Ten Direct Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Here are ten common direct marketing mistakes. If,
as you analyze them, you say, “Uh-oh! I’ve
been making these mistakes!” then, in three
words: Not to worry. Not only won’t you make
them again, you can feel superior, knowing that giant
mailers often make these mistakes.
Mistake No. 1: not taking command.
Check your direct response message. Are you consistently
and dynamically telling the message recipient what
to do? You’re in command of the troops. Tell
them where to go and what acts to perform. If you
don’t clearly and forcefully tell the reader,
viewer or listener what to do, you’ve made a
classic marketing mistake.
Mistake No. 2: being funny.
Assuming that the reader will think an episode is
funny because you think that episode is funny can
be costly. People who have a sense of humor very often
leave their sense of humor in the closet when considering
an expenditure of money. Humor is at best a secondary
adjunct to the sales process, best introduced after
you have a close personal relationship. Using humor
to initiate a sale is a classic marketing mistake.
Mistake No. 3: showing off your vocabulary.
Eschew hyperbolic verbalisms. Huh? An obvious point
in any mass communication is that people who know
the big words also know the smaller words, but vice-versa
isn’t universal. Showing off how big your vocabulary
is will cause resentment … and resentment results
in lowered response. It’s a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 4: assuming they know it because
you know it.
You know how your product works. You’re saturated
with corporate lore. So it’s true that everybody
knows how it works, right? Wrong. Some may know, but
telling them again will enhance your sales argument.
Some will not know, and failing to tell them how it
works or what it does is a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 5: thinking like the seller,
not the sellee.
The seller and the “sellee” don’t
have parallel points of view. The seller’s concern
is “what it is.” The sellee’s concern
is “what it will do for me.” The inability
to project the message inside the sellee’s brain
is not only an indication of a semi-professional communicator;
it’s a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 5: confusing feature with benefit.
Features aren’t benefits. Features may be the
basis for benefits, but unless you explain how a feature
is a benefit you aren’t a salesperson. The customer
wants to know how what you’re offering will
be beneficial. Omitting this vital information is
a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 6: saying too much.
Career salespeople have known and preached for hundreds
of years: When the customer says, “Yes,”
quit selling and get out. Invariably, those salespeople
who just babble away will come in second best. Make
your case. Explain your case. Tell them what they’ll
miss if they don’t respond (see the next mistake).
Then end it. Rambling on is a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 7: omitting a warning.
So you have this for sale? So what? So this: If you
don’t grab this opportunity, you’ll miss
out on…. That’s salesmanship. Guilt is
one of the great sales motivators of the 21st century.
It isn’t easy to generate, but you certainly
won’t generate guilt if you don’t attempt
to generate guilt. Not warning the prospect what he
or she will lose by not responding is a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 8: not simplifying the ordering
process.
You’ve come to the moment of truth. Now you
want the order. Oops – no toll-free number.
No fax number. No credit card acceptance. Or, if you
do offer these options, you then ask for so much information
the individual who would have been a customer tosses
your message into the wastebasket or clicks out. Not
simplifying the ordering process, all too common in
Web offerings, is a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 9: omitting an expiration date.
Do your offers include an expiration date? They should,
because test after test has proven that an expiration
date invariably increases response. So what do you
do if an order comes in after the expiration date?
You say, “Thank you for your order.” Forgetting
to include an expiration date is a classic mistake.
Mistake No. 10: not testing.
Everybody else is to blame because your mailing didn’t
break even. But if you had used an orange envelope
instead of a white one, it might have shot past the
break-even point. If you had mailed to ZIP code 60611
instead of 60610, it might have been considerably
more successful. If you had priced your item at $35.95
instead of $19.95, you’d have been surprised
by greater response, fewer returns, and far less back-end
worries. Not testing is not just a classic mistake.
It’s a major mistake.
Your turn. Don’t make these mistakes.
Do make money.
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