Message & Media : Delivery Confirmation
Tips on selecting the right direct response media for your direct marketing campaigns
November 2009 By Pat Friesen
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• Just because you know your offer is on your Web site or featured in your organization's magazine, that doesn't mean your customer knows it. Last week, I called my credit card company with a customer service question. In the process, I learned I was qualified for an upgrade—at no charge—to a card with attractive benefits and no penalties. When I asked why I hadn't known this before, I was told, "Well, you could have read about it on our Web site or in our magazine." I've never been to the Web site and never read the magazine. A targeted phone call, e-mail, letter or even a postcard would have been appropriate.
• Not all messages are appropriate for all media. A letter still looks more personal, more valuable and more confidential than e-mail. It's also less easily "trashed" by mistake or intentionally. If you offer financial services or other products of personal importance (e.g., legal, medical, upscale travel), don't forgo postal mail for e-mail without testing.
• Put your message with a measurable call to action on your shipping box or packing materials. Create a product insert (not package) that encourages a second purchase. Be creative, be inventive and put your message in multiple places where your customer will see it.
• Some market segments respond better to specific types of media than others. For example, mature audiences 75-plus years old remain more comfortable with postal mail even if they have e-mail addresses. On the other hand, Facebook ads may be just the tool you need for reaching younger audiences with relevant targeted messages.
• Test. Studies, case histories and anecdotal reports confirm that marketers who are most successful across the board using all types of media follow the direct marketer's mantra of test, test, test.
• Go digital. Got a message that needs to get out fast? New digital media allows you to write, rewrite, edit and deliver in a matter of minutes.
• Don't take a message written for one medium and plop it into another without careful review. Be aware that e-newsletters are different than ink-on-paper newsletters. Web ads are read differently than space ads. Readers' expectations after opening an e-mail are different than after pulling a letter out of an envelope.
• All messages (no matter which type of media delivers them) have hot spots. Know where they are, and use them to your advantage. Examples include the subject line and preview pane in e-mail, the salutation and P.S. in a letter, and the headline and photo captions in a space ad.
• Consider the appropriateness of your media. The media you use for prospecting may not be the same as you use for communicating with your customers.
• Use different media to communicate with different customer segments. Just because you send a personal First Class letter with a 44-cent stamp to the top 20 percent of your customers who generate 80 percent of your sales doesn't mean you have to mail First Class letters to all your customers.
• Save money; prospect within your own database. Cross-sell, upgrade, reactivate. They're very cost-effective ways to generate new business.
• If you limit yourself to using only one medium, you limit your opportunity for success. The more places consumers see you and the more ways they hear from you, the better they know you, the more they like you and the better they trust you.
• When your contact strategy includes a series of messages, have a strategy for your mix of media. Do what is appropriate for your message, audience and business objective. It could be an initial phone call, followed by a personal letter, then ongoing e-mail communications.
• No matter how cheap it is, media isn't a good investment if it doesn't generate the cost-effective results you need. Weigh the pros and cons of any media choice including cost, open rates, security concerns, deliverability rates, recipients' perceptions of the medium, how it supports your brand, etc.
• Timing is as important as the media and message. Factor in time of delivery, holidays, how soon is too soon and how often is too often.
Pat Friesen is a direct response copywriter and creative strategist writing copy for online and offline media. She can be reached at (913) 341-1211, pat@patfriesen.com and by visiting www.patfriesen.com.
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