It does not matter whether you choose to print and mail your
contacts and potential customers directly or whether you choose online direct
marketing methods, such as e-newsletters, social media tools, or
advertisements, to contact your potential customers, the principles of building
a successful direct marketing campaign are the same.
Traditionally, marketing experts expect a return of about 5
per cent for most direct marketing campaigns, but people who know how to tap
into the right marketing scheme will generally do much better. Using the tips
below, some businesses have built successful direct marketing campaigns that
gain more than 20 per cent, which certainly means the campaign is a brilliant
success. Direct Marketing
For every thousand people you contact directly for your
business, most people expect to convert at least five per cent (or 50 contacts
into new customers), but if you can build a better marketing campaign that
increases that rate to 20 per cent, you can have 200 new customers after the
campaign. Spending the time at the beginning of the campaign to plan properly
is the key to creating a successful direct marketing campaign for your
business.
Step 1 - Get to Know Your Target Market Well
The first step in building a truly effective and successful
marketing campaign is to know who you are targeting with the campaign. Describe
your potential customers in as much detail as possible, before you even start
to write the direct marketing brochure, flyer, or advertisement. You might
decide to target 20 to 25 year old males who still live with their parents, but
earn at least $40,000 per year, for example. The more you know about this
target group, who they are, what they like to read, watch, and talk about, the
easier it will be to convert your readers into customers.
Step 2 - Decide on the Right Format for Your Target
Market
In the example given above, an online direct marketing
campaign, where your target market receive an e-newsletter or an email may be
the most appropriate way to contact young men in their 20s. However, if you
need to sell your product or services to elderly people who rarely look at a
computer, than a direct mail out campaign, where the people receive the
information in their post boxes at home will be the most appropriate format.
Don't waste money in advertising your products where people in the market you
are targeting will not see the advertisement.
Step 3 - Decide on the Right Message
The message you send to different types of people could be
very different. If your business sells life insurance, for example, you will
want to have completely different marketing campaigns with separate messages
for different target markets. The message you send to parents who have young
children could be to provide a solution to the fear that something could happen
to either of the parents and leave the children unprovided for, but if you were
targeting the 20 to 25 age group, the message may be focused on the cheap price
for peace of mind: "For less than the cost of a beer each week, you could
cover the cost of your education and credit card debts."
Step 4 - Create a Hook
Essentially, a direct marketing campaign is a fishing
expedition. You send out the information on your business and hope it is
attractive enough for your potential customers to pick up the bait and make
contact with your company. Give your potential customers a reason to call you.
Some businesses find that running a simple competition or survey with a chance
to win a great prize as part of the campaign encourages people to respond to
the campaign.
Step 5 - Write the Marketing Material
If you are not good at writing, employ a professional to
word your marketing material for your business. The writer will need to know
the target market, what response you want from the campaign, and the format of
the campaign to write the text of the marketing material properly. The writing
should speak directly to your target market and encourage an immediate response
after reading the material.
Step 6 - Design the Marketing Material
The design of the marketing materials you choose will be
important, especially as many people will decide whether or not to bother
reading the material based on how it looks and their first impressions of the
material. If it looks professional, you will get more readers.
Step 7 - Monitor the Campaign Once it is Sent
Finally, many businesses forget this is one of the most
important steps in a direct marketing campaign. Monitoring the campaign means
keeping track of responses and those that do not respond. In an email marketingcampaign, you can check how many people have actually opened and read the
email, even if the people do not respond directly. Talk to each customer who
does respond and ask questions about what they liked in the marketing materials
and why they chose to respond. This is essential information as it will help
you to alter your campaign next time to get a better response. You can also
ring or make contact with the people a week or so after the direct mail
campaign has been sent out, as often you will get a higher response rate with a
second contact within a short timeframe.
A successful direct marketing campaign depends on many
factors, but the most important is selecting your target market and then
framing all of the marketing materials to be attractive to that market.
Monitoring the campaign can give you valuable information for your next direct
marketing campaign.
Article From: franchise.org
