Last week I received a piece of unsolicited direct mail from an unlikely source.
Are you ready for this? It came from Google!
The familiar saying Google has never advertised is no longer true. I guess that even some of the world’s best brands resort to marketing in a down economy.
But the good news is that they sent something really valuable. The mail piece is a blue 8″ by 6″ booklet called Top Tactics for Tough Times. The ten scan-friendly pages deliver great tips on how to improve AdWords results.
The tips use short text and side-by-side graphics to display each tip and show how it can impact results. Here’s an example:
1. Focus your ads on low prices and savings.
Consumers care about prices more than ever, especially on day-to-day purchases. When someone searches on a particular product, you know they’re interested; by using your ad to tell them that you’ve got the highest quality and the best price, you’re more likely to earn their click. Update your ad text to focus on low prices, good values, and timely promotions.
To draw the attention of price-conscious shoppers, these ads use savings-related terms.
Footers in the booklet cite URLs where the message is continued on the web. Click on the graphic to check it out.
Good Direct Mail Stands Out
We’ve used AdWords for more than three years, so we’re used to getting email from Google. But lately, after a long day of exchanging email with my team, customers and prospects, I find I have less and less interest in turning my attention to unsolicited email messages. The delete key is my friend!
I enjoyed the direct mail piece because it provided a break from using the computer or the phone to obtain information. It was nice to step away from my desk, relax in a comfortable chair, and thumb through a colorful, nice-looking booklet printed on weighted cardstock that contained information I could actually use. It makes me long for the days when a person could leisurely peruse a printed (gasp!) newspaper.
I wonder if I would have read Top Tactics for Tough Times if Google had sent it via email instead.
No.
Sometimes, a new combination of common things creates something new and exciting. Everyone understands direct mail, email marketing and websites. Many are familiar with variable printing and personalized URLs (pURLs). But how many have seen a system that combines all of these into a single messaging engine?
PitchRocket is a new web-application which combines these common activities to deliver uncommon results. Other applications combine email and direct mail (like Vertical Response, Exact Target and Amazing Mail), and pURLS have been around for awhile.
But the PitchRocket engine puts them all together, mixing traditional media with digital media to deliver a unique experience for both recipients and users.
The folks at Ad Giants are behind PitchRocket, and for full disclosure, we just announced a strategic partnership with a long-term goal of synergizing their upcoming marketing execution tools with our upcoming marketing planning application.
How it works
But back to PitchRocket. From it, users can access and filter their lists, select and customize creative templates, instantly create web-sitelets and use PitchRocket fulfillment services. It’s an elegant solution that allows users to create and launch turnkey campaigns without ever leaving the browser.
Think of it as
- Using personalization with one-to-one printing and pURLs in your direct mail piece;
- Integrating website pages with pURLs to extend your message to the web;
- Supporting the message with email; and
- Tracking the direct mail with almost the same precision as email.
Naturally, this combination delivers much higher response rates than an old school direct mail or email campaign. How much higher? It depends, but what Donovan Dillon, Ad Giants’ President, told me was impressive: “Jim, we don’t even load a template piece until we’ve tested it enough to achieve an 18% response rate.”
Of course, actual results are also impacted by list quality and offer relevance, but nevertheless, this is impressive.
We plan to use it for our Consulting M.O. v3.0 launch, and I’ll let you know how we perform. It’s an ideal sales-generation tool for field-marketing managers, corporate sales executives and professional marketing departments. Examples of its uses include
- Lead generation
- Trade show and event communication management
- Sales follow-ups
- Satisfaction surveys
- Internal communications
- Newsletters
Try it yourself and see how you fare. Personalization is powerful. When someone sends me a link or mail-piece with my name on it, I always take notice!
Are you using direct mail in your marketing mix this year?
Believe it or not, direct mail isn’t dead–it can still be extremely effective as more companies shift their marketing dollars online.
Don’t believe me? When was the last time you received a mail piece with your name on it speaking directly to your businesses needs? Better yet, when did you last read a handwritten letter? In many industries, direct mail now stands out more than email. It’s also easier to target than paid search ads.
If I’ve convinced you to include direct mail in your marketing mix, let’s talk about creative guidelines.
Before you start, make sure you’ve already covered your campaign basics. Determine your goals and project your metrics. Identify your target audience. Determine your piece’s role in the overall sales process. (It’s a good idea to complete these steps for any of your marketing campaigns.) Then, get the best list you can find!
Direct mail creative guidelines
Define your “offer.” The only thing more important than your offer is your list. What is your offer? Is it strong enough to command attention? If you’re not sure, test it on a few unsuspecting friends or colleagues.
Present your offer early. Follow the inverted pyramid that reporters use. Your offer is why you’re writing, so don’t bury it.
Keep it short and simple. Stay focused on your offer. Don’t wander off topic and risk losing focus.
Carefully use graphics. Graphics should draw the eye to the offer, not detract from the main point. Don’t clutter your piece with unnecessary graphics. Use them sparingly.
Prompt action with your copy. Unlike standard copywriting, direct mail copy must generate a response from your prospect. Keep it focused on action.
Direct mail copywriting tips
That sounds easy enough, right? If you’re not a direct mail copywriting genius, have no fear. Hire a freelancer from the web or glean some do-it-yourself tips from a good copywriting resource.
Use short sentences. Attention spans are short. Long sentences confuse readers.
Give bites-not meals-of information. Break up large blocks of text or information by adding sub-headings or bullets.
Use white space. White space is not wasted space; it is an important graphical element. Like long sentences, large blocks of text confuse readers. Give them some white space to breathe.
Take it for a test drive. Mail to a random sample of your list and track your response rates. If the piece isn’t working, revise.
Remember, direct mail doesn’t have to be expensive or tremendously exciting. To be effective, a direct mail piece just has to entice people to move one step through the sales process. Understand its purpose, and design it accordingly. As Dean Rieck of Direct Creative puts it, good direct mail design lets form follow function.
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