Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Direct Mail Statistics
At some point most small or new businesses decide to try a direct mail marketing program. Direct mail is one of many ways for a business to market their product or services. One of the first things you need to consider are the Direct Mail Statistics and before you embark on a direct mail campaign you need to estimate what your typical response rate should be.
It can be very hard to estimate what the response rate might be on some campaigns, so it is helpful to keep in mind what the industry average is. The industry average response rate is around 2.6%. Keep in mind though that is just an average. If you count on getting a response rate of 2.6% you might be really disappointed when your response rate is possibly as low as .2%. Also take in to account your product or service. If you have a high-end product or service then a .2% response rate might be average for your industry and still a very good response rate.Keep in mind that these Direct Mail Statistics are the industry average.
A good way to figure out what kind of response rate your looking for is to figure out what your break even point is going to be. This is the percentage of sales achieved from the direct mail campaign that will be needed in order to cover the costs of the direct mail campaign. If your break even point is too high you might want to reconsider doing the campaign or maybe changing things to make it cheaper. Direct Mail Statistics won’t help you figure out your own break even point, but they can help you decide if your campaign might be close to the goal of breaking even.
Direct Mail Statistics can help you to decide whether a campaign will possibly work, but sometimes it is best to just try out a small campaign to see If the smaller campaign works well then try increasing the size of it. If it doesn’t, then try making some changes before deciding it isn’t working. No matter what, always keep your expectations on the outcome at a reasonable level. It is better to underestimate and do better then you think you will, then to overestimate and do worse.
One of the resources I use all the time to test out direct mail campaigns is 1800postcards.com. 1800postcards is super cheap, has all sorts of printing services and will even do your design if you don’t have anyone on staff. I used to use a local printer but switched because the prices at 1800postcards were just too good…
Incoming search terms for this article:
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Have you ever thought that maybe… just maybe… your thoughts and experiences were worth millions of dollars?
Let me tell you. You aren’t the first one!
I just got done listening to this guy, Brendon Burchard from Experts Academy, in an interview and he rocks. You should see the page of notes I took on the hour long segment…
What he teaches is how you can immediately position yourself as a highly-paid expert to have more
income, influence and impact.
If you’ve ever been curious about how the “experts” start out and make so much money…
Or if you’ve wondered how you could get your message out to the world in a bigger way, then you’ll love this complimentary webinar:
Experts Academy Free Webanar
Enjoy the training!
PS. Oh, the webinar is called “How Experts Make Money, Beat the Economy, and Dominate Their Topic.” And Brendon… He’s made $4.6 million with these strategies in 24 months with NO employees…
Incoming search terms for this article:
Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Last week, I was struck by two things – the lackluster performance of newspaper advertising and the fact that my mom loves Facebook.
The first leads into the second…
Newspaper circulation is declining. That much we know. The story is being told by all of the newspapers going out of business. Billboards, no matter how many times they rotate a minute or how bright they seem to light up a March night, can’t hold a candle to the traffic and interest generated by a Twitter feed.
But yet people are dumping money into newspaper advertising?!
Let me put this a bit differently… To buy a newspaper ad in our local newspaper – one ad – it’s $4,000. Put that same money in banner ads or a text link ad campaign – You’re ad will be featured by 15-20 highly targeted sites with millions of page views for one whole month!
The kicker – you can track the results of your campaigns…
On to Facebook. My mom loves it. She keeps up with her friends, the kids of her friends and her college professors. The Facebook demographic is changing. College kids are on there, sure. But so are their parents so they can keep up with their sons and daughters without always being on the phone. Those parents are friends with other parents… Get the picture?
So, let’s revisit the initial question. Is your target market reading the newspaper? Or are they on Facebook and Twitter and Youtube?
Do you want to spend $4000 for a one day ad that is limited to zip codes, or does it make sense to pursue banner advertising and Facebook ads?
The answer is simple. And it’s not going to be found in black and white pages that fold over…
JD
Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Trade shows can prove to be an excellent source of marketing. If you want to get noticed in the public eye and have a great headstart, then trade shows are the thing for you. If you are a small business owner, you would understand the importance of it and are probably already using this tool. Trade shows are organized exhibitions by companies of a specific industry where they come together to showcase their products and services. This is easily one of the best ways to promote your offerings and get hold of new clients in the process. For scoring better clients and getting highlighted during one of the trade shows, you need to promote yourself well and be seen frequently.
The best part about trade shows are that they are easily accessible and are generally promoted on big platforms. Most of them are open for the public in general and that is when you can strike a blow on your potential clients. Every now and then you will come across companies which organize industry specific or client specific trade shows. Getting the right display is what draws the line between successful and failed company stalls. What should be paid attention to is getting an attractive display which will attract more customers and force them to come and check out your products/services. In fact if you are planning to get noticed in any trade show soon, some of the following pointers could be helpful:- Read the rest of this entry
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
ChirpMarketing
a form of marketing that is used to convey short messages that are highly centralized, can create impact and grab target market’s attention without them having to spend substantial amount of time looking at the marketing message.
ChirpMarketer
any person or business who uses Twitter or other similar services to create brand awareness with short, enticing messages that call for action
Marketing on Twitter therefore is ChirpMarketing and anyone using Twitter to market are ChirpMarketers.
Twitter as you all know is one of the best online communication tools out there. It helps you connect with other users and share your views and ideas. The key to any marketing strategy is to communicate, which can be through content, images, video or any other forms of marketing. Marketing thrives on communication and communication online thrives on Twitter to say the least. Twitter has emerged as one of the most influential marketing platform and this is the reason why we are seeing more and more companies diving into it.
The growth of Twitter has been nothing short of a miracle. Although the service itself has yet to see any form of revenue, more and more businesses are implementing Twitter into their marketing strategy. If you are a business and you don’t exist on twitter yet, you are losing a good share of your target market. Movies, retail products, services you name it and you will find businesses related to these on Twitter. There is a reason these businesses have taken the leap and embraced “chirpmarketing.” Communication is the key to building a presence and an influential presence can do good to your business in many ways.
Lets quick take a look at why your business should exist on twitter,
- Communication - Marketing thrives on communication. Twitter gives you a platform to send messages that are short yet effective. The 140 character limitation to some might be a pain but to effective marketers this is a blessing. If you can convey your message within 140 characters your consumers are most likely to pay attention to you rather than a sales copy that takes almost 30 minutes to read.
- Branding - If you exist on Twitter, you exist on the web. Period. Twitter can tremendously help in creating brand through community participation.
- Humanization - Twitter gives you a platform which helps you participate actively as an individual community member rather than a business as a whole. Think about it, how many businesses actually can and do share “what they are doing?” not very many. Twitter’s foundation is based on that very question that allows you to participate without being tied to marketing itself.
- Customer Service – Lately I have been more inclined to use twitter search rather than google when I am looking for customer service for a particular business. Whether it is an airline ticket that I bought or problem with my hosting service, I am tempted to “@” them on twitter rather than call and wait for hours.
- Trust - Social Media presence is built on “trust factor” and the same rule applies on twitter as well. Twitter gives you a platform that hosts millions of active users where you can gain presence within a short amount of time and build the trust factor. By the way, I recently bought a DELL computer although I am more inclined towards HP simply by seeing DELL’s active participation on Twitter, and of course recommendation from other Twitter users. Marketing isn’t simply about selling products, it is about influencing and Twitter helps you influence the market not through your business profile alone but through the community itself.
Let us quick take a look at a graph that shows the growth of Twitter since its launch in 2006,
You can clearly see from the image above that twitter has enjoyed a steady growth. I can almost guarantee that by the end of 2009 we will be seeing more and more businesses dropping off of Facebook and using twitter more aggressively as a marketing tool.
Are you chirping yet? 
Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Each day from the time we wake up till the time we “hit the sack” we are exposed to thousands of ads. Most of them we simply ignore cause we are used to them. We get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and read a newspaper, there it is hundreds of ads throwing their messages at us. We turn on the TV and watch our favorite show and there it is again – commercials that make us get up and do something else. Advertisements in general are hated by the masses. A marketers worst dream is their messages being ignored and this happens quite often.
The thing that makes people ignore your marketing messages and ads are the fact that they don’t have personality. Usually ads are plain and do not really catch potential customers eye or attention. Colors, message and the way an ad is presented has a lot to do when it comes to marketing effectively. When creating an ad don’t think of it as a marketing message but an art. Try to be different, think outside the box. Create a message, an ad that sets yourself apart from your competitors.
Here are 5 tips that might help you get started on marketing effectively and getting the attention that you deserve, Read the rest of this entry
Incoming search terms for this article:
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Before I go ahead I would like to make a confession : I am pretty addicted to Twitter. When I first started using Twitter it was more of a “let’s see what it can do” approach but as I dived more into it, I started seeing the ultimate value that it can provide, both as a marketing and networking platform. I have been using Twitter to network with other like minded people to gain recognition as well as to promote anything I write or contents that I submit to other social media sites. The result has been nothing but phenomenal. Today, I just wanted to share a few instances as how Twitter can benefit as a business marketing tool. I will try and talk of 5 industries that have been using twitter to tap into the social media and promote themselves or their product/services.
Read the rest of this entry
Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Viral marketing in the simplest words means the marketing strategy which encourages e-mail recipients to pass along messages to others in order to generate added exposure. This can be a great way to attract traffic to your website and expand business dimensions. This form of marketing has existed in the society for a very long time and still holds a strong position. Anything from telling a friend about a new product that you liked to e-mailing a couple of colleagues regarding a free e-book or service could be called viral marketing. But for the users of today’s generation need to be sold things in a different way and must be tackled in a unique manner. Here’s a few tips and tricks for marketing virally which are sure to get you silver if not golden results:-
- Give out a FREE service or product: People remember when they hear or see anything available for free. This is especially true in the case of websites. If you have a website, offer your customers a free gift like an e-book. It doesn’t take long for people to pass on a word regarding the same then. This can be an excellent way to do viral marketing.
- Scalability and How-to Spread the Word: In the not so virtual (real) life, it is impossible to get people to do something. This mammoth of a task is actually easier in the virtual life as you just need to request your customers to send a chain e-mail or leave a signature on your website. Your daily downloads can hit amazing numbers which you probably wouldn’t have ever thought of.
- The “Cool” Rules: Everyone who is well connected with people is aware of the “cool” or the “in” factor. Tight jeans might be “in”, so the chances and the opportunity for you to exploit as a businessman increase as well. You can with the help of sites like digg, reddit, Slashdot, etc., promote your website and products. Get hold of people who like the stuff you do and just ask them to “digg” your story or simply pass on a word to others. Use keywords which can drive traffic. Be patient as things like these require time and become successful after a lot of efforts. How will you get the chicken, if you don’t wait for the egg to get warm.
- Make use of Web 2.0 tools: Websites like Twitter can be of great help in unimaginable ways. All you need to do it just post what you’re doing currently. If you have a strong following on Twitter, you can get great traffic and more in just one day. This is viral marketing at its best.
- Bookmarks and link-backs: Use link backs on websites which have already been established and get good traffic. Apart from this make sure you use social bookmarking websites like del.icio.us. Save bookmarks to your website and blogs using keywords which help in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Its your turn to share some tips with us.
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Couple weeks ago we published an article that showed some of the best creative ads out there. After going through all the emails and suggestions we received we knew we had to do it again. Today we bring you 20 creative advertisements that are simply amazing. They convey the message in best possible way without overdoing it. These are some of the most simple, creative and effective ads that will for sure grab your attention if you happen to see them somewhere. One more thing before we get started, don’t forget to let us know which one is your favorite through your comments. Read the rest of this entry
Incoming search terms for this article:
Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 8:00 am
A while ago we had compiled a post that contained 7 Sites Every Marketer Should Keep An Eye On. Once again, as promised we have compiled a list of another 7 sites that will help you make better marketing decisions. This time around we didn’t include our own blog since we know you have already subscribed to this one. Although there are only 7 sites listed we believe each site is extremely valuable when it comes to providing sales and marketing information and tips. If you have any that you would like to share with us please use the comment section to share links with us. Read the rest of this entry
Incoming search terms for this article:
