Increase your income using e-mail marketing


Direct Response Advertising

"A Powerful Direct Response Marketing Guideis much less expensive to collect and test
that Can Literally Double or Triple thedifferent offers with the speed of the
Number of New Clients Your Bring Into YourInternet. This is the same way publishers
Business  Online  or  Offline"have sold magazine subscriptions and books
since the beginning of the century. The only
Contact  Informationdifference today is that the Internet has
made it much faster and cheaper to compile
Timothy Little--For details on how to launchpermission  based  opt-in  lists  online.
a direct response Web site or mail marketing
campaign contact me by E-mail For freeEven a great product at a reduced price would
consultation e-mail the quote form at or callbe useless if it is presented to the wrong
me by phone at (989) 463-5951Part 1: Definingprospects. You must target your prospect to
Direct  Responsegenerate traffic for your product by Web site
or  mail.
Advertising
Most lists fall into two categories compiled
Direct Response marketing is accountable. Itlists or direct response lists. Compiled
is advertising you can justify and track. Notlists are phone directories annual membership
only is direct response marketing measurablerosters, and manufacturing directories.
but it can easily be adapted to fit yourResponse lists are just as they imply they
advertising  budget.have responded and purchased a targeted
product or service recently, because of this
The heart of direct response advertising isfact they are most likely to purchase a
in the planning, organizing and pricing ofsimilar item again. Response lists are common
the marketing campaign. Small businessfor magazine subscriptions or lists of
entrepreneurs must match mailing listprospects that have purchased life insurance
selection to prospect profiles and design aor  indexed  annuities  recently.
campaign that targets the customer. Most
importantly, providing follow up service withStandard Rates and Data Services (SRDS) are
back-end analysis, fulfillment of orders anddirectories of response lists. They will
inquiries this allows a small business toinclude quantities and descriptions of each
test and measure campaigns quickly andlist  for  sale.
inexpensively.
Part  3:  Direct  Marketing  Strategy
A small business financial planner can than
focus on the most profitable segments of aThe offer is often referred to as the deal.
campaign. Direct response marketing isThis is what people get for there money.
efficient its small target groups made up ofWhether you're planning a direct marketing
the most interested prospects for a productstrategy, evaluating a campaign or writing an
or  service.ad much of the work revolves around three
important elements. The offer the list and
Direct mail and direct marketing arethe creative and these elements work together
sometimes used interchangeably. Director separately to make your direct marketing
marketing can be used effectively in manypromotion  work.
different media's and is not limited to
direct mail advertising. Direct marketingThe offer is the product or service being
goes far beyond sending self containedsold and includes any warranties, guarantees,
mailers. This reality is truer online since,features, and price and credit terms. The
accumulating opt-in permission based namesoffer could also be the actions someone needs
for e-mail promotions can be done at ato take to place an order like a shopping
fraction of the cost of bulk mail marketingcart or form on a Web site or reply card in a
campaigns. I can help you during the criticalbulk  mailing.
planning stages e-mail me at for more
information.Offers separate general advertising from
direct response. General advertising often
Direct response advertising can be used inexcludes the critical information that should
variations to support marketing andalways be included in direct response
promotional activities for driving traffic toadvertising. Direct response puts all the
your Web site or inquiries for a product ornecessary information together in an offer
serviceand tells the reader exactly how to respond.
People expect offers in direct response
A study recently published in the Marketingadvertising. You must give the prospective
section of the Wall Street Journal (Decembercustomer a reason to respond like limited
2002.) Indicates that media spending willoffer or special bonus, since the purchase is
shift away from traditional media advertisingimpulsive  in  nature.
and switch towards Internet marketing and
direct mail since they appear to be moreFailing to make the offer clear or forgetting
promising. "E-mail marketing is moreto make an offer at all is a common mistake
measurable and is seen as a good value foramong direct response marketing beginners.
the money as people get better customerThe way to get a response to an offer is to
targeting".make  a  deal  that  prospects  can't refuse.
The growth of direct response marketingIn direct marketing, offers are categorized
online and off has grown tremendously overby the method of payment. Offers with delayed
the last few years. The benefits and profitbilling and trial periods are soft offers.
potential online has been recognizedAsking for a payment up front with a special
worldwide and will be the number onebonus for paying now by credit card is a hard
advertising vehicle both online and off foroffer. The payment terms like accepting
the  following  reasons.credit cards online makes a big difference in
the response to the offer. Splitting up
*Patrick Barwise - London Business Schoolpayments can sometimes make a difference on
management  and  marketing.higher  priced  items.
Benefits drive direct marketing. If you don'tSometimes in direct marketing the elements
already think of your marketing in terms ofincluded in a product can make a big
benefits, now is a good time to start. Directdifference in response. The price of an offer
marketing is like no other form ofshould be tested at certain price points.
advertising since you have control over yourTesting hard offer verses soft offer
message and you control everything color,sometimes can make a big difference in
design, the list, and your budget and paymentresponse rates. Always strive to improve your
options.offer by testing different elements of an
offer.
The flexibility of direct response marketing
helps you to broaden your thinking. PrecisePart  4:  Direct  Marketing  Creative
targeting allows you to search for specific
products. The more precise your message isYour actual copy and graphic design is
the less money and time you spend on peopleimportant in direct response but less than a
who are not interested or qualified to usewell defined strategy using your offer and a
your product. Direct response marketing is antargeted  list.
equalizer for a small business. Finally you
are able to compete with larger competitorsPoor graphic design can hurt your response
with targeted messages and react quickly toand professional image. Lavish or unusual
changes in the market because of your smallartistic techniques may work well for
size.magazines and other types of advertising but
would actually distract or lower response
Direct Marketing is immediate and personal.rates in direct mail. It would be wise to
What is more immediate and personal than akeep your graphic design to a minimum unless
letter? New opt-in email technologies allowyou employ a graphic designer for design or
you to reach thousands of prospects inprofessional photographer to shoot your
minutes with a personalized message includingphotography. Direct response advertising is a
name  and  personal  interests.combination of words, pictures and graphics.
The words used almost always must move and
Direct marketing is a more testable form ofpersuade.
advertising. Every mailing campaign you run
is an opportunity for you to test somethingWrite a sales letter for entry-level products
and gain information that can help youor service's and feature it on your home
improve your marketing. You always have thepage. Write a sales letter convincing
opportunity to test different lists, offersprospects to send an e-mail requesting a
and packages. You need to have a goodsales representative to contact them. Offer
tracking program in place to do thisfree reports, e-zine to build the list.
effectively.Personalizing with first name last name,
gender zip-code using mail/merge software
Part  2:  The  money  is  in  the  listwill increase response and will separate you
from  the  clutter  of  emails prospects get.
You can use direct response marketing to
build a database. Whenever a prospect buysUsing a compelling headline that draws your
from you simply add their name and purchaseprospect into your letter and promotion can
information to your database. The quickesttriple marketing response. The headline
way to build a database is to offer a freeshould be driven by product benefits or
electronic brochure embedded on your Web sitesolving a problem. Headline offers would be a
for example (9 ways to retire 10 years earlygood item to test in a letter and can pay for
or free quotes and 30 days of free lifeit self many times over since this would
insurance.)become your control letter. Newspapers and
tabloids use well crafted headlines to sell
The reason for your database is to re-sell tothere publications at point of purchase
your prospects again and again and test crossdisplay's.
selling techniques for free. This brochure
can be plugged in to your web site forOnly a few Web sites use direct response
download or you can personally make anmarketing in there copy and the Web sites
appointment with your prospect and hand themthat have tested sales copy have been
a  brochure  in  person.successful. Marlon Sanders and Cory Rudl are
good examples of internet direct response
There is no doubt that these techniques willmarketing pioneers. Both have made fortunes
help you to achieve success in your marketingselling and testing there books and e-books
efforts. It is important that you plot theon the internet using old fashioned marketing
destination of your marketing campaigns withtechniques. Web sites that sell products and
a marketing or business plan. Directservices do better if graphics and flashy
marketing results are almost immediate andprogramming designs are excluded since they
these results will not help you unless youtake longer to load which will greatly lower
plan your business objectives. Many companiesthe  response  unless  closely  tested.
falter and lose sight of overall goals
without  a  marketing  plan  to  guide  them.The focus is writing compelling copy that
describes the many benefits and features of
Improved Computer capabilities and moreproducts or services. Products that are
recently the internet has made both directdigital in nature like e-books and MP3 music
marketing and direct mail more efficient andand software do especially well since the
more effective with database marketing. Thevisitor will get immediate satisfaction by
way to make direct mail more efficientchecking out with credit card and downloading
especially with the rising costs of postalwithin a couple of minutes. If you are
rates and print media is to target prospectsselling e-commerce web mall items clean
with  database  collections.digital photography with limited graphics and
strong copy featuring benefits like free
The database is a collection of informationdelivery, guaranteed satisfaction or free
on customers and perspective customersdownloads  will  help  response  levels.
including their names, addresses, titles and
companies. Lists selections can be furtherDirect response soft offer trial periods are
segmented by geography or zip-codes, gender,being used frequently by Microsoft Network
income  and  commission  levels.and AOL to market there internet services.
Like 60 days free with credit card
Prospects are grouped together with commonverification. When the competition is fierce
characteristics to increase marketingand pockets are deep soft offers can be very
effectiveness. The database is used to fiteffective as long as your billing package has
customers with products or services and tobeen tested and has proved to be effective.
aim a precisely written message to a specialPayment variations (credit card, check,
group  of  people.installment by phone or emailed by CGI form)
may work well for products and services on
Successful sales professionals know that thethe internet. This technique used in direct
more they know about their customers andmail would have the opposite effect and may
prospects the better they will be able tolower response. Testing this feature would
sell to them. The same is true in directgive  you  the  best  answer.
marketing  and  the list is the key resource.
Sometimes billing prospects for services can
Close list selection and analysis is thetriple the response rate. The payment offer
first step to ensuring a successful directcan be a crucial element in a direct response
response program both online and off. Thecampaign and should be evaluated closely,
money is in the list and in this sense thesince the pay up rate could possibly break a
internet has not changed this fact. Today, itsmall business.



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