April 29th, 2009 | by Luis Paez
Traditional thought in selling is to generate leads. Once leads have been generated, then you can focus on selling them. Once sold, they turn into customers. As customers, they become a little elusive – especially those who haven’t purchased in a long time. Recently, I have heard perspectives that describe a different type of approach toward leads.
The difficult, strange initial concept is to forget about leads altogether.
Consider this: What if anyone who called in from a direct mail campaign was your customer? What if any person who came into contact with your company – from the UPS guy to your corporate suppliers – was your customer? For a moment, what would happen if you simply considered all the people that come into contact with your business to be a customer. Suddenly, you are very focused on how you’re interacting with all of them. Leads cease to be leads – they are just customers who have not made a purchase yet. Suppliers are closely related partners who may purchase your service in the future – suppliers can be customers too (in fact, you may get some reduced pricing if they are).
The point is that too often we treat our “leads” as strangers. They should be brought into the fold immediately and made to feel as if they are a part of your business’ community. Once they feel a part of this community, it’s a short step for them to find an opportunity to buy something. This is perhaps best achieved by an initial “premium” marketing investment (welcome pack or personalized marketing) that serves to educate leads/customers about your company’s culture. If they want to engage right away with a purchase, great! If not, they’ll better understand who you are, and you can continue the discussion long term with regular (monthly, semi-monthly) emails.
Long term, however, the trick is to keep this community thriving. Connect customers with contacts who could become their customers. Have events relevant to your business’ community. Send Christmas cards. You get the point – the more you can make the experience about them – the more you’ll receive in long term revenue. For some examples, check out how Threadless creates a great experience for their Gen-Y community. I hope to find more instances of bloggers thinking less about “lead generation” and more about “community nurturing”.
April 29th, 2009 | by admin
How to Make Customers Love You — Zappos — Tony Hsieh
via www.inc.com First, try everything; Let people be themselves; Get serious about training; Open up
Get happy.
Nobody thought the idea of selling shoes on the Internet was a good one when Zappos.com was founded in 1999. So CEO Tony Hsieh offered free shipping and returns because it seemed like the only way to get customers to buy shoes online without having the ability to first try them on. The company also displayed its customer-support number prominently and offered customers a personal buying service and even free socks.
Don’t Expect Results from Direct Mail without Consistency
via prioritybox.com Many organizations/companies start direct mail campaigns with unrealistic goals. Expecting a one-time mailing of a postcard or offer to return substantial profits immediately is idealistic, but impractical. The key to getting your return on investment is consistency and a time-commitment. I’m assuming you’ve taken the time to hire a professional advertising agency to create a great strategy, offer, and design. I’m assuming too, that you have a great product/service and call-to-action. You should expect on your first mailing a response rate of about zero.
April 28th, 2009 | by admin
The Future of On-demand Print Technology is Here
Can on-demand digital printing technology revitalize the traditional print media? I wanted to share two interesting uses of on-demand digital printing that I came across recently. They clearly exhibit the benefits of this technology and give insight as to what on-demand digital printing can do for the future of marketing and advertising.
More Thoughts About On Demand Printing
via www.concurringopinions.com Ann Bartow’s post about the Espresso on demand printing press highlights that change takes time. Ann’s post notes a Guardian article touting the machine as revolutionary and that a publisher in the U.K. launched a service based on the machine in the past few days. Yet, I wrote about the machine (and more importantly Time magazine did) in November 2007. That post compared Kindle and Espresso. So where did Espresso go in the interim?
Digital printing myths…according to some
via www.convertingmagazine.com Seeking the facts on what the latest digital printing technology offers in comparison to conventional printing methods? Here’s a list of myths that were presented by HP’s Matthew Gindele last week at the Digital Packaging forum hosted by Innovative Labeling Solutions:
1. Digital is only effective for short runs and prototypes—Myth
Market and promote your book in “record time” by using a system that organizes your content
via blog.publishedandprofitable.com Systems also save time marketing books Having identified the 8 Pillars of Traditional Design, for example, Russell Versaci has also created a simple, narrative framework that he can use to create numerous marketing and promotional projects. This framework simplifies creating content for marketing and promotion project
April 27th, 2009 | by Cynthia Fedor
Can on-demand digital printing technology revitalize the traditional print media? I wanted to share two interesting uses of on-demand digital printing that I came across recently. They clearly exhibit the benefits of this technology and give insight as to what on-demand digital printing can do for the future of marketing and advertising.
Mine Magazine, the consumer-customized magazine printed on demand.
Earlier this year, Time Inc., and American Express Publishing (AEP) along with Lexus launched the first ever, totally consumer-customized magazine called Mine. I just received my first issue and it’s pretty neat. The 36-page magazine is filled with content tailored to my interests and personalized especially for me. To get Mine, I visited www.timecmg.com/mine and selected five magazine titles out of a pool of eight and I answered a few survey questions regarding my hobbies and entertainment preferences. Based on my selections and answers to the survey, the magazine is customized and personalized with my name, location and mentions of my interests. It is then mailed directly to me.
The other very exciting use of on-demand digital printing technology is the Espresso Book Machine. This giant ATM-looking printer can access thousands of books saved in digital format and can print any of them on demand within 5 minutes. Take a look at this video to understand why some are calling this “the biggest change for the literary world since Gutenberg invented the printing press more than 500 years ago and made the mass production of books possible.”
On-demand print technology offers many benefits for both the consumer and marketer. As described in a post on QuantumDigital’s Steve’s Blog, here are a few:
- The consumer gets the content they want, tailored to their interests and personalized specifically for them.
- On-demand digital printing, as compared to traditional offset printing processes, translates to a savings of money, resources and time.
- Digital printing allows the introduction of variable data that gives marketers the ability to personalized marketing messages for each individual recipient.
- On-demand digital printing can just as affordably print one, one hundred or thousands of pieces exactly when they’re needed. This virtually eliminates the need to stock inventory and reduces instances of waste.
Embracing on-demand print technology can really change the way marketers and consumers communicate with each other – the possibilities are endless.
How do you foresee this technology changing the print media landscape?
April 27th, 2009 | by admin
Synchronous vs Asynchronous
via thedirectmarketingvoice.com Earlier today I needed to find out if a bounced email occurred synchronously or asynchronously. During the course of my research, the thought occurred to me that the difference between synchronous and asynchronous bounces is probably fairly unknown among email marketers, but knowing the difference would probably come in handy
TH – Technology Article
via www.thonline.com Bowen illustrates both the potential upside and downside for charitable causes hoping to cash in on the popularity of social-networking sites such as Facebook and News Corp.’s MySpace. With millions of users worldwide, the sites would seem fertile ground for fundraising experiments — especially ones where users aren’t asked to make direct contributions. But it’s far from certain that social networking will prove as effective as more traditional fundraising methods such as direct mail, telephone solicitation and even e-mails to past donors. One hurdle to overcome is the sheer deluge of information online.
Essential Selling Blog: More Thoughts on Attraction Marketing
via essentialsellingblog.blogspot.com Mark was quite rude to me on a voice mail he left and in our actual conversation. He told me that he uses “Attraction Marketing” and doesn’t “waste his time” with other forms of marketing or sales. I found this so interesting, because I know that selling is all about building relationships with people. You can supplement with emails, newsletters, and direct mail, but eventually you will have to speak to someone about what you do and what you offer. Did you know that if someone is satisfied with your product or service they’ll tell maybe 6 or 7 people? If someone is dissatisfied with your product or service they will tell up to 23 people.
NextMark: San Francisco passes first ‘Do Not Mail’ law
via nextmark.typepad.com As reported in DM News, Fox Business, and others, San Francisco became the first American lawmaker to pass a “do not mail” resolution. Although non-binding, the measure that passed by a 9-2 veto-proof majority in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors calls for the creation of a do not mail program. The Forest Ethics Council was “unbelieveably pumped” about the decision. Meanwhile, the Direct Marketing Association and its Mail Moves America coalition was “disappointed that the committee would endorse an action that would hurt small businesses and destroy jobs.” I’ve got to believe there’s some middle ground here…. A “do not mail” program is a blunt instrument that serves nobody well. Can’t we put some bright minds together to give people control over their mailbox without further destroying the economy?
Drake Direct Roundtable: 1 out of 5 not tracking email campaigns
via drakedirect.blogspot.com The latest results are in and nearly 20% of email marketers said they are NOT tracking their email campaigns. http://www.eroi.com/resources/eROI-Email-Analytics-Survey-Results.pdf
Wow, what a missed opportunity.
