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Dear
Direct Marketing Friend,
Here are this week’s response-boosting tips.
In this
issue…
Direct mail: How a unique format can give you a
marketing breakthrough
Few marketers have tried the tabalog, but it is a powerful
way to break through the clutter and help you dramatically
increase your profits.
With a coated-stock cover, the tabalog stands out because
of its unique size—enlarged from typical magazine dimensions
to 11" x 12". For comparison, open your Sunday paper and pull
out PARADE magazine. It’s a little smaller than a
tabalog but similar.
Take a look at how this direct mail piece performed for Sun
Wellness, Inc., a marketer of the dietary supplement Sun
Chlorella…
Marketing challenge
Sun Wellness wanted to aggressively expand its customer
base for its Sun Chlorella supplement. For four years, the
company had been mailing promotions to grow its market share,
but wanted to speed up its progress.
The marketplace was becoming increasingly competitive as
many new nutraceutical companies were entering the market.
Prospects were being inundated with advertising.
Creative solution
The primary function of Sun Chlorella is to help the body
cleanse and detoxify itself naturally. To highlight this, my
team and I developed a tabalog around the theme of “the
invisible toxic enemy.”
The cover featured the true story of Dr. William Kellas, a
noted authority on toxins and the immune system, and his path
from debilitating disease to better health with the 7-step
“Health & Vitality” program. Developed around Sun
Chlorella, the program was highlighted throughout the piece,
along with supporting health facts, expert opinions and
customer testimonials.
The campaign’s special offer included a 30% discount and up
to 4 free bonus gifts.
Results
Campaign performance was three times greater than the
company’s previous mailing.
This tabalog mailing not only helped Sun Wellness expand
their customer base, but they had to expand their staff and
install a new phone system to keep up with the number of
orders that were coming in. Over 2 million pieces were mailed,
generating thousands of new buyers.
Tabalogs have been successful for business-to-business and
consumer products and services. Could a tabalog work for you?
To find out, just send an email to craig@cdmginc.com or call me at
310-212-5727. Tell me about your business and
the marketing challenge you’re facing and we can talk about
the strategies that will work best for you.
As always, I’d be happy to critique your current campaign
absolutely free.
Recession survival tip: 3 ways to cut costs
without cutting response 
As the recession shrinks your budget, now is the time to
see if you can cut costs. Here are some things we’ve been
helping our clients with…
- Printing. Although a few big
paper mills have shut down and the paper supply is
restricted, you can still be a price-sensitive paper buyer.
It’s all in the negotiations, and mailers have been getting
some great bargains. My production manager has been able to
make cost-saving arrangements, and has saved clients
10%–15%. (The discount depends on the type of paper you
need.)
- Media costs. Costs are down for
just about everything—radio, TV and online advertising as
well as display ads in magazines and newspapers. In certain
cases, you can even negotiate on some of the higher-rate
email and postal mailing lists to help out your bottom line.
It’s good to use professionals to help the negotiations, but
you can do it yourself.
- Postal discounts. The highest-volume
mailers in America are receiving a postal rebate of 30%.
Because my company mails such large volumes for our clients,
we’re able to pass on to our clients this 30% discount for
mailings from July 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009.
If you need help, my media staff will be glad to work with
you. Give us a call at 310-212-5727.
Web strategy: Don’t take shortcuts around this
Success Secret
In previous issues, I revealed two web strategies you can’t
be without. Click the links below to catch up and then read on
for this week’s success secret…
Landing Page Success Secret #3: Test your
headlines.
Many marketers who are diligent about testing headlines in
their direct mail, online ads or display ads often forget that
testing is just as important on their website. Your headline
helps determine your conversion rate, and it’s your first
chance to start making a sale or capturing a lead.
You’ll discover important information about what your
prospects respond to. Take a look at this headline test for a
site that’s promoting an e-book about pricing strategies
Headline #1
The easiest price increases
you’ll ever make
or your money back
Headline #2
The secrets of making
customers
happy to pay more
This test paid off—Headline #1 outperformed Headline #2 by
42%.
Why do you think Headline #1 was the winner? Email
your thoughts to craig@cdmginc.com.
Copy Tip: “P.S. Don’t let this happen to
you” 
The secret to getting your direct mail letter read often
starts at the end—not the beginning. When your prospect tears
open your envelope, the first thing he or she will do is flip
it over to see who signed and sent the letter.
Here are 4 ways to improve your letter with a
P.S.:
- Get your prospect to look.
Just under your
signature, he or she will see—and read—your P.S. Skipping
the P.S. is like taking the punch line out of a joke. It
just won’t work without one.
- Create urgency and tension.
Perhaps the
most effective technique is to throw in a curiosity-building
sentence like “Remember the surprising financial forecast I
mentioned on page 2” or “Don’t make the #1 mistake I told
you about in this letter.”
- Reinforce the key theme.
Your P.S.
should give your prospect an idea of what you’re going to
talk about in the letter. Emphasize the key theme of your
letter, whether it’s based on fear, greed, health
improvement, money-saving, etc.
- Include a call to action.
Tell your
prospect why he or she must respond right now, and include
the phone number or URL. Make them believe that they will
miss out on something if they don’t act now.
Action Items
- Review your postage costs.
A postal rate
hike went into effect on Monday, May 11. Make sure you know
how this will affect your next mailing—and find out whether
there are ways to reformat your piece without depressing
your response rates. Give me a call at
310-212-5727 to discuss strategies for
maximizing your budget, including reevaluating paper costs,
consolidating your mailings into a larger piece and other
ways to avoid added postal fees.
- Call me if you’d like to
meet up in DC I’ll be in
Washington, DC, from May 29 through June 3 for the
Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) Annual
International Conference. If you’d like to meet up for a
free marketing critique or consultation, just call my office
at 310-212-5727.
- Try this week’s Landing Page
Success Secret. Go ahead, test your
headlines and whip that website into proper direct response
form. Let me know of your results by emailing me at craig@cdmginc.com.
- Questions? Email me at craig@cdmginc.com. I’d be happy to
assist you in any way that I can—whether it’s a review of
your creative approach, help with your mailing list or a new
marketing challenge you’re facing.
Yours for direct
marketing success,
Craig A.
Huey
President
Creative Direct Marketing Group,
Inc.
email: craig@cdmginc.com
phone:
310-212-5727
www.cdmginc.com
Click here to visit the
Direct Response Library. You’ll find
numerous articles from past issues of my Direct
Response newsletters that provide even more
valuable direct marketing help.
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About Craig
Huey
Craig Huey is the #1 authority on accountable
advertising.
He's recognized as one of the top direct response marketing
experts in the nation.
In addition to publishing Direct Marketing
Update and the industry newsletter,
Direct Response, Mr. Huey is
president of Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc., a
full-service direct response advertising agency, and InfoMat,
Inc., a postal and email list brokerage and management
company.
Email Craig at craig@cdmginc.com.
Catch up with Craig in New York
and
Washington, DC
Craig is on the road again, presenting direct marketing
seminars across the country.
If you’d like to meet up for a free marketing critique or
consultation, just call the CDMG office at
310-212-5727 and ask for Deborah
at Ext. 117. She’ll set you up.
Here are Craig’s next stops:
- Washington,
DC: May 29–June 3 for the Specialized Information
Publishers Association (SIPA) Annual International
Conference
- New York:
June 16–18 for DM Days, presented by the Direct Marketing
Association
Take a closer look at SIPA
Craig will present two recession-beating seminars to help
you improve your results in this challenging economy:
- 12 New Marketing
Trends to Directly Increase Market Share Even through an
Economic Crisis
Monday, June 1,
2009
3:15 p.m.
- 36 Copy Secrets
to Double or Triple Your Response
Tuesday,
June 2, 2009
2:45 p.m.
To register for the conference, go to sipaonline.com.
Stay on the
cutting edge with
Direct
Response
Get an inside look at what’s working in the world of direct
response with the in-depth case studies, practical tools and
tested strategies presented in Direct
Response newsletter (Direct
Marketing Update’s sister publication).
Here’s what you would have learned if you were a
Direct Response subscriber:
- 9 strategies for direct
marketing to the mature market
- What’s working in B2B direct
marketing
- 7 rules for mobile marketing
success
- The new technology that
boosts personalized direct mail response
- How to turn Google Adwords
into a lead-gen giant
- The #1 way to supercharge
your Internet marketing (and a case study to show how it’s
done)
Did you miss the last few issues of
Direct Marketing Update?
Catch up here:
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If you need help creating a breakthrough campaign, my team
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