The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes [71]
A recent client of mine has a stage show in South Carolina called The Carolina Opry. It has been in that area for more than 20 years and is a virtual institution for folks who go to Myrtle Beach. The assumption of folks who had not been there before was that it was some hillbilly country hoedown experience, but quite the contrary. Those who have seen it know that it has a little bit of every thing and a lot of heart. Remember, you only have a few seconds to communicate an idea on a billboard. So I designed one that looked like this:
20 percent country
80 percent “other”
* * *
100 percent pure excitement
This conveyed that the show was not all country and that it was exciting. I then picked some images that showed a massive 40-person production in full swing. Additionally some 60 percent of the people who go to Myrtle Beach have been there before. So I created some billboards that encouraged people to see the show again with taglines like “I see The Carolina Opry every time I come to Myrtle Beach”—a straight, simple idea communicated in just a few seconds.
So there’s a good tune-up on various types of advertising.
Marketing Weapon 2: Direct Mail
Now, if you’ve done a good job with education-based marketing (Chapter Four), you can use it to make your direct mail much more powerful. Going back to the carpet cleaning company, it has created direct mail that shows a superimposed image of a dust mite with the words, “Five million of these can live in your living room carpets if you don’t get professional cleaning.” The dust mite is an ugly creature. It looks likes a creature from the movie Aliens, starring Sigourney Weaver. What market data did you gather for your stadium pitch that would make a good “wow” for your direct mail piece?
A successful direct mail campaign absolutely depends on how regular and consistent your mailings are. In Chapter Nine (“The Nitty-Gritty of Getting the Best Buyers”) you will learn, step-by-step, how to run a direct mail campaign for dream prospects. For now let’s go with some fundamental rules from my own experience about how to make your direct mail pieces stand out.
First, use color as much as possible—either on the envelope itself or in the lettering on the outside of the envelope.
Second, put messages on the envelope. You’ve got to get the prospect to open the envelope. So a message on the outside—which should follow the above rules for writing a great ad headline—is a good way to go. Make it benefit oriented and focused on the prospect.
Third, think about the way you sort your own mail. Which item are you going to open first: something that looks like a greeting card or the bill from the phone company? I’ve seen many companies use greeting-card-, invitation-, or even wedding-announcement-style mailers to great effect.
Countless books on direct mail are better sources of information, so I will limit my comments to using direct mail as a weapon for attacking your dream prospects. But don’t forget that this weapon, when combined with other weapons, can be made much more effective. I had a client who added direct mail to the same audience he was advertising to and his response went up 35 percent. Every magazine will let you send direct mail to their subscribers. So if you’re in a trade magazine, try mirroring your advertising campaign with a matching direct mail effort to that magazine’s subscription base.
Marketing Weapon 3: Corporate Literature
Again, the key to using these marketing weapons to their maximum potential is to coordinate them so that the look, feel, and content of each weapon is consistent with the others. Like your direct mail pieces, your brochure should draw from your education-based