Direct Marketing News

Direct mail can be one of the most powerful marketing tools available to offline business. Direct mail can easily outperform other advertising by 300% to 2000%. You can not afford not to try direct mail, but you must do it right or the monetary costs are significant. Here is the scary part; direct mail is easy to get wrong.

The Five Deadly Mistakes that can go wrong with direct mail campaigns

1) a poorly written sales letter

2) a poor customer list (usually outdated)

3) the wrong demographic

4) wrong message to market

5) no testing before a large scale campaign has begun

If any of these 5 mistakes occur it can destroy any hope you have of being successful with direct mail. The result for most business owners is that they stop using direct mail believing it did not attract any new leads. This type of thinking is flawed and a major marketing error.

How can a business owner protect from making the 5 fatal errors; there are only two effective systems:

1) Hire a seasoned pro (which is commonly referred to in the industry as a copywriter) to create your direct sales copy.

2) Test your mailings rigorously before spending a lot on a huge mailing..

When you find a direct mail package that works, stick with it and use it with a vengeance or until it stops working for you.

Here are some Quick Tips and Action Points for starting a direct mail campaign.

1) Test whether or not to use teaser copy on the outside of your direct mail letters.

You must get your prospects to open or read direct mail.

2) “Can’t Resist” headlines are key to capturing prospect interest and getting them to read more.

3) Never forget a “P.S”. Some say that after the headline; it’s the most read part of your sales letter.

4) Make it look like a letter, therefore, a typed le (more…)

Are you tired of putting together direct mail campaigns that cost you a small fortune but reap little results? Do you want to start a direct mail campaign but do not know where to begin? In this article I will explain a few simple ways to improve the return rate of your direct marketing programs by more accurately hitting those target customers likely to purchase remodeling and building services.

Before we jump into who this “target market” is and how we can easily find them, lets assume that you have never put together a mailing campaign and do not know where to start. There are several ways to go about it, you could hire a advertising agency to put together a mailing piece for you, or just a designer, you could purchase a desktop publishing program and design the piece yourself or you could even simply hand write letters and mail them to potential customers. Which is the best option is a whole other article so I will not get to deep into which is the best choice, just remember each has a unique cost implication.

Now that you know what to mail you need to know who to mail it to? Instead of just going through the phone book and picking a couple hundred addresses or purchasing a mailing list that will just send you mail piece to a mass audience, lets find the people who most likely want to hear your message. Studies show that new homeowners are much more likely to spend money on remodeling services than those who have been in their homes for an extended period of time. In fact according to an article published by real estate weekly, they spend more than twice as much in the first year of ownership than non-movers. You may have already known that, but do you know how to find them?

You could pay for the services of many lead generation firms or purchase NCOAlink (National Change Of Address), but that would really throw y (more…)

Your business is probably one of the most important things to you, right? Some people feel like it is similar to a child - wanting to do anything possible to nurture it and help it grow. You invest so much time and money into owning a business, of course you want others to remember and value it too! Using tradeshow giveaways is a very useful tool if you do it right. You must be creative when thinking of what you want to give out. Here are some tradeshow giveaway ideas that are resourceful and distinctive.

Make sure that your company’s name and logo can be clearly seen on all gifts. Bring lots of business cards, brochures, magnets, pens, etc. and be sure to display them so they can easily be seen and are easy for people to grab. Then, in addition to the standard giveaways, bring more creative ones that represent your business. For example, if your company targets golfers, order golf balls or golf tees with your company’s logo printed on them and pass them out. Or hand out something that almost everyone uses - perhaps have your logo printed on a travel coffee mug. You can have your company’s name and logo printed on almost anything, ranging from erasers to umbrellas. Find a product that suits your business and target customer.

Another great tradeshow giveaway is food. People are always attracted to food, especially free food. Also, it is not something that most people think to bring to a tradeshow, so doing this will make you stand out even more. Try wrapping your food in packaging that displays your company’s name and contact information.

Gift certificates and coupons are also great things to give away at a trade show. If people know that they have a discount when buying your product, they will be more likely to buy from you rather than from a competitor. This gives you a chance to prove to the potential customer how useful your com (more…)