|
|
|
B2B Direct Mail Lead Generation Success Needs Planning, Testing, Measuring.
Is Direct Mail Useless for DMers?
Is direct mail useless at helping direct mail businesses
generate leads?
That's the question I was asked last week by a reader of Alan
Sharpe's B2B Direct Mail Tactics newsletter. Here is her...
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...
Direct Mail your money
I did a quick, very unscientific survey of 25 of my friends. I asked them to put the mail that they do not open or read in a specific trash bag. At the end of one week they gave it to me to be weighed. Guess how much the bag weighed? Remember, most...
Has the Internet Killed Off the Direct Mail Baron?
Has the Internet Killed Off the Direct Mail Baron?
Over the past 30 years, direct mail has been responsible for generating vast amounts of money for businesses and individuals alike, but is it still an effective means of marketing?
The short...
How to Write a Direct Mail Fundraising Letter (Four Tips)
1. Address your reader as a friend, not as “Friend.” When was the last time you received a letter from someone dear to you, addressing you as “Dear Friend?” Never, right? The days of the Dear Friend letter are dead. I heard recently of a...
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...
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...
Redirecting Your Mail When You Move
Have you recently moved into a new apartment? Wonder why your mailbox is empty? Did you remember to redirect your mail? It's difficult to remember all of the things you need to take care of before leaving your apartment. You've got hours of...
Test Your B2B Direct Mail Offers To Boost Response Rates.
The secret to success in business-to-business direct mail lead
generation is testing. I have hunches. You have hunches. But
testing settles the debate. When you test your package against
my package and we measure the results, we know for certain...
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...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Test Your B2B Direct Mail Offers To Boost Response Rates.
The secret to success in business-to-business direct mail lead
generation is testing. I have hunches. You have hunches. But
testing settles the debate. When you test your package against
my package and we measure the results, we know for certain which
package performed better.
Assuming your list is good (in other words, assuming you are
mailing to people who are likely to buy), the first thing you
should test is your offer. Your offer, after all, is the second
most important ingredient of direct mail success. And as Axel
Andersson says, "If you want to dramatically increase your
results, dramatically improve your offer."
How do you "dramatically improve your offer?" By creating an
offer that is different from the one you are using now, and
testing both at the same time. Basically, you mail two packages,
one with Offer A and one with Offer B. You test nothing else.
Then you measure which offer outpulls the other. Here is how you
do it.
Test a hard offer against a soft offer
A hard offer asks for an appointment. A soft offer invites
prospects to request more information (such as a white paper).
Test a product literature offer against an educational
offer
Product literature includes brochures, catalogs, sales sheets
and technical specification sheets. Educational offers include
white papers, special reports, books and article reprints.
Test one educational format against another
Some prospects prefer their information on paper. Others
prefer
going online to a special page on your website. Still others
prefer watching a video, or listening to a CD.
Test offer descriptions
Should you say "Buy two for the price of one" or "Buy one and
get one free?' Test and you'll know.
Test a deadline against no deadline
Giving your potential customer a deadline for responding might
boost response. And it might not.
Test one premium against another
Offer an Apple iPod in one mailer and a Blackberry in another.
Offer a gift certificate to Amazon.com in one letter and a CD
player in another. See what happens.
In all your tests, remember to test one thing at a time and to
make your tests big. Keep all the other variables (timing,
design, list and so on) the same while you test just the offer.
When I say "make your tests big" I mean that you should test two
very different offers. If the offers you test are too much
alike, you will not be able to trust your test results. And
that's not just a hunch.
About the author:
----
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and
lead generation specialist who helps business owners and
marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain
customers using business-to-business direct mail marketing.
Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and
sign up for free weekly tips like this at www.sharpecopy.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|