Through the years, businesspeople have spoken the language of proactive marketing while implementing strategies that are best defined as reactive. We speak of the necessity of dealing with change as a constant, yet we fear the reality of change. In other words, we think in terms of 'keeping ahead,' but our end results are often just 'keeping up.'
Into this dichotomy, Craig Huey, president of Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc., adds a new phrase: 'counter-intuitive.' According to Huey, 'most advertising and marketing is counter-intuitive. What you think will work, probably won't.'
So how do we make change consistent and continuous? How do we maintain a proactive marketing stance? And how do we develop marketing if what we think will work, won't? Or, to keep it simple, how do we keep ahead, rather than just keep up?
DIRECT MARKETING MEANS MULTI-MEDIA
Let's start by clearing up a major misconception. Direct marketing is not direct mail, as many of us would believe. Direct marketing truly is a multi-media event, running the gamut of every known method of communication. And, whatever the method, the goal of direct marketing is to achieve a desired response.
Think of it in terms of travel. The goal is the destination, and the media utilized is the vehicle. Each destination can be reached by a vast array of transportation vehicles or a combination thereof. For instance, on a recent trip from Los Angeles to
San Francisco
, I drove to the airport, walked to the terminal, flew to another airport, and took a motorized walkway to a bus stop for a ride to a train station. Then, I took a train to the city, a cab to the building, and an elevator to the office. Yet on other trips, I've been known to bypass all of that and just drive from point to point.
Similarly, direct marketing can use a combination of media or a single method. Don't lock into a single-method mind-set. Allow yourself the freedom to be innovative and creative in direct marketing. Let's take a look at new variations on the tried and true, as well as the just plain new.
WORKING THE MAIL
Direct mail can be as simple as a letter of introduction or as intricate as a newsletter. It can be pure image-enhancement or it can solicit a response. It can include a return postcard or it can promote response with an 800 number. It can include a gimmick, a gift, an audiotape, or videotape, or it may not.
Although all of these variations have proven viable, the first goal of direct mail is to get it opened. Commonly accepted rules are that imprinted envelopes are better than address stickers. Personalization is better than 'occupant.' Stamps are better than metered mail. Some experts even focus on the color of the envelope and the ink. Reader's Digest and others recommend that enticements be printed on the envelope to encourage the opening.
Huey suggests that a combination of the relatively new 'infomercials' and direct mail can be extremely effective. For most agencies and brokers, the cost of producing an infomercial is prohibitive at first glance. However, many local cable companies will work with you in producing a low-budget infomercial or in providing public-access time. Either way, aligning a direct-mail package with television exposure can increase effectiveness dramatically by including this simple phrase on the envelope and the enclosed material: 'as seen on TV!' On a lower-cost basis, this concept can even cross over to local radio programming and the phrase: 'as heard on radio!' 'Tele-mail' not only gets the attention of your prospect, but also helps build credibility, which further increases the response ratio.
TELEMARKETING: OUT OR IN?
The only constant is change! Telemarketing offers one of the best examples. Just 10 years ago, telemarketing sales centers were being extolled as the greatest prospecting tool since doorbells. Slowly the concept began to take hold as more agencies reported successes.
Beset by a daily onslaught of prospecting calls, businesspersons grew afraid to pick up their phones and citizens began turning on their answering machines during dinner hour in self-defense. Now many companies are disbanding their telemarketing departments in the belief that such marketing has become ineffective.
Rather than discarding a proven marketing tool, perhaps it's time to experiment with some changes. Telemarketing experts refer to 'outbound marketing' vs. 'inbound marketing.' Most insurance agencies, up until now, have concentrated solely on outbound calling to generate leads and x-dates.
Let's look at the other side of the telemarketing coin: inbound. Here a sales center can continue to be a valuable tool in processing responses generated from other forms of direct marketing, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, mail, etc. Typical marketing appeals designed for inbound callers might be: 'Just call (800) 234-5678 for a free gift . . . or survey . . . or more information.' A trained sales center can quickly turn those responses into leads.
How about outbound servicing of inbound responses? Let's say that your agency sends 10,000 mailers with a postcard response. If you get a 3% reply, how much time will pass before producers actually contact all 300 prospects? Probably too long, according to Huey, who pointed out, 'Responding quickly to inquiries can prove the difference between making a sale and losing it to a competitor. Telemarketing has been found extremely effective in qualifying sales leads in a competitive industry.'
As an example, Huey cites Micro Component Technology, Inc., (MCT), a Minnesota-based manufacturer of integrated-circuit handling and testing equipment. As sales inquiries topped 100 a week, the sales staff couldn't keep up with the demand for product information. As a result, valuable prospects were overlooked.
The answer proved to be telemarketing. A list of key questions was prepared by management to allow the telemarketers to easily qualify the prospects on a graded system of A through D. A's were ready to buy now, B's within the year, C's sometime in the future, and D's wanted information only. The A, B, and C leads were sent to the proper sales managers for prioritized contact, while literature was sent to the D list. Proper levels of management were copied on the leads for managerial follow-up, and data on the leads was data-based for future mailings. In the first year alone, more than 4% of the leads contacted and qualified by telemarketing resulted in sales.
So, creative use of telemarketing can thus be effective in qualifying and prioritizing leads, thus increasing the effectiveness of the producer's time.
FAX FOR PROFIT
We've all come to rely heavily on the time-saving convenience of the fax. But how many of us are using it for direct marketing? And how many of us realize the potential savings of direct marketing by fax?
Computer programs now allow your computer to do the faxing-no one needs to stand and feed paper into the machine. That means less labor. Plus, such computer programs allow you to run the fax through the night. That means lower phone-line charges. Furthermore, in most cases, a fax is delivered to the recipient immediately, rather than being lost in a stack of daily mail.
Incidentally, my own business, Compliance Publishing Division, began using a combination of faxing and telemarketing this past year with a surprising degree of success. The project was to market a compliance manual for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After identifying our target market and purchasing a list with fax numbers, we sent 50 faxes a night between midnight and 5 a.m. The following day, our telemarketers would call to solicit orders for the manual.
Some interesting facts were that less than 1% of the contacts said they had not seen the fax. (On prior mail campaigns, up to 40% of the contacts said they hadn't seen the package.) Earlier telemarketing attempts without first sending a fax were considered dismal failures because too much information had to be given over the phone. (By using the fax, the prospect already had much of the necessary information.) Conversely, using the fax without telemarketing follow-up also provided minimal results. Individually, telemarketing or faxing alone resulted in less than 1% sales, but in combination we averaged more than 3% in sales.
Some caution is indicated as federal, state, and local governments are regulating the use of fax advertising to stem the tide of junk fax. So, as Huey recommends, be sure that there is value to your message. Don't just make it a sales pitch; include information that your prospect might need and appreciate.
Marketing by fax can designate response by fax, phone (for immediacy), or mail. However, remember the lesson of MCT: Quick response and lead-qualifying mean more sales.
CREATIVITY AND CHANGE KEEP YOU AHEAD
Direct marketing can be the most cost-efficient method of developing leads and closing sales, if you are willing to change and be open to creative ideas. That type of philosophy will definitely place you in the proactive classification of keeping ahead. Your competitors will be left to try to keep up-with you!