Better response for marketing campaigns!

Holidays are a great way to get ahead.

To get ahead of your work, get ahead of the game, take a step back and think about where your marketing is going/ where your business is going, while spending more quality time with the people you love.

This year has been a really turbulent year for marketing. The economy resulted in slashed budgets, more cost-consciousness (see ‘death of direct mail‘), less time for ‘real marketing’ more time on social networks, lower consumer spending has meant lower campaign ROI and ultimately a lot of jobs lost).

So if anything, this weekend is a good time to take a step back, get a view from 15,000 feet and re-learn marketing if necessary.

Here’s how:

#1 Sign up for these feeds:

Network for Good (Learn best practices in non-profit marketing)

BtoB magazine (Because B2B requires different strategies)

Chris Brogan (Social Media Business Strategy)

Hoovers (Marketing with a perspective on data)

DPS Magazine (Keep ahead of what’s next in print)

American Printer (The latest printing news)

#2 Pick up a great marketing book and devour it this weekend

#3 Watch these videos we compiled for you on youtube.

Imagine if the guy in the picture is knocking on your front door or is walking into your office with a briefcase. More than certain, your reaction would be, “annoying salesman is trying to sale me something I don’t need.” Half way through his pitch, you would probably tell him you are not interested and show him the door. You don’t even know what he was selling, but without a doubt, you know you were in no way interested in what he has to sell. As it turns out, he was just trying to hand out vouchers for free drinks at the grand opening of a bar he owns down the street.

He did not have the slightest ounce of intent to sell you anything, but you immediately assumed he did because his appearance resembles the copier or carpet cleaning service salesman that comes by every other week. So the story ends with a “lose-lose” situation. You missed out on some free drinks (you would probably appreciate after a long day of work) and the owner was denied the opportunity to inform you about the grand opening of his bar. The moral here is no one likes being sold to.

Everyone’s definition of marketing slightly differs, but I assume we can agree that marketing is not sales. The purpose of marketing is to inform and educate the market about a product/service and its benefits. The purpose of sales is to convince someone to pay for or use the product/service.

Now think about the messaging of your marketing initiatives. Does it appear to be informative and educational or does it sound like a sales pitch? For example, if you are doing an eblast (email campaign), compare your message to the emails in your spam or trash bin. Those emails ended up in the spam or trash bin because you saw no difference between them and the copier salesman who occasionally stops by your office. If you sort though them closely, you might find some appealing offers or useful information you can benefit from.

Think about the words and phrases used in the description of the offer or the product…

“Our product is the best and is unbeatable in price. Contact us today to get your hands on one.”

“Cost efficiency is essential to the operation of a business. XYZ modules have been extensively tested by the Kellog and Harvard Business Research Scholars. Their results yield a success rate of 98.71% at enhancing cost efficiency. Learn more…”

How the wording is composed determines how the messaging is read. It is obvious the first example sounds like an email you would delete before reading the entire offer. The second offer may or may not sound like something you are interested in, but you will at least read more before moving it to the trash bin. The moment people sense the slightest hint they are being sold to, they are reluctant to absorb any additional information.

The lesson here is to not dress your marketing messaging in the apparel of a sales pitch. It may not have been your intention to compose a sales pitch, but consumers today are more sensitive than ever before. If the objective was to share a whitepaper or to invite someone to a webinar, make sure it sounds genuine and avoid trying to get someone to buy something. Just think, if the bar owner had came into your office with an Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat, you would have probably listened to what he had to say and gotten a couple of free drinks.

Willv

#1 Use different channels.

Lots of celebrities make money from different channels. From showbiz to sports, the key to making a fortune is multiple streams of income. Tiger woods is a fine example of this; he’s made over $25 million in prize money. Not a lot? Together with off-course earnings, he’s made almost $1 bil. Currently ($97,919,714).

For marketers, the core statistic is probably response rates and ROI, but the method is the same. Use different channels including email, direct mail, personalized web-pages, social media, print, traditional media,… to achieve your goal. The better you get each channel to complement each other, the more success you will enjoy.

#2 Prepare for the unexpected.

Wimbledon fans will remember the longest final in history just a year ago between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Many tennis fans call that match the greatest in history, but it required that both players were prepared for the unexpected and were physically and mentally in shape.

Are you prepared for the unexpected with your marketing campaigns? Do you have the tools to understand the underlying dynamics behind your campaign statistics. Is a new marketing segment beginning to respond to you, are your competitors imitating your campaigns, do you need to change your approach.

#3 Bad publicity is still publicity

(Just ask Paris Hilton)

If you’re reading this, it is likely that you won’t have to deal with bad publicity often. Frankly you almost wish you had some bad publicity to deal with. This point is still important to you as a marketer.

You still have to deal with negative sentiments towards your campaign. If you’re mass marketing the same campaign to the same list regularly. Chances are you are damaging your brand and making your recipients less receptive to what you have to say.

Learn from Paris, take a bad and use it for your benefit. Use the opportunity to rebrand your company/ marketing campaigns and turn negative sentiments around. (Of course not everyone will be convinced, remove them from your list! )

#4 What do people remember you for?

Take a page out of Donald Trump’s play book. When you hear the name Trump, you associate it with perfection.

What do your recipients associate your brand with? Humourous campaigns, long boring text, spam? Make sure you control how people view your brand and keep to it. Marketing success often comes with repetition.

#5 It’s all about the campaign

On her current concert tour, Lady GAGA very boldly tells her fans that for her, it is all about the music, not the money. This refreshing approach to music is however the reason for her success.

Similarly, by focusing your campaigns on the recipient’s experience, making the conversation about them (not about you or your brand), then campaign success will follow. Make sure the campaign tools you have in your arsenal: design, messaging, campaign offers, marketing channels… work to this purpose.

#6 Practice, Practice, Practice (or Test, Test, Test)

Only 1 player in the recent history of the NBA has the ability to unite the world around a sport. Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest player in the history of the NBA, often attributes his success to his focus on training.

Similarly, marketers need to constantly hone their skills and test each campaign. Will a simple change in email subject line improve responses? What about a new offer, a new marketing channel, a new way to use social media, a new presentation style, a new sales pitch…

Make sure you are constantly testing, the marketing landscape changes quickly, what works today may not work tomorrow.

—> In remembrance of another MJ

GURLs, CURLs, and PURLs

So, why are some of us still reluctant to use PURLs as an ingredient in our direct marketing mix. Does it not generate higher response rates than GURLs or CURLs ? Is it not cost efficient? Implementation is difficult and time consuming? If you nodded and/or answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably haven’t done your homework.

There has been sufficient proof that PURLs generate higher response rates than GURLs and CURLs do… Google it! Yes, personalization does come with a price tag, but it may not be as costly as you think. The key is to consider other alternatives before committing to “out of the box” solutions. Do some research on SaaS (software as a service) solutions… they are more likely to be more cost and resource efficient.

I strongly believe the true barrier is the perception that implementing PURLs is difficult and time consuming. Perceptions are not always true. There are solutions that enable users to quickly implement PURLs into their direct marketing initiatives with very little effort. What I am speaking of is not a myth. Take a few minutes and check out the clip below and witness how PURLs can be created and published in just minutes. Just a side note, the presenter (Doug) did this on his laptop, while waiting to tee off at the 16^th hole. 

(don’t be too concerned with all the technicality, this is just an example of how easy and quick PURLs can be implemented)

For general definitions of GURLs, CURLs and PURLs, check out the Insight Forums

Will V.

L2 has one of the most popular whitepapers

According to the DMA, L2 has the second most popular whitepaper on the DMA’s website.

L2’s whitepaper, ‘8 Tips for Selling a Direct Marketing Campaign‘ is even more relevant today then it was when it was written a year ago.

The 8 tips were written to help marketers and marketing service providers sell that initial direct marketing campaign and convince colleagues/ bosses/ or sometimes themselves of the effectiveness of direct marketing campaigns.

If you have yet to adopt 1to1, personalized and targeted marketing campaigns, then these 8 tips are for you.

Tip 1: Help them understand the motivation for direct marketing campaigns
Tip 2: Help align their expectations
Tip 3: Sell the approach of work less, earn more
Tip 4: No, or little, software to learn
Tip 5: Work with their existing media
Tip 6: Use past success stories to help them visualize their own success
Tip 7: Give them the tools to help sell their customers
Tip 8: Don’t stop at the ’sale’

Download the whitepaper: “8 Tips for Selling a Direct Marketing Campaign“

According to Inc.com, Software as a Service is one of sixteen industries to be in.

Quoting them directly,

“Although software spending is expected to increase just 5 percent through 2013, the software-as-a-service niche is forecast to expand by nearly 20 percent annually over the same period, as companies continue to see the benefits of on-demand, flexible applications, according to Gartner, a market-research firm.

The industry is expected to produce $8 billion in sales by the end of this year and $16 billion by the end of 2013. The office suites categories will lead the pack this year, increasing 376 percent to $512 million.”

Here’s why you should be working with a SaaS vendor for your communication needs. As we go through this recession, marketers are realizing that marketing as we know it has to change. Consumers are more conscious and as they get distracted by increasing amounts of marketing messages, they are learning to  ignore them.

The key to success then is to stand out from the clutter. For that marketers need to come up with clever ideas, integrate the latest marketing technology and create highly integrated and efficient marketing systems.

To do that, you need to work with a vendor that will help you build that application rather than just one that sells you a software in a box without the support you need to meet these new challenges.

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one way communication

What is the point of speaking to someone who has no way of speaking back to you? How would you know what their thoughts are on what you just told them? Did they even hear you at all? Might as well be talking to a wall!

Everyone, at least I assume, understands the concept of “communication” exists on a two way stream. Information flows from one end to another and back. That wasn’t too hard to understand, right?

What I don’t really get are marketing initiatives that only communicate to the  target, but do not provide them a way to communicate back. Yes, mass media marketing (e.g TV) is still a popular form of marketing communications, but keep in mind only big brands like Nike, Coke, Wal-Mart etc… can engage in such initiatives. If the scale of your brand is not close to being comparable, one way communication initiatives are a waste of time and dollars. Don’t expect to send out an email with no call to action and have anyone respond.

If you happen to see a TV ad for Joe’s Tailoring Services (located around the corner from your office), you would most likely pay no attention. What if Joe sent you an email offering you 50% off to tailor a suit? All that is required from you is to visit his website, insert the validation code he has emailed you, and redeem a printable coupon.

Joe has created an opportunity to engage in a two way communication  flow with you. If you do not visit the site and print out a coupon, he will know you are not interested. If you did visit the site and print out a coupon, he will be expecting to see you soon. To continue interacting with you , Joe may send a follow up email or a “see you soon” email.

Just think about the parties you’ve been to… isn’t it always more interesting to hang our with people you can have conversations with? The weird guy who only smiles and sips his beer when you are trying to talk to him is obviously not listening or is had a little too much to drink. The point is, better things do happen when communication is not just one way.

-Will V.

Seth Godin recently published a blog post about sunk costs. Read the post here.

Yes, in business school, they teach you that making the right decisions often means ignoring sunk costs and measuring what the cost/benefits are in the future.

There is some truth to that, but boy is it hard to ignore sunk costs! I would even say it is against human behavior to do so! Too often we dwell on decisions we make in the past and its inertia affects our decisions in the future.

For some professions, like venture capitalists, you never ignore sunk costs, for others, like printers, it is hard to do so. Using Seth Godin’s Analogy, the $10,000 property (Digital Press) could bring in more business for you than the $1,000,000 (Offset Press) one. Which should you invest in?

For commercial printers, this dilemma and difficulty to fight human instinct and even ‘perceived business acumen’ has never been more urgent. Very quickly the industry is moving away from print, online news compete with printed newspapers, business reports get distributed in PDF, email competes with direct mail, the ‘green movement’ means less projects (and business) for printers.

For printers, these changes mean

• replacing offset press with digital
• providing more services that complement print
• working with outside vendors to provide a more complete solution
• changing your entire business model entirelyand transforming to a ‘Marketing Service Provider’

It definitely is a tough decision to ignore previous investments, but perhaps the key here is to not stay ‘stationary‘.

Related posts:

•  Junk Mail Aren’t Us
• Don’t Let The Splash Wipe You Out
• Variable Data Publishing In The Future
• Printers Diversify Out Of Trouble