Increasing Return on Marketing Dollars

A Newsletter Published by
Lee Marc Stein, Ltd.
February 2007 Issue

CONTENTS

• The Magnificent Mantra
• Playing with a Full Deck (Part I)

The Magnificent Mantra

You can argue, and I think incorrectly these days, that THE magic word in direct marketing is "FREE!"  I say incorrectly because in particular B2B situations, "FREE" is exactly the wrong word.  It can devalue the appeal of your product or service instantly.

Others would argue, with more success, that "you" is the magic word.  Using the word frequently - in place of "we" - would seem to indicate use of the consumer-centric approach necessary for successful direct marketing.  But copywriters and designers don't strive for "you" as a goal of their creative.

There is no single magic word that can be universally inserted into copy that is a surefire guarantee of action.  There is, however, one mantra that, when mouthed by prospects or customers, will greatly strengthen your chances for getting a response.  That mantra is "Hey, that's me!"

Think about this a minute.  You've attracted the reader's attention.  You've gotten him or her to read something - probably the Johnson box and/or introductory paragraph of your letter.  You've outlined a problem or tried to characterize who is reading the letter, and the reader now raises his or her hand by saying "Hey, that's me!"  Those thinking this will follow the copy from the problem to the solution.  When you ask them to take action, they will because they feel you know them.

What's going to happen when you objective is inducing this mantra is that you are going to separate suspects from true prospects or customers.  Because you're taking a stand, being specific, a big percentage of your universe is going to think the opposite - "This is not for me" - and they're not going to continue reading.  Those prospects and customers who mouth the mantra will feel more connected and be more committed.

So a B2B letter sent to companies with less than stellar credit opens with -

"If your company needs a working capital loan of $300,000 to $3,000,000 NOW, call us at 1-800-970-9997 ext. 14."

Here's the beginning of a classic letter from the Smithsonian:

"Dear Member-Elect:

I think I know something about you.

You have above average intelligence and a wide range of interests.

You work hard - you're always on the go.

And, alas, you have little time for relaxing - but when you can wind down, you like your entertainment to be intellectually stimulating.

Am I right?  If I am..

... then welcome to the club."

If you don't have a wide range of interests, if you spend your time watching cartoons, then you're certainly not going to say "Hey, that's me!" upon reading this.  You are, in fact, going to throw the letter away.  If you keep reading, you follow the logic: "This is me ⇒ therefore I should consider being a Member ⇒ these are benefits that suit me ⇒ I will respond.

You can't always know as much about your prospect's psyche as Smithsonian does.  When you don't, another strategy involves positing situations in which readers might find themselves.  Here are the opening paragraphs of a letter selling Nightingale-Conant's Conversation Power:

If just readers identify with just one of these situations, you'll hear those three magic words.  Sometimes you really have to take chances to awaken prospects to recognize their situations (and themselves).  The client for whom I wrote the following opening chose not to use it.  It was for a product for IT directors.

"'Mutter, mutter.  They cut my budget and turn up the flow of work orders.  Mutter, mutter.  The harder I work the more problems I seem to get hit with.  Mutter, mutter'

'Mutter, mutter.  Even the software solutions I read about seem to make my job tougher.  Mutter, mutter.  Months to install, expensive training, kills my budget'

We hear YOU.  Before mutters get worse, take a look at this..."

There's an aspirational variation on "Hey, that's me!" that can work well - "Hey, that could be me!"  The 15-year control for The Economist uses this variation perfectly.  Here's the opening:

"Every Monday morning a rather unusual publication arrives at the desks of a select circle of individuals in positions of power and influence.

The readers of this discreetly... publicized newsweekly include presidents (of countries, banks, universities and Fortune 500 companies), ranking executives (in business, government and industry) and prominent thinkers (in law, science, economics and military strategy).

Now, it may not surprise you to learn that the average personal income of North American subscribers to this singular periodical exceeds $144,800 per annum..."

A few paragraphs down, is the "Hey, that could be me!" evoker:

"But now, with this letter, you are cordially invited to join the extremely select circle of men and women who wouldn't think of beginning each business week..."

At the top of the second page is the clincher:

"First, let me make it plain that I am not writing to you today because I think you may not be earning $144,800-a-year, or at least not yet.  (Of course, many of our most distinguished subscribers earn considerably less than our reader-average - this makes them no less distinguished in our eyes.)"

The ultimate in this aspirational variation was the Barbizon headline from 30 years ago - "Be a model, or just look like one."

It is imperative that, once prospects speak the mantra, you follow through.  You have to get prospects to say "that's me" again when you talk about the benefits/results of having your product or service.  You have to get prospects to say "Hey, that's me!" at the moment of truth, when they're deciding whether to respond.  This might involve language along the lines of:

"Frankly, only a relative few will be opportunistic enough to act promptly on this time-limited offer..."

Playing with a Full Deck (Part I)

52 Testable Factors That Impact Your Direct Marketing Results

This four-part series provides an annotated checklist of factors that influence the success of your programs.  You may have tested some of these factors thoroughly, others you've taken for granted, and still others may not be relevant to your particular business.  But one of these factors may be your ace in the hole.

Reply by/Expire dates

1. Should you have one?  Generally a good idea, but there are times when a reply date on an envelope or response form can backfire.  That's why you need to test it.

2. What is your rationale for having one? It's easy if you're offering a limited time discount or premium, but what if you're asking someone to sign up for a credit card?  Or asking someone to give gift subscriptions four months before Christmas?

3. Should you use a number of days or a specific date?  Number of days is safer (especially when you're mailing standard rate) and less costly.  Specific dates normally pull better for some marketers.

4. How much time between the drop date and reply by date?  We've seen at least one big marketer who mails standard put a 48-hour reply by on its envelope.  Financial mailers (like mortgage lenders) will generally set 10-day to 21-day reply dates.  Sweeps mailers have dates four to six weeks out, but then have a second, earlier return date to qualify for their "Early-Bird" prize.

Response vehicles

5. Are you better off eliminating the reply form from your direct mail package?  Better off, how?  Lower acquisition costs, more qualified (or at least riper) prospects?  If you're objective is to sell something directly, you must have a reply form... but which types of lead generation situations justify leaving it out?

6. If you are including a reply form, are you better off having a separate one or attaching it to the bottom of your letter?  Generally, you're better off with a separate reply form in terms of response, but it's also more expensive.  You need to test to find out if the increase in response outweighs the greater expense.

7. Does having an online response option add to response or hurt it?  Many marketers think "they're going to research me online anyway so I might as well make it convenient and lead them to the right page."  Others say "It's so much easier for prospects and customers to order online.  How can I not offer that option?"  Yet, we've seen situations in which making a URL prominent in a mailing depressed results considerably.

8. Will a fax option help overall response?  In most cases it will, but it depends on your target audience (rather than your product or service).

Timing and Frequency

9. What are the best months for mailing?  You can't trust the general rule that January through March will be the most responsive months.  Each category has its own optimum seasonality, and even within the category, you need to test seasonality for your offer.  Because the world moves so fast, you might have to go deeper and test particular weeks to mail and/or days for your mail to arrive.

10. In mailing to the same names on a particular prospect list, how much time do you allow between mailings?  In the mortgage-lending business, you may have an effective second effort between two to four weeks after the first.  With magazine circulation, you may have to wait six months before you can get a strong enough response with a repeat mailing to the same names.

11. How many times should you mail to a prospect list to generate a lead?  This will depend entirely on the size of your universe and your need to penetrate it.  If you have only 1,000 prospects, you'd better plan a multi-effort (and multi-dimensional campaign).  A single mailing will produce 20 prospects at best.

Freemiums

13. How much can you afford to pay for a freemium?  You can't really answer that until you test what effect the freemium has on response rates and on revenue per thousand pieces mailed.  In lead generation situations, if you're selling a high-ticket product or service, a $10 freemium may do wonders; if you're selling a magazine subscription for $7.97, you may not be able to justify the cost of address labels that add $20/M to your costs.

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