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How Direct Mail Can Boost Your Networking Efforts By Joy Gendusa You have to market to stay ahead in business today. Even if you live in a small community, marketing plays a big role in making your business creditable. Consumers today are subjected to anywhere from 1800 – 3000 advertising messages per day. With that large of a statistic, it is no longer viable to rely only on word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to build a reputation, but if a competitor’s marketing message comes along that hits your consumers’ “buttons” they may be likely to leave your business in search for a better price, closer location or just plain curiosity.
You have to continually market to let people know you exist and so they will not forget about you. The way you do it may vary depending on your type of business, but there is one marketing avenue that will get you an excellent return on investment, if done right. Direct mail.
A survey by the International Research concluded that people prefer receiving messages by direct mail.
•73% of respondents said that they prefer receiving new product announcements by mail, versus 18% for email.
•Fewer people trash unsolicited direct mail when compared to email, 31% to 53% respectively.
Direct mail coupled with community networking and involvement, and some free internet listings on local search engines can markedly increase your business. With that being said you need to know how to do it right.
Do it right
First you need to know the power of repetition. If location is the mantra of real estate success, then repetition is the mantra for promotional success.
Regular, repeated mailings are the way to create big, measurable results. When you mail every 30 days for a year you will cause a dramatic growth in your business.
With direct mail, you can send your message to a targeted group of prospects or to your existing customers for only 25 to 30 cents each, including postage.
If you put out a blast of you will get inflow - prospects, customers calling or coming in and buying. Yes, if you deliver a good product you will get some business from referrals…some. But you want that blast repeated over and over and over to get the inflow that it will generate consistently. Consistency is where prediction comes in.
Say you send out 5000 postcards one month:
• Out of that 5000, 150 hang onto your postcard. • Out of that 5000, so many call the 1st week. • Out of that 5000, so many call the 2nd week. • Out of that 5000, so many call the next month. • Out of that 5000, so many call in 6 months. • Out of that 5000, so many never call…
There is a dwindling inflow from that first mailing and therefore can give a false impression of what occurs from one mailing. Someone sends out a postcard and says, “I only got four responses from my mailing!” But there is a whole dynamic that is going on that is continuing from that one mailing way after the person who sent the mailing expects things to happen. Every month you send out 5000 postcards you have the scenario happening above.
Eventually it is going to snowball because it’s coming in from all different places! You are really putting your out there consistently in a big way and you are going to get consistent and continuous growth.
Likewise, any local community activities that you do to help get your name out there will get you even more results if you have a targeted and consistent direct mail campaign running.
Know your target market
Don’t try and sell beer to the Temperance Society or real estate to people who cannot afford it. You have to target your direct mail marketing efforts.
The mailing list is a key factor in a successful small business direct mail marketing campaign. The right list targets people who want your product or service. The wrong list fails to target people who would want to buy from you. Sent to the wrong list, your mailing will be treated as ‘junk mail.’
You should also look for local community venues that cater to your target market. Register to speak at their functions; sponsor some of their charity activities; see how you can help them, their children and their churches or organizations. But don’t do this type of activity only to get the business – it will not ring true and you might get a reputation as a fake. Find some worthy cause to get behind and help. This will increase the effectiveness of your direct mail efforts.
Design your direct mail pieces to your target market
A good design and a good
Les dessous du procès de l'ex-dictateur irakien Saddam Hussein Arte diffuse un documentaire qui retrace la procédure judiciaire de l'ex-dictateur irakien.
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301728991"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301728991" border="0"/></a></div> Le chiffre d'affaires de la presse écrite a stagné en 2007 Selon des chiffres publiés par la Direction du développement des médias, le chiffre d'affaires de la presse écrite s'est élevé à 10,7 milliards d'euros, soit 0,4 % de plus par rapport à l'an dernier.
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301462949"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301462949" border="0"/></a></div> Un site pour les expatriés français à travers le monde De Mexico à Pékin, Lepetitjournal.com s'adresse aux diplomates, enseignants ou salariés délocalisés à l'étranger.
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301462948"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301462948" border="0"/></a></div> Les "unes" xénophobes du "Daily Mail" et les immigrés polonais L'association des Polonais du Royaume-Uni a fait publier un droit de réponse dans le tabloïd.
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<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301452823"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=301452823" border="0"/></a></div> Bertelsmann cède sa part de 50 % dans la major Sony BMG Le groupe se recentre sur les droits musicaux.
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<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=299999118"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=299999118" border="0"/></a></div> France Télévisions veut faire entendre sa différence Les chaînes publiques diffusent une série de spots montrant en quoi elles se distinguent de leurs homologues privées.
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<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=299746414"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=299746414" border="0"/></a></div> "La LCR ne devrait pas soutenir Siné" En intervenant en faveur du caricaturiste de "Charlie Hebdo" qui a tenu des propos qui attisent la haine antisémite, la Ligue retombe dans les pires travers du mouvement ouvrier, estiment deux anciens militants.
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message go a long way to making your direct mail piece a hit.
Your design should reflect your business/franchise, be relevant to who you are marketing to and should include an offer to create an immediate call to action. The graphic and headline is what ultimately prompts your prospect to turn your card over and read your message so make sure they communicate to your target audience.
Don’t want your direct mail to end up in the trash with the rest of the unread mail?
These 10 tips will help you get the results you want:
1. A clear, bold headline.
2. A graphic that supports the message. The graphic should be easy to understand and add to the message the headline is trying to convey.
3. Color that pops. Make the headline and other text stand out by using a color that stands out from the background color.
4. Subheads that lead into text. If you have a couple of paragraphs of text with no lead in, there’s nothing to entice people to actually read the copy. A subhead will give people a place to start reading.
5. Benefits, benefits, benefits. One of the biggest errors people make in advertising is stating features, rather than benefits.
6. The offer. An offer is always a good idea and should represent a specific reason to call now, such as “Limited supply”.
7. Your company name and logo. Although this needs to be on the mailer, it shouldn’t overshadow the offer. Customers care most about what you can do for them.
8. Call to action. Tell prospects exactly what you want them to do. “Call today for more information” or “See us online” are two of the most common desired actions.
9. Contact information. Provide your name, phone number, and Web address directly following the call to action.
10. Return address. A return address ensures you’ll get returned mail from the post office and sends a message that you’re an established professional.
Be consistent and commit
One thing about marketing is that you have to commit.
Consumers rarely get multiple postcards from a business. Yet it is such a brilliant idea. When I receive multiple postcards, I take a look. I think, “Hmmm, these guys are still contacting me.” That shows persistence, it shows credibility.
You need to hit your prospects with different about the same thing or hit them with different products with the same look and feel or both. The rest will come.
Moreover, you have to be consistently in the community speaking, helping, contributing, networking and shaking hands. But you cannot rely on this alone. Direct mail is a very creditable marketing medium and the two go hand in hand. The business owner who sends direct mail to his target market and sponsors their kids’ little league baseball team is going to get more business than the business owner that only relies on word of mouth. People are bombarded with messages today — you have to constantly remind them who you are, where you are and what you can do for them. You have to drive customers to your business.
What you are building with a marketing and community involvement/networking is credibility. You are building your business through communication. You are communicating consistently, so much that people will believe you (credibility) and they will respond; they will come, they will buy.
Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania (www.postcardmania.com“>www.PostcardMania.com) in 1998, her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, employed over 100 people and made Inc. Magazine’s prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy.
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A message about OJR from USC Annenberg's School of Journalism By Geoffrey Baum: A message from USC Annenberg Journalism School director Geneva Overholser:
Thank you for your interest in OJR. The fast-moving changes in digital media are more compelling every day, and they remain an important area of focus for the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
We are committed to keeping the archives of OJR available online and are exploring ways to continue the School's efforts to increase understanding about the revolutionary transformation of news and info
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=295556035"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=295556035" border="0"/></a></div> Goodbye By Robert Niles: After a decade, the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication has suspended publication of OJR.
One of OJR's goals over the years has been to help mid-career journalists make a successful transition from other media to online reporting and production. I'm pleased to say that USC Annenberg will continue to provide support in that area, through the Knight Digital Media Center. I encourage OJR readers to click over to the KDMC website and its blogs,
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=289248819"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=289248819" border="0"/></a></div> McClatchy Washington bureau shines as bright example for online journalism By Robert Niles: The past decade has brought the journalism industry some of its darkest moments. On the business side, management teams that grew used to local monopolies could not react swiftly enough to protect their market share as thousands of online competitors emerged. Revenue tanked, readership declined and layoffs became a seasonal task at many newspapers.
On the editorial side, many newsrooms blew or missed one major story after another, from the Whitewater "scandal," hitting the sn
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=288795387"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=288795387" border="0"/></a></div> OJR launches individual reader blogs By Robert Niles: OJR now allows its registered members to maintain individual blogs on OJR.
Just click the "Post Blog Entry" link near the top of the right navigation rail to get started. OJR's editors and I will read all the submissions, then select ones to go on the OJR front page feed. You can find links to all the most recent reader-submitted blog entries under the "Recent Blogs" header on the right rail.
You can start a free blog just about anywhere on the Web, from Blogger.com and b
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287953860"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287953860" border="0"/></a></div> It's a lo-o-o-ong way from Lawrence, Kan., to Loudoun County, Va. By Tom Grubisich: The headline on the Wall Street Journal story about the Washington Post's widely watched venture in local-local journalism on the Web was unambiguous: "Big Daily's Hyperlocal Flop."
So how bad actually is LoudounExtra.com? Let's look.
On the LoudounExtra homepage, I am greeted with this above-the-fold spread:
My squinting eyes try to read the reverse-type blurb, but before I can finish, a new image/blurb is automatically rotated in the space.
After figuring out
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287764083"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287764083" border="0"/></a></div> L.A. Times launches sharable electoral vote map By Eric Ulken: Which campaign will get to 270 in November, and how will they do it? The L.A. Times has built an interactive map that allows readers to create and test their own electoral vote scenarios, and then embed those scenarios in their own sites.
(Sample after the jump.)
We're hoping to improve on this as the campaign heats up, perhaps adding demographic info and data on past elections by state. Would love to hear suggestions.
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287764082"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287764082" border="0"/></a></div> Question of the week: Going to journalism school - yes or no? By Robert Niles: For this week's discussion question, I'd like to hear about the academic preparation OJR readers had for their career.
Obviously, being housed and paid for by the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California, OJR's not exactly a neutral forum for this question. One might suspect that we'd have a larger-than-expected number of j-school folk hanging around here. But we do get a fair number of readers who did not come up through the traditional journal
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287551259"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287551259" border="0"/></a></div> Back to basics with Flip Video By Chris Jennewein: In architecture, less is more, and the same appears to be true for video news gathering. The simple Flip Video camcorder heralds a time when every journalist carries a video camera.I bought a Flip Video camcorder for my wife for mother's day. At under $150, it was a bargain. But the primary motivation was having a camera she sould depend upon. Our simple DV camcorder took great video, but seemed to always need charging, or a new tape, and thus wasn't available at the spur of
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287394137"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=287394137" border="0"/></a></div> Writing print's epitaph - v6.5.08 (service pack 3) By Robert Niles: My friend Sree Sreenivasan asked members an online journalism e-mail list for reaction to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's interview with the Washington Post, published this morning. Specifically, Sree asked for reactions to this statement from Ballmer: "In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down -- my opinion. Here are the premises I have. Number one, there will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is
<div class='nifad'><a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=286896128"><img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=a8a276f7a37a42499f8b1c69f9acf191&u=286896128" border="0"/></a></div> When journalists hate journalism... By Robert Niles: ... the industry has a problem.You'd think that journalists would be the biggest news hounds around. For the most part, you'd be right. I was talking with some of my Annenberg colleagues at a journalism conference last month, and one asked how many hours a day we each spent reading and watching the news, whether in print, online or on TV. The consensus? About four to five hours a day. But there is one exception to this potential rule: Many journalists despise TV news. They hate
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