Credibility is an essential key to a successful direct mail campaign. You want your prospects to see you as the pro, the expert, the one who's going to make their life better with your product or service.

    A value-added piece is an outstanding way to do this.

     A value-added piece is a component of your direct mail package that establishes value.

    It can be an insightful article, a helpful checklist, a flyer or even a list of telephone numbers. In short, it's an item your prospect will want to keep.

    For example, if you publish an investment newsletter, the value-added piece may be an article about the coming boom of a particular sector. If you're selling vacation timeshares, it may be a checklist of inexpensive travel ideas.

    In short, the piece adds value to your direct mail package (To read more about the effective strategy of adding value, click here to read to about my V.I.V.A.™ direct marketing strategy (Valuable Information, Value Added).

    The value-added piece achieves 3 goals:

1. It establishes a relationship between the prospect and the marketer and gives perceived value.



2. It positions you as someone trying to help, rather than as a salesman.



3. It makes the mailing package itself something valuable a prospect might send to a friend, post on the fridge or share with a family member.

    To the right is a value-added piece we created for a newsletter geared toward children who provide care for their elderly parents.

    In the last issue, we showed you two magalog covers and asked you to guess which one generated more response.

    To refresh your memory, or in case you missed it...here's Cover A:

    And here's Cover B:

    We told you that the answer is...Cover A! We also asked if you know why. Here are a couple responses from readers...

    Rich wrote: "My first instinct was to select B due to the younger looking folks that might be more appealing; then, after reading that you said it did not pull as well, I examined it more closely and realized that B looked like it appealed to rich folks, as opposed to common folks. There was more identification with A due to the 'common folks' association."

    Another reader, Bobbie, wrote: "My guess is that Cover A doesn't look staged. It looks real which gives more credibility to the message it is sending versus Cover B, which looks almost like those fake touched-up pictures on the cover of Glamour. If the photo can't be trusted why should the message?"

    Well, you're both correct. Our testing showed that Cover A was more relatable because the woman in Cover A was an actual customer and gave a genuine sense of reality.

    Cover B had gloss and style, but couldn't connect to prospects in quite the same way.

    It's interesting to note that most people incorrectly guess Cover B. It goes to show that sometimes our gut responses can't compare to the hard and fast results of good testing.

    You may be wondering...so what was the actual response? Cover A generated 36% more response than Cover B!

    Keep reading to see a brand new test at the end of this issue. Or click here to go to the Direct Response archive and read my article on effective creative testing.

    In the last three issues, we covered 3 of the 4 major causes of homepage suicide. So far, we've discussed navigation nightmares, too many click options and failure to apply direct response rules. Click to read the past issues.

    This week we'll address another major cause of homepage suicide—Anemic or nonexistent Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

     If your prospect can't find you, how is he or she supposed to buy/subscribe/sign up? You don't exist.

    However, with good SEO, even small marketers can compete with giants. Remember, as much as two-thirds of all traffic delivered by Google, Yahoo and MSN comes from organic listings.

     Here are 6 tactics for increasing your SEO:

1. Keywords. Make sure you use your most powerful keywords in your title bar and website description. The title bar is still the most powerful place to place your keywords.
   
   But make sure to support those tags with keywords and phrases in your headline, introductory paragraphs and conclusion. The first 150-250 words should be rich with your keywords and phrases.



2. Open directory. Make sure your site is listed in the Open Source Directory (dmoz.org). Google, in particular, gives higher rankings to sites listed on the Open Source Directory.
   
   Email me at craig@cdmginc.com if you'd like a copy of my open directory checklist.



3. Direct response copy. Your entire site should have keyword-rich direct response copy. This means making sure both your copy and art are search engine friendly and user friendly.
   
   And it means you should write for search engine spiders and crawlers as well as for your prospect....intelligently compromising between the two.



4. Research. Comb through your referrer data log and see which keywords are bringing you the most traffic (and conversions), then concentrate on making sure your site and copy focus on them.
   
   Of course you want the highest ranking possible, but don't forget you also want traffic that leads to conversions.



5. Competitive intelligence. Use tools like Hitwise and Trellian's Search Term Intelligence to gauge the search terms your competitors are using, then optimize your pages so you can compete.



6. Linking strategy. Having other sites link to your site increases your SEO. Type your webpage address in Google (www.xyzcompany.com) and see if anyone is linking to you. Then check your competitor's site and see who they're linked to.

     So there you have it—the four most common homepage suicide blunders. In the next issue, we're going to take a look at the profitable strategy of expanding your website campaign to an international marketplace.

     Call me at 310-212-5727 if you'd like Creative Direct Marketing Group's team of professionals to help you boost your SEO efforts.

    "Will you allow me to send you this exclusive FREE Special Report?"

    What you've just read is an effective copy strategy essential to your copywriter's toolkit: asking your prospect for permission.

     Online or in print, asking your prospects for permission to become a client, a lead or to register, can strategically increase response.

    When you ask permission, you avoid the mistake of talking down to your prospects. You also project the feeling that the prospect is in control of the decision.

    If you're a regular reader of Direct Marketing Update, you know I rarely recommend asking a question in your copy. However, asking permission is one of the rare cases where it's highly advantageous.

    Here are some examples of what I mean:

• "Will you allow me to send you this FREE Special Report?"



• "If you buy now, you'll receive a 10% discount. All you have to do is say yes to receive your coupon by mail."



• "Won't you sign up for our monthly e-newsletter loaded with alternative health tips and advice?"

    Another advantage of asking permission is it subtly conveys the "one person talking to another" feeling that fuels effective direct response copy. It's impossible to ask permission without projecting a sense of respect and one-on-one interaction with your prospect.

    One final tip: Follow up your permission copy with a subtle suggestion of the response you're looking for...while making sure not to remove your prospects' sense of control.

    For example:

     "Can I send you this FREE Special Report? Simply call me at..."

    If you need help putting together a campaign with effective copy, simply call me at 310-212-5727 for a FREE evaluation of your current marketing materials.

     I'll put together a professional critique (a $1,000 value) absolutely FREE. Or you can email me personally at craig@cdmginc.com

    This week we have two tests for you that make one important point about price testing...

    Three price points were tested for a paid subscription website. Each price point had its own identical landing page. The only difference was price.

    The three subscription price points were:

• $10.00 per month
• $12.50 per month
• $14.95 per month

    Can you guess which one brought in the most subscription orders? If you guessed $10.00 you're right. The $10.00 price point generated 33% more revenue than the $12.50 price point and 51% more than the $14.95 price point.

    Now here's a second test...

    Three price points were tested for online sales of a new book. The three price points tested were:

• $7.95
• $14.00
• $24.95

    Which do you think brought it in the most orders? If you answered $14.00, you're right. The $14.00 offer received 480 orders ($6,720 in revenue), whereas the $7.95 offer had 390 ($3,100 in revenue), followed by the $24.95 offer which had 300 orders (for $7,485 in revenue).

    There's an important point here. Can you see it? The $24.95 book brought in more revenue, despite the lower volume of orders and therefore wound up being more profitable!

    There are 3 lessons we can take away from these two tests:

1. Always test your pricing. Never assume you've chosen the right price point.



2. The lowest price point isn't always the most profitable.



3. While you may make more revenue with the highest price point, you'll also have less buyers. This means less opportunities for repeat buying, upselling, cross-selling and word of mouth.

ACTION ITEMS

1. Examine the results of your last direct mail campaign. Are you experiencing a loss of leads or sales? I can help. Contact me at craig@cdmginc.com.

2. Are you up-to-date on the newest trends in direct marketing such as podcasts, viral video, pay-per-click ads and exciting mailing formats?

Subscribe to the industry-leading digest Direct Response and keep current. Call
310-212-5727 now and tell the representative you'd like to subscribe to Direct Response.

3. Click here to read the revealing article "5 Critical Strategies for Direct Marketing Success." It's a must-read article for every direct marketer and business owner.

4. Click the Forward to a Friend button in the upper-right corner to pass on this Direct Marketing Update to interested friends and business associates.

    That's it for this week's edition of Direct Marketing Update. I hope that you'll keep an eye open for my next issue, as I have so much more exciting direct marketing information to share with you.



Craig A. Huey
President
Creative Direct Marketing Group
email: craig@cdmginc.com
phone: 310-212-5727
www.cdmginc.com