 |
 |
 |
           |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Harness the Power of Direct Marketing - More Small Business Power Tools
One of the most powerful tools available to small businesses is direct mail. By this I don't mean electronic, Internet-based mail, but the old-fashioned kind that requires a stamp and a trip to the post office. Why is direct mail such a powerful tool? It's a way for small businesses, especially retailers, to separate themselves from the big box stores such as Best Buy and Wal-mart, and to compete successfully with the Amazon.coms and Ovestock.coms of this world. The power of direct mail, if done right, is that it's like getting a letter from your sister, mother or aunt. The postman brings it to your home. It's addressed to you personally. And when was the last time you received a letter from Best Buy, Wal-mart, Amazon.com or any Internet retailer? If so, it was undoubtedly via email and designed to be read by hundreds of thousands of customers - not much personalization there. The first thing you need to do to start an effective direct mail campaign is capture the names and addresses of your customers. This is easy for service organizations like carpet cleaners, auto repair firms, instant printers, and the like. They already have their customers' names and addresses. All they have to do is put them together as a mailing list. Retailers such as jewelry stores, antique dealers, liquor stores, restaurants, etc. have a tougher time because they don't have an easy way to capture their customer's names and addresses. There are a couple of answers to this. One is the old fishbowl gimmick, where you ask customers to deposit their business cards in a fishbowl with a prize to be given away in a drawing at some later date. I personally think this has been overdone. Plus, I have heard stories of unscrupulous sales people cleaning out the fishbowls themselves and using the business cards as sales leads. A second alternative is to post a "guestbook" somewhere near your cash register with a sign offering a free newsletter to all those who register. To make this work, you and your employees have to be kind of aggressive in urging all your customers to sign up, and you can expect that many will not. However, persistence is a virtue and if you keep this up long enough, you will capture enough names and addresses to make the effort worthwhile. I also like the idea of offering customers some small reward for providing their names and addresses. One version of this that seems to work well is a "frequent diner," "frequent buyer," or "frequent customer" card. Give your customers small, inexpensive cards that you can punch whenever they buy from you (or just visit your store) with the promise of a free something after 10 or 12 punches. Naturally, they have to register for the card and viola! You have their names and addresses. Last, and most expensive, you can buy a direct mail list targeted toward your best prospects. Chances are, there is at least one company in your area selling lists of prospects by criteria such as recent home buyers, camera buyers, child care customers, etc. Once you have captured enough names and addresses (maybe 100 or more) to begin a direct mail campaign, you have a couple of alternatives. One, you can input the information yourself. Or, two, if you're strapped for time, you should be able to find a local high school or college student to input the information for you. He or she can use either a word processing program or a database program to build the list. It's just simple data entry and you might offer $0.5 or $0.10 for each name/address input. I like to use a word processing program because once the list has been built; it's fairly easy to create personalized letters, etc. using the program's mail merge features. What do you then mail customers? I like newsletters a lot. They can be as simple as a single page printed on both sides or as complex as four to eight pages. Another good alternative is personalized letters. Just make sure that whatever you choose to send your customers is important and meaningful and always include an offer designed to bring them into your store or to call you for more information or to make an appointment. It takes time, money and dedication to develop and implement a direct mail campaign. But it's a powerful tool that can pay for itself in just a few months and then keep paying off for years to come. For more information on creating an effective newsletter, be sure to look for my article, "Small Business Power Tool: Customer Newsletters." Article by Douglas Hanna. Douglas is a retired advertising and marketing executive and long-time Denver resident. He is the webmaster of http://www.all-in-one-info.com, a free resource for information on a variety of subjects. Please visit his site to subscribe to his free newsletter, "Tips & Tricks to Save Money & Live Better."
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Too Much Build-Up: Over-Zealous Ad Copy Can Break The Sale How many times has this happened to you?A friend recommends a film that just came out: "You've GOT to see this movie! It's SO (funny, scary, suspenseful, etc.). Brochures - The Ultimate Sales Tool "How brochures can help you stand out from the competition, close the deal, and even build repeat business."Most brochures are nothing more than a collection of a few pictures and a few details about a business. 100 Excellent Words and 70 Action Getting Phrases for Ad Writing 100 Excellent Words Absolutely. Amazing. The Not-So-Hidden Persuaders: The Power of The Media Upon Us All In 1957, a perspicacious young journalist from Pennsylvania named Vance Packard wrote a book called The Hidden Persuaders. It was meant to explain to the public at large why they buy the products they do and to warn them about the psychological aspects of consumer appeal that lie beneath the levels of consciousness. Humor in Advertising Many of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to be funny. Advertisers use this strategy to attract customers to their product. How To Write Eye-Grabbing Headlines That Catapult Your Prospects Into Your Ads If you're interested in improving the selling results of your ads, tweaking your headlines is a great place to start. Because your headlines influence the sales results of your ad more than any other element. Moving Message Display Moving message display are designed to be installed into environments where vast amounts of information need to be conveyed to large audiences both quickly and efficiently, also in the world of indoor and outdoor displays. This gives you enormous flexibility for creating interesting text message on Moving message display. Advertising Copy: What's Really Important? You labor long and hard trying to create the perfect advertising piece but only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. 3 Simple Steps to Getting Thousands in Free Advertising Many entrepreneurs believe that they understand what public relations is, but very few do. Publicity and public relations can be used to boost your business by thousands of dollars a week or kill it; the trouble is using it to your advantage. How To Make Your Advertising Work! Many believe that when it comes to advertising, it's a necessary evil.At least that's how some businesses approach it. Magnetic Signs: Where Do They Work Best? Recently, a woman called to ask about replacing a magnetic sign she had purchased from another company. Her original sign had actually blown off the side of her car. Online Classifieds Choosing a Classified Website and creating your advertisements.The internet has opened a vast number of doors for people to market their products and services. Is Your Yellow Pages Ad Putting Cash in Your Pocket... or Sucking Cash Out? Any idea? It's a question that more than a few Yellow Page advertisers ponder. If you are currently spending money every month to run an ad in your local directory, you don't want to wrestle with that question. Business Plan Appeal - Five Rules For Writing Attention Grabbing Headlines The success of a business plan stands or falls on its ability to get potential investors to take a moment to read it. Nothing works better for doing this than well-written headlines designed to interrupt and engage investors. 11 Ways To Make Your Business Cards Work For You 1. Spend money on decent quality business cards. The Principle Of Advertising Online Advertising online is very similar to advertising in any environment. You really are trying to get your message or your product out there by the most cost effective means possible. How to Advertise with Flyers When you first start out on your business venture, money is usually tight but you still need to advertise. One of the most affordable, yet very effective, ways to begin your advertising campaign is with flyers. What are Text Adverts? Not everyone is aware of what are text adverts? Text Adverts are a form of low cost advertising used by website owners to promote their website and services to a quality targeted audience.Online advertising offers an outstanding opportunity to efficiently and effectively target your desired audience. Seven Ways to Kick Up the Power of Your Print Advertising - More Small Business Power Tools If you're a retailer and the only kind of advertising you do is built around sales events, you don't need much in the way of advice. All your advertising needs to do is spell out as clearly as possible what's on sale, the amount to be saved and your store's name, address and phone number. Advertainment is Sneaking Into Music, Movies, TV and More The very name "advertainment" sends thrilling vibrations up the spine of anyone with marketing in their blood or communication in their genes. And it produces a strong shiver of disgust from many of my colleagues in the music industry.
|
 |