- Bob Martel
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- Bob Martel |
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Direct Marketing | Database Marketing | Copywriting | ||
| Perseverance is the key to establishing long term marketing results A while ago, this newspaper sponsored a seminar - and launched a whole marketing program for advertisers on the topic of achieving "top of mind" awareness amongst your prospects and customers. I bring it up once again because I promised to answer a few reader questions in this week's column, and my in-basket is overflowing with inquiries along these lines. It goes without saying that an effective print ad campaign can do wonders for a business and, indeed, help the company to dominate a category. I won't belabor the print ad story here. Talk to your account rep. I want to share some ideas that will complement a good print campaign to ensure that you fill the pipeline with ideal prospects. If you have the patience and discipline to actively 'farm' for results, read on… Regardless of your line of business, if you have the 'get-up-and-go' to go get new customers, the following advice will help you generate all of the business you can handle: Question: My company has tried direct marketing, cold calling, tradeshows, and just about everything under the sun, including the Internet and e-mail - but results are marginal. We're in a business-to-business service industry. What do you recommend? Answer: Without seeing the actual materials and knowing your strategy, it's tough to give specific advice. All of these programs work, although some will yield better results at a lower cost per sale. Each has a different purpose and requires a different level of effort. Just because you may have tried and failed with a particular program does not mean that it cannot work for you. Evaluate the execution of your program and try again. I recommend, as you might have guessed if you've read my column in the past, that you rethink your direct mail approach and try again. Nothing work better that a sequence of well planned sales letters to your prospects. A good letter to the wrong list is useless. I've seen too many people spend too little time selecting a list for their mailing. Do not cut corners on your list selection, or try to use an old list. You're better off throwing your campaign straight into the trash bin. The best list of all is your customer list. Segment it into top accounts, inactives, and those with the most potential. Question: If I have a limited marketing budget for my business, where should I invest my funds? Answer: You could invest in pork belly futures but the options market is very risky and I am not a certified financial planner anyway. I would invest in first class stamps. In other words, use the mail to communicate with your customers and prospects. Put those postmen (and women) to work as sales people for you! E-mail is appealing but it lacks true personalization as is possible to achieve in a good letter. I would invest in good copywriting to ensure that my message is clear - on my web site, in my brochures, at shows, and in my sales letters. Then, invest in a good sales person to convert all of those leads! In my opinion, nobody reads brochures and image ads are a waste of money. Direct mail, direct response print ads, and e-marketing mixed in with a good telephone campaign will yield results over the long haul. If you are not allocating 3-4 percent of gross revenue into marketing, I recommend skipping that next vacation and spend it on stamps if business growth is your goal. Question: In your column, you often write about "building perceived value" in the minds of your customers and prospects. We are a small manufacturing company, with regional customers. How do we go about this? Answer: Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. You start building perceived value in the minds of your customers by doing whatever it is that you do…very well. You build perceived value in the minds of prospects by building trust through the mail so that you achieve top of mind awareness when the prospect needs what you offer. Use testimonials, send articles of interest, send a gift, an audiotape, educate them. Build value before you even meet them. Create a "stay in touch" system to ensure top of mind awareness. Position yourself as a consultant to your customers' customers (if you rely on distribution) and help distributors generate demand through the expertise you are providing to them. Solve problems better than your competition. I'd like to offer a FREE gift to the three readers who send in the best questions in February, 2001. Loretta LaRoche is coming to Nevins Hall on March 22nd. Two free tickets await you if your question is selected for an upcoming column. Next: How to optimize your pricing for maximum profits. Bob Martel is a marketing consultant, speaker, and direct marketing copywriter. He can be reached at JMB Marketing by e-mail at bobmartel@jmbmarketing.com, or by calling (508) 481-8383. Copyright © 2005 JMB Marketing Group, All Right Reserved |
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JMB Marketing Group |
Voice (508) 481-8383 |
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