Does your business need a visual aid?

Would your business like more exposure?

Would it benefit from a wider audience?

Do you feel your existing website is too restricted in selling your company to potential customers?

I would like you to imagine your business as an iceberg. What is visible, what your customers get to see and understand, is like the area above the waterline: only a tiny proportion.

And under the water lies the remainder: the cogs and wheels, the inner workings, the nitty-gritty, what your business is really like. Packed full of examples, stories, good news, new ideas, all the things your website hasn’t the room to include.

And so it shouldn’t: a ‘brochure style’ like website should not be cluttered with all this extra stuff. In today’s busy world people haven’t the time and inclination to sit and read loads of text and description, they need quick-fire facts and figures, features and benefits, to show the appropriate impression of your business. In fact, each webpage has just three seconds to get their message across…

So how can you communicate the ‘other bits that we do?’ How do you invite customers below the waterline to view the remainder of your business?

The answer is: a blog.

Imagine somewhere that could archive additional relevant information about your company.

A medium that can be regularly updated with the latest news, stories, testimonials, special offers, new ventures or whatever.

Another space on the net that can be edited without a webmaster, so anyone can easily make regular contributions.

Like an on-line newspaper (or diary if you wish), a blog provides continuous material for its readers, both present and past. This also contributes to search engine optimisation, assisted by links to your website, to and from commenters providing feedback, and to other resource material – in fact, the key is to get as many links included as possible.

And don’t forget that spiders visit blogs far more frequently than websites.

Don’t just create your blog and neglect it. Use RSS (really simple syndication) to feed into other locations on the net, such as social networking sites, search engine reader pages, Twitter (which feed into Facebook and other similar sites), and application widgets that provide links of past and present posts on your and other websites/blogs. All valuable towards attracting a passing audience as well as keeping your existing followers informed.

How to use autoresponders within marketing campaigns

When putting together an on-line marketing campaign it is vital to get the process automated. You cannot be sitting there 24/7 waiting for any responses, and then be able to process them immediately. Wouldn’t you rather it be done for you while you are elsewhere doing business, making money, asleep or even relaxing on holiday?

You can automate the gathering of contact details from interested customers into a safe and secure database. You can use that database to send out automated emails that are in response to their enquiries. You can automate the process of sending out on-line goods such as special reports and e-books, and if the customer needs to make a purchase, you can use shopping carts to automate receiving the money and organising the delivery process of these items, whether they are electronic/printed books or other goods.

Then, because you have created a database of your customers’ details, you are able to communicate with them about future promotions and products, made all the more successful because they have already bought from you and are more likely to be interested.  It’s much easier to deal with past customers than to coax the unknown into buying.

There are a variety of autoresponders available, depending on their function. If all you want to do is to communicate with your prospective customers on a regular basis, then an electronic newsletter system is appropriate like ConstantContact.com and iContact.com. These provide databases with a series of templates that can be adapted to suit your corporate image, and their self-editing system is very easy to use.

Alternatively you could use an autoresponder like Aweber.com which also provides multiple databases and allows automated email responses, newsletter templates and the delivery of non-paid-for e-goods. It can be used in conjunction with payment systems like Paypal for simple automated delivery of paid goods, but it’s not as functional as a shopping cart.

Shopping carts like 1shoppingcart.com and e-junkie.com tend to be quite complicated to set up, but once achieved make it much easier for the customers to complete the purchasing process, for you to collect what you need from them, such as their contact and payment details, and even organising the necessary information sent to other parties who are part of the processing system, such as distribution houses and manufacturers. They also include an e-newsletter system for regular communications, as well as other automated money-making facilities such as affiliates.

There are a huge number of factors that need to come into play to make any automated system functional, practical and successful. All the marketing ploys need to be applied: attraction, interest, desire, action; focus, minimalism, uncomplicated, persuasion; customer first, market research, validity, affordable; visible, compelling, obvious, proactive. And above all, planning; as Graham Jones the Internet Psychologist said, a lot of on-line marketing systems fail because they just haven’t been thought through properly.

How to effectively combine on-line and leaflet marketing campaigns

Adapt your marketing campaign to collect customers’ contact details, either to buy from you immediately, or to communicate, educate and persuade towards a purchase in the future. Use forward planning to understand how your customers think in relation to what you are offering them.

Leaflets campaigns use headlines to attract attention, which need to be extremely relevant and empathise with your customers’ problems. The same applies to advertising in magazines and other publications, and also on-line, such as pay per click, banner advertising, article writing, commenting on forums and social networking. Concentrate on your customers’ needs and wants and how you can help them, and do market research to find out suitable keywords for your headlines, or what is being typed into search engines.

Focus on one particular scenario and publicise it: create a perfect customer, give them a troublesome problem and provide a fantastic solution, and then market only that. Your customers will find it much easier to relate and adjust their way of thinking towards your perfect customer, rather than you relating to all of them.  Use the marketing techniques outlined in Parts I to IV.

Once you’ve got your customers’ attention, it’s important to collect their contact details before they disappear. Create a compelling call to action, such as an introductory discount, an explanatory video or audio, a ‘special report’ or an offer of free time or consultancy, and direct your customers to a telephone number allocated for this campaign, or to a special landing page on your website.

Website landing pages should have one function only: to get warm leads to sign up. Only use persuasive text to lead up to the sign up form, and delete any other links as distractions. Collect names, email addresses and other relevant data, but limit the number of fields to encourage a response. Set up an autoresponder behind your landing page to collect these details into a safe and secure database, to immediately deliver your call to action, and to create email messages to act as follow-ups. These will help to reinforce your message, provide necessary additional information, remind customers to act upon your special offer and allow links to other aspects of your business.

Some companies use e-newsletters or e-zines for more leisurely communication with their warm leads once the autoresponder emails have finished. (You could also send out paper newsletters if it’s more suitable for your customer base.) They have the advantage of being more visual, information based and provide long-term persuasion tactics through further education and exploration on the many parts of your business. After all, you may have used only one specific area to capture their interest, but by revealing the remainder of your business it may encourage them and their colleagues to learn more about other products or future offers and be persuaded to buy again.

Do they waste so much on marketing?

Sometimes it astounds me how much companies are prepared to spend in order to ‘market’ their products or services.

I usually enjoy getting packages through the post, especially when I know I’ve ordered something, like a book I’ve been recommended or a new gadget, and our postwoman rang the bell this morning to give me a surprise package. But it turned out to be a business card box containing one business card and a toffee rattling around in it from a printer who was touting his wares.

Eh? Another cryptic stance at some marketing which doesn’t ring home. I didn’t recognise the name, so this kind gesture was lost on me, though it did raise a smile. What a waste of postage and jiffy bag (though a good box for me to put bits in). Was I supposed to ‘feel’ the card and appreciate the ‘quality’ of the printing, but then don’t they all have that?

The other day we had a full set of Next Directory catalogues left outside our house. My daughter was delighted, but we hadn’t got a clue who they were meant for, the most likely recipient having moved away. We are amazed at a) how many hardback catalogues there were, b) the weight of the numerous pages, c) the sumptuous print quality and d) the cost of postage! We also wondered if Next really managed to recouperate the cost of producing these luxury products from its directory subscribers at such an obvious outlay. I knew someone who was involved in maintaining the quality production of these volumes, and it was not taken lightly.

Staples also provides another communication to plop onto our doormat. This arrives in various forms, from a very thin 16 page magazine to a fully binded catalogue. OK, the production certainly isn’t as high quality as the Next Directories, but the frequency is astounding (and noted they do use some clever marketing and upselling tactics), which again leads us to wonder if all this production actually makes it worth while? Obviously, or they wouldn’t be doing it – would they?

The purpose of this post is to question whether these companies calculate that their activity is successful in bringing in enough sales to make it worth while. What I mean is, does the quality of the Next Directories guarantee more purchasing power from its subscribers, or the frequency of the Staples magazines jolt more positive responses? And because these established businesses are doing it, and giving the impression that it works, is it the right thing to do for your business?

My reply is ‘no’, because unless you have an established name like Next or Staples, it would be a waste of money and effort. It is much better to market your organisation through relationship and expertise building, providing value and good advice to exactly the right target market at exactly the right place and time. This may be slow at first, but if you can maintain a good base of satisfied customers, ask for referrals and other viral marketing tactics, broadcast your successes and valuable tips where many can see them, publicise snippets of what you can do on social networking, and create a thoroughly interactive website used in conjunction with focused promotion campaigns, then you can market your business without wasting money.

It’s not always a good idea to do it yourself

I remember when we decided to redecorate our son’s room with a laminate floor. I thought I could try and lay the floor myself to save my husband the bother. How easy could it be? The slats easily locked together and I could get the majority done before collecting the kids from school.

How wrong I was. For four hours I struggled even to begin the first layer. My comments were not repeatable and I achieved absolutely nothing. On his return my husband took one look at my efforts, lined up the pieces against the wall, and in four minutes had completed a couple of layers. What? This was not fair!

I related this episode to a floor specialist I met with the other day as an anecdote. I explained it’s not worth struggling to do something you don’t know anything about, and I know nothing about laying floors, that was his speciality. ‘How does this relate to me?’ the floor specialist asked.

I looked at the advert he had given me to scrutinise. He had been complaining that, although it had cost a lot of money to produce and place, it had brought in no returns. It consisted of sumptuous pictures of beautiful floors above his logo and contact details, even if they were a bit small. It was certainly well designed and was appropriate for the kind of magazine it had been placed into.

‘But what have you asked your customers to do?’ I replied.

‘Err… I don’t know.’

‘Exactly!’ I said. ‘It’s all very well giving them something attractive to look at, they will treat it the same as all the other pages in the magazine, think it’s very nice and then turn over. You need to tell them to take action! Even if it’s just to call you!’

This is a common fault in adverts and leaflet campaigns. Never assume your readers will understand what you want them to do. Just because there’s a telephone number or webaddress it doesn’t mean they will actually take the initiative.

Play on your customers’ natural self centeredness and greed. Offer them something of value, such as a discount, free sample or whatever, if they make contact. Give them a specific time to accomplish this by, or they will forget, get distracted or find a better offer elsewhere. Even by just commanding they phone you: ‘Contact us NOW to find out more!’ will have a better result that saying nothing.

So if you want to get good results in anything, it’s best to ask somebody who knows what they are doing, and that includes laying laminate floors.

How to convert warm prospects into hot customers

One of the most important parts of a campaign is the call to action. This is, in fact, one element that some leaflet campaigns actually forget to include! Not only does a single leaflet campaign provide just one shot at attempting to persuade customers to buy, but the command to pick up the phone, go to a particular website or send an email is somehow either omitted or presented in such a weak method it is bound to fail.

I used the word ‘command’, because that is what should be done. It’s no good saying “If you would like to know more, please call xxx xxxx”, as this ‘pretty please’ attitude will not induce the customer to pick up the phone. “Call NOW to find out more!” has far more impact, especially if it is combined with an incentive. This statement should also be followed by large, bold contact details on a separate line, not hidden within the closing text.

Unless your offer is so incredibly compelling, it is unlikely that the phone will be ringing off the hook. So the answer is to collect warm leads (people who may not want to buy now, but who may be interested and are sitting undecided on the fence) with a view to conversion at a later date. Marketing is essentially forming a long term relationship with your customers, so you need to be able to gather their details to communicate with them on a gradual basis.

Customers are, by nature, greedy and self-centred, so you should play along with those traits. It’s much easier to work with how your customers think than to try and mould them to match you. Therefore provide an incentive they can’t refuse, something of value that costs relatively little to you, such as a ‘Special Report’, ‘Early Preview’ or ‘Ten Top Tips’ that they can’t fail to resist, in return for their contact details.

Collecting details is made much easier through automation, as you cannot be there 24/7 to receive and send out requests. By setting up an autoresponder on the internet you can collect customer details into a safe and secure database to respond immediately to deliver any ‘free gifts’ you’ve promised, and be ready for later communications. Your marketing can continue with on-line campaigns, such as e-zines or e-newsletters, which are relatively inexpensive and much more versatile.

You may still need to continue with the multiple leaflet or postcard campaigns. This is because it can take anything between seven and 21 times to persuade your customers to buy from you. The on-line campaigns should work alongside the paper version for continuous gentle reminders, particularly with different messages or viewpoints, to avoid repetition and therefore indifference. As I said in Part I, create a storyboard to encourage a following, with cliff-hangers and new incentives, to entice a positive response. Each ‘episode’ should continue to have a call to action, especially if it is time-dependent, either to make direct contact or to receive a special offer in return for their details, as you will want to expand your database of prospects.

And an extra: Alice’s Actions #31 – Create landing pages to host sign up forms

When enticing prospective customers to sign up for their special offer or gift, make it easier for them by creating a special landing page (webpage totally devoted to the cause) to encourage a positive response. It should be devoid of all external stimuli such as links elsewhere, with its main focus solely on the matter at hand, getting them to sign up!  And to facilitate a better reaction, you could always add testimonials and case studies to back up your offer, as long as they don’t detract from the original purpose: obtaining your customers’ contact details.

What should you say and how to say it within your leaflet campaign

Quick reference:
How to get your leaflets to start working for you
How to get your successful leaflets to look good

It’s not what you say, but how you say it, that contributes towards a successful campaign. Be aware that your customers come first; after all, your business would not exist without them, so therefore they need to be the main focus for your campaign. This means you need to turn your mindset around to accommodate the fact that your business comes way down the pecking order of importance.

Each element of your message needs to be carefully planned, placed and executed. The first thing at the top should not be your logo and company name. Even though most leaflets and adverts blare theirs out from this position, this only works for worldwide recognised businesses; otherwise the reader’s reaction is ‘who?’ or ‘so what?’.

The main key element is the headline, which should be designed to attract attention. Begin your campaign with a statement or question that stimulates a positive response to your customers’ pain or problem. You should have done adequate market research to find this out, so position yourself inside your customers’ head and start to think like them. Work with something that will result in the reader saying ‘yes’.

The subhead should provide the resolve or solution to the headline, and there you can subtly drop in the name of your company.  I mean subtly, as the solution should always come first. The result should be to increase the readers’ empathy towards what you are offering.

Next highlight your benefits in bullet points. Here most businesses happily list their features, but remember since you are focusing on your customers, turn these features around to their point of view, so that they become customer benefits. Take out all the ‘we’ and ‘our’ and substitute them with ‘you’ and ‘yours’ to achieve this.

Why use bullet points? Readers find it easier to scan or quick read through a list than to trawl through a dense paragraph. In this fast moving 21st century, bombarded with stimuli from every direction, people don’t have the time or inclination to read everything. A list containing concise, focused and relevant points is more likely to be absorbed.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. How many campaigns forget to include a call to action? The remainder of your leaflet could contain all the right ingredients, but if you don’t ask your readers to do something, even to tell them to call you for more information, then what is the point? And by making this time-dependent you are more likely to stimulate a response, otherwise, even if they have the best intentions towards your campaign, there is no stimulus to demand a quick reaction and your leaflet could get forgotten.

And last but not least, make sure your contact details are large, clear and easily accessible. If your telephone number doesn’t jump out to hit them between the eyes, your landing page web-address is not clearly visible, or your email is hidden amongst other text, you will not encourage your customers to make contact. And no customer contact means no sales.

How to get your leaflets to start working for you

First, we must consider the purpose of a leaflet: to promote a product or service and bring in sales. Unfortunately that is only half the story, because in today’s world a single ‘blast’ of marketing will not work. We live increasingly rapid lives, bombarded with stimuli and competition, ever filling in-boxes and constant distractions. Unless your leaflet is so ‘whizz-bang’ it cannot fail to draw attention to itself, it will only end up buried. So the answer is to up the anti, and create a series of leaflets that will eventually get your message across to encourage a response.

OK, this may be more expensive, but wouldn’t it be expensive to print a load of leaflets that bring in no or little response? Wouldn’t a well thought out leaflet campaign (or postcards) sent over a series of days or weeks to a small but well targeted audience, designed specifically with them in mind, bring in a better rate of return?

This is because you will be creating a relationship with your leaflet’s readers, which is what marketing is all about. OK, the first one may well go the same route as your competitors’ leaflet: bottom of the pile or more likely the bin. But subsequent literature is more likely to draw in more attention, as long as the message is compelling and the headlines are relevant and follow on from their predecessors.

The idea is to tell a story through your campaign that eventually climaxes in the final instalment with an offer so great, it cannot be missed. Actually plan your campaign through a story-board, then you will be able to work out how many leaflets will be needed and what kind of customer you are aiming at. Develop your message from many angles, or offer interesting ‘nuggets’ of information that come together at the end, like pieces of a jigsaw. If you can get your customers looking forward to their next episode of your campaign, you’ve got them hooked.

Another tip is to really focus on your target market, and actually create your ideal customer. Give them a name (say David or Susan), create a cut-out figure and think up their lifestyle. This is because it is easier to market to one person rather than many, and you’ll find your customers can easily adapt their way of thinking to match up to Dave or Sue, rather than the other way around. Base your story around your characters to give you more inspiration. You could extend your campaign more long-term, like a little soap-opera, bringing in offers and concepts along the way. If your customers have something to latch onto, they are more likely to remember you or your product next time you start another campaign, making it that much easier for you.

How to make a postcard campaign work

At a ‘Power Breakfast’ this morning I gave some tips away about how to design a postcard marketing campaign with marketing in mind.

In today’s world it’s not enough to design a pretty postcard and send it out to lots of people to see if any of them will buy from you.  Here are six of various factors that need to come into play:

First, assess your target market. Are you sending your postcard to the right people? Don’t waste your precious marketing material on the wrong kinds of business or individuals.

Second, how are you going to get a return from your campaign? The take-up rate for mail-outs is usually 0.5% – will that be enough? Is it cost effective? Would you like to capture your potential clients’ details so you can communicate with them later?

Third, when putting together a postcard campaign, consider these other elements. Do you have a good call to action your prospective clients will react to? Do you have something of value to offer them that they can’t refuse, but doesn’t quite give them everything? Do you have a method of collecting names and emails into a database for later use?

Fourth, if you have a website, could you set up a ‘landing page’ specifically for this postcard campaign? This is a stand-alone webpage that re-emphasises the information on your postcard, provides a large telephone number for contact, and displays a sign-up form to download a special incentive or free gift as part of your call to action. Its main purpose is to capture their details or get them to call you to find out more.

Fifth, the postcard itself will have to use the AIDA marketing technique, which consists of a catchy yet relevant headline to draw attention to the main message, bullet points of your benefits (not features) that are in the customer’s interest, a call to action by offering a juicy incentive, and clear and large contact details. A bright and colourful picture will help too.

Sixth, once you’ve got their email details, then you can use them to set up a relationship with them through an e-newsletter. It is quite normal to have to contact prospective clients several times in many formats before they come round to buying from you. Keeping regular updates on how your company is doing, any new products/concepts/services/etc on offer, crowing about any successes or achievements, testimonials from satisfied clients, descriptions of how you overcame particular problems and what results it had – the list is endless as long as it’s relevant, readable and entertaining. Make sure your prospective clients will read and look forward to the next issue, and if you include more call to actions within your posts, you will eventually get more sales.

If you want to know more, I will setting up a series of e-books based on combining design with marketing (or marketing with design – take your choice) which will explain this in more detail. Watch this space. Meanwhile, visit my website and join up to my newsletter to find out more about what I do.

Postcard Pointers for Pertinent Promotions

This is my version of the subject on postcards mentioned a few posts ago:

Take another look at the humble postcard. Size A6, although appears small, is actually quite versatile (and fits nicely into a C6 envelope if necessary), and even though it’s dimensions restrict the amount of content you can fit on it, there is no reason why you should stick to only one at a time.

Set up a series of postcards as part of a promotional exercise. Think of a story you would like to share with your prospective customers, or isolate valuable items or points you would like to tell them about. Put together a coherent message in separate episodes using a connective theme, target your audience, decide on a timeframe, chose which day they will receive your postcards, and remember to get them professionally designed and printed.

You will make it easier for your target market to cope by sending out your mail-shot in manageable bite-sized amounts, because at the end of your campaign you will need to call each recipient to ask them if they have received your postcards, find out what they thought of them, ask if they struck a chord with their business and whether they interested in what you are offering.  Restrict your mail-outs to a small number at a time to make the follow-up a little easier and less daunting.

Using this slow trickle of reminding advertising will give your potential customers a chance to remember you, especially if the theme is clever, relevant, amusing or eye-catching.  When you do make contact, remember to listen carefully to their answers and take their lead to arrange a meeting with them to discuss their part in your campaign.

What to include in your postcard

The beauty of the postcard is that it can be used in so many ways.  Both sides can be filled with information, or one side only with a picture that is relevant, coercive, stimulating, funny, different or influential. The other face could be designed like a postcard with separate areas for the message and address.  If you’re doing a long-term campaign remember ‘more is less’, especially if your message is thought-provoking, contains an incentive-laden cliff-hanger, or maybe includes a series of clues to culminate in the final issue.

An excellent headline is vital to draw attention to your reader.  Make it short and snappy, rememberable by being amusing, using gimmicks like alliteration or playing on a colloquial phrase, or posed in a question leading to an affirmative answer relevant to your purpose. A sub-heading or catch-phrase will help emphasise it further, or even explain or support particularly ‘clever’ examples.

Advertise your solution to your customers’ pain by highlighting your business benefits, arranged in a scanable format with jargon-free, simply digestible words. Add a time-induced call to action, laced with gifts or incentives, to keep the momentum going.  And make sure your contact details are always highly visible, just in case they don’t want to wait until the end of your campaign.

Presentation is always important, as good quality and well designed publicity reflects well on the professionalism of your company. Care should be taken on the materials used, colours and fonts for modern and noticeable effect, and layout for efficient use of space. If you want to know more, then just go ask Alice!