Targeting key for marketing

25th April 2014

It’s the targeting stupid!

For any DM activity marketers needs to focus on gaining an in-depth understanding of their targeted audience. Only then will the ideal direct marketing campaign channel become apparent.

A pertinent direct marketing question today is whether too much emphasis is being put on impulsively targeting specific direct marketing channels before the question as to why those channels were chosen (in the first place) has been addressed.

So many times I’ve heard statements like ‘we need a Facebook promotion’, ‘let’s do an email campaign’, ‘direct mail will engage in a way no other channel can’ or ‘how about an InMail campaign on LinkedIn’. This do-now-think-later approach not only doesn’t make sense but seems to be way more common than it should be. It often leaves campaigns targeting specific direct channels without any rationale having been thought through for why those particular channels were decided upon in the first place.

As direct marketers we need to be more strategic. We need to take a step back and look at potential channels in a more objective way and to do this without any preconceptions. We need to see the myriad of direct channels for what they are – just different potential channels to communicate a message directly to customers and prospects. In other words they are all just media. Budgets, by definition, are limited. So as with any media channel there must be a rationale for choosing one over another (or a combination of best channels) before jumping in and targeting particular channel because “it appears” everyone else is using that channel or because it happens to be fashionable at a particular point in time.

The starting point before deciding on the best direct channel for a particular campaign, and what direct marketers must never loose sight of, is a deep understanding of the target audience. If we understand our target audience in-depth it will more easily become apparent what direct channels will best engage this target audience and ultimately get the best response. Then brand owners and agencies can more easily decide which channel (or combination of channels) will make best use of their direct marketing spend.

With continuing media fragmentation, and so many more direct channels than there were even 10 years ago, the crucial question to ask is not should we target prospects directly on Facebook (or wherever), but rather where can we reach most of them with a targeted relevant message that will get cut through and generate the best possible engagement, response and ROI. It’s back to basics of getting the right message to the right person in the right place at the right time!

Where does more traditional direct marketing now fit in to today’s online world?

Despite fears at the time people didn’t stop going to the cinema when the DVD first came out. Nor did they when Netflix launched. New technologies rarely renders old ones totally redundant. The point is that different options suit different people at different times. The same can be said for more traditional direct marketing in relation to the emergence of various digital, online and social media channels.

For many brands it makes sense to use a mix of channels as different prospects will respond in different ways depending on their location, specific profile, mood, day of the week and so on. The same is true of direct marketing channels.

We recently completed a campaign in which the client wanted to use a strong call to action 1890 phone number to generate response. While we knew it would be the best performing inbound option it should never have been the only option. There were other options and some of these, while they didn’t suit the core of the audience we were targeting, did suit sub segments and clusters within the database we were using. So we recommended the client use multiple inbound response channels to ensure the optimum response. These included SMS and an inbound (data-capture enabled) landing page.

It makes sense that direct mail gets more cut-through now than it ever did!

What I’m finding now is that, while DMCM has broadened its direct offering in to digital, online and social media channels the effectiveness of more traditional direct mail is actually better than it has ever been and still remains core to a lot of what we do. Why? Quite simply because less people are using the more traditional channels like direct mail, so it’s getting better cut-through and response than it ever did. For example email is cheaper, but is it working? Does it engage? Is it valued and does it help achieve your marketing campaign objectives?

Direct mail can often be the single most important channel to reach customers and prospects. There are millions of websites trying to get to number one on Google. Tweets and Facebook messages are coming at us and bombarding us, making it increasingly difficult to get cut-through. Many of us now automatically filter out irrelevant ads from these channels seeking to focus more on relevant communications that genuinely entertain, engage and inform us.

Unless someone goes looking for you they may never get to know you exist. Similarly how many magazines, TV and radio channels now compete for your attention. Nobody can afford (the time and money) for them all. So direct marketers need to think smart and clever.

Ironically just this week I received a mailing from Google promoting their AdWords. Did I read it? Yes. Would I have if they’d emailed me? Probably not! The point is they took the time and effort (and spent a little money) to write to me and that stood out from all the messages coming at me that particular day. It got my attention and it wasn’t even particularly creative!

A key point to consider is that every home has just one letterbox. Every business typically gets just one delivery of post a day. Add to this that well–targeted creative DM offers an engagement with a brand that no other channel can compete with. And response rates and ROI that are better than they’ve ever been. This is because the channel that’s less cluttered than it’s ever been, but also works incredibly well as a lead channel with other related (online and above the line) channels hanging off and supporting it in clever ways.

The fact that is clever DM is all about the targeting. It doesn’t matter how good your creative, offer, message, copy or timing if your targeting is off. If your communication targets the wrong person then the communication (and budget) has been wasted and it’s back to square one!

Peter Whelehan – Managing Director DMCM

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Integrating Direct Mail Campaigns with Digital

24th April 2014

Top Tips for integrating traditional DM with digital

CREATIVE INTEGRATION

First and foremost the creative must be seamlessly integrated across channels to ensure the campaign looks and feels like a coordinated integrated campaign.

VALID REASON

It’s never enough to just expect users to flock to online touch points just because you have a link or a fancy Facebook logo in your DM campaign. Give the target audience a valid reason to take action and move online as part of a campaign.

CONTENT, OFFER AND CALL TO ACTION

Use an offer or compelling content to drive prospects to respond online and make any call to action both prominent and easy to respond to.

SHORT COPY

Keep copy short and to the point!

GET QR CODES RIGHT

QR codes can be time consuming. Consumers need to get their phone, open an app, point the camera, and wait for the code to open. For all that effort there needs to be a payoff. So here are 4 things to keep in mind when integrating QR codes to your DM campaign:

Don’t just have a QR code for the sake of it (it needs to add value to a campaign)
Make the information or content highly relevant to the campaign
Ensure the information is mobile friendly and mobile-optimised
Track with a code management system to ensure the campaign measurement.

CAPTURE LEADS WITH LANDING PAGE

Everyone knows about them, but not everyone uses them properly. They can be a great platform to combine traditional DM with online to capture leads faster that any website or form. To maximize the effectiveness of a landing page here are some pointers:

Make it a logical extension of the DM communication. Keep the design and message similar to the DM so the transition is smooth and makes sense to the recipient
Remove all navigation features from landing pages. Keep it simple to keep visitors on the page and don’t distract them before they take action
Nobody wants to ‘submit’ anything! So try and avoid using the term ‘submit’ on the form to make it more user friendly
Make sure to track and analyse metrics. Get insight into the performance and track it back to the DM campaign. The insight can help optimise marketing for future campaigns.

Edgar Zacharjev – Marketing Executive DMCM

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Tips for Local Marketing Success

17th April 2014

There’s no doubt that most business owners would like the idea of waking up in the morning to the jingle of their national radio ad as their radio alarm breaks them from their slumber. Or on the way to work to drive past their billboard and then arrive at their desk to be greeted by their copy of The Irish Times containing a full colour press ad promoting their brand.

The reality though is that most businesses in Ireland are SME’s, a significant proportion of which operate at a local level – your typical hardware store, crèche, restaurant, butcher or plumber.

For these businesses advertising nationally simply doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t stop those who don’t know better from wasting their marketing euro. I see and hear examples every day. The Leopardstown Inn is just one recent example.

They’ve been running a national radio campaign for months, but most of this marketing spend is quite simply being wasted targeting consumers around the country who will never ever be in the market for a pint in The Lepp Inn. Someone in East Galway or Waterford is unlikely to head to The Lepp Inn for a pint of an evening after hearing a radio ad promoting their revolving carousel bar.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a creative ad and they’ve a nice Unique Selling Proposition. But quite simply they should start marketing from their front door out, not on a national level. Those most likely to drop in to The Lepp Inn are the people living (and/or working) locally with a strong offer to get people in. This is where they should focus their marketing. And the same principle applies for many small to medium sized businesses in Ireland today.

What I’ve put together below are simple marketing tips for your typical local business to help drive response (and sales).

Top marketing tips for local business:

1). Think clever about your profiling

For example if you’re a local landscape gardening company looking to target your area with a flyer then think clever. It makes sense to exclude businesses, apartments and flats from your targeting and to target the affluent areas – homes with the biggest gardens.

2). Get creative

Make your communication stand out not just in terms of the message but play with other elements – colour, shape, format and even the stock you print on. It needs to cut through the clutter, get attention and to be differentiated from other communications, particularly those of your competitors.

3). What’s your ideal catchment?

As I mentioned with The Lepp Inn example the fact is that those most likely to visit your typical local business are those that live and/or work closest to it. People who pass by it every day. So it often makes sense to start marketing from your front door and work out within a 1 or 2 mile radius (depending on you budget and population density in your area).

4). Friend get friend offers are a win-win-win

Make an offer to existing loyal customers by rewarding them if they introduce a new customer to your business (and build in a reward for the new customer). Your existing customer wins, your new customer wins and your business wins too.

5). A simple ‘Thank You’

Don’t forget to thank existing loyal customers and let them know how much you genuinely appreciate their custom. This won’t cost you a cent and could make the difference between them coming back or going to try your competitor.

6). Word of mouth beyond a simple ‘Thank You’

Go the extra mile with existing customers. It could be something as simple as a smile, offering to carry their bag out to their car or telling them about some local activity that you think they might be interested in. Build an emotional bond with your customers. If they like and remember you it’s likely they’ll not only return, but that they’ll also tell other people about their positive experience and recommend you to them.

An extension of this point is to consider testimonials in your marketing communications. If potential customers receive a communication with independent testimonials from satisfied or happy customers then they may just want to know more and check out your product or service themselves to see what they might be missing.

7). Join forces with other local business for synergy

Something that can work very effectively is when two non-competing shops in a local town get together, split the marketing costs 50/50 and run a joint promotion. If the match is good they get the 1+1=3 effect. So, for example, a chemist might run a promotion whereby every customer who spends over a certain figure gets a coupon for a discount in the local jeweller shop in the town. Something as simple as this not only gets customers in to the chemist but drives footfall in to the jewellery shop too so both businesses benefit.

8). Test

The restaurant I mentioned in my third point had 6 outlets in different locations. So what we did initially with our campaign was test it in the area around just one restaurant. We then analysed the results and then tweaked the campaign based on feedback. Then when we rolled it out to the other 5 restaurant locations it was even more successful.

9). Up sell and cross sell

Finally, and this is really important, always keep a close eye on your customers in terms of looking to make another sale. Not in a pushy way but in a way that shows you understand them and have their best interest at heart.

An amusing example to finish off with is a local car dealer I did some work for in a large country town. His dealership was servicing a seven-year-old Opel Astra. When the customer came to collect the car the dealer noticed she was pregnant. When congratulating her she mentioned she already had 2 children and was having twins this time. So the following week he sent her a nice genuine personal note and a brochure offering her a trade in on her Astra and a special offer on a much bigger Opel Zafira he felt would be ideal for her family in a few months. She subsequently bought the car and he generated over €20,000 in revenue for the dealership. All it took to make the sale was a simple observation, a brief personal note and a 55 cent stamp!

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