Marketing Tools...
How Direct Mail Can Work
For Consultants:
Increasing Orders 20 Percent
Recently, we wrote about getting past the most ferocious gatekeeper
(even "White Fang") with the technique of a "lumpy
package," a marketing tool touted by the editor of "Target
Marketing" magazine, Dennis Hatch.
"A lumpy package gives it the appearance of value,"
Hatch said.
From subscriber Barbara Bix's own zine "Health
Care Marketing Matters" comes this successful example
of what she calls "dimensional mailing" (a.k.a. a "lumpy
package").
One of her clients sent direct mail to doctors whose gatekeepers
are among the toughest. They are charged with ruthlessly discarding
everything that looks like "junk mail."
Her client's mailings, though, sailed right through because:
1. They made sure they had a highly targeted list of
names with up-to-date addresses.
2. They created a handsome "dimensional" mailing
in a distinctive oversized white envelope. Inside was an elegant
red and white folder that included a valuable audiotape on a
issue critical to the target market along with a useful booklet
of tips.
"Because of the bulk," Bix said, "it was hard
to resist opening the envelope."
3. And they relied on a copywriter experienced in generating
messages that appealed to their specific market.
Another significant ingredient in this approach, Bix noted,
was offering the recipients multiple ordering methods and multiple
ways to receive the material. "They could have it their
way," she said.
The result?
A huge jump in orders every time the company mailed the "lumpy
package." With this direct mail approach, orders increased
20 percent.
As Bix summed it up in a phone call, "They did everything
right: the list, packaging, and the offer."
For those of you with direct mailings that falter, stumble,
and fizzle, improving the packaging -- or the list or the offer
-- may dramatically turn around your results.
You'll find more marketing tools
so that you don't waste another dime on poor results...
