Five Costly Errors That
May Be Preventing Your Marketing Messages From
Getting The Results You Want
By Shirley Hanson What marketing tools
don't work for you?
We ask this question when we
welcome subscribers to our zine. Their answers
are consistent: "We sent out a mailing and
got no response," they may say. Or they tell
us, "Our letters, postcards, or brochures
failed."
What went
wrong?
You may be surprised. The
reasons you find here may not be what you
suspect. You may be thinking, "Direct mail
letters (or other marketing communications such
as a Yellow Pages ads, brochures, newspaper ads,
etc.) just don't work for someone in my
business."
Because you and your 3-fold
brochure, sales letter, or other marketing
message are not in front of us, we can't pinpoint
exactly why it fell short. We can, though, give
you five of the most common errors that may be
shutting the door on the results you want.
And just by reversing these
mistakes your marketing communications can become
winners!
Costly Error #1
- Not Precisely Pinpointing Your Target Market
One of our clients, a leading
networking company, relied heavily on seminars
for its sales. To boost attendance at one
seminar, it placed an ad in the local newspaper
inviting anyone and everyone to attend. With its
wide-open y'all come approach, the ad attracted
students looking for information and a free
lunch.
Instead of desperately trying
to fill seminar seats, the company would have
done better to more precisely identify its target
-- the information technology managers and
executives who make decisions about networks.
Even if your message is the
greatest, it will fail if it doesn't reach the
right people.
Costly Error #2
- Spending Money On The Wrong Marketing Medium
A new video producer we
interviewed for an article told us this story.
After creating a video about dog training, he
developed a marketing strategy -- to place a $600
ad in TV Guide. After all, he reasoned, there has
to be a pack of dog owners among its 20 million
readers. Perhaps. But only one of them ordered
the video.
He would have a greater chance
of success by trying out an ad in a publication
geared to dog lovers or, perhaps, purchasing a
list from one of these publications and testing a
mailing.
The better you can describe and
understand your market, the more likely you are
to find them. And the more you zero in on exactly
where they hang out in groups (such as readers of
specialized publications or newsletters), the
less you risk choosing a
time-and-money-swallowing marketing medium.
Costly Error #3
- Putting a Fog Around Your Message
Sometimes business people write
marketing communications with the belief they
should, above all else, be clever. (Or, worse,
they pay others to concoct these witty or
whimsical messages for them.) As a result, their
main message becomes clouded. Another frequent
fault is to obscure their message with jargon.
Or they may bury their message
beneath a display of sensational verbal or
graphic fireworks. Think of the number of Web
sites you've seen where the message is submerged
or nonexistent.
Be alert! Don't let anything
come between you and the message you want your
prospects to remember and respond to.
Costly Error #4
- Relying On Image And A Brochure To Carry The
Day
By image we mean marketing
communications with the sole purpose of creating
an image and awareness of your firm, product, or
service. They attempt to be a work of art. Watch
out! Sometimes they take the form of a glossy
brochure with slick photographs and
attention-grabbing layout.
The problem is they do not
produce measurable results, nor do they provide
feedback to guide you in improving your marketing
message.
If you have $10 million to
spend on marketing, your image brochure (or ad)
may work for you . . . some day. It's unlikely
that it can prompt your prospects to act now.
Read on to find out exactly
what goes in your brochure or ad to grab your
best prospects and urge them to respond at once.
Costly Error #5
- Not Acting On The Power Of Marketing Leverage
What is marketing leverage?
Controlled studies by
successful advertising experts have measured the
impact of headlines, offers, copy, and graphics.
By testing -- changing these elements one at a
time and comparing results from direct response
ads -- the experts discovered the following
differences between responses to the best and
worst versions of each element.
The champions, please...
- Headline: a response that
was 21 times greater
- Offer: a response that was
10 times greater
- Copy: a response that was
5 times greater
- Graphics: a response that
was 5 times greater
How can you take advantage of
this information?
If your marketing communication
does not have an offer, develop one. If it has a
lackluster offer, make it irresistible. If your
marketing document does not have a headline,
create one. If it has a humdrum headline,
generate one that grabs the attention of your
prospects.
How about you? Do you suspect
that one or more of these errors caused your
marketing messages to fall short?
By avoiding these expensive
mistakes you will improve your chances of
success. Put these errors behind you and produce
marketing communications that get attention and
results.
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Copyright
1998 by Shirley Hanson. She is a writer and
direct marketer who helps consultants and
high-tech firms attract more clients and
customers for higher revenues. Also, she
specializes in writing Web content that makes a
difference -- more visitors who stay longer. You
can subscribe to her free zine The Marketing
Energizer for Consultants.
The Hanson
Marketing Group Web site features marketing tips,
techniques, and A-to-Z steps at http://www.hansonmarketing.com
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