DIVADIGEST: FEBRUARY '06, ISSUE 27
Six Secrets to Better Direct Response Marketing
1. Timing.
A well thought out marketing pro ALWAYS makes a conscious decision about
timing. With bad timing, even an incredibly clever marketing campaign will
fall flat. As an experienceD marketing professional I’ve seen folks invest
tens of thousands of dollars on a marketing campaign, only to be disappointed
because they didn’t take into account timing. One of the most common ‘timing’
problems is the failure to orchestrate all elements of the campaign in a
carefully planned timeline, as opposed to frantically grasping at every
marketing idea that comes along. Another example of bad timing would be
launching a SW Florida tourism campaign during peak hurricane season.
2. Test Your Headline.
The headline serves as a ‘first impression’ and is essential for drawing
your prospect deeper into your pitch. Whether your running an email campaign,
direct mail campaign, or print ads, you should run a few test headlines
to determine which headline will be most successful at generating the desired
response or impression. If you can’t afford to test your headlines in this
way, then get the opinion of 10 folks who meet the psychographics for your
target market.
3. Have a High Quality List.
In marketing the quality of your list is crucial. Whether your using email,
snail mail, or telephone, a high quality, well targeted list is absolutely
essential. Do not make the mistake of trying to purchase as many names as
you can for as little as possible. You are much better served by a list
of 500 well targeted names, than you are by a list of 5000 not-so-targeted
names.
4. Follow the Rule of 12.
Each day consumers are inundated by an average of 2,000 marketing messages.
Is it any wonder that consumers need to see your marketing message an average
of 12 times before they take notice? This means that a one time newspaper
ad is essentially money wasted. To capture prospect attention you must communicate
with them on a regular basis.
5. Track Your Results – Regardless of Size.
Regardless of your business size, or the size of your marketing campaign,
you need to track results. This can be done with a simple spreadsheet or
a multi-million dollar CRM system. Recording what works and what doesn't
will help you to improve future results.
6. Keep Communicating.
No matter what business you’re in, what sets you apart from the competition
is effective communication. That is why it is so important that you continually
communicate with your customers. Stay in contact via email, postcards, direct
mail, and phone calls. DDW recommends that, regardless of company size,
you develop a system for keeping in touch.
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Why 90% of Websites Fail: And How Yours Can Succeed
Before you invest thousands of dollars into a new or newly redesigned website, it’s important to understand the basic principles behind online marketing success.
Managing a successful website is similar to managing a successful business. Even if you have a traditional bricks & mortar location for your business, you must think of your website as a satellite office - and extension of your primary business location. Like your primary business location, your website must adhere to standard business fundamentals in order to succeed.
A fundamental rule of business is that for every X dollars spent, the business hopes to attract Y enquiries and achieve Z sales (Z being a % of Y). Entrepreneurs across the nation understand that in order to generate business one must obtain X number of enquires.
How does this relate to managing a successful website?
That depends on whether your goal is to generate online sales, generate prospects/enquires, and/or raise brand awareness. Below is a quick discussion of typical goals, and the types of sites used to achieve these goals.
Goal: Generate Online Sales
To generate online sales, your site must utilize ecommerce technology and
properly designed information architecture. Ecommerce sites allow visitors
to purchase products, services or intangibles online. www.amazon.com is
an example of a very large, sophisticated ecommerce site that allows for
a highly personalized and dynamic user experience. www.tobydesign.com is
an example of a fairly simple ecommerce web site. Both serve their purposes
well.
The performance of an ecommerce website can be measured by the number of website visits it receives, the rate at which the website converts those visits into sales (conversion rate), and the amount of money the buyer spends each time they make a purchase at the website (average sale).
Goal: Generate Prospects/Enquiries
When the goal is to generate prospect/enquiries, you may use a website that
consists of simple html, or your website may have more sophisticated elements
such as interactivity (for example a site that has online polls, quizzes,
forms, or generates personalize greetings), or a content management system
(allows website owner to make updates without knowing anything about programming).
Let’s call this a ‘Lead Generation Site’
The performance of a lead generation website can be measured by the number of visits that the website receives, and the rate at which it converts those visits into enquiries.
Goal: Brand Awareness or Disseminate Information
All sites should solidify brand awareness. There are some sites whose ONLY
goal is to raise brand equity in the mind of the consumer. Think of sites
like Coca-Cola, local tourism sites, the national pork council web site,
etc. I’ll refer to this as an ‘Image Site’.
While it is difficult to measure the performance of an Image Site using the aforementioned metrics, Brand Awareness and Information Dissemination still play an important role in website performance.
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Improve Website Success by Improving the Key Metrics
Metric 1: Visitors
To attract visitors to your website, you may wish to incorporate one or
more of the following. The actual mix of tactics that your website employs
depends upon budget, your target market, your site’s goals, and a host of
other factors. It is wise to hire a knowledgeable consultant to help you
construct the best approach.
Metric 2: Conversion Rate
Metric 3: Average Sale
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Business Benefits of Blogging
1. Easy Web Solution - Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your information, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. No programming knowledge required!
2. Inexpensive Website - Blogging is a low-cost way to enhance and compliment your web site.
3. Communication Tool - Blogs are excellent vehicles for customer newsletters.
4. The Customer's Voice - Blogs are fantastically interactive, allowing customers and visitors to post comments to the blog (IF you want this feature). This is excellent in terms of search engine friendliness, meaningful site content, and online marketing. Furthermore, it takes you NO time - the customer would be doing all the work. You could encourage customers to post on the blog by offering a drawing or small reward to posters.
5. Position Yourself as an Expert - Business blogs provide your businesses with a chance to share expertise and knowledge with a larger audience.
6. Boost Search Engine Rankings - Well maintained blogs
boost search engine rankings, thus making it more likely that prospects
will find you online.
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