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FactoryDirect
In tough times, target your message
Tips for improving
direct marketing
By Barbara T. Nelles
Economic conditions are taking
their toll on consumers’ responses
to all forms of advertising, including
direct marketing efforts. Still
there is no better time to roll out new
direct mail and other direct-response
campaigns, marketing experts say. In
fact, engaging in direct marketing may
be critical if you want to continue to
reach consumers during tough times.
Direct marketing allows companies
to target previous customers—a very
important group in times like these,
when prospecting for new customers
is especially difficult. Your previous
customers know you and your
business and they are more likely to
respond to your value-driven offer.
Direct marketing is any type of
targeted communication that seeks
a direct response from consumers,
the results of which are collected in a
database for future analysis and use.
It can involve many different types of
delivery, including postal, broadcast,
phone, point-of-service and digital.
Direct mail is the most familiar. Digital
is the fastest growing.
Whatever medium you choose,
there are several things to consider
when drafting your message,
according to Tony Attwood, direct
mail guru and founder of
Hamilton House Mailings plc in
Corby, England, and Lois Boyle-
Brayfield, president of direct marketing
agency J. Schmid & Associates
Inc. in Kansas City, Mo.
1Place your name, location and contact
information in plain sight—it’s
the first thing a recipient looks for.
www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes
2Headline a benefit such as “No
more backaches when you sleep
on a ______”—not lists of product
features.
3Do support that headline benefit
with a strong value story—
especially in today’s economy. Provide
facts and figures that underline value,
add a free gift or extra discount to
compel consumers to act.
4Remember “you” and “free” are
the two most powerful words you
can use.
5Put your most powerful words at
the beginnings of sentences and
paragraphs.
6Include a call to action. Tell the
reader what you want her to do
and how to do it—and repeat it more
than once in your copy.
Announcements don’t make at-
7 tention-grabbing headlines. “ABC
introduces the XYZ mattress” will not
work—nor will following it up with
your number of years in business and
the latest technology behind the XYZ.
8If you’ve included a special offer,
articulate it in a clear, compelling
manner. Try testing different
offers with different list segments.
Which offers worked in the past?
Can you brainstorm a giveaway that
will not impact your margins?
9Beware of focusing the entire
message on having the lowest
price—it will only work if you really
are less expensive than everyone
else, which is a difficult promise to
make in a highly competitive category
and economy. And it can have
unintended results, like starting a
price war in your market.
Consider posing a provoca-
10tive question in the headline:
“Are these the 3 things you dread
most about mattress shopping?”
Recipients will read on just to see if
you got it right. Develop your question
and provide your solution in a
paragraph or two, using a conversational—not
promotional—style.
Make information easy to
11understand and don’t assume
anything. Write in short paragraphs
and avoid fine print and disclaimers
BedTimes | May 2009 | 81