Skepticism is a part of life and business. People don't
trust you at face value it is completely up to you to earn
their trust. I hear it ALL THE TIME. Excuses why it won't
work for them... because their business is "different".
They tried it before and it failed so there is no way it
will work now.
"Direct Marketing doesn't work"
There is really 2 forms of marketing at play... measurable
results marketing and non-measurable results marketing.
The kind you cannot directly measure (in terms of dollars
generated from a specific campaign or marketing action) is
commonly called image or brand marketing. The point behind
those kinds of campaigns is to build general awareness of
your offering and your message and not about specific
results on a day-by-day basis. There have been many
multi-million (and billion) dollar empires built
exclusively on this form of marketing (firms that have
never used direct marketing techniques).
BUT... the average entrepreneur doesn't have deep enough
pockets to sustain imagine only advertising.
They need to know right now what ad is working or sales
letter is pulling in clients and which aren't. Without this
knowledge they will quickly go broke.
When they know which ad, placed in which media publication
or website, works and makes them money they then have a
system they can repeat until it stops working. They can
measure exactly what each new lead costs them to generate
and how much they need to invest in each real lead to
convert them to a paying customer and then how much to
convert each one-time customer to a repeat buyer.
This knowledge is pure gold when you know it.
And yes, direct marketing DOES work and can be proven right
down to the penny how well it does work. You cannot say
that about image or brand awareness campaigns (the exact
amount it made for the business can never be measured as
they have no way of measuring it).
"No one will read all those words people are different now
and don't read as much"
There is truth in that people are increasingly lazy and
illiterate. BUT, and this is a big but, are your clients in
that group? If you are trying to sell to a bunch of ADD
13-somethings then long copy sales letters with zero
graphics probably won't work all that well. But, it you
are trying to sell to the boomer or senior market they want
to know what they are buying and will research what you are
selling until their fears are alleviated (that is assuming
you kept their attention throughout the copy).
The key is to balance the copy with supporting visuals. And
then to match this balance with your exact target market.
Lots of people (including myself) are testing shorter copy
websites that have people clicking through to specific
things they want to see rather than asking them to scroll
down through a 25 page sales letter.
People won't read all those words if they are boring... or
if they are not the right target market... or if the visual
appeal is downright hideous... or if the offer makes no
sense or the claim sounds ridiculous.
You have to test and find out what the balance should be
between words...graphics... message/market match... and the
offer.
Only through testing will you know what the right amount of
words is.
And assuming you know is the surest way to kill your
marketing results. You don't know what your clients want
until you ask them (through marketing tests). They will
often tell you they want one thing, but will show different
responses when tested.
It is completely up to you to find the perfect match.
"There is a magical percentage conversion rate"
This is quite common. "I need a 2% conversion rate anything
below that is unacceptable." My question to them is "WHY?"
Any person familiar with marketing 101 knows that the real
money is in the backend products and services you sell to
your clients. If you are selling a $25 book you will never
get rich without something to sell. You MUST have something
else at a much higher price point to sell.
And if you know that 10% of your book buyers will buy your
$1,000 backend offer who cares if you lose money or break
even on the book sale.
In other words concern yourself less about the conversion
rate and start worrying about the PROFIT you make. If you
don't have a system in place to up the profit you make
after the initial sale (to a new client) then a 3%
conversion rate (which is very good on it's own) means
nothing other than the fact you are going broke fast
selling your $25 book.
Do you honestly think that a company selling million
dollar, ocean front, and gated community homes is concerned
about a 1% response rate to their mailer? They are more
concerned with the quality of people they attract and the
follow up system they use to make sure the lead buys.
They may only get a 0.1% response rate to their mailer but
it makes them a million dollars.
"Hiring a professional marketer or copywriter is guaranteed
to make you a million dollars first time you run the promo"
HA! If you were guaranteed to make a million from a simple
letter campaign do you think any sane copywriter would
price his services below... say.... $500,000 per letter
campaign?
Of course not.
The only guarantees you can expect from your copywriter or
marketer is that they will find the approach that works
best with your clients and your offer. They should be
willing to stick with you, and rewrite, until the perfect
combination of client offer and media is found.
Also, if there was a "magic" guarantee and formula that
worked every time there would only be need for one book or
training course on it right?
The guarantee is more about the persistence of your team
members to do whatever they need to do to make the
promotion work.
Direct marketing is a field few understand and those who
don't understand it like to bash it. Remember, many people
use direct marketing in their business and see exceptional
results and it can work for you too if you give it a chance
and some patience. The perfect combination of message
market media and you will have a winner. But to find the
combination, it may take time, money and lots of patience.
Direct marketing DOES work... if you know how to work it
----------------------------------------------------
Troy White, The Marketing Results Mentor and Expert
Copywriter helps clients achieve HUGE growth surges in
their business in very short periods of time. If you're an
entrepreneur in need of quick cash flow surges ' here is
the quick-hit solution to put money in your bank.... The
Wild West Wealth Summit! Make sure you visit
http://www.WildWestWealth.com or sign up for the Free Cash
Flow Surge Newsletter at http://www.CashFlowSurges.com
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