Make 2014 Your Bumper Direct Marketing Year
I know that for a lot of people, this time of year is busy with our run-up-to Christmas marketing campaigns, but now is also the time to start planning next year’s direct marketing activity.
For those (like me) who haven’t put any forward thinking into Christmas itself from a personal point of view, thinking ahead to January and beyond from a business point of view may feel like a task too far! However, the most successful direct marketing campaigns that achieve the best ROI are always those that are strategically planned.
The better your preparation is, the less time you will have to spend implementing your campaign and the less prone you will be to a new year slump in sales.
Slowly slowly touchy feely . . .
As we all know, sales rarely come from the first time we introduce ourselves to someone. It’s more a case of allowing our prospects to become aware of our brand by seeing it over time in different formats; building relationships, rapport and trust. Accordingly, having an effective plan of how and when we ‘touch’ our prospects is the most efficient way of getting the right message to the right person at the right time.
So, who are your next customers?
Who is your ideal customer? Build up a customer profile from your existing contact list. Where are your sales most effective? Do you wish to stay only in this niche or branch out? Bear this in mind when crafting your campaigns.
So, where are your next customers?
How are you going to go about finding and introducing your brand to all those new customers who don’t know you yet? The who and where questions about your customers are the first ones that should be addressed as it will help to effectively target your campaign. However, they are extremely time consuming activities to undertake, which is where having a clean data list available can help. Building up a list on your own takes a lot of your time and money. Having someone in the know who can help you quickly identify and locate your prospects will make your planning stage vastly more time effective, leaving you free to get on with running your business (or go Christmas shopping!)
How to introduce yourself to your prospects
Now you are clutching your clean and targeted data list in your hand, the next thing to consider is what are you going to do with it? How will you approach your prospects? Here’s the top 5 of what to do with your data list:
- · Direct mail
- · Email marketing
- · Follow up telephone calls
- · Social media
- · Marketing material such as flyers, brochure, leaflets
Don’t be a one hit wonder . . .
As I said before, your campaign should be based on how you approach your prospects using all these methods over time, to build up a relationship and awareness of your brand with them. More information on marketing to your prospects can be found in our 7 Touch Marketing Plan download.
Whether it is a reliable and clean data list you require or help formulating your whole marketing campaign, Data Bubble is here to help. Happy planning and please don’t hesitate to call on 01274 483936 for help and a FREE no-obligation quote.
Now, where did I last see Steve’s letter to Santa . . .
