It s Sure Taking Its Time About It
I own a small (but instantly scalable) marketing company in Hollywood, Florida. We used to be on Madison Avenue in New York until webanco patagonia puntos realized that it no longer matters where we are. And, of course, we can always get to New York, or anywhere, in a few hours. We re experts in direct marketing and we work with huge to very small clients. Wepatagonia better sweater women 1 4 zip love them all. We specialize in thorny issues and the medium doesn t really matter. Direct Marketing s essentials migrate very nicely, even (especially) into social media. I ve written a lot of (published) books and hundreds of articles about marketing. Some of the books have been translated into as many as 8 languages. We call what we do the magic formula , which is a fancy way of saying Understand what you re trying to achieve. Work hard. Test everything. Drop losers, roll out winners. Repeat. We help our clients get new customers, keep the ones they have and get back the ones they ve lost. We love developing new brands and now we repatagonia discount code shari's berries2 using our direct marketing background to build powerful websites and social media campaigns that engage audiences, generate buzz apatagonia better sweater hoody xsnd, more important, develop profitable response.
This is a record year for catalogs jamming my mailbox. It s great.
Lots of reasons, but the short version is that direct mail, catalogs in particular, work. They re profitable and they bring in revenue the companies can t touch with electronic marketing alone.
The enduring power of direct mail is connected to two often overlooked societal phenomena:
1. The mail is often the only reliable way to reach reasonably affluent males.
2. The over 50 crowd, already large and growing, has a lot more money than younger folks and they re just as happy to deal with you in print as they are in the cyber world.
Most catalogers still offer every possible response method: by mail, phone, fax, in person at a store. But, as often as not, most people who order from print catalogs do it online. The word synergy is overused but it fits here.
Our creative director, who gets a lot of print catalogs, orders by phone and calls around 10 at night.
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Which companies are sending out catalogs these days? All the traditional ones you d expect like Harry David the fruit people, Hammacher Schlemmer, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Tiffany s, Art Institute of Chicago, The Met, and so on.
And there are always newcomers, some of which are showing staying power, especially in the fields of clothing, jewelry, food, flowers, nesting merchandise and gadgets.
Catalogs have always struck me as direct mail written large. They re expensive to produce and mail so they have to be carefully targeted.
The catalogers adhere to the basic rules of direct mail, one of the most important of which is ALWAYpatagonia mens better sweater jacketS HAVE A UNIQUE OFFER and make it clear.
I saw several potential gifts in the Smithso插入patagonia discount code shari's berries12nian print catalog but no offer, and yet when I went online to look around, I found Free Standard Shipping (a $7.95 value) and that s always compelling.
Basically, everything in a marketing communication but especially in direct mail has to answer one question right away: What s In It For Me? If the answer is clear, the prospect starts to patagonia discount code shari's berries3get interested and look around.
It s quite a different process from, say, a customer at a retail store like Best Buy who walks in with a specific purchase in mind.
The great catalogers test all the time: different covers, different offers, different lists, different prices, differenpatagonia better sweater coat smallt product placement on page, and on and on. They test and track the results and use the information to get more profitable every time out. (See The Ridiculously Inexpensive Magic of Direct Mail Letters for more about this.)
Price offers can include discounts, specific dollars off, Buy One Get One and variations on that theme. A 15% discount might very well bring in more bottom line revenue than a 10% discount but you ll never know until you test.
Flex Pay. When QVC offers easy payment terms, they feature the patagonia discount code oldmonthly payment. Very popular.
Samples are a terrific way to get people trypatagonia discount code shari's berriesing your product. Cosmetic companies have been doing this for years. Get the first one free, then once you like it: you ll buy it again.
Early Bird Offers often work for our hospitality clients. If you reserve during their quieter times, you get a discount on spa services, or complimentary breakfast. Airlines do this, too.
Deluxe version of whatever you usually sell. Sometimes the deluxe version can also be a free upgrade gift.
Online marketing is a terrific force and it will grow, even as states and cities force marketers to charge sales tax.
But direct mail is not going away. I get a couple of thousand offers by mail every year. They arrive all year long, trending heavier in the last few months and in January and the number is growing. The industry is still selling billions of dollars worth of products and services. It s not hip and happening, not now but it is highly effective and very profitable.
Let me know if you ve been doing well with direct mail in the comments below. It s always good to hear from you. Thanks for reading this.
The fact that direct mail is rarely used in some segments, makes it effective. We tried a direct mail piece to a tech audience that was nearly 100% online in communication. This was a market segment that was on twitter all day long talking about topics and technology. We decided to measure success just like we did with oupatagonia discount code shari's berries0r online investments clicks to the website and ultimately form completions and leads for sales. The results from the direct mail piece beat many of our online offers at a similar price point. No, direct mail isn t dead at all. Smart B2B marketers will use it in a precise and targeted fashion to drive similar results t online. Here s hoping we see renewed life in the beautiful and highly effective direct mail packages from the 80s. Real writing and actual graphic design what a concept! I love catalogs, but I miss clever headlines on outer envelopes, crisply written four page letters and highly engaging four color foldout brochures. It s a bygone era that businesses ought to rethink and resurrect. I hope they do. I m ready to writepatagonia messenger bag wholesale!
