How To Get People to Read Your Marketing Material

See it worked. I used a headline.

(Check out the newspaper clipping to the right.  Email me if you would like to know how to do this marketingguy@shaw.ca)

You read the headline and said to yourself “that is something I would like to know more about”. That is probably because you are the person I am trying to reach; the person who has an interest in marketing related material. If you found this blog while searching for furniture you probably haven’t even read this far, but the rest of you are wondering how this post is going to help them.

Purpose of the Headline

The headline tells them they can solve their problem or get what they need from you. They do not have time to read all of the copy, but they will take the time to read the headline.

i.e. Perfect Homes For First Time Buyers

Use a Sub-Heading
Now that you have their attention use a “call to action” to make sure they don’t put off using your product or service.

i.e. Perfect Homes For First Time Buyers
Call Today Before They Are All Sold

Write Effective Copy To Support The Headline
Now that you have their attention and they are ready to respond tell them what’s in it for them. What is your offer. How they get it. Where they get it. Others who have benefited from getting it. Use bullets, lists or tables if it will make the information more clear.

Clarity in Your Message

How many times have you written a letter, proposal or brochure only to forget your audience may not have the same level of understanding as you have? A little further down I provide a good example of clarity. Clarity in your writing is crtical to the success of your piece. Here are five tips to consider:

1. Use as few words as possible.
2. Limit superfluous banter.
3. Stay away from jargon.
4. Keep paragraphs short.
5. Have someone proofread your writing.

I subscribe to Bankrate.com’s newsletter as a source of new ideas, but also to educate me on the industry. Yesterday’s article on the Feds Cutting Short Term Interest Rates was a case in point. When you read the original text and the translation it makes you wonder why something so important to consumers could not be packaged in a way that is easer to understand.

What the Fed said:
“The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 4-3/4 percent. “

The translation:
“The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Open Market Committee cut the target for the federal funds rate half a percentage point, to 4.75 percent. “

What the Fed said:
“Developments in financial markets since the Committee’s last regular meeting have increased the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook. The Committee will continue to assess the effects of these and other developments on economic prospects and will act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth.”

The translation:
“It’s not only harder for consumers to get jumbo and subprime mortgages, corporations are having to work harder to find short-term debt. Hedge funds and other money managers are afraid to buy and sell mortgage debt, because if they do so, their theoretical losses will become actual losses. In short, credit is harder to come by, and that makes the economic outlook uncertain. The Fed will keep an eye on that, too.”

What the Fed said:
“Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year, but the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing correction and to restrain economic growth more generally. Today’s action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time.”

The translation:
“Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year. But it’s harder for consumers and corporations to get credit now, and that could intensify the slowdown in home sales and the slide in housing costs. Cutting rates is intended to keep the credit crunch from spilling over into the broader economy and to goose the overall economy.”

Direct Mail Idea 3 - Sports Schedule

What kind of marketing tool am I?

1. I last 8 months.
2. I am looked at at least 80 times in the 8 months.
3. Men love me.
4. I am always lying around where people are.

No it is not a Pamela Anderson 8 month calendar. It is a hockey team TV schedule. (Click on the thumbnails for a larger image)

It does not matter which sport you pick, the marketing benefits remain the same. People appreciate receiving things that are handy, informative, easy to read and useful so sending a branded calendar with a sports schedule is the perfect answer.

While this concept is not new, making it a TV schedule adds a new dimension. If your TV channels and broadcast rights are like the Vancouver Canucks you never know which station your team will be broadcast on. This handy card has the opponent, time of game and TV station.

In this case the Realtors have their branding on both sides and their slogan is reinforced each time someone refers to the card. It is a form of institutional advertising as it does not have a call to action, but simply reinforces the brand.

The card is mailed to thousands of homes in their marketing area and after a couple of years people look forward to it.

What does it cost?

Generally the design and layout is between $ 150 - $ 250 and the printing cost is $ 0.20 to $ 0.30 per postcard depending on quantity.

How do I distribute it?

It can be sent through admail, in an envelope addressed to your clients and prospects, as an insert in your local paper, through a flyer delivery service, left on the counter of local businesses or given away at local events. The most important thing is to get it into the hands of your clients and prospects.

How do you do this?

Researching the schedule is as easy as going to your local team’s website. I recommend a 4″ x 9″ postcard with full color on both sides. If the schedule is for a shorter season such as football, you can use the other side to publish a list of channels and their affiliates.

Or give me a call at 800-568-8338 or email me at marketinguy@shaw.ca and let me know which team you are interested in and I will send you a quote.

Direct Mail and Email Marketing are Tops

The choice of marketing tools is always difficult and marketers are always trying new ways to reach their markets, but Direct Mail continues to be at the top of the list.  Of all the new medias that have been developed over the past 5 years, email marketing has risen above all others.

Direct mail and email generated the best return on investment among media channels in 2006, according to respondents - both B2B and consumer marketers - to a new Harte-Hanks survey administered by CSO Insights, reports MarketingCharts.

For companies marketing to consumer, Direct Mail provided the number one return on investment (ROI) from 70% of the respondents and email marketing was number one with 47% of the respondents.

For companies marketing to other businesses, 50% of the respondents chose Email Marketing as the number 1 ROI with Events/Tradeshows and Direct Mail closely bunched around 45%.

About the study: Among the respondents, 28% represented technology companies, 19% from the manufacturing sector (non-tech), 13% among services companies, 9% financial, 7% in healthcare and 5% retailers and consumer package goods companies - with a variety of other sectors (nonprofit, government, education, travel and transportation, among others) making up the other 24%. Approximately 60% of survey respondents represent B2B marketers.

Marketing With Postcards

If you are a Realtor trying to market to a “farm area” marketing with postcards is both an art and a science. With the volume of direct mail people receive how are you going to stand out? Regardless of your business the basic principles are the same.

First, you need to be in it for the long haul and plan a series of a minimum of 12 touches because it takes time for you to develop trust and rapport with people. I also recommend you focus on bringing value to the reader and provide information they will keep. I call this refrigerator marketing. (see below for ideas) The acid test is how long will they keep it on their fridge (or in a drawer)? The longer they keep the postcard and the more often they refer to it the closer you are to the top of their mind awareness when they list their home.

The other thing to remember is not to follow the herd. You need to stand out in your prospect’s mind.

How much of the market can I expect to get?

Keep in mind that if 7% of homeowners move each year and your farm is 2,000 homes your target market is only 140 listings. While it sounds great to get 10% of them, if the stats are true and people stay with the Realtor that sold them into the house 65% of the time then your market shrinks to a theoretical potential of 49 homes. Now 10% becomes 5 listings, but what did it cost to acquire them?

What does it cost to market with postcards?

Typically a direct mail piece will cost $ 0.30 delivered. If you send 2,000 pieces 12 times a year your direct investment will be $7200 so you have to ask yourself “if I spent $ 7,200 on people in my sphere of influence who already know me, like me and trust me and are more likely to refer someone, would I be better off?”

Examples of postcards that are usually well received and retained are:

• Local emergency numbers
• Hours and phone numbers of stores in a local mall
• List of local restaurants with phone numbers
• Market update for area
• List of emergency contact numbers for a babysitter to use
• List of movie theaters

Bottom line. Farming takes time, ingenuity, patience and money while marketing to your database only takes time and ingenuity.

Direct Mail Idea 2 - Restaurant Guide

If your prospects and sphere of influence are located in the same general area of your city why not send them a postcard with a list of local restaurants that they will value for years?

This is an example of a generic 4″x9″ card I have developed for clients. It is designed for specific area of Vancouver called Yaletown which is self-contained so I was able to list the restaurants on only one side.

There is an area on the front and back for the
sponsor such as a Realtor to advertise their
name, phone number, web site etc.
Realtors can also add their photo, slogan
and company logo.
Each restaurant is listed with their name,
address and phone number.

 

(Click on card to enlarge image)

Some areas with more restaurants will require both
the back and front of the postcard like this example.

Clients have the choice of
colors, but to be cost effective
they have to stick with the
basic design.

 

So how do you start?

Most cities will have a web site that publishes lists of restaurants or you can use the local yellow pages. In Vancouver I used a combination of a web site called Dine Here and the local Superpages for my research. I then cut and pasted the information into a spreadsheet so I could organize the names. I also checked any phone numbers and added a couple that I knew had just opened up.

What about the layout?
If you are competent at using layout software such as Microsoft Publisher or an of the Adobe products then you can lay this out yourself. Otherwise you may need the services of a local printer and/or graphic designer.

Alternatively, even though it is in Canadian dollars and features Vancouver, check out our Restaurant Guide Fee Schedule as we can do the research and layout here and either send it to your printer or have them printed locally and shipped.

How are they distributed?
Depending on the client they can either be mailed as part of an unaddressed mail walk in a “farm area” or mailed in an envelope with a cover letter to your sphere of influence.

Do they work?
Ask yourself if you would keep a local Restaurant Guide? Would you tuck it into the drawer in the kitchen or put it up on the refrigerator? Would it make you think of the sender every time you looked at it? Would it keep them closer to the top of your mind when you are thinking of using their service or product?

This piece is perfect for “refrigerator marketing” as it is kept on the fridge for a lot longer than a sale flyer or Just Listed postcard.

Direct Mail Idea For Summer

Golf season is in full swing (no pun intended) and there are probably lots of recreational golfers in your farm area or among your sphere of influence that would like a handy reference guide. I created this one for a Realtor by the name of Michael Schelhaas for distribution through the local Streetcards network.

I researched the local golf courses including par 3’s where families like to go and put all of the information on a handy postcard.

The image on the front was a low resolution image I received as a joke by email (so if you are the creator of this image please let me know so I can give you credit). The image and tag line made people smile, but there are lots of other images such as the ones following that you can use on the front of the postcard.

Database Touches - Reasons to Send an Email or Letter

If you understand the importance of “touches” in your database and the statistics that say you need 7 or 12 or 33 touches every year to be successful, then you are probably wondering how you can possibly find enough things to say to your sphere of influence.

There are three main ways to stay in touch; telephone, letter and email and these suggestions will work with all three in some form or another. Keep in mind you are trying to build trust, credibility and ultimately a relationship with your database to ensure repeat business and referral business.

Using Realtors as an example here are 5 reasons to get in touch with your database. While they do not apply to every business or service I am sure you can develop similar ideas:

1) Home Maintenance
This topic alone can keep you in touch with your database on a monthly basis, but you don’t want to over do it. There are dozens of sources of tips and information on the internet and as long as you give credit to the source and a link it should be okay to glean ideas. Some examples are:

• Return on investment for different renovations
• Monthly garden maintenance checklist
• Send packages of seeds (maybe Forget-Me-Nots)
• Color trends
• Decorating magazines or articles
• New roofing products

2) Home Buying Tips
Everything is always changing so with the help of some of your alliances you should be able to provide information that your database will find interesting:

• Total Cost of Ownership
• Financing - New mortgage products
• Title Insurance
• Home Insurance tips

Common Words That Can Ruin a Great Marketing Piece

There is a another great blog about copywriting that I highly recommend. It is called Get it in Writing and is an exceptional resource.

They compiled a list of what they called the Top 20 Words You Use in Speech or Copywriting That Make You Look Stupid When You Misuse Them, but as I misuse these words often I prefer to call it making you look “enyclopediacally challenged”. Here are some of my nemeses. (probably shouldn’t use that word either)

adverse/averse - “Adverse” means unfavorable. “Averse” means reluctant.

accept/except - “Accept” means to to receive with consent.”Except” means With the exclusion of.

affect/effect -”To affect” means to influence, change or produce an effect “To effect” means to accomplish, complete, cause, make possible or carry out. If you’re looking for a noun, you’re probably looking for “effect.” If you’re using a verb, you’re safest with “affect.”

allude/refer -”To allude” means to speak of without mentioning. “To refer” means to speak of directly.

all right - not alright

When Was the Last Time You Wrote a Letter?

The practice of sending letters seems to be on the wane. I can’t remember the last time I received a personal letter from anyone and to be honest I am not the most prolific letter writer either. Now when I suggest sending a letter I am thinking of a hand-written letter on your letterhead. Forget about typing it out and worrying about the font and formatting. Write a letter.

So how do you write a letter?

1. Keep them accurate, brief and clear.
2. Handwrite them most of the time.
3. Get directly to the point.
4. Make them feel personal.
5. Never use a form letters.
6. Make the reflect your personality.

I started thinking about reasons I could send a letter and there were a lot more reasons than I had originally thought possible.

1. To set up an appointment
2. To compliment someone for something
3. To reinforce a personal contact you’ve made
4. To thank someone for seeing your demo or hearing your presentation
5. To follow-up on a sales call
6. To thank someone for making a purchase
7. To thank someone for giving you a referral
8. To let them know of changes in your product or service offerings
9. To recognize someone for a job well done
10. To apologize for something you may have done wrong
11. To congratulate on a promotion or new job
12. To thank a person for doing a favor for you
13. To thank someone for exceptional service
14. To let a person know that you appreciate their product or service
15. To thank a person for their time
16. To announce a new product or service that you offer
17. To send new marketing information
18. To give advance notice of a sale or special promotion
19. To acknowledge recent publicity
20. To recognize a special occasion or event

There are dozens more reasons, but the best reason is the positive impact it will have on:

• retaining clients
• reactivating clients
• building your referrals