By Marianna Morello
With more than 30 years of experience in the print media arena, I can confess that 2009 has been a bit of a shocking year, to say the least. Rates for print media have fallen to their lowest levels in 15 years. I am buying opportunistic remnant buys at costs-per-thousand (CPM) that range from $1.25 to $8.00 for publications that would have never offered this in the past.
What does all of this add up to? A buying opportunity for anyone smart enough to get into the print media world. A number of clients have been bitten by the print media bug. They are reaping incredible returns-on-investment, with some reaching media efficiency ratios (MER) of 5.5 and better.
As we are all aware, the stock market and banks are not the places to invest your money right now. If you believe in your product, create a print ad and test the waters. Now is the time to dive in and see your profits grow. Print can give you a better ROI when you consider all the alternatives.
The DRTV industry has always felt that print ads do not pay out. On the contrary, during the economic crisis, print media is the cheapest way to invest money into your product or service, with as little as $3,000-5,000 enough to test a newly developed print campaign.
Remember one thing: you can always use another revenue stream, and print is a stream that keeps on flowing. Even after your short-form campaign or infomercial is off the air, your print ad will keep on returning responses for weeks and months to come.
Need more reasons to try print media? Here are nine reasons (courtesy of Magazine Publishers Association studies from 2007 and 2008) to give it a shot.- READ THE ARTICLE: Why Print Media — and Why Now?
By Todd Gelman
In today’s online environment, virtually everyone you speak with will tell you about all the different ways that you can drive traffic to your Direct Response website. Search Engine Marketing, display ads, email marketing, text ads, and of course social media are all ways to get more visitors to your site. It’s difficult to pick up a direct response industry magazine these days without finding an article that tells you as such.
But what about the other side of the equation? The other side that I’m referring to is a site’s conversion rate. Conversion rate measures the percentage of your site visitors that actually pull out their credit cards and buy your product. After all, what good is driving traffic to your site if the visitors who come don’t make a purchase? Most direct response marketers virtually ignore this notion. Rather than focusing on how they can increase their conversion rate by 20%-30% and generate additional dollars that go straight to the bottom line, their only web related concern is how they can get more Internet traffic. As such, they simply put up a simple landing page that is essentially an afterthought. This is surprising to see – given that this shoestring approach is probably costing them tens of thousands of dollars a month in lost revenue.
Here are some tips to ensure you maximize your odds at having higher conversion rates and increase your website’s contribution to your overall MER:- READ THE ARTICLE: Do you treat your website as an afterthought?
By Rick Petry
Testimonials, a staple of direct response advertising, may be a tried-and-true tactic for arresting consumer attention and eliciting response, but they must be handled deftly to avoid cliché and audience cynicism. So how does a marketer ensure they get it right? The following tips are designed to help assist you in avoiding the pitfalls and getting the testimonial mix right:
Look for Quality, Not Quantity: While many infomercials will feature quick sound bites of various consumers singing their product’s praise along the lines of, “It’s great!” “I love it!” “It changed my life!”, 20 years of focus group experience suggests that nothing tanks interest nor invites skepticism more than this tactic. One reason may be that the approach has been so overused that audiences simply consider these sequences one big unbelievable yawn. There’s a real distinction between someone who is an evangelist for a brand and someone who is merely satisfied. The best kind of brand evangelist is also a natural born influencer – it’s that ebullient force of nature we all know who freely extols the virtues of a product to all of their friends and inspires them to follow suit. This is the sort of testimonial you’ll ideally have in your marketing arsenal, but you must allow them time to breath and tell their story.
At the Same Time, You May Need Quantity: It’s easy to say, “Hey, go round up some brand evangelists,” but while you can try and screen for them, until you turn on that camera, you won’t know exactly what you’ve got. One very successful direct marketer suggested that a 10 to 1 ratio was required to cull out a broadcast-worthy testimonial! Those are pretty daunting numbers, but then when you consider the failure rate of DRTV programs, you have to ask yourself, “Do you want to solve this problem in pre-production or deal with it once the camera is rolling?” That brings us to…
Don’t Rush the Process: One of the biggest mistakes we’ve observed is this: the marketer says, “Testimonials? No problem! We get letters…” then proceeds to truncate the amount of time required to identify and line up great testimonials. Concurrently, the production train gets rolling until it runs head on into what one head of production wryly observed are the three most expensive words in commercial production – “Client will provide.” The entire process turns into a compromised, muddled mess with not only less than ideal testimonials, but fewer of them to choose from in the edit suite. Which is one reason you might want to consider this: - READ THE ARTICLE: Tips for Getting Great Testimonials
By Joey Hastie
There are a number of ways to obtain your ROI goals using the available DR outlets. The question you should consider is, "Am I effectively buying the opportunities that are available to me?" The market is an evolving place and currently a majority of the DR efforts are focused on Television. Of course, this makes perfect sense. This has been the formula that has created a multi billion dollar industry for years. But the digital world is progressive and these changes have sparked an assortment of new opportunities for marketers to take advantage of. Targeting specific demographics becomes more and more of a fragmented process because consumers are accessing media in non-traditional ways. Advertisers using the old model of "broad" casting are finding that obtaining their ROI goals are becoming increasingly challenging.
Why the struggle? What is the stigma behind steering away from the tried and true DR TV campaigns that we are so comfortable with? The obvious answer is fear of the unknown. What advertiser is going to risk failure on a platform they have no background on when the DR TV formula has proved itself time and time again? The reality of the situation is that consumers are rapidly gravitating towards new technologies. DVR's computers, portable music players, and advanced cell phones are now affordable and accessible to most demographic groups. If you were to survey your close friends and family, it is likely that you would find that a majority of them have an mp3 player, messaging cell phone, and minimum of one DVR.- READ THE ARTICLE: Marketing DR Across Platforms
By Rick Petry
As a marketer new to direct marketing, you may wonder how to best evaluate and select a terrific media planning and buying agency. The following is intended to give the reader a few things to consider and qualities to look for when looking for an agency partner.
Size Matters
One of the issues frequently debated is the size of an agency – is it large? Does it have enough clout? And while certainly you want assurances that the agency has sufficient resources to do right by your campaign, there are pros and cons to be weighed between Madison Avenue buying behemoths and a shop that is more of a boutique.
For example, if you’re a fledgling business just starting out, you’re not likely to have a huge budget. It is easy to get lost in the shuffle amid a large agency that is doing hundreds of millions of dollars in billings and may be under financial pressure to focus on established, big budget accounts. Direct marketing is about testing and retesting, and a giant agency may not have the patience or desire to nurture a smaller player. On the other hand, a small- to mid-sized boutique may be hungry and more inclined to invest the time necessary to build a client from a few thousand dollars in media per week to hundreds of thousands over time. - READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: How to Select a Great Short Form DR Media Agency
By Mark Lopreiato
Moving furniture, appliances, mattresses, hot tubs, HVAC units, cabinets and the like has taken on new meaning throughout 2010: supporting the fight against breast cancer. A.A.C. Forearm Forklift, Inc. (FF) has launched their newly pink-packaged, pink leverage straps! They’re proud supporters of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). In fact, a donation of $10,000 will be made by FF to help fund the charity’s work.
“My co-workers and I feel like we’re supporting women who look after their wellbeing,” said Mark Lopreiato, inventor of the Forearm Forklift. “All of us here are committed to help protect women’s health and we’re impressed that BCRF is the most highly rated breast cancer organization in the U.S. I found documentation that over 90% of the resources raised by the foundation go directly to research grants and awareness programs. They’re an efficient charity, with a great cause and we’re honored to support life-saving research.”
FF joins many other companies that have “turned” pink to improve awareness and fight one of the most common causes of fatality in women. “BCRF is honored to have Forearm Forklift as a dedicated partner in our fight against breast cancer,” said Robbie Franklin, Dir. of Mktg. at the foundation. According to 2009 findings from the American Cancer Society, women in the U.S. have a 1 in 8 chance of developing invasive breast cancer in their lifetime and a 1 in 35 chance of dying from breast cancer.
ABOUT FF
Forearm Forklift moving straps have a patented design that employs leverage which makes the furnishings carried seem 66% lighter. They also encourage proper body mechanics which reduce the chance of potential injury due to heavy lifting. The straps are also easy-to-use and adjustable. They move furniture off the ground which keeps dollies’ wheels off your sensitive floors. Their suggested retail is only $19.95 for a pair. (www.BuyStraps.com)
Based in Azusa, California, FF is still owned and operated by the former mover who invented the product right after college in San Diego and who shortly thereafter founded the company in Pasadena more than 10 years ago. His company produces and distributes the straps which can be found at U-Haul, Home Depot, Target.com, Ace Hardware and Sears. More information and its complete product line can be found at www.ForearmForklift.com
With help from its one, two and five minute spots for both the English and Spanish markets, to date MORE THAN 6 MILLION PAIR HAVE BEEN SOLD! That’s also a testament of how well the product works and how they’re marketed and quality controlled!
“Without the spots airing on nationwide television, we couldn’t have achieved all the success we have enjoyed for more than 3 years now,” said Mark. “Our direct response campaign has turned our straps into a household name which translates to super-quick turnarounds at retail and big box placement is where the huge volume has been realized for us.” Mark added, “There are two things that I always recommend to people who are where I was ten years ago. First, buy patent abatement infringement insurance because it gives you access to millions of dollars per occurrence to fight against infringers. In fact, we’ve won every defense and earned some high dollar awards through judgments. Second, have a spot produced and invest in media. Buyers love As Seen On TV products. I recommend Direct Avenue!”
MORE ON BCRF®
The foundation was founded by Evelyn Lauder as a non-profit organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical research. In 2009, nearly $29 million was awarded to 173 scientists across the globe. BCRF directs at least 90 cents of every dollar raised directly to research. And for the 8th consecutive year, BCRF has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating, four stars, thus outperforming over 99.8% of the 5,400 evaluated charities. The American Institute of Philanthropy has awarded the BCRF its highest possible rating of A+. BCRF is, in fact, the only breast cancer organization in the U.S. to receive these accolades. For more information, visit www.bcrfcure.org - READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: Forearm Forklift supports The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
By Brett Astor
Direct response television (DRTV) advertising can be very effective at driving profitable sales. If there were a downside to DRTV, most would say it’s the high cost of creating and modifying the ads and the lead times associated with that process. Direct response radio advertising compliments DRTV on these specific points, ad development costs and lead-time, extremely well. Furthermore, done right, DR radio can significantly enhance the profitability of any DRTV effort.
DRTV is often the core engine of huge direct marketing success. Why? Put simply – the numbers are bigger. However, it's also the most expensive media channel - so one has to consider the risk/reward tradeoff. As you'll learn, direct response radio plays the role of "risk minimizer" - that's why including radio advertising in your marketing efforts is such a smart business move.- READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: Why DRTV + Direct Response Radio = More $$
By Chris Setser
ConnectFirst, a cutting-edge hosted technology company, offers a Cloud Routing Platform that is very useful for limiting abandoned calls, decreasing queue times and testing multiple contact centers from the same media campaigns.
ConnectFirst helps you manage your call traffic by allowing you to make use of multiple destinations distributing calls based upon your preferences. Allocation can be configured in many ways, so no call receives a busy signal or is placed in an infinite queue.- READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: ConnectFirst Cloud Routing
By Rick Petry
The other day while holiday shopping, I found myself in a major national bookstore chain poised and ready to pull the trigger on a purchase, when my wife suggested I look up the price of the item from a competitor. Armed with my iPhone, I was able to price shop on the Net and discovered I could save $6 on this one purchase from a certain ubiquitous e-tailer. Since I was already planning on placing an order of sufficient magnitude with this purveyor of e-commerce that would guarantee me free shipping, and the purchase in my hand possessed no timeliness factor, I abandoned the bricks and mortar retailer’s merchandise and left the store to go surfing later. You’ve no doubt heard of virtual cart abandonment; welcome to the era of real world purchase interruptus.
While the consumer in me might enjoy the pressure to push down prices this competition creates, the marketer in me cringes at the way this dynamic creates leverage that erodes prices and margins. The scenario described above is perhaps the ultimate proof that a truly Darwinian rule of law has taken hold – that with the pervasiveness of money back guarantees and liberal return policies creating a level playing field – that it is pretty much price, and to a much lesser extent availability, that drives the marketplace. That being the case, and with a scant few retailers dominating the marketplace, how on earth is a manufacturer or marketer suppose to compete and make a reasonable profit?
- READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: Marketers! Combat Price Erosion With Direct Response
By Scott Richards
If you’re a direct marketer then you know how tough it is to get a consumer to raise their hand by calling in to an inbound call center, especially in this economic environment. Among the many challenges that marketers face is the fact that within the direct marketing industry and the call centers that they rely on, there is no clear definition for the various broad categories of call types. These general categories include calls that were:
* Answered
* Short
* Incomplete
* No Answer
* Busy
Within these broad categories, there are sub-categories of various call dispositions. These include:
* Caller Hung Up Before Connecting
* No One On Line
* Prank or Obscene Call
* Wrong Number
* Test Call
* Computerized Autodialer
* Customer Service
* Hung-Up Mid-Script
* Misunderstood Offer
* Doesn’t Have A Check/Credit Card Info Ready
* Question About Payment
* Question About Product
* Will Call Back
* Order Calls
- READ FULL DIRECT RESPONSE ARTICLE: Control Your Telemarketing Data To Control Your Fate
