Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

I wonder if you made the same assumption as I did when you read the title of this post?  Did you read “Direct Marketing” but think “Direct Mail?”

Direct marketing is defined as sending a marketing message directly to someone, instead of using mass media such as TV, magazines, billboards, etc.  Direct marketing channels include but aren’t limited to paper mail, telephone, mobile phone text (SMS), and e-mail.

This is an important distinction because the cost of a first class postage stamp in the U.S. is going up to 44 cents on May 11, 2009.  Each postage increase makes getting return on your investment in traditional direct mail a lot harder to come by.

Despite the price increase, direct marketing is still worthwhile.  It just means you have to be smarter at it.  Throwing lots of money at direct marketing – whether paper mail or electronic — doesn’t yield the best results.  It’s (a) attention to your audience, (b) the quality of your list and (c) a creative delivery of your message that will do the trick.

So how do you get high response?  Here are 4 steps to follow:

Step 1: Identify your audience and reach them where and how they want to be reached

The most common mistake people make in direct marketing is treating it like mass marketing and sending things to everyone.  Just because you have their contact information, doesn’t mean that you should send them something.  Sit down and look at your customer base.  Group them according to demographics, similarities in needs and wants or how they use your product or service.  Then decide what the best way is to reach them.

• Consumers 18-34 are more likely to respond to an e-mail message or direct mail than they are through a social network.  They are very protective of their contacts and interactions on social media.
• Baby Boomers prefer direct mail.  76 million Americans fall into this category.   E-mail and direct mail will be the best way to reach this group.  Over 70% of baby boomers surf the net and use e-mail regularly.
• Men are more likely to respond to SMS or text messages than their same aged female counterparts.  Women see SMS text as a distraction and imposition.
• Women tend to respond more to e-mail and direct mail.  Don’t spam them on social networks, they view that as an intrusion (we women are all about relationships).

Step 2: Build a Loyal List

Direct marketing has always been about the list.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking quantity is quality.  Use this low-cost, high-impact process to build a loyal and responsive list.  It will take more time, but the results will be more than worth it.

• Build Digital Flypaper.  Create a landing page and some free tips and treats for your ideal customers to feast on.  Have this ready BEFORE you start attracting your list.  For added targeting and punch, create different pages for different groups so that prospects can segment and profile themselves as they grab your goodies.  For free landing page templates, Invesp Consulting has two you can download.  Or go for a custom landing page.
• Go friend hunting.  Identify where your ideal customer hangs out both in real life and digitally.  This could be social sites such as Twitter.com and Facebook.  It could be a popular blog.  It could be a popular coffee house.  Whatever it is, go there and interact with them.  Your objective is to build credibility and show that you are worth “following” and listening to.
• Play the Pied Piper.  The magic song that you play is actually the quality of the reputation that you’ve built with the list.  Start peppering your new friends with helpful tips and treats on your landing page.  With every “gift,” offer the opportunity to register and get more useful free information.  Have the landing page put on special cards and hand those out to your prospects.

Step 3: Create the Irresistible Offer

We all want an irresistible offer, but how do you actually create one?  Simple:  Focus on what your customer REALLY wants.  For example, people who buy shovels don’t really want a shovel, they want a hole that is easy to dig and is the right size.  A shovel is just a way to the hole.  What is the “hole” your customers are buying?  In what ways can you give it to them faster, cheaper, easier?  Here is a familiar example:

Answer these questions:

• What’s MOST important to my customer?
• What do they really want?
• What’s stopping them from choosing you?

Here are some examples:

• Domino’s Pizza.  Their customers want a decent pizza hot and fast.  The offer?  30 minutes or less or it’s free.
• Dry Cleaning Delivery/Pick-up Service:  Ever forgot to pick up something at the dry cleaners – for months?  Dry Cleaners offer free pick-up and delivery and give you a high-quality dry-cleaning bag.

Step 4: Tickle the reticular activator.

Another mistake marketers make is to choose one direct marketing channel.  The ultimate goal of all marketing is to get chosen.  To get your product or service or business chosen, you have to be “found.”  Today’s consumers like to feel like they are in control and they want to do the finding.  This means that you will have to set up your strategy so that it appears like they keep “running” into you everywhere they go.

• Be within arm’s reach.  Identify the 2 or 3 direct marketing channels that your target audience responds to the most.   For example:  E-Mail and Direct Mail (snail mail).
• Develop a theme/campaign.  Chose a benefit-based theme and adapt it to the different marketing channels you’re going to be using.  For example: Solving the Tax Puzzle
• Create call(s) to action.   Carefully look at your theme and your goals for the campaign.  Do you need more than one call to action?  Will you use the direct mail to sample/demonstrate or drive them to a website?  What will they do at the website?  Buy or try?  Don’t just default to an 800 number or website.  Really think through what experience your targets  need to have to make them want your product.  If they need a sample – give them one, if they need to try it for 30 days – then offer them free shipping and a 30 day guarantee.

The bottom line for success here is: stop thinking about “blasting” messages out indiscriminately.  Stop thinking about quantity.  Stop the focus on a big list.

Instead think about relevance.  Think about a loyal list.  Think about what you target customer needs and how to provide it.

Come up with a high-success strategy and work it to the end.