Rational Marketing

Tag: Maximize Reach

  • How You Say It May Make a Big Difference

    To continue with our ideas about building confidence, BNET summarized an interview about building self-confidence and authority during presentations. The idea is that expansive poses (arms wide apart) practiced over a two-minute period before a presentation stimulates higher levels of testosterone, the dominance hormone, and lower levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. Poses, such as crossing your arms make us look smaller, weaker.

    A supporting idea is the act of physically occupying more space conveys many of the same benefits. Similarly, we work with our customers to help them use the largest format possible while respecting financial constraints to make the most confident statement. This really makes sense when we compare postcards of different sizes and how they look in a mailbox.

    We usually respond positively to confident speakers and find them more believable and credible. How can we help you translate your great speaking skills and presentation to your marketing and mailing?

  • Practical Titles Pull

    We started writing this blog about a year ago. The two articles that have received the most comments are Direct Mail Hot Spots and Tips to Make Direct Mail Work Smarter. Both of these posts offer practical tips and ideas to make the most out of a great medium, direct mail, for communicating with your target audience.

    Was it the titles that generated the traffic or was it the content? We think it has more to do with the titles.

  • Business Database Differences

    BtoB Online summarized a study on Sources of B-to-B Data that reveals an evolution in how business data are collected and offered.

    “The background for this study is the lack of confidence business marketers have in publicly available prospecting files,” said Ruth P. Stevens, a customer acquisition and retention consultant, Columbia University business professor, and co-author of the study. “We did find that data from these compilers was more accurate, in terms of names, addresses, company name, ZIP codes, etc.” Stevens said. “But what we found is that there are a lot of business buyers names whose records are not in these databases.

    Compiled lists for use by direct marketers are assembled from a variety of sources, including directories, contacts from trade shows, public records, social sites, credit reports and even by “scrubbing” business or other special-interest websites for information about business executives.

    To increase the likelihood that marketers get the data they want, the researchers advised them to develop a detailed list ordering methodology. They also urged marketers to understand what vendors mean by “complete” information, a definition which can vary; to be specific about industry selections; to watch for vendor specialization by industry; and to choose between breadth of companies, or breadth of contacts or both.

    We can help you evaluate multiple direct mail list choices, we are neutral and will do research for you to find the best alternative to meet your needs.

  • 88% Response Rates

    The U.S. Census is still advertising, urging people to complete and mail back census forms. The Harvard Business Review’s Daily Stat forwarded some information from the Pew Research Center anticipating that 12% of Americans would not fill out the form.

    What does that mean? A form mailed to Americans generated an 88% response rate. 88% is a very big number! The information published by the Pew Center goes into more depth with characteristics and found that the likely non-respondents were younger and had less education.

    Many so called gurus and experts are not suggesting that businesses use mail right now, they aren’t promoting mail as a fabulous tool to let people know that you and your products are great. The problem is that most of what businesses are doing to market themselves and create revenue right now, search optimization, pay per click, e-mail and many other of the “latest, greatest marketing methods” are not working.

    The Internet is a great and wonderful universe. It has taken the place of phone books, reference books, and perhaps some newspapers in our lives and businesses. What do you do as you decide how to market your products and services? You need to be found. If people are looking for solutions to problems and you can solve them, be there at the top of the search results with your solution. If you are trying to stimulate curiosity, interest, excitement, demand and revenue, you might need to look at other ways to create that for your products, services and brand.

  • Paper Mail?

    Most of the information available to businesses and marketers is currently promoting “digital” communication. What about paper?

    Paper can be touched and felt.

    Print is persuasive. On paper, you can communicate at greater length (due to less eyestrain) and more depth – attention spans are longer for print.

    Paper materials prompt action.  There are examples that printed pieces drive sales through other channels, including web sales.

    Paper gets read when the recipient is in the mood, unlike emails, tweets, texts, or other updates which are usually read immediately or deleted.

    To get through, to stand out, to get read rather than skimmed, to trigger orders, printed postal mail is still a great way to use marketing resources.

  • Doing More with Less

    These days we are all doing more with less:

    • Squeezing the very last bit of toothpaste from the tube
    • Cooking more at home, using leftovers
    • Giving your time as Christmas gift
    • Finding joy in shopping bargains

    Direct mail has always been the advertising method that offers measurable results. Mail is scalable, you can send as many cards or letters as you can afford and have the resources to fulfill. In this economic climate, this is still true and more important than ever.

    We recently attended a seminar that talked about marketing. They spent a lot of time talking about websites, social networking, search optimization… Yes they are all important, yes they are more important now than ever before. However, they are not the only way you can and should interact with your customers and your potential customers. Do you have a valid email address from everyone who has purchased from you before? Does every one of your customers want your marketing messages in their email inbox? We know that different types of people respond to different types of messages from many sources.

    You need to be able to be found in the moment of purchase, that means when someone searches for you on the Internet, you are there. But what about being on the short list of possible vendors? Maintaining relationships with customers who have purchased from you before is less expensive than investing resources to capture and create a bond with a new client.