls them away from the office. The idea of leaving for a couple of days just to attend a trade show is usually the last thing on an owner’s mind.

Chances are you probably feel like you don’t have enough time to attend a trade show. Before you start listing all of the reasons why you can’t afford to go to a medical transcription trade show (monetary, geographical, logistical, etc.), I’d like to share with you all the reasons why you can’t afford to stay home!

One of the top concerns an MTSO may have about attending a trade show is getting there. Paying for flights, hotels and conference registrations can add up quickly-that is if you wait until the last minute to book everything. Rule number one: plan ahead. Contact the trade show organizers as soon as you think you might want to attend the show, and ask if discounted flights and hotels are available for medical transcription professionals. The answer will almost always be yes-unless you wait too long. Keep in mind that the prices often skyrocket a few weeks before the show begins, so a good rule of thumb is to book about three months in advance.

Something else to keep in mind is the possibility of not staying in the same hotel as the conference to save a little extra cash. Regardless of whether the preferred hotel is attached to the conference center or not, staying in it can sometimes be expensive, even with a discounted rate. So I would suggest looking into booking a room in a smaller hotel in proximity to the conference location. Staying at an alternative hotel can save you a bundle, while still being a short, conv (more…)

Once upon a time companies could advertise on every form of media available, to get their product out there. But now there are way to many different forms and channels to advertise on, making it impossible to afford. Meaning you need to cut costs by only placing your sales pitch right in front of the people most likely to buy.

For this reason, direct marketing is now exploding.

Direct marketing targets specific markets or consumer groups, making for a much higher and more effective response rate than other advertising medians.

If you are undertaking a direct marketing business or project, you need to do more than just putting your message in front of your target market. You need to consider several factors to best increase the response rate. Firstly direct marketing costs money, so you have to consider the timing. If you can’t afford to have your message sit in front of your potential customers 24/7 you need to consider when is the best time to target your market.

For example if you are targeting construction workers, you would not be to successful if you put your message on day time television.

So the first thing you need to do, is identify your target market. Preferably a niche group of individuals with a common problem. For example, house holders who want to improve their garden. This is a pretty broad niche but the problem is specific.

You now need to test if narrowing the market down more will be more cost effective. For example you might find the majority of this niche are women between the ages of 40 & 60 who live in the outer suburbs, not in city’s. The more you narrow down your niche the higher your response rate, or clickthrough in adwords campaigns. However you will also miss out on some sales due to less people seeing your message. This is why you must test all campaigns to find your highes (more…)

You are driving to work in rush hour traffic, half listening to the news on the radio. You hear the date and realize that today is your sister’s birthday. Mildly panicked, you grab your cell phone to order flowers. What number will you dial? If you are like most, you will dial 1-800-FLOWERS. Most people do not have the local florist on speed dial but everyone can recall 1-800-FLOWERS.

A toll free vanity number combined with strong branding statements can help your company stand apart in a competitive marketplace. Sit N’Sleep Mattress maximized their memorable slogan, “We’ll beat any advertised price or your mattress is freeeee” with a 1-800-FREEEEE vanity number.

Toll free vanity numbers optimize advertising efforts by providing an easy to recall number for customers to follow up which facilitates direct response. There are three types of response times in advertising:

1)Immediate. Customers hear the advertising message, want what is being offered and buy it.

2)Delayed. With delayed response, the customer hears the message but is too busy to take immediate action. They want what is being offered and plan to take action later.
3)Long Term. You hear or see the marketing message and you are interested but may not take action for a week, month or even a year later.

Vanity numbers provide an effective follow up solution for all response types. Customers will remember how to reach you whether they need your services today or long after they have heard or seen your advertising message.

The immediate customer can effortlessly move from hearing to buying with a vanity number. The delayed response customer does not have to hunt for pen and paper or stop their activities to write down a phone number. A customer in need of flowers will remember 1-800-FLOWERS even if responding hours lat (more…)