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SmartTalk E-Newsletter Articles - September 2008
The Elements of a Successful BTB
Direct Mail Campaign
Let me be your eyes and ears at the
DMA Convention & Exhibition
The Elements
of a Successful BTB Direct Mail Campaign
By Karen Riley
How We
Doubled Response and Tripled the Average Order
of an Already Successful Marketer
Our client is a specialty printer and promotion
company who uses direct mail as one of his primary
ways to generate revenue. He asked us to come up
with a new reorder package with the objective of
increasing his repeat sales of individual products.
We applied the principles of SmartResponse -
the strategic development process we use to create
on-target creative - and examined his control
effort, offer, creative approach, and overall
production. We also looked carefully at the
composition and buying behavior of his database. We
discovered that a significant portion of his
customer base yielded an unusually high average
order during acquisition efforts.
We reasoned that these buyers, and perhaps others
who were currently spending less, not only liked the
product our client was selling, but also had
marketing budgets that might yield additional
product sales during different times of the year.
As a result of our findings, we recommended that the
client go beyond a single reorder effort, and
consider a multi-package campaign that would combine
reorders with cross-selling offers and incentives.
In doing this, the client could accomplish his
primary objective of increasing reorder sales, and
also accomplish a number of additional marketing
objectives that could positively affect his bottom
line now, and well into the future:
Maximize the individual value of existing customers
Maintain a continuing dialogue with customers and
cultivate the relationship
Develop offers/incentives/creative approaches that
encourage immediate ordering
Determine the most profitable frequency of
mailings
Identify the industries and products with the best
long-term sales potential
Achieve an acceptable return on investment during
the test phase
Ideally, personalization would be considered a test
variable in these direct mail efforts,
especially considering the existing relationship and
the high average-order value.
However, due to the limited size of the different
segments within the customer file, we reasoned that
testing would likely not yield empirical results and
would not be a reliable predictor of future efforts.
We therefore decided not to use personalization but
to hold the option open for later efforts when the
database was sufficiently large.
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Let's take a close look at what The MDI
Group's creative team put together to
achieve these different objectives in
the first package of the campaign.
1. OUTER ENVELOPE:
We used multiple incentives on the front
of the OE and a bold 10% discount
graphic on the back to entice the
customer to open. All elements are
simply designed and easy to read at a
glance.
2. ONE-PAGE LETTER:
Clean, inviting art direction from top
to bottom combined with a powerful
benefit headline encouraged readership.
The lead reestablished and rewarded the
existing relationship. We gave the
customer multiple response options and
time-limited the discount offer to
encourage rapid response. The certified
voucher increased credibility.
3. BROCHURE (2-SIDED):
We took a popular product and gave it
choice positioning in the brochure, and
also included a free sample in the
package, because the product featured
3-D artwork, and only by seeing the 3-D
effect in person could the customer
understand the power of the product to
gain attention. To give the customer a
range of choices beyond the standard
reorder, we put additional products on
both sides of the brochure at different
price points.
4. PREMIUM FLYER:
We added a "FREE GIFT" flyer to the
offer to encourage orders and used a
large color image of the premium along
with bulleted benefits.
5. ORDER FORM:
We repeated the discount offer boldly
with expiration date. Easy-to-understand
shipping charges and payment methods
facilitated ordering.
Our
SmartResponse process used disciplined
thinking, a solid understanding of the
target audience, and the experience that
comes from years in the business to
create this package. With the creative
tactics noted above, plus a redesign of
the order form to simplify the ordering
process, we helped to double the
client's response rate and triple his
average order from previous reorder-only
efforts. |
Let
Me Be Your Eyes and Ears
at the DMA Convention & Exhibition
Are you going to Las Vegas on October 11th for the 2008
DMA Convention & Exhibition? If you are, let's be sure
to catch up with each other.
However, if you're not attending, let me be your eyes
and ears at the convention and at some of the best
conferences and seminars.
Just drop me an email at
kriley@themdigroup.com and let me know if you would
like information on a specific subject. I'm intending to
make the most of the seminars and would be happy to
share information with you when I return.
The show features more than 100 educational sessions,
plus roundtables, case studies, white papers and
research reports. Here's a broad list of the categories
the show will cover, so let me know which subjects
interest you the most:
Acquisition & Prospecting
Creative Strategies
Database & Analytics
Emerging Channels
Direct Marketing Basics
Multichannel Integration
Online Marketing
Production Strategies
Retention & Loyalty
I'll also be publishing an email synopsis of what I hear
and see while walking the show. I'll let you know about
any important trends and opportunities I pick up.
Thanks,
Karen
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