Posts from the ‘Direct Response Marketing’ Category

Words are important. In real life they’re super important and online they rule supreme. As the first thing someone sees on a website, the words you use can either entice someone to take action, or push them away. Many times the words we use are well meaning, however an easy misintepretaton can quickly turn readers off and send them to the competition.

Find out how to easily write powerful headlines and benefit bullets that spur action rather than pushing your potential clients away.
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What I’m about to say is going to shock you, especially coming from a guy who makes a very good living helping clients get more leads and sales online, and that is this – direct mail marketing is far from being dead. Here’s why.

For more than 5 years push marketing, defined as marketing that interrupts consumers by pushing a message on them, has been dying. The killing force in this instance is the explosive growth of social media, that has once again given voice to the mute consumer. The people demand interaction, and at the very least recognition. People are tired of being ignored. Aren’t you?

But there’s a bit of a catch here.

Take Twitter as an example. Every tweet that you send is a message you’re pushing out into the wild. People following you have a choice – they can read that message or ignore it. The same goes for “traditional” media like newspaper advertising, television, radio, etc. Anything that allows the broadcasting of messages, which covers every two-way communication tool, is a device of push marketing.

Is it really an interruption if we’ve subscribed to it?

One thing about living in Thailand is that I have someone back in the  U.S. sending us our mail. Unfortunately I don’t get to see the direct mail pieces that people send. It’s not too unfortunate though as most of it is total junk, it’s an interruption – I never subscribed to it. And even when I did such as in the case of a credit card or my local bank, the stuff they send is also total crap.

But it never stops coming. And therein lies the lesson. Direct mail marketing is far from dead, because it works. However, there are some new rules.

The New Push Marketing, Now With Less Push!

We’ve talked before about how the money in your business is in the follow-up. It’s very true. How many companies follow up with you that you eventually buy from? I’m going to venture a guess at very few. Many businesses will work to get your attention, and then once they fail to make a sale move on to the next potential buyer. They are missing a huge opportunity. Here’s what you can do so that you don’t end up like those bozos.

1. Continue to broadcast your messages far and deep on your blog, social media sites, paid advertising, magazines – everywhere your customers are.
2. Compel them to come back to your home base – your website or your office (could just be via phone).
3. Once there, capture their information – full name, email address, phone number, website URL – whatever information is pertinent, but definitely try to get their email at least.
4. If they become a customer, wow them with your products and service, and then put them into a customer nurture sequence that keeps in touch at every 3-4 weeks. If they don’t, put them into a different sequence where you send them a message every 2-3 weeks.

Now here’s where it gets fun.

If you have their address, then you can put them into a multimedia campaign. This is where direct mail marketing can make a huge difference between you and that other company. Why only send them emails when you can send them something solid in the mail, like a booklet of customer testimonials, or a DVD of video testimonials.

Who does that anymore? People making a lot of money that’s who. I’ve gotten some very cool stuff in the mail from companies I’ve requested information from. And I don’t know about you, but I love getting cool stuff in the mail. Note the emphasis there.

Before you run out and start creating DVDs there’s one caveat here – you must know who is a qualified customer and how much it costs to get a customer. If you know that then you also know how much you can spend to acquire a new customer. If you can spend more then you can stomp your competition. Hands down.

So my challenge to you is this – how can you integrate direct mail into your existing marketing campaigns?

Direct marketing online is typically defined as communications though email, social media, online catalogs, etc. It is an important part of your inbound marketing program as direct marketing usually provides the means by which you regularly, and most often, captivate your audience.  It is one of the most effective ways to speak directly to your customer.

As such, it is important to know what works best—you should be able to put your finger on what speaks to your most valuable customers and turns them into buyers. To do this, we turn to direct response marketing analytics.

How It Works

First, you have to define your definition of “important”. Is it important to get a certain kind of viewer or reader to your site, or is it only important to get a large number of visitors? Neither answer is right or wrong—but you have to identify your main goal before you can benchmark your results against it.

Secondly, what does that “important” audience need to buy? And, how are they buying. Simply put, once you’ve got them as viewers, how do you convert them to buyers.

There are many ways to slice and dice the analytics behind your direct marketing efforts. You should definitely monitor your website visits and lead generation every month. That is something that any website analytic tool can help you with on a regular basis. However, more importantly, you need to focus on the metrics associated with the definition and conversion of relevant leads.

In addition to you regular monitoring, you should benchmark your numbers just before and just after any communications campaign. If you can, add the individual link analytics to this report. For example, if you sent out a newsletter via email, don’t just measure the number of hits on your site following the email blast, also take a look at where these visitors are clicking.

Take this information and identify the trouble spots. Are you losing the “best” customers after a certain point? Are you getting more leads or visits after a specific event? Your analytics should answer those questions for you.

Additionally, do a cost analysis. Divide your investment by the number of valuable leads achieved over a relative amount of time. As a general rule, if your costs are more than a third of your total profit per lead, then you should adjust your campaign to perform better. However, it is up to you to decide how much it is worth to you to capture those leads.

Lastly, don’t let these efforts go without monthly, or even weekly, analysis. There are software offerings that can help, but in most cases it makes sense to bring in a third party that can be accountable for making sure your online efforts are not being wasted.

The Bottom Line

Your customers are online, and you will know if they see you, but only if you are paying attention. Correctly using direct response marketing analytics is the best way to “pay attention”. The process is simple, but the reward is great. Be in control of your campaign and adjust its effectiveness monthly to maximize the number of leads you attain.

The role of a direct response online marketing company is to create an infrastructure and an offering that customers want. These companies incorporate a host of proven strategies and free offers to get the market’s attention. By enticing the audience with content rich incentive, they deliver a flood of high quality leads. Which hopefully result in huge increases in revenue.

Using a series of tried and true techniques, these companies have people literally running to get their charge cards. The messages they create, fueled by specific delivery cycles, are so motivating that people just have to buy. Seems simple, right?

Make no mistake about it, direct response online marketing is a highly developed skill. While competition is fierce, the truth is that practically anyone can learn to do it. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities to try your hand at direct response online marketing. The fact is, it’s a killer way to increase sales.

The following are some of the secrets they might not tell you but I will…

#1: Know Your Audience

I know it’s been said before many times over, but still I see way too many people totally off base. I meet those who claim that “everyone” is their target market!

It is absolutely imperative to understand your audience’s needs AND wants before you create your pitch page. After all, how will you write something that motivates them if you don’t know who they are? The key is to use a free offering to test their interest, after all, that’s what direct response online marketing companies are masters in.

#2: Watch Your Language

When you write copy, you need to avoid any tentative wording. Scratch out those phrases like “We believe” or “I think.” They send a subliminal message of insecurity. They’re looking for an expert, someone who knows their challenges and has overcome at least one of them successfully. If you sound unsure, they’ll just go to someone who communicates more confidently.

Obviously the words you use are important but just as important as is the focus of the message. You must speak to the customer exclusively about THEIR needs. They don’t really care about you, your company or your product. They care about themselves and the notorious “what’s in it for me.” Focus on them.

#3: Any Objections?

Never ignore a customer’s objections. They must be addressed. The key is to determine what their objections are and figure out how to overcome them. This needs to be from the customer’s point of view. Many people make the mistake of overcoming the wrong ones, mostly their own and not the potential customer’s objections.

#4: Anticipate The Questions

If you know your audience and understand them, you should have no problem anticipating their questions. Now that you know what they might be asking, take the next step and answer those questions. Make it easy for the customer to do business with you.

#5: Define the Unique Selling Proposition

Introduce the unique selling proposition in the beginning, reinforce in the middle and again at the end. It’s an important part of the “why you” and you need to communicate it more than once so that the customer really gets it.

#6: Always Add Value

It is imperative to include valuable information in the text of the offering. Time is tight, people are distracted and you need to reward them for spending time with you. They should finish reading your offering with a deeper understanding of the topic but not so much that they feel satisfied. Without some valuable content few people will continue to read, let alone being motivated to buy. Rule of thumb – Unless you are engaging them, you’ll lose them.

#7: Stop Them Dead In Their Tracks

Write a killer headline. A good title creates curiosity, interest and intrigue. If the headline is good, people must open it. Famous, or infamous depending on how well you know him, direct response online marketing expert, Dan Kennedy, says, “You should spend as much time on the headline as you do the entire piece.” It’s true. I know because I’ve furthered his cause and the cause people he writes for, by spending lots and lots of money with them.

Bonus Secret

This one secret, maybe more than any other, is vital to success. Make the offering appeal to their hearts and not their heads.

Good luck and keep us posted on how your direct response online marketing efforts are going.