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Catalog Tips For Business-To-Business Direct Mail Marketers
Can your business sell its products to other businesses using a
mail-order catalog? Probably. And make a profit? Maybe, as long
as you follow some proven guidelines. Here are a few of them.
Niche and grow rich
Your catalog...
Direct Mail Catalogs & Brochures: Write Captions That Sell
Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, glancing at the photos and reading the accompanying captions only when a particular image arouses their interest. That's when you have their attention. And so that's when you sell them. My advice...
Direct Mail Response Rates Low? Eliminate these Mistakes
Are your direct mail response rates lower than you expect? Check your sales letter or direct mail package against this checklist to uncover the reasons for your poor response. LIST You are mailing to people who are never likely to buy You are...
In B2B Direct Mail Lead Generation, Work Backwards
Business-to-business lead generation is one of the few times in life when you should start at the end and work backwards.
Before you write a single line of copy or design a single element of your direct mail package, sit down with the sales people...
Raise Funds For Your Nonprofit Using An Annual Direct Mail Program
A good annual direct mail solicitation program can produce unrestrictive operating funds for your nonprofit organization year after year. And such an annual direct mail program, if done right, should produce more funding for your organization each...
Real Estate Marketing, Do You Use Direct Mail?
Prospecting for leads is by far the most difficult part of being a Realtor or small business professional. In fact, lead development is by far the most expensive and time consuming aspect of your job. However, you level of success in lead...
Real Estate Marketing -- How To Measure Your Direct Mail Success
Eugene Schwartz, author of Breakthrough Advertising, said it best: "There are no answers in direct mail except test answers. You don’t know whether something will work until you test it. And you cannot predict test results based on past...
Smart Alternatives to Direct Mail
Bob Cortez
The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The...
The Seven Vital Steps You Must Know To Ensure Direct Mail Success
1. Your Most Valuable Asset A mailing list of valued customers is the single most important asset you have. Loyal customers will spend an average of five times more in your business than new customers. Plus it costs ten times more to acquire a...
Top 10 Tips for Growing Your Business with Direct Mail Postcards
Introduction: Why Use Postcards? If you've priced out display advertising or Yellow Pages listings, you know that they can add up to big money in a hurry. Quite often, these valuable promotional tools are beyond the budgets of many small and...
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Direct Mail Marketing
Using direct mail marketing should be a part of your business,
whether it is an offline or online business. Established
companies can use their existing client list to use as a base of
mail marketing. Alerting your current customers to promotions
and new products can keep your name in front of theirs.
If you have a website and wish to build a mailing list, it is
very important to not just get their email address. This is
important for a few reasons.
Emailing people (even existing clients) is not always effective.
Sure, it's the cheapest and takes the least work, but the mass
emails people are getting and deleting are increasing more and
more. Spammers have really hurt the direct email marketing
campaigns of legitimate business. You should still do it, but
don't rely on it.
A person's email address changes, and unlike a physical address
- the mail is not usually forwarded. You just get a rejected
message that your mail was not delivered. You don't want to have
to overhaul your list every few years.
Having the street address of your customer or visitor allows for
better direct mail marketing. You also get a better sense of
where your prospects are coming from. If you notice more
visitors from Michigan, you may have something to go on there.
Only having an email address tells you very little.
You don't want to go overboard getting more information for your
direct mail marketing list. Do not require too much information
on your contact form - if you are using one or your newsletter.
People will get turned off if you are asking them dozens of
questions on a form. Name, Address, a phone number and an email
is all you need. If you are in the investment business or in a
business that is helped by wealthier clients, you may want to
add in some type of qualification, but never ask for anything
too personal.
Your mailings should be based on a few key things.
Keep it to new products or promotions. If you don't have one,
start one. This could be just new pricing, special offers etc.
Getting direct email or mail from companies saying the same
old
thing is a waste of everyone's time.
Cold Mailings
Cold mailing is similar to cold calling. Never send direct mail
to a company without an attention name on it. It is a waste.
Getting someone to look at something you send them is hard
enough when it is sent to the right person. Sending mail to the
attention of: "Manager", "Supervisor", or "owner" is not
effective. It actually shows a lack of regard for the customer.
It is obvious that he is just "one of a thousand" people you
mailed, and believe me - he or she will see it that way. Go to
their website and get a contact in the right area. Even call
them up first and get the name. You do not have to talk to them
first. In fact, many successful marketers will send material out
first and then call vs. the more popular (and many times
unsuccessful) calling first and asking permission to send
information afterwards.
Using directories for direct mailing
If your business is B2B and is specific to an industry, consider
purchasing a directory that lists companies in your business. It
will cost a little, but time is money and if it takes 3 months
to get the information on the Internet, it may be worth it to
have a good directory on hand. These directories are excellent
for direct mail marketing. You will have hundreds or thousands
of complete listings. Some of the information that could be in
the directory may not be available on the website. Items like
listing the owners of the company, the prior years sales, and
number of employees. A website can inflate a company's
appearance.
There are online directories available for mail marketing, but
many of these are copies of others and the information may not
be current.
Build your direct mail marketing campaign by using all of your
resources and hopefully using some of the tips written here.
Good Luck!
About the author:
Nick Hunter is the President of AIT and the owner of runawebbusin
ess.com - A website dedicated to small business Internet
owners.
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