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Interview Part 3
Q
What's the biggest mistake you see direct
marketers make with their promotions?
A
That's an easy one!
Far too many direct marketers put a limit on
what they will spend on a promotion package, rather
than producing a promotion that will bring in the
most qualified customer at the lowest cost per
response or order.
Here's an
example: A large publisher's main product has been
sold since the early sixties and it's one of the
most successful book clubs ever!
A few years ago, they were about to stop
selling the club through direct mail because it
became unprofitable.
There was literally 30 years worth of direct
mail packages behind this product, but they were
without a profitable control!
Upon reviewing these past successes I
observed they were all fairly typical multi-component
packages.
It was time to do some out-of-the-box type
thinking.
Recognizing
that the product could really sell itself, a sample
book mailing was proposed.
Getting the go ahead to test a package that
would cost $1.20 each in roll-out
volumes was quite a challenge.
This company did not make the
big mistake of being too cost conscious, and the
test went forward.
The results
were beyond anyone's expectations ... the sample
package literally tripled response!
Plus, there was even more good news ... the
back-end performance improved as well for these
responders since they had an actual sample of the
product ... they were pre-qualified.
Q
Most companies take a "cheaper the
better" approach to package insert marketing,
are they making the same mistake?
A
I think cheap is the way to go for insert
programs that are less targeted, but when you're
circulating your promotion to a group that's better
qualified, then I like to take a much different
approach.
Q
What do you mean by better qualified program,
and what's your strategy then?
A
A package insert program that you also
profitably mail by renting the list, is what I would
consider an example of a targeted program.
And when I develop inserts for targeted
programs they are very special indeed.
These special types of inserts are a well-kept
secret that I'm not going to share with you now, but
it's all in my confidential report, Million
Dollar Strategies for the Savvy Direct Marketer.
Let me just say, when I introduced this
technique at a major direct marketing firm, they
eventually began budgeting their package insert
response rates at three percent -- for millions of
inserts annually!
In fact, one program was pulling a 10%
response!
Continue to Part
4 >>>> |
