Kris Mills
Let us say that you have been given a budget of $10,000 (not
including creative costs) to sell a new $800 product or
service via direct mail to a relatively cold list. You know
that once a new client comes on board they will usually
spend another $2,000 with you over the next 2 years.
You have a list of 10,000 names and for the purposes of
this exercise, lets say that your campaign costs work out
to be around $1 each including postage.
How would you spend that $10,000?
Would you:
A. Come up with creative you think is HOT and go all out
and mail out 10,000 pieces to every name on that list?
B. Develop two or three lots of creative and test them
against each other using a small sample from the list. Then,
once the results have been tallied roll out the winning
piece to the remainder of the list?
C. Develop 5 letters ... an initial mailer and four follow-
up letters. Select at random 2,000 names from the list and
mail the first letter. One week later, mail the 2nd. One
week after that mail the 3rd. Two weeks after that mail the
4th. Then three weeks after that mail the final one.
D. Select a random sample of 5,000 names and send one piece
to the entire 5,000. 1 day later send exactly the same
letter again to the same list.
E. Select a random sample of 5,000 names and send one piece
to the entire 5,000. 3 days later follow up each letter
with a phone call. (You might want to stagger the mailing
depending on how many telemarketers you have and you'll
need to stop once you reach the $5000 amount).
Which one delivers the best results?
Option A is a one shot wonder. You're gambling on the
creative being a winner first time around.
With Option B you have conducted a testing exercise first
to see which piece is the most responsive, so there's a
good chance that your results will be greater than they
would have been with Option A.
Once you have established a successful control, it's
important to continually test various elements of your
offer including creative, the list, the offer, headlines,
the number of enclosures in the campaign ... the works.
That way you can ever improve your responses.
Option C is what I call a drip feed campaign where the
campaign is developed as a series of direct mail pieces
which each convey a different benefit of purchasing.
Each one refers to the previous letter in some way.
The first letter might be a standard 1 step mail order
campaign.
The second might focus on frequently asked questions.
The third might focus on testimonials from customers.
The fourth might be a comparison between your product and
other products on the market. And so on.
Each letter asks them to buy. And each letter would include
the same order form/flier with a summary of all the
benefits and the offer.
This approach works on the principle that 80% of people
purchase after the 5th contact.
Option D is often the most controversial. Some say it makes
you look unprofessional. Others say, "who cares, if it
works". And it invariably does.
You're simply sending the same campaign to the same people
twice.
If people receive one envelope they may or not open it. If
they receive two identical envelopes there's a good chance
they'll open one of them.
Please note, this doesn't work with direct mail. It only
annoys people.
With Option E using telemarketing follow-up usually gives
you the same response again, as the direct mail shot. If
direct mail pulled 1%, a telephone follow-up call will pull
another 1%.
Which works better?
Forget A. Instead, use B in conjunction with C, D or E.
C is a good idea if you're selling products or services
with a long lead time.
D works especially well in situations where a large
percentage of mail gets thrown in the bin unopened.
And E works well in situations where you're running a
seminar or something that is very time sensitive.
********************************
If you'd like some help creating a winning direct mail
campaign, Kris Mills can help you in a number of ways. To
see how she can write a direct mail campaign for you just
email her to
info@wordsthatsell.com.au
Today's Motivational Reading
Energy of life
by Ralph Marston
It is in all that you see and hear, all that you touch and
taste. Can you feel the profound and unparalleled energy of
life as it fills your every moment? It comes to you not at
your bidding, nor does it cease to come when you ignore it.
It simply comes, rich and lush and ready to be lived as
much as you will. Even in the moments of sadness or
disappointment or frustration, it is in the background,
whispering its joy. You can choose to listen or not, and
still it is there.
Think of what a joy and a privilege it is to be alive in
this moment. Nothing else can compare. Stop for just a
minute and reconnect yourself with the wonder and
irreplaceable energy that is your life. Reacquaint yourself
on a regular basis with this most fundamental of all your
blessings.
Then move joyfully forward, filled with and propelled by
the energy of life.
Subscribers' Corner
The Importance of Budgeting
Tag: Got a great product people should know about?
How will they ever know if you have not properly
budgeted for its successful promotion?
by Kenny Love
Until recently, I served the Music industry as a record
promoter and media publicist. After having begun my
own music career as a recording artist and successfully
self-marketing my first recording, I realized that there
must, literally, be tons of musicians who could utilize my
skills. And, I was correct...there were.
Unfortunately, I also quickly realized that very few of
these "tons of artists" had absolutely any clue about
business, and even less of a clue about promoting their
music, outside the no-brainer effect of performing.
Though not nearly as bad, I still see the lack of proper
budgeting as a significant problem among traditional
business owners as well. There is a long-standing
thought that, whether the economy is in good or bad
condition, business owners should *always* actively
market and promote their products.
However, most cease actively promoting their products
or services during distressed economies. And, this is
the absolute poorest way to "budget" your marketing
and promotional dollars for your business.
So, let us utilize the example of any new product that
you currently have that you feel will change the world
for the better:
Targeting:
Who are the main people who need your product or
service most? Once you determine this, you then
need to determine all the ways you can reach these
people. For instance, your first line of marketing and
promotion defense should be:
1. Publicity:
Many people confuse publicity with advertising,
however, they are *not* the same. Publicity allows you
to get your information out to the public via the media
and, for the most part, without cost. However, the
caveat emptor is that your information must be
considered "newsworthy", as opposed to presenting
itself as just another item for sale.
The best way to qualify your business, product or
service as news, is to either "tie it in" (make a
connection) to a current news item, or to present it as
a problem-solver for some sector of society.
Additionally, media audiences, generally, give more
interest to, and perceive "publicity" items as more
important than "advertised" items. This is because
there is the sense that the media in which it is
presented is endorsing the product or service.
And, for the most part, this is correct because, most of
the time, the media reviews the item prior to placing its
proverbial stamp of approval on it via publication.
Again, your only costs are time and production of
promotional materials for the media.
Publicity is available from radio, television, print and
online sources alike. Simply determine the number of
sources within each of these media sectors that you
can afford to send your promotional materials to, then
itemize your budget accordingly.
2. Advertising:
Your second line of defense, is "advertising." Though
you may be in a financial position to execute both
publicity and advertising simultaneously, ideally (again,
in the interest of "budgeting"), it is financially
advantageous to apply your earnings from your
publicity results to your advertising campaign.
This process is a perfect example of making your
money work for itself, and eliminates the necessity of
your utilizing personal funds for capital in your
marketing and promotion.
And, once you are involved in the "advertising" portion
of your media campaign, in the further interest of
budgeting, first determine the size and degree of ad
that you wish to present to your prospective clients or
customers.
For example, let's use the print media, as your cost
will be determined by the amount of space you require:
Considerations:
As you see, there are far more considerations to apply
when creating a marketing/promotion budget than
simply coming up with an abstract figure, then throwing
caution to the wind, so to speak. Perhaps, this
information can serve its intended purpose in getting
you to consider your own budget with greater emphasis.
***************************
As you know, the unemployment rate is at a whopping
6.4%, the highest in 9 years, and with millions of people
out of work who don't know where to turn. And, sadly,
another 439,000 were added to the list just this past
week. And, it is going to get even worse shortly.
However, there are quite a large number of companies
that the "traditional worker" is completely unaware of,
that have a number of great-paying positions available.
Kenny Love published a new e-book "Nice Job$ (very
reasonably priced) listing over 1,200 companies (200 pages
of content) that allow their employees to "telecommute"
from home. http://www.thecassiopeia.com/nicejobs
To listen to a new Top Show, click the picture.
