Direct mail advertising is still perhaps the most powerful and effective methods for any small business to get new customers and to sell more products and services to existing customers and clients, as well.
The challenge is business owners go about it in totally the wrong way. A profitable direct mail marketing campaign is not just a matter of posting some random letter or card through the post and expecting it to generate a flood of sales.
Successful direct mail marketing, like every other of effective and profitable small business advertising is based on keeping to the rules of the game, rules developed over the last 150 years or so.
They are not rules as in laws you must observe ?or else?, but rather are suggestions which have been found empirically to give superior results (i.e. higher Return on Investment, or ROI).
Unfortunately, the individuals responsible for generating most of the direct mail marketing campaigns small businesses run are not in fact qualified for the job. Because it tends to be left in the hands of graphic designers, and unless they?ve been expressly trained in direct marketing principles, they ?ll produce something that looks marvelous ? but in terms of ROI is a disaster.
More serious still, it?s pointless arguing with them: in spite of reams of evidence to the contrary, I still hear graphic designers advising my customers what I?ve created for them has too much text and no one will read it (which must be why the 22-page sales letter I recently sent out for a client went to 30,000 + people and produced an ROI of 150,000 GBP or more, I imagine). So here some simple rules for direct mail. I promise, abide by these and you?re going to get better responses:
Rule # 1: Don?t bawl ?ADVERTISING?
Most direct mail advertising LOOKS like advertising. You get it in a stock envelope with a label or printed address on it, and as often as not it has the company name and logo on it, to. This is a really atrocious idea..
How come? Because it?s obvious even to my dog this is a marketing piece ? and it follows you?re going to seek and sell me something, which right away puts me on the defensive.
Rather, I recommend you use a simple, white envelope, the kind you?d use for a personal letter. Then use an actual stamp (as in, a stamp from the Post Office), and hand-write the address, or at least use a reasonable looking handwriting font printed right onto the envelope? NO LABELS.
If you are compelled have a return address on it, simply use the address in the top left corner ? no company name, no logo.
Just doing this one means your direct mail is going to be delivered to and opened by many, many more people. No one can resist a hand-addressed personal letter.
Rule # 2: Write from ?one person to another ?
This is in direct contrast to the direct mail advertising pieces you get every day, I ?d put money on it. Most of them have no obvious reason even for existing ? I assume the fool producing them waxed lyrical about ?brand? or something. But developing your ?brand? doesn?t by itself make you money. Brand follows and because of service.
You should write your direct mail marketing pieces in exactly the same tone as you ?d write a letter to an appreciated aunt or uncle. Forget about being ?professional? or keeping to the practices they taught you at school. Simply write as you speak, and you won?t go far wrong.
Aim your entire piece at emphasising one problem and one problem only, by giving a big, bold promise in your headline. Then, in the body of the piece, tell them you CAN resolve it, and then explain to them EXACTLY HOW they can obtain this miracle solution you have. In other words, you need a focused and impossible-to-miss call to action, like ?Telephone me on 00000-000000 NOW and book your free appointment ? places are limited to the first seven callers, so if you?re the eighth caller, you?ll miss out?. Easy as pie.
These suggestions by themselves will make a significant difference to your results, I guarantee.
Jon McCulloch is Ireland?s leading direct mail expert. Visit his website now and take just three of the 52 FREE small business marketing ideas he?s giving away today, and actually put them to work for you and you?ll be amazed by the results.
They?ve all produced substantially improved results for small businesses just like yours in the past two years.
Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com
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