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Direct Marketing Update: May 1, 2008 Issue
Direct Marketing Update 5/1/08
CDMG, Inc.
Nobody knows direct marketing better!
310-212-5727 — craig@cdmginc.com


    Welcome to this week's issue of Direct Marketing Update. In this issue, we'll prepare you for an unexpected occurance most mailers never consider.

    We'll also reveal a powerful positioning tool and get you thinking with another brain teasing test.

In This Issue...
  • Your Direct Mail Disaster Prep Guide
  • Website Suicide: "Don't Make Me Think"
  • Copy Tip: Using the Power of "est" For Profit
  • Testing Corner: The Power of a Domain Name

  • Your Direct Mail Disaster Prep Guide


    Part one of a special two-part series

        Over the last 20 years, earthquakes, fires, floods, tornados and snowstorms have distracted prospects, halted businesses, prevented mail from being delivered and devastated many homes and businesses.

        Nearly every area of the country is susceptible to natural disaster (see below in the sidebar for maps of critical U.S. disaster areas). And as uncomfortable as it is to think about, the threat of a terrorist attack is an unfortunate reality today.

        While no one wants to dwell on such a sensitive topic, if a disaster occurs around your business headquarters or a planned mailing destination, do you have a strategy in place to keep your business running smoothly and avoid costly postage and delivery losses?

        Consider the extent of the disaster. During a manageable disaster (for example, a class 1 or 2 hurricane), the USPS diverts mail from affected zip codes to nearby processing and distribution facilities and is held for later delivery.

         However, in a catastrophic disaster like Hurricane Katrina, you may be faced with the idea that many weeks or months could go by before service resumes.

        That's why its essential to watch the news and use the USPS links in the sidebar so you can make an informed decision on mailing areas and printing counts.

        In some cases, you may let your mail drop. But in others, be prepared to move quickly to edit printing counts and adjust mailing areas.

        If you decide to avoid mailing, use the USPS links in the sidebar to identify affected areas, then eliminate those zip codes during your merge-purge.

        I recommend to my clients waiting 2 to 3 weeks after the emergency is over before re-mailing into affected areas.

        Consider your mailing class. After Hurricane Katrina, First Class mailings were rerouted to Houston for later delivery. But standard and periodical mail was refused at the point of entry.

        While few direct mailers mail exclusively First Class, there is the story of one non-profit mailer that actually went to Houston and re-mailed their pieces First Class with some crafty repackaging (at a price of $3.00 a piece).

        It was a costly solution, but because they were mailing a small number of expensive pieces, they decided re-mailing the pieces was the best way to stem losses.

        Be prepared for depressed response ripples in surrounding areas. Just because an area isn't directly affected by a disaster, doesn't mean it won't affect your response. After last fall's wildfires in San Diego and the Lake Arrowhead area, there was a decrease in response in the Southern California area.

        Even if your prospects aren't directly affected by the incident, they may still be affected by the news. Your mailing piece may be the last thing on their mind.

        During the wildfires, the disaster was limited to a few zip codes and media attention lasted only one week. In this particular case, suppressing Southern California would not have made sense for most mailers, but you should evaluate each situation on a case-by-case basis.

        In the next issue, I'll walk you through some steps to make sure your business has a solid business continuity plan before disaster strikes—both for your mailing pieces and if your business headquarters are affected.


    Website Suicide: "Don't Make Me Think"


        A recent study shows that 83% of online users who immediately leave a website do so because they can't find what they need.

        It's evident that many marketers are losing time, money and customers by violating direct marketing rules and basic human psychology with their company websites.

        Consider 3 tactics when deciding whether your site attracts or repels prospects:

        1. Identify yourself. "Is this a site I've been looking for?" is the first thought in your prospect's mind when s/he lands on a site. Your product or service needs to be immediately identifiable. If a searcher doesn't get the feeling "this is where I need to be," they can be gone within 2 seconds.

        2. Be copy driven. Most websites are anemic: they're navigation driven rather than copy driven. There needs to be enough sales copy that persuades the prospect that it's in her self interest to read and respond to your offer. Laser-focused messaging seals the deal.

         3. Direct the reader. Prospects think neither logically nor in a straight line. Using navigation buttons like: About Us, Help, History, Media, Products, Sitemap, Vision Statement and Contact Us interrupt your sales presentation.

        Don't give potential buyers the easy choice of diving into an illogical exploration of your site—every click away from your core message could cost you 10%-20% of sales.

        Instead, pull visitors along to your offer with succinct copy and design that doesn't give them even one reason to guess who you are, what you do and why they should be there.

        In other words, don't make your prospect have to think...the difference between success and failure is just a click away.

        Call me at 310-212- 5727 if you'd like the pros at Creative Direct Marketing Group to demystify your offer and write your website copy using direct response strategies proven to pull customers like magnets.


    Copy Tip: Using the Power of "est" For Profit


        People buy from companies who use the secret of writing their strongest customer benefit in their marketing promotions. Prime your benefit pump by using superlatives as a guide.

        Superlatives are created by choosing quantifiable words ending in "est" that offer a specific benefit to your prospect.

        Like this:

        Cheapest, hottest, quickest, earliest, longest, smallest, oldest, furthest, simplest and so on.

        To see how the power of a precise superlative helps sell your product over the competition, ask yourself:

        "What's different about our product that's meaningful to our customers?" That excellence is your "est."

        For instance, do you sell a financial-management system that helps earn customers money while simultaneously being the simplest to navigate? Could you say your software is The easiest to use?

        If your product is "low-cost" would being the cheapest on the Internet grab more prospect eyeballs?

        MacIntosh tells business travelers it's new laptop is The world's thinnest notebook.

        Nielsen Norman Group likes to Solve your biggest B2B website problems.

        Take a tip from Western Union, The fastest way to send money, by using the power of "est" to talk about your product.

        Using the "est" principle is a struggle many people face. More often than not, they get it wrong by focusing on what they think is great about their product, rather than the benefits that make it stand out from the competition and satisfy a prospect's need.

        If you need help constructing your "est" copy, simply call me at 310-212- 5727. Making our clients the richest in the marketplace is our only goal.


    Testing Corner: The Power of a Domain Name
    Make more Adwords profit


        Oftentimes, marketers focus on their Adwords copy and overlook the sales power of their domain names in PPC ads.

        Take the following two PPC ads running on Google. The text copy is the same, only the landing domain name has changed.

    Ad A
    Mold Help For Morons
    Find out if you have a toxic mold
    problem without spending a fortune!

    www.StopBlackMoldNow.com

    Ad B
    Mold Help For Morons
    Find out if you have a toxic mold
    problem without spending a fortune!

    www.GetMoldSolutions.com

        By testing these domain names, the company discovered that Ad B got 31% more traffic across the board than the other.

        What do you think it was about Ad B that caused it to outperform Ad A? Email me at craig@cdmginc.com. I'll post some of your responses in the next issue as well as the reason why.


    ACTION ITEMS

    1. 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. Please call us now at 310-212-5727 and tell our representative you'd like to subscribe to Direct Response.

    2. 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.

    3. Click here to read the insightful article on the proven, tested, V.I.V.A.™ direct marketing system. It's a must-read article for every direct marketer and business owner looking to boost their response rates.

    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

    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.

    CDMG Inc Home Page/Case Studies/Direct Response Library/Contact Craig/Direct Response Newsletter/Direct Marketing Update Archives

        This direct marketing newsletter has been prepared by and is the property of Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc. The information contained herein has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All photos and graphics are used by permission of their creators. Reproduction or electronic transmission of information contained in this report in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

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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, a full-service direct response advertising agency, and InfoMat, a postal and email list brokerage and management company.

        You can email Craig at craig@cdmginc.com.



    Meet Craig in Irvine...MAY 5

    ..and come away with a winning attitude and killer campaign.

    "Best presentation on lead generation I've heard!"
    —John W., Rothe Financial Group

    Two live seminars Monday afternoon at the NAAIM "Uncommon Knowledge" conference. Free to members. Not a NAAIM member? Limited complimentary tickets available by calling Veronica at 310-212- 5727.


        

    Bookmark these important disaster management links


         If a major disaster has occurred and you're afraid you may be mailing into it, you may want to bookmark this USPS link to major service interruption areas.

         Additionally, the USPS Rapid Information Bulletin Board System (RIBBS) is a tremendous resource after a natural disaster.

         CBS News has a site with dozens of links to various disaster news from earthquakes to floods to terrorist activity.

         The Global Incident Map focuses on terrorist and man-made disasters with a detailed map of incidents and problem areas.

         Relief Web provides maps and information about many different areas of the world for marketers who mail globally.


    How Your List Affects Your Prospects and Profits




        Did you know 50% of a campaign's success comes directly from its list?

        Even with an enticing offer and mind-pulling creative, if you don't have a winning list, your promotion won't generate the ROI anywhere near what it should.

        With dozens of list companies to choose from, one has earned a reputation as the expert for small business.

    "InfoMat is the best"

        "I never dreamed I would make so much money with InfoMat. For years I was using someone else. I switched to InfoMat and my income has risen 10 times."
        —David Robinson, Publisher, The Bull & Bear Financial Report

    ROI Generators, Not Name Peddlers

        At InfoMat, we're not list peddlers. We're consultants and ROI generators. We coach our clients on what really works because we've got 35 years of meticulous records methodologies and specialized research techniques that grow organizations worldwide.

        You don't just get customers at lower acquisition cost. You get the right customers— people proven to be interested in what you have to offer based on tracked list performance.


    How profitable are our list selections?

    • One company came to InfoMat after exhausting all of their marketing options and gaining only a few new customers. With InfoMat, they generated more than 100,000 buyers with an average unit of sale of over $145 in less than 1 year...and growing.


    • Another company tried InfoMat's list selection service and was so thrilled they ordered more than 8 million names in less than 2 years.


    • One B2B marketer cut their cost per lead by 60% and upped conversions 10% thanks to uncovering new lists they never knew about.


        If you love profits as much as we do, pick up the phone right now and call Tina Fonteno at 310-212-5944 Ext. 150 or click here to contact us. We can help make the next quarter your best one ever.

    InfoMat, Inc.
    Quality Lists for Maximum Profitability



    Direct Marketing Tip # 92:

    Use a "Why People Buy" Motivator




        Saving money and saving time are proven tactics to get people to buy products sooner rather than later.

         "The 50% increase in Turbolene power gives you twice as much speed...now with a 20% savings" sells a lot more product than the less specific "our product offers high quality at a reasonable price."


    Train With The Best In The Business: Become A Direct Marketing Expert In Less Than a Day




        Book Craig for your company event or annual sales meeting.

        Over the past 25 years, Craig has emerged as one of the most dynamic, entertaining, and sought after speakers in the direct marketing world.

        Speaking and training nationwide more than 20 times a year, Craig provides answers, informs, challenges and inspires marketers and management for hundreds of companies.

        Craig will show you how to use scientific direct response where you'll discover laws of profitability—like the #1 skill every marketer must have.

        You'll learn the absolutely critical methods to close a deal.

        You'll find out how to motivate skeptical prospects in the current economy and more.

        Each attendee will walk away with new understanding and a game plan for action and success to win at direct response marketing.

        Do You Know the Answers to These Questions?
    • What are the measurable goals of your next creative campaign?
    • How do your prospects recognize the difference between you and your fiercest competitor?
    • Who's ensuring that your website isn't a waste of time and money?
        You want results and someone who can make a difference. That difference is Craig Huey.

        Talk to a real person in our friendly office. Call Veronica at 310-212-5727 to request information about customized seminars.



    Quote of the Week




        "Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement."
        
       —Samuel Johnson



    101 Direct Marketing Tips from the Direct Response Archive

    Creative Testing

    Success with Magalogs

    Offline Marketing

    Improve Your Subheads



    Don't Miss the Latest Secrets, Strategies and Trends to Sales Success

        Join the league of today's top direct marketers who stay ahead of the curve with a subscription to Direct Response, which is Direct Marketing Update's in-depth sister publication.


    Click to subscribe


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    Direct Marketing
    Tip # 101:

    Avoid the Biggest Mistake in Mailings




             A campaign is not a singular action; it's a sustained effort over time. The biggest peril in mailings is not mailing the well-qualified buyer who has expressed an interest after your first send-out.

         If the sale isn't made in the first follow-up phone call, don't assume your campaign has failed. Drop a second time with harder-hitting additional marketing materials or sales letters.

        Track and sustain every lead.



        Call Craig Huey now at 310-212-5727 or email him at craig@cdmginc.com to discuss how he and his team of marketing professionals can create direct marketing copy that will work for your next campaign.



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