‘MailPro’

This newsletter is published bimonthly at no charge for direct mail professionals. It contains information on current Postal Service programs and services, rates and classification, mailing success stories and industry news. To request MailPro, mail, fax or e-mail your name, title, company name, complete delivery address and daytime phone number to:
MailPro
NATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER
US POSTAL SERVICE
6060 PRIMACY PKWY STE 101
MEMPHIS TN 38188-0001
Fax: 901-681-4521
E-mail: mncsc@usps.com

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‘Marketing is all about helping people get what they want.’

It applies to getting a job, or getting a raise or a promotion. If your employer doesn’t feel that you can help him or her get what he/she wants from your skills, then you won’t get the job, raise or promotion. Your employer is not going to give you what you want, until he or she is convinced that you can give them what they want.

It applies to finding your mate. If you aren’t providing your prospective partner with what he/she wants in a relationship, then there’s a good chance that the relationship isn’t going to progress to the next level.

Which brings me to the point of logic.

Whether you are marketing yourself or your product or service, you can’t just walk up to strangers who know nothing about you and think you are going to get an immediate commitment. That just isn’t logical.

Imagine walking up to a stranger at a party and saying, ‘Excuse me. Will you marry me?’

What kind of direct mail response do you imagine you would get if you did such a thing? Would it be logical to expect the answer to be ‘Yes!’  I hope you agree that is not logical. That isn’t the way relationships and commitments progress.

They progress one step at a time. If there happens to be a mutual attraction from the start, then each person needs to get to know, like and trust the other person to determine if it makes sense to move on to the next step in the relationship.

Let’s apply this concept to marketing your product or service.

Imagine walking up to a stranger on the street and saying, ‘Excuse me. Would you buy my Widget?’

Have you ever tried selling something to a complete stranger? If you have, then you know that it isn’t easy. Some would say it’s nearly impossible.

First of all, what are the chances that the stranger even has a desire to own what you are selling? Probably pretty low.

Even if they did have a desire to own what you were selling, what are the chances that they would actually buy it from you — a total stranger? Logically speaking — next to zero.

Can you see that approaching strangers on the street and asking them to buy your product or service is not a logical marketing approach?

So, if walking up to strangers and asking them to buy is not logical, then imagine how illogical it would be to send strangers a ‘weaker’ marketing approach like a flyer asking them to buy your product or service, or putting an ad in a newspaper and asking strangers to buy, or sending strangers an e-mail and expecting them to buy.

Now, you may say, but I see big companies marketing their products and services to strangers all the time. They just describe their products and ask people to buy.
Ah. But that’s an illusion. Those big companies have invested millions, if not, billions of dollars on image advertising in an effort to get their target market to know, like and trust them. It’s called branding — and it is very, very, expensive.

When a family gets a promotional flyer from The Disney Company, they don’t feel like they are buying from a stranger. Disney has been a warm and positive part of their childhood, and will probably be the same for their children too.

Bill Smith’s Chiropractic Center doesn’t have that same kind of relationship with his marketplace. To them, he is a stranger. And, no, Bill Smith, as a small business owner, cannot afford to spend millions of dollars on awareness marketing — like the big companies do — to ensure that his entire marketplace gets to know, like and trust him. That just isn’t logical.

There are hundreds of Prospects searching right now for the type of product or service you provide

Right at this very moment there are most likely hundreds, perhaps even thousands of Prospects in your marketplace who are actively searching for the benefits that your company provides.

The problem is ‘you don’t know who they are, and they don’t know who you are. Or they don’t know, like and trust you enough to buy from you.’

But imagine if you did know who they were. You could pinpoint your marketing efforts directly to just those prospects who want what you are selling. Then every one of them would know that you offer exactly what they are looking for.

Isn’t that a much more logical marketing approach than just promoting your products and services to thousands of people who have absolutely no interest in what you are offering. That’s incredibly expensive, counterproductive and illogical.
So, when you’re ready, let’s sit down and talk further about how to make people get the most of what you have to offer them.

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Here are  a few B2B Marketing Tips (part 1 of 2);

1)  Business Buyer Wants to Buy –   Most consumer Advertising offers people products they might enjoy but don’t need.  However, B2B is different.  The business buyer wants to buy.  All businesses must routinely buy products & services that help them stay profitable, competitive & successful.  Proof of this is the existence of the purchasing agent whose sole function is to purchase things.

2) Business Buyer is Sophisticated –  B2B copy talks to a sophisticated audience.  Your typical reader has a high interest in (& understanding) of your product (or at least the problem it solves).  Your reader usually knows more about their application of your product than you.  The business audience does not respond well to slogans or oversimplification.

3) Business Buyer is an Information Seeker –   The business buyer is on the look for information  advice that can help the buyer do his job better, increase profits, or advance his career.

4)  A Multi-step Buying Process –    The purchase of most business products is a multi-step process.  A one shot mailing often can’t close the sale.  It takes a series of letters, brochures, presentations, ads, mailers & e-mails – combined with the efforts of salespeople to turn a cold lead into a customer.

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Here are  a few B2B marketing  tips for you  (Part 2 of 2);

1)   Multiple Buying Influences –  A business purchase is usually a team effort, with many players involved.  Therefore, it’s rarely an impulse buy.  There are many stakeholders involved from purchasing agent to company president with each having a different concern.  To be successful, your copy must address the needs of all parties.  It may even require separate mailings to the stakeholders within the organization.  This is the main reason behind utilizing an experienced list broker who can sift thru the clutter and get you what you need.

2)   Business Products are Complex — Most business products (and their applications) are more complex than consumer products.  Therefore, B2B copy cannot be superficial.  Clarity is essential.  Half the battle is explaining quickly and simply, what your product is, what it does and why the reader should be interested in it.

3)      The Business Buyer Buys for His Company’s Benefit AND His Own. –  They must acquire products and services that benefit their company.  The means the product or service saves the company time or money, makes money, improves productivity and efficiency or solves problems.  At the same time, while the buyer is looking to do right by his company, they have an equal (if not greater) concern for their own well-being and self interests.  Many seek to make the safe, acceptable choice, reduce stress or their own labor, save themselves time, avoid the unknown and prevent loss or change.  They may buy a product not because it is the best, but because they think is will make their own lives easier – even if it’s not the optimal choice for their organization.

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1)  Size Matters — The most common envelope kit in your mailbox today is a white #9 window package.   The most common post card is 6″ x 9″.   In your next mailing, break out of the paradigm.    One of the five most influential format variables is size.  Use it to your advantage.

2)  Light at the End of the Mailbox — Personal household tallies reveal that we have provided our email address to 53 organizations in exchange for loyalty cards, newsletters, magazines, charities, politicians, and access to merchants, banks and services. These enterprises have abandoned our mailbox to drown their message in the flood of email we receive daily.   The fight for our attention has shifted from the curb to the screen.   Moral: if you are in the hunt for a new customer today, the mailbox at the end of the driveway is the easier place to find and read your offer.

3)  List Hygiene –  List hygiene is an obvious cost reducer.  While we may understand its absolute value in cash savings, it is a significant determinant in response analysis, too.   If you mail a 1,000,000 pieces with a 1% response, and in fact, 50,000 of those pieces were undeliverable, then your actual, real response rate was 1.05%.  This subtlety is especially important when you are testing.   A 5 percent lift is a big deal.

4)  Red Marks the Spot –  On a white background, red will be the most arresting color you can use to attract the reader’s eye.    Use it to make the offer or highlight a key feature or competitor fault.   Don’t waste it on low-calorie text.

5)  Risky Business –   A chief obstacle to responding is the responder’s sense of risk.    Will I lose my money?   Will I be disappointed?   Will a sales person bother me?    Can I back out later?   What happens to my name and address?   Your job is to reduce the risk, real or perceived.   Promote and rapidly honor your guarantee.   Handle personal inquiries personally.    Give the option for more mail.   And if you need a sales person to follow up, hire and equip them to be knowledgeable, personable and dedicated to the relationship.

6)  Closing the Deal –  In B-to-B mailings the call to action is often to “request information”.   It’s a weak appeal.  If you are attempting to generate leads, give your sales people something more tangible to respond with.  Close your direct mail campaign with a specific actionable offer, with measurable goals: “show me how I can reduce sales costs by 24% using the Acme software kit”.

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1) TRACKING CODES — Tracking codes are essential to calculating program ROI. Common sense tells you to place a key code on your reply form. But few marketers consider the tracking code for inbound phone response. This means that if you have a phone number on a brochure, letter, buckslip, you need to include the tracking code as well on each piece. Otherwise, you will be frustrated by a quantity of phone responses which cannot be tracked to a specific effort, guaranteed. Think about using unique telephone numbers or unique extensions.

2) THE POWER OF TOUCH — Good mail packages are finger candy. They beg to be peeled, scratched, slid, ripped, zipped, popped, unfolded, and wiggled. Design your kit to get physical. Once the hands are involved, the mind follows.

3) 80% OPEN & READ RATE — On any given mail day you may expect that at least 80% of your targeted readers will read or scan your mailing, assuming that you have been diligent in specifying your list. Compare that statistic with general advertising read rates. For more insight, check out the USPS Household Diary.

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1) Interest — Your copy will be interesting if it is relevant and meaningful. To that end write to the demographics and context of your targeted reader. Make it meaningful by expressing the importance of your message in finite terms: this offer will affect the reader how, when, and why.

2) Desire — It’s not about flames of passion, but close. Your words need to satisfy and control an emotional driver: guilt, fear, ego, need for approval, greed, and pride. They need to support a positive decision to act.

3) Thank You Notes — Thank you notes are scarcer than hens’ teeth. Why? Because someone decided the rules of good etiquette can be observed with an email Thank You. Not really. While marketers resort to the less costly email to say thanks, the thrill is gone. If the email includes a comeback coupon, it has to be clicked, viewed, logged and printed. The consumer ends up with an 8-1/2 x 11 paper voucher to file on their dresser beside the bills. By comparison, a mailed Thank You note with wallet-sized coupon card is convenient to the consumer.  It’s classier too.

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1) .Which has more appeal: one year, or 52 issues? one quart, or 32 ounces? 6 x 10, or 60 square feet? six settings, or 36 pieces? When you shape your offer, zero in on the piece count.

2) A reverse on renting a magazine list is to rent space on, or in, the magazine for your mailing piece. Direct mail kits bound into a magazine are Ride-Along kits, and postal rates are reduced to $0.159 per piece. Compare that to $0.241 for your typical Standard postage.  There are advantages: less likely to be discarded; the piece may be supported by adjacent advertising; the solo mailing list cost is avoided; the piece has a shelf life as long as the magazine; it is the natural opening in the magazine. Magazine binderies can match-in personalized Ride-Along mail.

3) Perhaps our eating habits reflect our receptivity to mail. Monday is a comfort food day: keep to the easy-to-digest, home favorites. Friday meals are without a care: escape from the work week, and serious calls to focus. Try to get in-home delivery on Tuesday to Thursday. Tuesday to Thursday is when people are up and running, trying on new menus. They are active in their reading, pushing through the mail looking for new adventures. And for those traffic builders with tight windows…..that’s where the cooling pies get snapped up, right away.

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As you know by know, I’m continually looking to add value to your direct marketing efforts.  How about a FREE LUNCH?

It’s not quite a free lunch, but it’s almost as good.  How does 25 POSTAGE PAID FREE 4-1/4″ x 6″ POSTCARDS AND 25 POSTAGE PAID FREE 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ CARDS SOUND? Too good to be true? Well it’s not!!  Just for signing up in order to try them out, PremiumPostcard.com is giving anyone and everyone this special FREE OFFER. Just sign up and use PROMOTIONAL CODE – USPS09 (that’s USPS-zero-nine). Believe me, there are NO STINGS ATTACHED either.  Give it a try and let me know what you think. I believe you’ll be VERY pleasantly surprised.
They tell you to think outside the box….be creative..! However, behind that advice is the knowledge that the mind gravitates to inside the box, really. So make it easy for your reader. When you are designing letters and brochures, even envelopes…where you have a message that needs absolute, total comprehension, put it inside a box on the page.

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1) USE A LARGER TYPEFACE
Over half of all adults wear glasses. Even more as they get older (even AARP uses small type – go figure). Make sure you use a large, easy-to-read typeface.
2) Tell them what happens if they don’t act now.
Will I miss getting a raise or promotion? Will my garden wilt and die? Sometimes the negative is even more persuasive than the positive.
3) Make customer contacts look different from prospect contacts.
If your customer contacts look the same as your prospect contacts, you’re missing the point. Because you know your customers and they know you, contacts with them should look like you’re trying to assist them and not trying to sell them.  For more help on how to incorporate A/B Split tests, visit BBDirect.com.

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