MARKETING TIP FOR FEBRUARY |
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NEW MARKETING TIP - FEBRUARY, 2010
By Tom Quiner
Do you remember the old Ed Sullivan show back in the fifties and 60s? If you’re too young, just go to You Tube to sample the extraordinary talent that graced that legendary show.
As a kid, I was fascinated by the guy who balanced a spinning plate on a long pole. It amazed me. Try it yourself and see how difficult it is. Just don’t use your wife’s good china!
That spinning dish with its precarious perch on a skinny pole makes me think of the marketing efforts of some DJs. Their entire marketing efforts live or die based on their websites.
Your website is vitally important to your success. No question about it. But websites work best as part of an entire, balanced marketing campaign. Just like a table has four legs, your marketing efforts should have at least four legs.
One is direct mail.
Direct mail is proactive. You control the timing of the delivery of your message.
Direct mail is targeted. Is the third week of August still open? Send a mailing to brides getting married in the third week of August. Want more corporate holiday parties? Send a mailing out to companies with at least 50 employees. Want more school dances? Blast a mailing out to schools in your area.
Direct mail is real. Prospects hold your message in their hand. You’ve gone to effort and investment to reach them, and this gives you more credibility than just getting an e-mail from a stranger. In an age of spam, direct mail has more impact than ever.
Direct mail enhances your website. Direct mail always has a call to action. For DJs, the first action step is to call now. The second is to visit your website. The more qualified prospects direct mail drives to your website, the more bookings you’ll generate.
Direct mail is cost-effective. The key is your list. The more targeted, the more cost-effective. For example, direct mail is powerful in the wedding industry, because most DJs have access to local, targeted lists of engaged brides-to-be.
The question becomes, what should you mail? A postcard or an envelope? The answer is: it depends. I use both. Postcards are low-cost, cost-effective sales tools. But the Cadillac direct-mail format is an envelope mailing, consisting of a sales letter, your brochure, and maybe even a reply card.
I’d like to focus on just one component of the direct mail format: the envelope. The envelope is like the subject line of an e-mail. It’s an attention-getter than can either make you or break you.
Here are some tips on how to make your envelope work better:
Tip 1. Use your company name and address in the upper left hand corner. Some mailers leave it off, assuming they’re forcing the recipient to open it, because they don’t know who it’s from. That’s the wrong way to look at it. You’ve invested in a nice logo, right? Don’t hide it. Flaunt it. You want those people who do open the envelope to be receptive to your message.
Tip 2. Use a teaser headline on the outside of the envelope. Again, it’s much like the subject line on an e-mail. If you were mailing to a corporate prospect promoting your entertainment services for a holiday party, you might say something like this:
ATTENTION CORPORATE PARTY PLANNER
Inside: details on how to throw your best holiday party ever.
Or …
Build loyal employees with a holiday party that’s really fun.
Open now for details.
To be effective, your teaser headline should do one or more of the following: Grab attention; identify your audience; create curiosity; make an offer.
Tip 3. Use a live stamp instead of a meter or pre-printed indicia. The stamp makes the communication look more personalized. If you’re preparing a large mailing, this may not be practical, and don’t worry about it. But if you’re mailing follow ups to prospects who’ve visited your website, for example, the personal feel of a stamp helps warm up the prospect.
Tip 4. When you’re sending out information to a prospect who has requested it, be sure to put the words “here is the information you requested” on the outside of the envelope. This little reminder ensures your mail gets special treatment and gets opened first.
Tip 5. Use stickers. Stickers can brighten up ordinary envelopes. They can draw attention to an important offer. They can showcase your slogan. For example, you might make up several stickers: One might say “the wedding specialists.” Another might say “the school dance specialists.” And another still might say “the holiday party specialists.”
Tip 6. Print photographs on the envelope. I received a big, white envelope in the mail last year that stopped me in my tracks. It was from a cruise company. One side of the envelope was covered with three big photos printed in black and white. In an instant, the cruise line conveyed the fun and glamour of their product. My company immediately created similar envelopes for our DJs clients. You want your envelope to warm up your prospect, to begin pre-selling her before she even gets inside to read your wonderful marketing materials. This is an effective way to do it. [See example.]
Tip 7. Go a step further and print your envelope in four color. This can get a little pricey. But are you trying to tap more bookings from upscale prospects? You know, the ones with bigger pocket books, the ones who are willing to pay more for quality? Then you’ve got to look the part. This is a way to make your mail leap out at your prospects, whether it’s a bride, corporate executive, or a mitzvah Mom. We’re doing more and more standard business envelopes in four color for DJs. [See examples.]
Direct mail works better than ever for DJs, because fewer DJs use it since the advent of the e-mail age. Direct mail and e-mail make a powerful one-two punch. Once you drop your mailing, e-mail your prospects to look for your mail. Time it so the e-mail reaches the bride about a day before her mail arrives, a controllable proposition for you if you mail via first class mail to a local audience.
Your e-mail might say something like this:
SUBJECT: I just mailed you our brochure …
Dear Bride-to-be: Check your mailbox tomorrow. I just mailed you our brochure. You can’t miss it. It will arrive in an envelope with a beautiful bride printed on it along with our name, Acme Entertainment.
Read the brochure. It gives you a good feel for our quality and professionalism. If it looks like we fit your style, call me at xxx-xxxx without obligation to check on available dates.
Thank-you,
John Williams, Owner
Acme Entertainment
Another e-mail strategy is to instead send the e-mail the day after your mail is scheduled to reach your prospect. It’s very similar to the approach used above:
SUBJECT: Did you receive our brochure in the mail yet?
Dear Bride-to-be: I just mailed you our brochure. You should have received it yesterday. You can’t miss it. It’s the one that came in an envelope with a beautiful bride printed on it along with our name, Acme Entertainment.
Read the brochure. It gives you a good feel for our quality and professionalism. If it looks like we fit your style, call me at xxx-xxxx without obligation to check on available dates.
Thank-you,
John Williams, Owner
Acme Entertainment
P.S. If the brochure hasn’t arrived yet, learn more immediately at our website: www.AcmeEntertainment.com.
Tom Quiner is President of Breakthrough Marketing, Inc. Their company creates marketing campaigns, brochures, matching business cards, postcards, and websites for mobile disc jockeys. You can view their products at www.BreakthroughBrochures.com. Or call for a FREE Sample Kit at 1-800-810-4152.
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