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Reasons to
Not Promote in a Tough Economy!
The media headlines say panic has ensued; it says businesses are holding onto
their money... thinking there won't be any left if they spend it all. Which is
true? - the media hype or the economic panic? Lately, when I visit my favorite
restaurants and stores, there are still LOTS of customers there.
However, I also do know that there are businesses who are suffering too. So,
where is the doom and gloom? If we're not careful, we'll let the media purported
panic realize itself in our heads and our businesses. I know from my experience
that businesses cut their marketing budget first when times toughen
economically. To us, that is foolhardy.
Budgeting for marketing is as necessary as the light bill - or payroll. In fact,
the way we have maintained growth has been to put our marketing expenses before
the light bill or even payroll. Sounds scary? Well, try the contrarian theory.
When everybody is doing one thing (and despite the belief they are doing the
right thing, the situation doesn't seem to be improving) do the opposite. If
"everybody" is cutting their marketing, beef yours up. You'll gain the lion's
share of your market, because your competitors, who are no longer marketing, are
not going to be your competitors anymore!
But for those of you who are not convinced, we have culled together the main
reasons why you should NOT promote in a tough economy (not!).
It's a tough economy:
We have thousands of businesses that are virtually unaffected by the current
economic status because they continue to promote. According to American Business
Media, history has shown that companies who either steadily continued or
aggressively increased their advertising efforts during times of economic
uncertainty experienced overall growth of their business at the expense of the
competition. The companies who focused on advertising also experienced continued
growth past the period of economic uncertainty.
Money is really tight:
That just means there will be less competition in the mailbox and every dollar
you can spend will get better results. A recent study conducted by Penn State
shows that "The greater the proactive marketing of a firm during a recession,
the better its market performance and business performance." Companies that
"invest aggressively in marketing send a reassuring signal of confidence to
concerned customers about their staying power and provide an incentive for
customers to switch [suppliers] that they perceive as weak."
Business is slow:
This is a great time to capitalize on your competition. Advertising aggressively
in an economic downturn can increase sales and market share over the
competition. It can provide buyers with the feeling of stability within your
company and can give you an opportunity to dominate the advertising medium. True
story - We have a client that was freaking out about business. They thought they
would have to shut down it was so bad. We created a direct mail campaign as a
last-ditch effort and before it even got done they started booking work. They've
never promoted before - it has always been word-of-mouth for them.
I have never had to advertise:
Times are different - today people are bombarded with advertisements competing
for customers. Let's look at just 2 statistics. The Radicati Group estimated
that the number of emails sent per day in 2008 to be around 210 billion. (That's
means more than 2 million emails are sent every second.) Data Smog states that
the average American encountered 560 daily advertising messages in 1971. By 1997
that number had increased to over 3,000 per day! That statistic today is
significantly higher with advertising messages being sent via cell phones,
pagers and wireless PDAs. We used to send out 2,000 postcards a month. Then we
quickly realized that if we wanted to grow I had to send more. We doubled that
amount per month and our gross income doubled exactly 6 weeks later. That
experience taught us something. There is a reason we continue to grow and it is
NOT because we don't advertise. These economic times are demanding that you
change in order to meet the challenge.
Advertising costs too much:
When it comes to marketing cost, you need to determine your return on
investment. Return is measured in dollars. Let's say you spend $2,000 to get out
a bulk mailing of 5,000 pieces and you get 10 calls as a result. Doesn't look
like much. But of these 10 calls you close 6 and get immediate sales of $12,000.
That's marketing ROI! And that's not even taking into account the future sales
to those 6 new customers. It could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The same simple mathematics apply to any other marketing efforts: radio ads,
press releases or articles in magazines, print ads, yellow pages, websites, etc.
Obviously you need to keep track of responses from each marketing campaign you
do so that you can weed out unsuccessful campaigns and strengthen successful
ones. You will need to spend money on advertising if you want your current
situation to change.
I don't care about my advertising quality so
I'll do it myself, I guess... to save a couple of bucks:
This is a very common mistake. The quality of your promotion is a reflection of
your business so you want to represent yourself in a professional fashion.
Haven't you made false assumptions based on an initial and unfortunate (for the
other person) first impression? If you started receiving cheap fliers in the
mail from NIKE, instead of seeing slick TV ads, wouldn't you think NIKE was in
trouble? There is a reason larger corporations create professional-looking ads.
Direct mail is a numbers game. Finding the "quantity formula" that will get you
the response required to make an impact on your bottom line is where your
success lies.
Marketing drives traffic and responses, not sales. Sales closes what marketing
brings in as prospects to your business. It will take MORE communication, not
less, in this tough economy. People will shop where they feel confident in that
business - businesses that are communicating (promoting) are sending the message
out that they are here to stay. Those who have the best offers and specials are
enjoying steady traffic.
So are you here to stay? I certainly hope so. The American economy needs you.
Don't give in. PROMOTE!
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10 Ways
to Grow Your Business using Direct Mail....
There are many places to go and get advice on how to grow your business, but we
have been helping businesses with their marketing for over 20 years now and we
have seen it all. We know what works, what doesn’t work and what you should be
doing that you probably are not.
You want to grow your business but you’ve hit a few road blocks. The economy is
slow and you really don’t know how to effectively market to keep a steady flow
of traffic to your practice. If you’re a new business,
first you’ll need to get booked solid, and from there you can start your
expansion, but how do you do it?
Here are what we have found to be the Top 10 ways that you can grow your
practice using direct mail -in no particular order. Each one handles different
aspects of your marketing, so it would be impossible to say that any one is the
most important. You may not find that every one applies to your business but I
guarantee you will find something useful in the tips that follow.
1. Educate About Your Services
If you ask the average person for example what a chiropractor does many would
have absolutely no idea, and many more would just say “They crack your back,
right?” You need to educate people about the benefits of your services. Don’t
just tell them what you do; tell them what it can do for them. Bottom line is
that if people don’t know why they should use your services, they never will use
them, and direct mail is a great way to educate the public.
2. Host Information Seminars
Use direct mail to invite people to a FREE informative seminar and host the
seminar at your office or facility. It is best to have someone outside of your
organization as the guest speaker, because it will be more credible in the eyes
of the public and will feel less like you are only trying to sell them
something. Keep the topics of your seminars current and you will get more people
in the door. The nice part is that you can get in new business with these, but
you can also use them to reactivate old clients. Get them in the door, let them
see your office and mingle, promoting yourself the whole time.
3. Offers & Reminder Notes to Past
Clients
It’s pretty safe to say that someone who needed your services at one point is a
good candidate to need them again in the future. At the very least you know that
they are open-minded to the prospect of your services. That is why you always
need to keep in touch with your past customers and direct mail is a good way to
do it. Send them something asking how they are doing and reminding them to give
you a call if there is anything you can do to help. A preferred customer offer
works very well to re-energize past clientele.
4. Referral Program
You already know that some of your best clients have come from referrals. Start
a referral program to give some premium to past clients when they refer a friend
or family member. Telling customers about the program at the end of every visit
will work well, but using direct mail to remind them will work even better. Send
them a postcard at their house where they actually interact with their friends
and family and they will be more likely to remember.
5. What Makes You Different
When thinking about your competition, what sets you apart? What do you have or
do that they don’t. Getting your name out there is great but to really be
successful you need to focus on the uniqueness of your business compared to
others in the industry. Highlight your different types of services or the
different equipment that you may have or anything that you do and other people
do not. Maybe you have a great affiliation with another business that you can
promote... anything to set you apart. Direct mail can help you get the word out
that you are better than other local offices and definitely the one prospect's
should choose.
6. Posture Yourself as a
Professional
Newsletters, current tips and info are just a few other ways to keep your name
out there. Staying on the radar is very important. Keep your community/clients
informed about new developments, pet laws, care info etc. Soon they will come to
expect and look forward to receiving your updates and news tidbits, making you
the “go to” professional and information source. Who do you think they will call
with questions or when they need pet services?
7. Use an Offer to Increase
Response
Giving something away or giving a discount will always get people’s attention,
but you have to give away the right things. Offering free consultations or
discounts on your services are good ways to get people to respond. Make sure
that the discount you are offering is related to your service. Give-aways like
FREE Movie Tickets and FREE T-Shirts are a waste of money because they do not
motivate anyone enough to come through the door or pick up the phone. Most
people who collect on those offers would have come in anyway.
8. Promote Your Products to Sell
More Services
You sell products because you know that the clients who come in are going to
need them, but it can work the other way around too. If you have unique products
that are not widely available in the area, promoting them can bring people in to
your office. In this way you use your products to generate more appointments.
The two complement each other in a great way and make an easy sell.
9. Highlight the Convenience of
Your Service
Maybe you are located in an easily accessible area. Maybe you are open for a
half day on Saturday or later into the evening a few nights a week. Most people
don’t like to miss work to come in for services. You can use the convenience of
your office as a response multiplier. Don’t make the hours you are open the main
point of your direct mail promotion, but mentioning it will definitely help put
you over the top compared to less convenient offices in the area.
10. Finally…Make Sure Your
Professionalism Shows
Make sure that the quality of the promotion you send out is the same quality of
the services you provide. You could be the most skilled and caring surgeon in
the industry, but if your direct mail pieces are of sub-par quality, or not
professionally designed, the people receiving them will assume the same thing
about your practice. Don’t fall into the trap of finding the cheapest one color
flyer that you can. Color pictures of happy people that are healthy and active
will help you show the care and professionalism that you are trying to portray.
Hopefully you have found something in this report that will help you in your
future marketing efforts. If you didn’t find anything new you are probably
already doing a great job with your marketing.
If you have questions, would like more information or simply want to get started
with a direct mail campaign of your own, give us a call at The Ad Shop,
772-626-7512 and we will be glad to help. We design and structure your campaign
for maximum impact and help you get the response you need.
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10 Ways
to Grow Your
Real Estate Business Using Direct Mail
There are many
places to go and get advice on how to grow your real estate business, but we
have been helping agents with their direct mail marketing for almost 10 years
and we have seen it all. Some things change, some stay the same... but the one
thing that is constant is direct mail works for real estate agents.
You want to grow your business, but the market is tough right now and you’ve hit
a few road blocks. Maybe you have been dealing strictly with buyers and want to
get more listings, or maybe your referrals aren’t coming in as regularly as they
used to. Whatever the problem you are trying to fix, even the overall slowdown
in the market,
direct mail can help.
Here are what we have found to be the Top 10 ways that you can grow your company
using direct mail—in no particular order. Each one handles different aspects of
your marketing, so it would be impossible to say that any one is the most
important. You may not find that every one applies to your business, but I
guarantee you will find something useful in the tips that follow.
1. YOUR PAST CUSTOMERS ARE A GOLD
MINE
If you have been in the business a while you should have a decent sized database
of past customers. Maybe you have 25, maybe you have 500. Either way these
customers need to receive something from you every month until either you
retire, or they ask you to stop. No one is more likely to use you than people
who already have and you have no idea when they will be ready to move again.
Keep in the forefront of past customers’ minds by sending them a postcard every
month. This will improve your retention rate, and even if you do have 500 it
would only cost you around $100 a month. If it helps you
sell one more property per year it pays for itself 10 times over.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE
Who is better at selling real estate, you or a piece of mail? Don’t expect your
direct mail piece to sell properties for you. Put just enough information on the
postcard to get prospects to call you, or visit your website. Direct mail is a
great way to open the door, but if you give up too many of the details, many
people will decide for themselves that they are not interested before you ever
get a chance to actually sell them anything. Putting to much information on your
advertising pieces the single most common mistake we all make. Keep it simple!!
3. THE RIGHT WAY TO TARGET RENTERS
Targeting renters can be a lucrative proposition, but it takes a commitment.
There is no way to determine when a renter’s lease is going to end, or if they
will be looking for a home when it does. To target renters you need to have a
constant presence in front of them. Regular mailings every month are the only
way to ensure that you will be there when they need you. It can be slow in the
beginning while you are building up recognition, but if you stick with it you
can drive in a steady flow of people looking
to buy their first home.
4. START A REFERRAL PROGRAM
You love getting referrals, but what are you doing to promote getting them?
Start a referral program to give some premium to past clients when they refer a
friend or family member. (Restaurant gift cards work great.) Once you have the
program set up, telling customers about the program during the sales cycle is a
good start, but using direct mail to remind them will work even better. Send
them a postcard at their house where they actually interact with their friends
and family and they will be more likely to remember.
5. POSTURE YOURSELF AS A
PROFESSIONAL
Newsletters and market reports are just a few other ways to keep your name out
there. Staying on the radar is very important. Keep your community informed
about new developments, tax changes, low interest rate opportunities etc. Soon
they will come to expect and look forward to receiving your updates and news
tidbits, making you the
“go to” professional and information source. Who do you think they will call
with questions or when they are ready to buy or sell?
6. TRACK WHAT REALLY MATTERS
How many houses do you need to sell to make a mailing worth doing? More times
than not, the amount of money you make off of one deal will pay for your whole
direct mail campaign and more! Many realtors get caught up in tracking their
response rate, but the truth is that you don’t need a very high response rate to
be successful using direct mail in real estate. That’s not to say that you don’t
want to generate the maximum number of calls possible, but the dollars you
generate are more important than the calls.
7. BUILD YOUR IMAGE
Real estate is an industry where image means a lot. Think about someone in your
area who is more “well known” than you are. If you couldn’t think of anyone then
you are doing a great job! If someone did come to mind it’s not because of the
number of houses that they have sold, it’s because of the great job they do
marketing themselves. Your friends get mailings from them on a regular basis;
you see them around town, maybe even at the movies on the big screen. You may
say “That guy’s budget is huge; I can’t afford all of that!” And you’re right...
you can’t afford ALL of that Yet. But if you start building your image with
regular mailings in your area, it will start to snowball and eventually you’ll
be the one with the “huge budget!”
8. PAST PERFORMANCE CAN MAKE THE
DIFFERENCE
People are impressed by hard numbers that you can give about your performance.
Claiming “I can sell your home faster!” means very little if you can’t back it
up. You would have much more credibility if you could say “On average, homes
listed with me sell in 45 days!” The total value of the properties that you have
sold can also be an impressive statistic. Bottom line is, if you can back up
what you claim with hard numbers it will give you an edge on the guys who can’t,
so keep track of your numbers and use
the good ones in your promotion.
9. MAKE YOUR MAILINGS SPECIALIZED
Many real estate agents are finding that they are getting more business by
specializing in a certain type of buyer or a certain type of property. You may
think that by promoting different types of properties on one promotional piece
you are covering all of the bases. Truth is, this only comes across as confusing
at best – if it even gets read. Choose one or two properties that appeal to the
same demographic, then put them on a postcard and send that postcard only to
people who fit that demographic. Make sure the postcard states that you
specialize in that type of property. Each time you mail to that list make sure
the properties still fit the same criteria. After a few mailings, people will
start to recognize you as a specialist in that area and think of you when they
are looking to buy.
10. MAKE SURE YOUR PROFESSIONALISM
SHOWS
Make sure that the quality of the promotion you send out is the same quality as
the services you provide. You could be the smoothest and most professional real
estate agent in the area, but if your direct mail pieces are of sub-par quality
or not professionally designed, the people receiving them will assume the same
thing about you. Don’t fall into the trap of finding the cheapest one color
flyer out there. Color photos or illustrations specific to your message will
help you show the care and professionalism that you are trying to portray.
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