Q: I have a very small home-improvement business and want
to do more direct mail to market my products, which include a
skylight, a gutter-cover system and ornamental mailboxes. Is it
wise for me to try to market more than one of these products at a
time using direct mail?
Ron Smith
Charlotte, North Carolina
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A: Denny Hatch, a freelance direct-mail copywriter, designer
and consultant in Philadelphia, is also the editor of Target
Marketing magazine, a publication serving the direct-marketing
industry:
I'd be very careful sending direct mail to cold prospects.
The reason? Direct mail, also known as direct marketing, is an
expensive medium. A TV spot might cost you around $10 per thousand
people reached; a solo direct-mail piece will cost you $400 or more
per thousand. When you break down the costs of a direct mailing, it
all adds up: postage, $200; mailing list, $60; labeling and
mailing, $25; printing and paper, $100. The grand total is about 39
cents for each piece mailed.
Another drawback: Even if you send your pieces to homeowners,
you have no idea when they are likely to buy your products, if
ever. For example, if a couple has just put in a skylight and your
39-cent mailing offers a new skylight, you have just lost that 39
cents. It doesn't take a whole lot of missent mailings to
uninterested homeowners before you start going into the red.
Rather than sending solo direct mail (mailing to a select group
of addresses in a particular ZIP code) to cold prospects, I would
consider saturation mailings, where your message is bundled with
those of other advertisers and sent to every address in the ZIP
codes you have chosen. Postage broker Advo Inc. in Windsor,
Connecticut, which does such saturation mailings, can get you into
the mailbox a lot cheaper than with solo mail since you share
postage costs with others. The disadvantage? You get to the mailbox
along with a lot of other local and national promotions.
Another option is to run small ads in local publications. When
someone writes, phones or faxes, you follow up with a phone call to
find out the customer's needs, wants and dreams. Then send an
elaborate mailing that includes a letter, product descriptions and
BODYimonials from satisfied customers. This could be a far more
elaborate effort than your little solo mailing or saturation
mailing because you can afford to send out jazzier literature to
people who have raised their hands.
With every effort--whether it be an ad, a saturation mailing or
a solo mailing--keep track of the response. Know where it comes
from, whether or not the person purchased, and if you made a sale
and subsequent sales. Direct mail is the business of acquiring
customers and continually delighting them. Unlike general
advertising, you can evaluate and measure the response
precisely.
Keep in mind, people will only buy from you for three reasons:
price, service and exclusivity. If you have good merchandise and
are the cheapest supplier in town, they'll buy. If your service
is outstanding (quick, easy returns policy and you're a
pleasure to do business with), they'll buy. If you are the only
guy in town with your product or service, they'll buy.
For direct marketing to work, you must always scare, promise
salvation, and make an offer to your customers. For example:
NEVER AGAIN RISK SERI-OUS INJURY CLEANING OUT CLOGGED
GUTTERS!
Enjoy fall and winter as never before with my low-cost,
maintenance-free covered gutters! Special offer: FREE hygrometer to
measure dryness of houseplant soil when I come give you an
estimate! No obligation! Call or fax: John Smith, 555-1234, fax:
555-1245.
Should you market more than one of these products at a time?
Only if you have a catalog with a lot of products. Otherwise,
follow the rule of the late direct-marketing guru Dick Benson:
"You can never sell more than one thing at a time" or the
advice of direct marketing consultant Paul Goldberg: "Confuse
'em, ya lose 'em."
Q: I need to know some of the best methods to advertise
my electronic tax filing service. Could I get a database of
previous electronic filers, or should I speak with major companies
in my local area to market my service? If the latter is a viable
method, what type of presentation should I make?
Name Withheld
A: Katharine D. Paine is CEO and founder of The Delahaye
Group Inc., an international image consulting and reputation
measurement firm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that helps companies
communicate more effectively:
Before you do anything, you need to answer some very basic
questions. Both methods mentioned in your question are as viable as
a dozen others, but you need a plan and to get some basic
information under your belt before moving forward. Stop, look and
listen to your potential customers. There are seven questions you
must know the answers to before you start any kind of advertising
or marketing program.
1. Who's your target audience? Who will buy
your service? Given that every taxpayer in America is a potential
buyer, you will need to narrow your market considerably. A list of
previous electronic filers is a great place to start if you can
obtain that information. Such a list will help you identify the
size of the market in your particular area. Also, do you know to
what extent major companies use electronic filing services? Since
the service might primarily be useful for simple tax returns, do
you need to explain the benefits to larger companies? Such firms
usually rely on outside accounting firms for tax advice. This is a
secondary audience you will need to influence, if not sell to
directly. Many individuals also use financial planners or
accountants, so you will need to influence these professionals as
well.
2. What is your audience seeing? Once you've
identified and prioritized your target audiences, you then need to
understand what they see from their perspective. In other words,
look at your competitors and what they are communicating to your
potential customers. Even if you're the only one in your area
offering this service, there will always be other options people
are considering.
3. What's important to your audience? What
keeps your target audience up at night? What do they worry about in
their personal and professional lives? Look beyond tax preparation
to general concerns. For example, you might decide that individual
consumers are most concerned with saving money and time. Then, your
advertising could focus on those benefits. If you can offer them a
solution to what troubles them the most, you'll be their friend
for life--and you'll know what feature of your service will be
the most attractive to your target audience.
4. Where does your target market get information?
To influence potential customers and decide where to focus your
marketing efforts, be aware of where your audience goes for
information when filling out their tax returns. Do they ask
friends? Financial planners? Check out the Internet? Peruse the
local paper? Watch your audience carefully, and let them prioritize
these sources for you.
5. What do your target customers think about you
now? What have they heard about electronic tax preparation
services in general? Do they perceive them as fast, cheap,
expensive or maybe even risky? Understand thoroughly the
pre-existing attitudes and images you're up against. Then gauge
the level of awareness of your service, what consumers think about
it and the images it provokes.
6. What do you want your potential customers to
think? Based on the information you've gathered so far
regarding the fears, perceptions and behaviors of your audience,
what do you think are the best messages to put out there? What are
the key messages you want your audience to associate with you and
your service? The ideal messages must be relevant and important to
your customers, as well as credible and easily remembered.
7. What are you going to do about it? Take out a
sheet of paper and create a chart with six columns. Across the top
of the paper, write down questions 2 through 7. Below each
question, write your answers--first, for individual customers, then
for major companies. Seeing all your answers in one place will help
you formulate an advertising strategy that works for your target
customers.
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