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Marketing Wizard
If expensive advertising agencies aren't in your budget, our Marketing Wizard can help answer questions about copy development, direct marketing, graphic design and a host of other topics to help you stretch your marketing budget and achieve your objectives.
What is the key to reaching my target customers?
How can I connect with my customers more personally?
What kind of greeting works the best?
How do I hold my audience's attention without seeming too "salesy?"
Media
Is it better to use letters, brochures, or ads?
What type(s) of information should be in a letter versus in a brochure?
Public Relations
Is PR worth the effort?
How do I become a reliable source?
Results
Should every letter or brochure include a call to action?
What constitutes a decent response rate for my call to action?
Format
How important are design and graphics?
How "fancy" should I get with wording and grammar?
How much text is enough - or too much?
What are some tips for writing good headlines?
What kind of format should a letter have?
How can I distinguish between a feature and a benefit?
Is it OK to use humor?
Q: What is the key to reaching my target customers?
A: Know your audience. What do they care about? What are their major headaches? How can your service or product make their lives better? Try to look at the world from their point of view. Once you know the people you are targeting, tailor your message accordingly.
Q: How can I connect with my customers more personally?
A: You probably already know that it's important to use an individual's name and the pronoun "you" to personalize your message. It's also important to make the tone personal and conversational. Let your personality come through to help the reader connect with your message.
Q: What kind of greeting works the best?
A: If you're unable to personalize a letter's greeting (Dear Mr. Reardon:), it might be better to go with no greeting at all. Start with a provocative statement or question, such as "Are you spending too much on insurance?" Address the message to just one person, not thousands. Speak directly to the individual - using the word "you" wherever appropriate.
Q: Is it better to use letters, brochures, or ads?
A: It depends on (a) your objective; (b) the audience size; (c) whether you have complete contact information; and (d) your budget. It's almost always best to choose direct communication via mail, e-mail, or telephone. Magazine advertising can be expensive, but worthwhile for building awareness, paving the way for a sales blitz, or pushing the reader toward another medium, such as the Internet. One key to success is frequency. A single ad or mailing usually isn't enough. It takes multiple impressions to make an impact.
Q: What type(s) of information should be in a letter versus in a brochure?
A: Brochures can serve as direct mail inserts, "leave behind" pieces, and trade show handouts. Your brochure serves as a factual support piece for a sales letter or even a face-to-face presentation. It should illustrate features, list benefits, provide proofs or testimonials, make comparisons, and list technical details to lend credibility. Your letter should be more aimed at a higher level to create interest or make a point, without repeating information detailed in the brochure.
Q: How much text is enough - or too much?
A: Never use more words than necessary to make your point. Often, it's more about how you organize the text. Make it easy for the reader to get your key points by skimming headlines, subheads, and captions. If your audience needs more information, provide attachments, refer them to a website, or give them someone to call.
Q: What are some tips for writing good headlines?
A: Headlines must be much more than labels. They are your first chance to get your audience's attention. Headlines should convey a key benefit, get the primary message across, and tempt the reader to read more. Usually, brevity is best, although long headlines that tell a complete story work well for direct response mailings.
Q: What kind of format should a letter have?
A: Again, brevity is critical. Get your key value proposition and the heart of your message into the first paragraph. Tell the reader what you're going to do for him or her and then get into the background that sets up the need or explains how it's all going to work. Use underlining, capitalization, and bolding sparingly - where they will have more impact.
Q: How do I hold my audience's attention without seeming too "salesy?"
A: Get to the point and be clear. Resist using adjectives, exclamation points, and unsupportable superlatives. Use specifics to make your message credible. If you're offering a testimonial, include facts that quantify the benefits. Use examples your audience can relate to.
Q: How can I distinguish between a feature and a benefit?
A: A feature tells you what a product or service will do. A benefit says how that feature will translate into something to make your efforts easier or more profitable. Benefits are much more powerful than features. Make a list of all the ways your product or service can actually benefit your audience, and then present them briefly, with the most powerful benefits ("Lowers Cost" or "Saves Time") listed first.
A: Humor can be risky. What's funny to you could be insulting to someone else. So, unless you're a professional humorist, use humor with caution. If you do try to be funny, get some candid feedback from a few trusted members of your target audience before going public with it.
Q: Should every letter or brochure include a call to action?
A: Yes. The call to action might ask the reader to respond for a free gift, a brochure, or a white paper. It could prompt them to get a no-risk quote. Or, it could go immediately for the sale. Whenever possible, offer response options, even if you're including a postage-paid response card. Also give them a Web URL to visit, an email to answer, or a telephone number (preferably toll-free) to call.
Q: What constitutes a decent response rate for my call to action?
A: Industry statistics show that you can expect a cold solicitation direct mail piece to generate a 1%-4% response rate. If you're not getting at least a 1% response, the problem likely lies with the mailing list you're using. It's probably not targeting the right people. If you're getting a higher response rate, congratulations! It can be hard to track response rate, but here are some ways you can do so:
1) put a unique phone number or unique phone extension on the piece.
2) have the respondent ask for a particular person ("Ask for Brenda when you call").
3) Then, log the calls as they come in. Compare that number with the number of pieces you actually distributed, and you've got your response rate.
Q: How "fancy" should I get with wording and grammar?
A: Use words, sentence length, and paragraph structure that the average eighth grader can handle. Try to write in the active voice, not the passive. (Instead of saying "The brochure will be mailed to you within 10 working days" go with "We'll mail the brochure to you within 10 working days.") Keep your paragraphs short - two to four sentences. Try to limit the number of sentences that start with a dependent clause. Instead of writing "Because the sky was clear, we went on a picnic" try something like "The clear, blue sky was a perfect excuse for a picnic."
Q: How important are design and graphics?
A: Good, crisp text needs to carry the load for you, but it'll never get a chance if your graphics and design don't make the reader want to stop in the first place. Pick a clean and simple "look and feel" for your company and then stick with it. Make sure the layout helps the reader's eye distinguish between the most important and least important information. Avoid clutter (too many elements for the eye to deal with) and clatter (too many competing typefaces). Keep your column width fairly narrow - it's easier on the eye.
A: Nothing is more cost effective than successful public relations (PR). Editors are constantly looking for material to feed the news machine. Start by developing a media contact database with the names, titles, addresses, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of writers and editors at targeted local and industry publications. Then try to become a reliable source.
Q: How do I become a reliable source?
A: Begin by only sending them news releases that actually contain news. Editors are inundated with news releases, so they scan them very rapidly. To ensure your news release gets read, keep them brief. Make sure your headline whets their appetite. Then give them the facts (who, what, where, when, and why).Remember that local and trade media like to include news briefs on personnel changes and special awards. And, make sure they know that you're a reliable industry source they can turn to whenever they need expert information or commentary following a major hurricane, tornado, or other newsworthy event.