Direct Marketing With Little Money With Little Money
Here are some tips and thoughts on delivering effective and cheap direct marketing:
• Shrink your focus! Don’t attempt to give every product or service an equal slice of the pie — that will only dilute your marketing efforts.
• Know your audience; market to the right people. Your message may not spread as widely, but it will certainly penetrate deeper.
• Use email – you can stay connected without brochures and billboards. Email is personal, can be
customized and it’s FREE!
Email tips
• Email is free, but the bad news is that companies use and abuse this mode of communication. Your challenge will be to break through — without spamming your audience.
• Don’t market through email too often. If recipients feel overwhelmed, they will request to be taken off your mailing list. Keep your email communication to once or twice a month, with other forms of communication sprinkled in between. The key is stay in the recipients’ inbox.
• Try the educational approach. Offer information that you know your audience wants and needs.
Direct mail tips
Direct mail might have a “bad rap” but when it’s done in a targeted fashion it doesn’t have to be expensive and can be incredibly effective.
• Focus your campaign by knowing what information to send to whom. Don’t send all your product brochures to everyone on your list. Save collateral distribution for someone who asks or for personal contact.
• Personalized letters that target specific customers take a little more time but can elicit a response.
• The more personal the better: Do you know something specific about the recipients’ company that will make them interested in your product or service? A little research on the front end will go a long way.
• Sorting your marketing by contact, title, department, geography or other criteria will help you market effectively. If you’re selling IT services, you’ll want to get in contact with the CIO, not the CFO. Don’t spend money on those not involved in the process.
• Maintain a consistent look and feel to your marketing material. You want prospects to experience “déjà vu” when they see your material.
• Print and mail in regular sizes; odd shapes, such as square envelopes or bulky items, cost more to mail.
• Nurture your contacts through email with specific and relevant offers and wait for them to ask for material.
Happy direct marketing without the big budget!
Andrew Stott is the President of Sales Solutions. He provides businesses with “go-to-market” sales and marketing programs. Contact him at 905.918.1909 or andrew.stott@sales-solutions.org.
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
