There are only three ways to increase revenues and drive sales:
- Increase the number of customers.
- Increase their frequency of purchase.
- Increase the total value they spend.
This is it there are no other ways.
If you are a restaurant and you want to increase your sales you do it by increasing the number of customers that come through the door every day. You do it by bringing them back more often. And you do it by increasing their average check size.
If you painter you do it by: Increasing your number of jobs that you do. You paint their home more often i.e. the inside this year, the outside next year. You increase the total value by adding new products and services i.e. Crown Molding, Deck Refinishing etc.
There are no other ways to increase your revenues. No there are other ways to increase profits and that is for another report.
Introduction what is Co-Op Advertising and Post Card Decks
Co-op mailing and post card deck by definition is a card pack in which individual cards represent different advertisers. The publisher of the card deck sells the cards to advertisers and handles all details of printing, mailing and distribution.
Examples range from the plain #10 envelope that a Val Pak comes in and the see through cellophane that RSVP gets delivered.
Co-op in various formats has been available to marketers for years. In fact estimates show that there are over 1,000 available at any one time. (This combines the consumer and business to business markets.) The first were introduced in 1957.
The pluses of Co-Op mailers are the cost per exposure (CPM). Co-Op mailer allows the advertiser to reach their audience for a fraction of the cost of doing the mailing on their own.
Finally, 9 out of 10 advertisers that use co-op advertising continue to use co-op mailers over and over because of the cost effectiveness and the return on investment that they provide.
Getting Co-Ops Read
From Bob Stones Successful Direct Marketing Methods we find that we can greatly improve the readership of the piece and getting action on your offer buy knowing the behavior patters of the people who receive co-ops.
In focus group research interview session with groups of house wives they were handed co-op envelope filled with offers and coupons, there was an amazing consistent behavior pattern. The participants without exception sorted each envelopes contents into two piles. Later, when asked the basis for the two piles they answered: Interesting-not interesting, like-dislike, value-no value. Your offer must find its way into the right pile during the initial sorting.
The way to get into the first pile is to have a simple clearly stated message with effective graphics. The more alternatives you offer, the less the response rate. Keep it simple. You only have a few seconds to make an impact. The product must fall into a wanted and needed product or service either now or in the future.
According to Nat Bodian the headline on a card is the key to the cards success. The headline must stop the reader.
Secondly, going with a four color card will greatly increase response, sometime as high as 30 to 40 percent.
As a rule of thumb, card pack mailing to consumer show no seasonality patterns and will be effective virtually any time of the year as long as the product is not seasonally driven.
The top card and the bottom card elicit the highest response rates.
There are times when using a duplicate card in the same deck may produce an increased response rate.
Who is the Mailer Directed Towards?
The following section is excerpts from RSVP Chicagos Report on Marketing to Women.
First, know the target market, RSVP mailers are directed towards the women of the house. Everything we do with our mailer is designed to get her to open the mailer. If we design the ad it is design to create a response from her.
Why is that? Because.
Women are the Principal Influencers of Shopping and Consumptions:
- 85% if women over 18 identify themselves as the principal shopper in the household.
- 90% of married women identify themselves as the principal shopper.
- 80% of consumer good purchases are made or influenced by women.
- 51% of consumer electronic purchases are made by women.
- Women purchase 50% of all cars and Influence 80% of their sales.
- 48% of stock market investors are women.
- Over 40% of households with at least $600,000 in assets are headed by women.
- Despite the influx of electronically generated ads in the past decade, 85% of women ages 25-44 read printed direct mail marketing pieces.
- 72% responded that they have replied to direct mail campaigns that contain a buy one, get on free offer
- 63% said they have responded to a direct mail campaign that offers a percentage discount on merchandise. (Up from 54% in 2005)
How Do I Create a Postcard the Elicits a Response?
Let me start out be saying that the goal for any ad or anything that you do at all should be to elicit a response. This can be range from the following: Present this card to get , Call our toll free number, Visit our website, Call for your free .
If you are not running response driven advertising stop reading this report and go change everything that you are doing to be more response driven.
Card deck advertising just by there sure size has the highest open rate of any form of direct mail. Because every recipient knows that there is a deal in here for me. And the curiosity factor drives them to open up and flip through the cards.
The goal for you has the advertiser is how I maximize my response from the post card mailer.
From Bill Norcutts Secrets of Successful Response Deck Advertising the following five elements are successful postcard:
- 1. A powerful headline. The headline should state a powerful benefit (Prevent Water form Getting into Your Basement.) and also make the entire offer completely clear.
2. A clear illustration or picture. Dont be creative. Use a picture of the product, the product in action, or the benefit of the product. According to Norcutt, the headline and picture alone should communicate instant recognition and understanding of exactly what is being offered; they should get this across in one second.
3. A horizontal rather than vertical card. Do not make the reader work.
4. An overwhelmingly good deal. Especially if you are selling a product directly from a postcard, the card must offer an overwhelmingly good deal. This is done through a special price or deal, special discount, free demo or sample. In a lead generating card, copy should immediately communicate the high value of the product or service being promoted.
5. A wide range of response options. For a card seeking direct orders allow the reader to order by calling, (preferable an 800#), Bringing the card in. Special days and times, mail in the card, go to a website. On a lead generating card, have a response option that is both hard (Have a sales consultant call me for my in-home estimate.) and soft. (Send me a free catalog or information packet.) Postcards are also and effective way to generate hits to your website.
In short you want to grab their attention on the front of the card with a headline that is benefit driven and a graphic that grabs their attention and sell them on the back of the card. Create an irresistible offer that grabs their attention and has a response vehicle attached to it.
From Nat Bodian, the following items should be added:
- 6. Persuasive Copy
7. Close the Sale
8. Getting a commitment
What does this all mean for Me?
At the end of the day you need to drive sales to your door, phones to ring or customers into your restaurant and shop. I have a saying that simply states our CODA Nothing Happens until Somebody Sells Something. With us that somebody is you our advertisers.
Post Card Marketing and Marketing thour Post Card Decks and Co-Op mailing should be part of every companies marketing mix. It is the most cost effective way to create leads and sales for any companies.
It is also a great way to test market new products and services plus a great way to test new response driven advertising methods.
The goal of any advertising plan is to have multiple forms of response driven ads that you continue to use.
In closing you need to ensure that all your advertisement is response driven and has a positive return on investment. That you incorporate the items from special report into your next postcard deck advertising.
Remember, post card decks have been around since the 1950s and continue to remain a strong media choice. As other forms of print advertising continues to decline there is no time like the prescience to include post cards deck into your mix.
The Next Steps
Trying any new form of advertising can be scary and nerve racking. What happens if it doesnt work? Is a question that goes through the mind of any business owner or marketing at any time before the launch of a new campaign or the use of a new vehicle? The only way to know s by trying sometimes. But the rewards out weight the risks.
Nicholas J Loise is owner or Market Place Strategies and RSVP Chicago and can be called on to help any business revenue line though aggressive Direct Mail and Lead Generation Tactics. He can be reached at 847-939-6065 or nick@rsvpchicago.com
He is a Sales and Marketing Exective and Serial Entrepenuer. He can be called upon to drive companies sales and revenue through aggressive direct marketing tactics ans through sales and lead genertation.
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