Gumas. Marketing Smart

Brand advertising tells your target audience about your company, products and services.  Direct response advertising invokes a response.  Successful direct response advertising is the result of providing your target audience with a compelling reason to respond now, not later.

Your advertising should always create a well-rounded program that uses the right combination of brand development and direct response.  Always include a strong call to action.  Typically, prospects will respond if there is a compelling reason to do so.  Be sure to create a sense of urgency—you want to hear from your target immediately.

A recent study set out to find what marketing tactics motivated consumers to move from “considering a purchase” to actually “making a purchase.” The results of the study are eye opening and worthy of our close attention as we all plan our next marketing campaign.

The study results are as follows:

(Note: Respondents could pick more than one influencer, so the total is more than 100%.)

1. Free sample 87.2%

2. Referral from a friend 48.5%

3. Free premium 29.4%

4. Advertising 27.2%

5. Chance to win instant major prize 16.7%

6. Packaging 10.2%

7. Direct mail 5.0%

8. Presence around town 4.6%

9. Collateral 2.4%

The results raise the question—how can you incorporate one of these tactics into your next marketing campaign to increase your results?

Until next month…

Baron von Richthofen, also known as The Red Baron, was considered one of the great flying aces of World War One. But what made him so great? A major tactic in his strategy was to always finish off his opponent and “go in for the kill.”

The Baron would have made a great marketing professional. When it comes to marketing tactics, many companies don’t carry all the way through with their marketing programs. They typically fall just short of conclusion. And, unlike the Baron, they don’t go in for the kill.

So what do we mean by not going in for the kill? The following are just some of the many examples we see on a regular basis:

- Sending out direct mail and never following up.

- Running print ads without a strong call-to-action.

- Giving up on an interested prospect after just a couple of calls.

- After a networking event, not following up with the new contacts in a timely manner.

- Most leads generated at a trade show are either followed up with too late, or, even worse, are never followed up with at all.

The typical marketer makes it a priority to chase after new business prospects and when they finally get close, they either stop or put it off for so long that the prospect has lost interest or, dare we say, purchased from a competitor. This is only one of many examples we see regularly, but the point here is if you want marketing to work at its highest level, you have to go in for the kill.

Why does this happen? The most common reason we see is that there is no secondary plan in place to deal with the low-level tactics. What happens once someone responds? When strategic plans are created, they usually outline top-level strategy. Plans do not typically have a secondary plan that goes into this low-level “how are we going to close the business” tactical detail. Yet this stage of the prospect courtship may be the most crucial stage of all. So a prospect that you’ve worked so hard to identify and cultivate simply falls off your radar screen because you didn’t have a plan in place designed to go in for the kill.

So what do we suggest? Never execute any plan until you know exactly how you’re going to finish it off. Always have the next steps figured out before you execute. Take a close look at your marketing plans to see if they do in fact go in for the kill. If not, it’s most likely costing you in lost opportunity revenue.

Until next month…

Mark Twain once said, “The difference between using the right word and almost the right word is the difference between a lightning bug and lightning.” In advertising, the idea is very similar. Imagine if you could use words in your advertising that could change your advertising from good to great!

There have been numerous studies conducted over the years on this subject. Each one was designed to find those words believed to be the most persuasive in advertising. We thought it would be interesting to compare those studies to determine which words consistently made it to the top of the lists. Then we refined the lists to include those words that we have found to be the most persuasive during the past twenty-three years that we have been creating advertising campaigns.

The result is the following list of what we feel may be The 10 Most Powerful Words in Advertising*:

1. NEW—Having something new and knowing something is new has incredible intrinsic value.

2. GUARANTEED—We are all reluctant to try something new because of the risk. Take away that risk by guaranteeing a sure thing.

3. PROVEN—Another no-risk word that assures your target audience that your product has already been tested by others.

4. RESULTS—This is the bottom line, where you tell your prospective customers what they will get, what will happen and why they should care.

5. SAFETY—The idea of safety is very comforting and is a core need.

6. SAVE—Even the wealthiest people shop for value. It’s not just money that entices; people also want to know about saving time.

7. YOU—You’re more likely to get your target audience involved if you address them directly.

8. NOW—This creates a sense of urgency for your future customer.

9. EASY—Most people want a quick and uncomplicated solution.

10. FREE—Who can resist the granddaddy of them all?

Obviously, there are many other powerful words, and your list may vary depending on what you are selling. Try one or more of these words in your next advertising communication and see if it turns your lightning bug into lightning.

* Please note that most of these words should be avoided in your e-vertising campaigns, as covered in last month’s issue.

Until next month…

More results. Better qualified leads. Greater return on investment. Anyone who has ever developed direct response marketing, in any form, has undoubtedly heard one or more of these requests before. So what’s a marketer to do?

In an effort to help you not only answer these requests but deliver upon them, we have put together what we feel are seven sure-fire strategies that you need to consider when creating your next direct response marketing program:

1. Always remember the basics—We have discussed the basics of direct response before. But many times marketers get caught up in the day-to-day crunch and simply forget the basics. To refresh your memory they include:

a. Make sure your offer is made at the beginning
b. Clearly tell the target what they will get and how they will benefit
c. Tell them what to do and the action you want them to take
d. Set a deadline for them to take the action
e. Give them as many ways as possible to respond

2. Make your offer as strong as possible—Most direct response programs must have an offer to be successful. Common sense tells us the more compelling the offer, the better the results. Yes, offering a larger discount will get more response than a smaller discount. But before you start giving away too much of your margin, get creative. Find out what your target wants. For example, look into win-win partnerships with other companies, such as “Buy a driver from us and get a free putter from them”; “Order new doors from us and get a free hardware upgrade from them.” Get the picture?

3. Why won’t people buy?—You need to do your research and find out. Call them and ask them. Learn why they didn’t respond and why they weren’t drawn to your offer. Imagine what you could do armed with this information.

4. Tell the world why others buy—Testimonials from satisfied customers can be powerful. Consider using real customers to tell their stories. Done right, these believable testimonials can be just the nudge it takes to get others to buy.

5. Test—Test lists, headlines, copy and offers.

6. Adjust your website—We are talking about more than just good optimization here. Make sure your website works closely with your direct response program. Or, better yet, consider a special landing page designed specifically for each direct response program.

7. Don’t forget your brand—Don’t get caught up in the tactics of your offer. Remember to be true to your overall brand and what it stands for.

And just one final thought: It’s not how much you spend but how much you will earn that counts. As you put your budget together, consider the lifetime value of a customer versus the one-time cost of the direct response program. This may help you justify the investment it will take to be successful.

There are many more elements to successful direct response advertising, but if you include what we outlined above, you will be well on your way to greater results.

Until next month…