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Hub You - Waste Not, Want Not - Tough Talk About Direct Mail
I am often amazed at the efforts that many business leaders put into making themselves and their businesses smaller. Yes. You heard me right—making their businesses smaller. A major challenge threatens them and instead of finding the positive side and seeing the opportunity, they shrink from it and try to find a way to cut back somewhere to fill the gap.Take the current business climate in California. A quick survey of the Chambers of Commerce throughout the state will tell you their major focus is on getting legislators to pass laws to lower the cost for c
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will
Analogy is a powerful way of getting out of a mental logjam and seeing and understanding things more clearly.Many entrepreneurs and owners struggle understanding the difference between working “in a business” and working “on a business.” Working in a business is tactical in nature. It deals with the ongoing issues of what is. Working on a business deals with the issues of what should be or better yet what could be.If you think of the business you are in as a clothes washing machine it might be clearer. Every day you get up at 0-dark-thirty, do yo
As I write my bills every two weeks, I fill two wastebaskets with unwanted solicitations, mostly from financial companies. Two factors are contributing to growth in the unwanted stuff in our mailboxes. The nationwide do-not-call list is growing by tens of thousands of households per month, and massive dollars are being redirected from telemarketing into more and more direct mail. At the same time, changes in bankruptcy law have reduced risk to the credit card companies and increased the volume of solicitations to consumers. The result is a growing flow of junk in our mailboxes that wastes our time and natural resources.
Like most people, I hated the barrage of evening phone calls from roofing companies, finance firms, charities, window cleaners, and publishers. (I often wondered if the advertisers who used this technique gave any thought to the damage this technique did to their brand names.) As annoying as the telephone calls were, the growing avalanche of direct mail is starting to worry me even more. As responsible citizens on planet Earth, do we really want to use our resources in this way? And as marketers, do we have a responsibility to carefully marshal our resources and to judiciously use each channel of communication to its best advantage? Shouldn’t we leave as little waste as possible?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against the use of direct mail. Used appropriately, it can be a powerful tool. It is just plain awful marketing that bugs me, and this leads to incredible waste of our most precious natural resources.
As I write this article, I am preparing for a meeting with a small national manufacturing company that is looking for new advertising counsel. They just completed a very large national direct mail program to support sales leads for their dealership network with disastrous results. The program cost $250,000 and netted 250 leads and 30 new customers. This means that inquiries cost $1,000 each, and customers cost $8,333 each. The company makes about $600 in profit per customer and needs to be finding them for less than $300. Oops. Even taking out one-time creative development costs from the equation, each new customer cost over $4000. Clearly, this was a flop.
What is sad about this is that any professional in our business would have looked at the initial strategy and predicted failure. This was a case where direct mail was not appropriate for accomplishing the goals. There was no mailing list available that was targeted enough to warrant the very high per-contact cost of direct mail.
The advertiser was a victim of his own misconception of the power of direct mail. Before the tactic of direct mail was chosen, this advertiser should have evaluated all possible channels of communication available to him. This was a case where a combination of targeted national cable combined with a really strong dealer referral program on the Web site most likely would have yielded the results needed for the same test budget. And the advertiser wouldn’t have sacrificed a single tree in the process.
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will
If you've never issued a free press release about your business, then you must issue the first of many tonight before retiring to bed.Q When does one issue a press release?A As often as possible. If you launch a business, issue one. If you launch a new website, issue one. If you make a donation to charity, issue one. If you redesign your website, issue one...the list is endless. If you promote an employee, add a new product line, etc, etcQ Is it possible to create 'Press Release Spam'?A Yes. Make sure that what you have to say is news-w
Like most people, I hated the barrage of evening phone calls from roofing companies, finance firms, charities, window cleaners, and publishers. (I often wondered if the advertisers who used this technique gave any thought to the damage this technique did to their brand names.) As annoying as the telephone calls were, the growing avalanche of direct mail is starting to worry me even more. As responsible citizens on planet Earth, do we really want to use our resources in this way? And as marketers, do we have a responsibility to carefully marshal our resources and to judiciously use each channel of communication to its best advantage? Shouldn’t we leave as little waste as possible?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against the use of direct mail. Used appropriately, it can be a powerful tool. It is just plain awful marketing that bugs me, and this leads to incredible waste of our most precious natural resources.
As I write this article, I am preparing for a meeting with a small national manufacturing company that is looking for new advertising counsel. They just completed a very large national direct mail program to support sales leads for their dealership network with disastrous results. The program cost $250,000 and netted 250 leads and 30 new customers. This means that inquiries cost $1,000 each, and customers cost $8,333 each. The company makes about $600 in profit per customer and needs to be finding them for less than $300. Oops. Even taking out one-time creative development costs from the equation, each new customer cost over $4000. Clearly, this was a flop.
What is sad about this is that any professional in our business would have looked at the initial strategy and predicted failure. This was a case where direct mail was not appropriate for accomplishing the goals. There was no mailing list available that was targeted enough to warrant the very high per-contact cost of direct mail.
The advertiser was a victim of his own misconception of the power of direct mail. Before the tactic of direct mail was chosen, this advertiser should have evaluated all possible channels of communication available to him. This was a case where a combination of targeted national cable combined with a really strong dealer referral program on the Web site most likely would have yielded the results needed for the same test budget. And the advertiser wouldn’t have sacrificed a single tree in the process.
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will
Flipping real estate has become the rage all over the United States and real estate investors software can give you the edge you need. It makes no difference where you live, chances are that there are people in your town who are flipping real estate. But with so many people in this niche of the real estate industry, how do they make money time and time again? Even though there is a lot of money to be had by flipping real estate, you are not guaranteed to make any money by doing so. Just like any other investment there are risks involved.But before you
As I write this article, I am preparing for a meeting with a small national manufacturing company that is looking for new advertising counsel. They just completed a very large national direct mail program to support sales leads for their dealership network with disastrous results. The program cost $250,000 and netted 250 leads and 30 new customers. This means that inquiries cost $1,000 each, and customers cost $8,333 each. The company makes about $600 in profit per customer and needs to be finding them for less than $300. Oops. Even taking out one-time creative development costs from the equation, each new customer cost over $4000. Clearly, this was a flop.
What is sad about this is that any professional in our business would have looked at the initial strategy and predicted failure. This was a case where direct mail was not appropriate for accomplishing the goals. There was no mailing list available that was targeted enough to warrant the very high per-contact cost of direct mail.
The advertiser was a victim of his own misconception of the power of direct mail. Before the tactic of direct mail was chosen, this advertiser should have evaluated all possible channels of communication available to him. This was a case where a combination of targeted national cable combined with a really strong dealer referral program on the Web site most likely would have yielded the results needed for the same test budget. And the advertiser wouldn’t have sacrificed a single tree in the process.
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will
TheRichJerkTheRichJerk is a famous online author. He probably doesn't really exist, and is just the alter ego of some guy that's in marketing somewhere. He's a scam. His information is over-used, over-spread and over-rated.He’s vague. He has plenty of fake stories. His claims are ridiculous. I would suggest going to his site, though, if not to simply learn from his marketing technique — he has that down. He knows how to make you want to purchase his product. Don't purchase his e-book -- he's a scam.
What is sad about this is that any professional in our business would have looked at the initial strategy and predicted failure. This was a case where direct mail was not appropriate for accomplishing the goals. There was no mailing list available that was targeted enough to warrant the very high per-contact cost of direct mail.
The advertiser was a victim of his own misconception of the power of direct mail. Before the tactic of direct mail was chosen, this advertiser should have evaluated all possible channels of communication available to him. This was a case where a combination of targeted national cable combined with a really strong dealer referral program on the Web site most likely would have yielded the results needed for the same test budget. And the advertiser wouldn’t have sacrificed a single tree in the process.
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will
As a small business grows, there comes a time when it must look at its graphic image if it wants to move to the next level and swim with the big fish. It must define and consistently use the graphic symbols that stand for the business.Every business has an identity. This identity is influenced by the look of all things done by or associated with the business - it’s services, products, print material, advertising, signage, stationery, vehicles, etc. Because of this profusion of elements, it is essential that graphic image standards be developed to clearly a
Direct mail has been oversold as a marketing tool, and it is time to start thinking about being far more judicious when we choose this medium. With the emerging Internet and the newly found television interactivity, direct marketers have better, more socially responsible ways to meet their goals. Those of us who make choices every day in the use of media channels should be more thoughtful about the impact our choices will make on future generations.
With all this, I am not too worried about the current glut of junk mail continuing. There is sort of advertising eco-system in place that will slow the process in a few years. The more people sign up for the do-not-call list, the more calls that will go to those who haven’t yet signed up. This will increase their unhappiness. This will increase the rate of sign-up for the do-not-call list. This will increase the amount spent on direct mail which will further fill our mailboxes. The more filled our mailboxes become, the more diluted the response rates and the harder it will be to make mail pencil out. So ultimately mail volume will drop.
Let’s help it along by only choosing this medium after a careful evaluation of all alternatives.
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