Reduce the number of pieces

You can cut costs by mailing fewer pieces (a letter and a brochure with attached order form and mailed). Fewer pieces means lower printing and lettershop costs (lettershops stuff the envelopes, affix postage, and take the mailing to the post office). A smaller, lighter package will also require less postage.

Start Small

Trying something new? Start with a smaller mailing, then mail again, in larger quantities, to the lists that worked best.

Change The Physical Size of Your Mailing

Larger mailings will cost more. For instance, an 8 1/2 x11 10-page brochure on thick paper will cost more to print and mail than a 6×9 6-panel self-mailer. Talk to your printer before you finalize your design. It’s a lot cheaper to change the design before they start!

Get Volume Printing Discounts

Use a printer that combines (or “gangs up”) different print jobs from multiple customers. You will lose some flexibility (there will be fewer choices of paper size, type, and quality), but you will gain full-color printing and significant volume cost savings.

Regardless of which printer you use, If you think you may need a few extra, order them. Much of the cost is in the initial setup, so doubling the quantity won’t double the price.

Update Your List Regularly

People move, change jobs, and change their names. The more old data and errors on your list, the more money you’re wasting on mail that won’t get delivered. If your list is clean, you’ll have fewer errors and duplicates. If you rent or buy a list, check to see when it was last updated. No list is 100% perfect, but return rates should be about 2%.

Don’t Pay Retail for Postage

Paying 41 cents is like paying full retail. And, the best part is, you don’t have to wait for a sale!

There are three basic kinds of mail, two of which you probably know about: first class and standard (or bulk mail). Both have discounts based on volume (how many pieces you send), density (how the addresses are concentrated together) and whether you are a nonprofit or a commercial business. There’s also first class pre-sort, which goes as quickly as regular first class, but costs less because you sort it first (in zip code order).

Five Ways To Cut Your Postage Costs

1) Put the addresses in zip code order, lowest to highest (this is called pre-sorting.)

2) Send at least 200 pieces for bulk mail, 500 for first class pre-sorted mail. First class pre-sort is cheaper than regular first class.

3) Weigh it; it should be under an ounce for first class, under 3.3 ounces for bulk.

4) Check the dimensions (for instance, a letter size envelope is OK, but a square or a 9 x 12 flat size will cost you more money).

5) If you use a self-mailer (no envelope), fold it with the crease on the bottom, and the wafer seal (a sticker to hold it closed) on the top so it will slide smoothly through the post office’s machinery.

Before you start, check with a lettershop/mailing house for detailed information on addressing formats, size limits, and postal templates. You can save up to 40%!

To avoid being penny wise and pound foolish think of the big picture and you’ll actually be able to save money and headaches in the long run. Here’s what you have to do…

Invest in your Success

Instead of obsessing about “expenses”, understand that creating your professional image takes a real budget, so you can hire a talented team of creative consultants from the start. The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies in spades here! If you want prospects and clients to take you and your company seriously, retain the services of a professional graphic designer and a web master, a copywriter, and a printer. These folks are the source for developing and disseminating your exclusive brand – the look, flavor and personality of your company, its services and benefits.

It’s not opinion – it’s a fact.

Well designed and correctly written marketing communications materials serve your best interests. Great collaterals and powerful prose help to distinguish your firm, attract clients and increase sales. Hack jobs (slapped together by less qualified and cheaper resources) look it, and can actually impede your progress! If you want to really launch strongly, add on an SEO expert (someone who can help you insure that your web coding is up to snuff, to organically raise your search engine rankings).

Keeping Competitors at Bay

Think about your behavior as a consumer. Your life is busy, and you don’t have a moment to waste trying to figure out anything. Your prospects are just as demanding. With advance planning and a good handle on your objectives, strengths and your target markets, you can develop a strong strategy (and the right approach in the right venues) to keep your prospects from clicking away to your competition.

So smart spending with a realistic budget at the get-go can actually help you achieve your goals in a shorter period of time. I’ve interviewed and worked with many booming businesses and the feedback I’ve gotten is the same, no matter what industry. Successful business owners profit from a wise investment with the right players (which includes outsourcing or hiring to handle admin and bookkeeping tasks). Bottom line: if you want to be profitable in a shorter window of time, it requires doing some homework, thoughtful planning and implementation (read investment of dollars).

Ask around and get referrals. Don’t fall into the penny-wise trap and get the professional help you need to, in order to get the results (from your unique website, direct mail, brochure, business cards, print or online ads, etc.) the first time around. Here’s to your success!

# # #

Pattie Simone is a Business Speaker, Writer and Mentor. She covers smart career and entrepreneurial tips on ABC TV’s nationally syndicated America This Morning program and is an Ask Entrepreneur Expert at Entrepreneur.com. Simone owns Write-Communications.com, a consultancy delivering winning branding, positioning, messaging, marketing planning and strategy solutions to startups and growth-track firms. She is also the founder of WomeCentric.org, a dynamic speaking bureau which taps the expertise of diverse women thought leaders, for lively career advancement, leadership & entrepreneurial keynotes, workshops and seminars.

However, if you use direct marketing to promote and ship your products you probably use a lot of paper and a lot of packaging. You need paper to print your letters, postcards, and brochures, and mailers, boxes and fillers to ship them in.

What can you do to make your business greener?

Cut Down on Waste

1. Keep your list clean (fewer bad addresses means less waste). Make sure you remove names of people who no longer want to receive your mailings. Also, use a merge/purge program. This will eliminate duplicates when you are combining several lists or names of people you have gathered from multiple sources.
2. Put an opt-out on your mailings. This is good public relations, good for the environment, and good for your business. One, you will be perceived as a good corporate citizen. Two, you use fewer resources, and three, you save money because you aren’t sending mailings to people who don’t want them.
3. Choose lighter paper or use less of it. Heavier paper uses more resources, and requires more money and energy to produce. It’s also more expensive and since it weighs more it will increase the cost of postage. If appropriate (say for lead generation), try a postcard rather than a full letter, brochure, and envelope.

Use Greener Suppliers

1. Use green printing companies. They use soy and vegetable –based ink, which is less toxic, and paper that is both recycled and chlorine-free.
2. Use recycled paper. Recycled paper can be “post” or pre-consumer/recycled, and will list the percentages. Pre-consumer means that it’s waste from the normal printing process (initial copies that didn’t print properly, or feed through correctly); post-consumer means it’s already been printed and used once and then sent back to be re-used.
3. Use greener packing materials. Boxes, bubble wrap, cushioned mailers, and packing materials are all available in less wasteful and recycled forms.

Printers

Greg Barber Company

http://www.gregbarberco.com/

Ecoprint

http://www.ecoprint.com/

Green Packaging Sources

Packaging Price.com (bubble mailers)

http://www.packagingprice.com

PolyAir (padded mailers and cushioning materials)

http://www.polyair.com

Rock-Tenn (recycled boxes)

http://www.rocktennpaperboard.com

United Container Company (recycled cartons)

http://www.unitedcontainer.com

Green Business Directories

LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability)

http://www.lohas.com/

The Green Pages

http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/

Green Your Own Office

1. Have an environmental friendliness policy (and post it prominently on everything you send; put it on your Web site too). Decide what constitutes “environmentally” friendly. Is it just biodegradable? Is it something that can be recycled or something that has already been recycled (or partially recycled) once? Will you take the amount of energy required to produce it into account?
2. Practice what you preach. Recycle your own excess paper, bottles, newspapers, and cans.

Environmental Policy Tools

The DMA Environmental Planning Tool and Policy Generator

http://www.the-dma.org/envgen/

The DMA Environmental Resource Center

http://www.the-dma.org/environment/

The three keys to an effective direct marketing campaign are: LIST, OFFER, and CREATIVE. It’s like a three-legged stool. They’re all necessary to hold it up; if one leg is broken, the entire stool collapses.

KEY NUMBER ONE: THE LIST

“I’ve Got a Little List”

The first leg of the stool is the list. This can be either an actual list of names (whether e-mail or postal addresses), or an online audience who look at a Web site or click on a link.

Develop a mental image of your ideal customer, and look for people (or businesses) that best fit that profile. If you sell dirt bikes, a list of AARP members is probably not a good choice!

Don’t judge a list by price. Cheaper is not necessarily better. Instead, read the data card (the list’s vital statistics/biography) and see how well the people on that list match your customers. Also check to see how recently the list has been updated. Fresher is better.

If you’re not sure about a particular list, set of adwords, or web site, test drive it. Try a small campaign and check results. If it works, you can expand the campaign; if not, you can test something else.

KEY NUMBER TWO: THE OFFER

“What’s In It For Me?”

A great salesman once told me that the world’s most popular radio station is WII-FM or “What’s in it for me?” To be effective, an offer (10 issues for $5; free trial) must be something that your audience perceives as useful and valuable. Will it make them look or feel good? Does it address their problems?

Be clear about the purpose of the campaign (before you start), and make certain that the call to action (call now, click here) is clear, easy-to-use, and prominently displayed in your e-mail or on your site.

Try a new offer and test it against the old one. Sometimes, even a small change, such as length of commitment, pricing structure, or a gift with purchase can make a significant difference in response.

KEY NUMBER THREE: THE CREATIVE

“I Feel Pretty”

Creative is the copywriting, the format, the design, the graphics, etc. Each of these can have a significant impact on response.

For instance, some companies block images, so if you’re deploying an e-mail campaign be sure to format it in both text and HTML and allow recipients to either choose the format they prefer or view the page on the Web.

Also consider the content of the campaign. If you’re selling software or technology, don’t focus on the specs. Instead, put them on a separate page or in a sidebar and concentrate on offering solutions to your customers’ problems.

Keep your paragraphs short, especially online. Use headlines and make sure they draw readers in, so they’ll want to read more.

Don’t be afraid to use color, but make sure your text and design are legible. If you’re using a photo, try to avoid stock images. People respond to “real” people; show them your actual staff or a photo of the product they’ll receive.

Lastly, speak to your readers directly. Use words such as “you” and “your”, rather than “we” and “our.”

Get OFF-line
Take a 24-48 hour vacation from the internet, your email, the blackberry and your cellphone. When you are constantly being distracted, it can feel like that is a normal way to live your life and conduct business. It isn’t. Getting offline will give you a new, clearer perspective on who you are and what you have to offer.

Take a Hike!
Take a quick stroll around the block and make a point of trying to locate 5 things that you did not notice before. This will help you to start seeing things in a new and more exciting way.

Crank it UP!
Go home and crank up your stereo or iPod and dance around to a high energy song. I recommend “Get the Party Started” by PINK or maybe try a classic from Led Zepplin to get your blood pumping.

Get some new Food for Thought
Eat something NEW for dinner. Go to a restaurant that has exotic food that you’ve never tried before. Going to new places and trying new things will help you look at your life—and your pitch! In a more creative way.

GET MESSY
Paint a picture, create a collage, or pot a plant. We spend so much of our time thinking that we sometimes forget the joy of creating something with our hands. Go to CVS and put a set of $5.00 finger paints and create a new masterpiece that only YOU will see!! You may be thinking, “I’ve got invoices to send out, sales calls to make and two kids that have been accepted to Ivy League schools, I can’t possibly take the time to finger paint.” All I can say is that your rational mind has done well for you so far. You’ve done everything RIGHT. Now, it’s time to get out of your right brain, have fun and get a little messy.

Ask Three Friends
Talk to three friends that you know and trust what THEY think you might be good at When I was first getting out of college I had a job as a receptionist answering a 26 line switchboard that never stopped ringing. Need-less-to-say, I did not want to do this for one moment longer than I had to. One night over dinner in the East Village I was talking to my friends and asking, “What do you think I could do for a living?” My friend Eric, looked at me and said, “You’re very convincing, I think you should look at sales.” I had never thought about sales before, however, I knew and trusted Eric for many years, so I started to look in that direction. My next job was working at an ad agency helping to pitch large accounts.

Know What kind of Pitch You Need
I always ask my clients what kind of pitch they need to create. Do they need a money pitch or a passion pitch? If you are having trouble paying the rent, you need a money pitch. If you are doing great in the cashflow department, but your job is just not fun or rewarding, it’s time to think about a Passion Pitch. Many people have a Money Pitch and a Passion Pitch.

Focus on just One Thing
Choose ONE skill to focus your pitch on. For example, say you are a brilliant real estate broker, who also creates modern paintings and does stand up comedy performances. Choose one of these talents to focus on for today. I’d suggest focusing on whatever you need most. If you are a renaissance woman who does several things to pay the rent, that’s absolutely fabulous. However, you don’t want to overwhelm people with too much information. That is why you focus on one thing at a time. My client Joanne has all of the above skills so she has a real estate pitch, a painter pitch and a stand up comedy pitch. Joanne has learned how to promote herself and knows which pitch to share depending on who she is pitching.

Create a “Pitch for Every Niche”
The least effective pitch is what I call the “jack of all trades” pitch. That is where the person tells you that she is the CEO of her company, walks dogs part-time, sometimes writes resumes on the side, but her really dream is to be an actress. That is an extreme example, however, I hear this type of vague pitch almost every day. People are great at focus on that ONE thing. If you are getting surgery, you want the absolute best knee surgeon that money can buy. You are not looking for just any doctor. So get specific with your niche and get focused on your pitch.

Check out the “Pitch Wizard”
Now that you’ve had a chance to do some fun and creative exercises to get Unstuck, it’s time to start working on your pitch. Go to http://www.15SecondPitch.com and click on the “pitch wizard” link on the homepage. The “Pitch Wizard” will ask you 4 simple questions and walk you through creating a pitch that you’ll be able to share with 3,000 people. That’s a great way to get Unstuck and get the word out about your fabulous 15SecondPitch!

Just to get you up to snuff on things, a partial view of the ever growing list of web-based marketing options, include:

* Rich media – video and flash-based files and clips posted on websites

* SEO (Search Engine optimization – for your website)

* Paid online advertising

* Blogs

* Podcasting

* Opt-in e-zines

* Email

So, do you invest in Pay-for-Click online ads or start blogging?? Should you start sending out an HTML-rich or plain text e-zine (online newsletter) or hire a video production team?? Not necessarily!

My take on this (and the opinion of many of my esteemed peers) is that you need to get back to basics first. Take a long, hard look at who you are, where your company is headed in the short- and long-term, and what makes you stand out with your clients. Next think seriously about your geographic footprint or reach, the areas you need to improve, like customer service or your software, hardware and systems. Then think of technology as just another tool in a sensibly planned marketing mix. The good news is that no matter what your budget is, you can and should mix things up, so that your message and brand gets out there in a targeted and productive way. The better news is that you do not need to do everything.

“Successful marketers will incorporate the latest and greatest tools into their marketing mix, but one of the first steps must include creation of a consistent brand, an “experience” that distinguishes your firm from your competitors,” says Joan Damico, a B2B marcom expert from J. Damico Marketing Communications, based in Walden , NY . Joan, who has given workshops on podcasting and branding, finds her technical writing business keeps her hopping, “It’s hard to keep up with all the options, though I’m planning on adding a few new marketing tools this year.”

Like so many other small business owners, Ilise Benun, a business promotion expert from Marketing Mentor, based out of Hoboken , NJ , has also found it hard to do it all. Yet, she recognizes that blogging is an effective marketing tool, so she has recently hired someone to handle blogging for her company. Since rich media is fast becoming the norm for most major brands (video clips can be found on news outlets, radio station websites, office supply sites, and professional association sites, as well as network television and movie production sites) Ilise has also just posted a video clip of herself talking about her services and her process on her website. She did the short clip herself, so no expensive video production costs were incurred. For an almost zero investment, she says the clip has brought in several new clients, who felt a connection with her after viewing it. Even so, Ilise, who specializes in mentoring creative and graphic design business owners, says that technology is not a magic bullet.

So what IS the magic bullet?? There is none, according to Ilise, but tried and true options like good, old-fashioned networking and cold calling, can get the job done. The first order of business should be to choose a market or several markets that you want to engage. Next up: find a couple of groups that bring those people together (like trade organizations, Chambers of Commerce, etc.). Take a few test drives at some events put on by these groups, and join the ones that are the best fit. Per Ilise, mine the membership directory; it is a terrific tool that can get you new clients.

Of course, Ilise is in sync with Joan; in that you first need to know your objectives and markets, develop a consistent message that speaks powerfully to each sector you are seeking to engage, and be able to articulate your value and benefits with gusto.

Marian Banker, President of Manhattan-based Prime Strategies, a business success coaching and training firm, feels that more people will be using web and email marketing, as they have become basic business tools for marketing, lead generation, credibility building, information, knowledge-sharing and of course – sales. Marion also states that value is at the core of things.

So don’t try to do it all. Remember that if you focus on less, odds are you can make those dream goals a reality. Try out different venues, until you find the unique mix of new technology and basic building blocks (like cold calling and networking) that has the most impact on your prospects and clients.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here’s my resources contact data:

Joan Damico, J Damico Marketing Communications
www.jdamico.net – 845-778-5095

Ilise Benun, Marketing Mentor
www.marketing-mentor.com – 201-653-0783

Marian Banker, Prime Strategies
www.primestrategies.com – 212-679-1209

As a marketing & communications professional a lot of my time is spent analyzing and assessing communications – not only in the workplace, but in the way that entrepreneurs engage their prospects and clients. I study collateral materials, websites and listen to and make recommendations on elevator pitches, speeches, presentations, email and direct mail outreaches.

If you’re in business – whether you’re pursuing a fast-track career or are the CEO of your own firm – what you say and how you say it can mean the difference between distinguishing yourself ( and your company) in a very positive way, or falling flat on your face!
And since we are a very multicultural world, your messages and communications need to be honed for each particular audience you are seeking to engage and impress. There are many things you can do to boost your performance and get the kind of response you want, but the top three on my list are:

* Knowledge of your topic
* Sensitivity to your audience
* Passion in your presentation

Before I entered the working world I thought I was pretty good at interacting with different people in most conversations. Then I began to work, and learned many lessons about what NOT to say and how NOT to sound, by sticking my foot (or feet) in my mouth, but good!

The bottom line: it’s best to do what you need to, to avoid making a serious faux pas.

My first personal experience with international communications was when I worked in a textile firm that did business with Korea, Taiwan, Japan and India. I’ll always remember my boss patiently explaining certain rules of etiquette, that he felt helped pave the way to successful communications with our varied vendors. His attention to the way we approached our phone and telex communications paid off handsomely.

Yet, all my illusions of what I thought knew from that experience were shattered when our first au pair arrived from Denmark. It was only then that I began to realize how much we Americans use slang, expressions and colloquialisms, pardon the expression – up the whazzoo! Although most times our verbal mishaps actually left us laughing, as the years rolled by and my family culturally exchanged with other girls from Norway, Germany, Austria, Spain and Holland, my husband and I found that we had to really THINK about what we said, before we said it, because sometimes our casual expressions could actually cause hurt or distrust.

When it comes to being an entrepreneur marketing your business, the way you craft your message to the different demographic audiences you serve, will have a huge impact on how effective you are in engaging them. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to engage local clients, regional business associates or global partners, successful communications involves six simple things:

* The right Attitude
* Great Research
* The appropriate Message(s)
* The right Incentive
* Listening to feedback
* Tweaking

The right attitude involves the capacity to see common ground, instead of differences. Consider all the facts: race, religion, family or educational background of your respective market(s). The bottom line is that a friendly, inclusive approach will help to keep things moving forward.

If certain words, colors or visuals can be misconstrued, you need to know about them before you put together a campaign. The way you figure out which path to take, is by doing a bit of research. When you’re sure you’ve got all the fine points covered you can then craft the appropriate messages – messages that will engage, not offend.

When it comes to marketing – we need to be distinctive, to be clear about our firm’s offerings, expertise and benefits, using language that is compelling and meaningful to each particular audience. Incentives within a defined timeframe help persuade your prospects to act.

Listening to any feedback and tweaking your message, will help to keep you on target.

So whether you are a business owner or a career person considering embarking on an entrepreneurial path, in order to be successful great communication is key! More companies are realizing that a lot gets misinterpreted. Misinterpretations can be aggravating at best, and disastrous at the worst. If you don’t want to have a communications breakdown – like what usually happens in the old children’s game of “Telephone,” where the last person on the line spurts out an entirely different message than what was originally said, make sure you pay attention to all the details.

To keep your business running in the pink, give it a robust dose of great communications on all fronts, whether it’s PR, a voice mail, an ad campaign, a direct mail piece, your website, white papers or in a networking venue. Your success depends on it.

But first – it is imperative that I explain what my definition of marketing is. It’s simple. Think of marketing like its oxygen. In order to live and thrive, your body needs oxygen. To keep your business running in the pink, it requires a robust dose of marketing – not just occasionally, but day in and day out. Your business’s health depends on it.

Okay – so perhaps things are a bit cloudy for you, so let me give it another whirl, with a bulleted list that you can take to the bank. Great marketing includes:

* A comprehensive annual advertising plan (even if you have a limited budget)

* Press Releases (submitted to area media outlets at least quarterly)

* A professionally designed logo (that helps define “who” your business is, and what your business does, i.e., your brand)

* Compelling Sales letters (that educate and motivate the reader to find out more about your products or services)

* A visually arresting brochure (that is part of your Press Kit, as well as an additional piece of collateral material that highlights your firm’s value and expertise).

* Direct mail pieces (like postcards, with an incentive for the recipient to get in touch with you, in a very defined timeframe, in order to receive an offer or discount.)

* Print advertising (part of your yearly plan) in your local papers, regional magazines, trade journals, etc. These must also be professionally designed, with a distinct, easy to comprehend “call to action” – something that motivates the reader to react within a defined timeframe

* “White Papers” which can be skillfully written to educate your clients and prospects. The goal: to elevate the reader’s perception about your firm, and thereby engendering trust and comfort in your firm’s competency, while boosting your “expertise” level

* Networking – everywhere you go, everyone that works for you is in effect in the position of marketing your firm. Each one is in the “Networking mode” the instant they speak or connect with another human being – via e/m, voice mail, or at a face-to-face meeting or function.

* Website – it is a must in today’s business world and can be your silent salesperson 24/7 every day of the year – if you had it designed to function correctly – to disseminate information in a visually attractive way, where the language makes sense, and the navigation is clear and easy to grasp in an instant. A noteworthy fact: it takes the average net surfer 5 seconds to make a decision about your firm once they land on your Home Page – so it better say “WOW” to every visitor, engaging them to linger, and find out more about you.

* Your 30-second elevator pitch. When you open your mouth, whether you are a sole proprietor of a fledgling venture or the CEO of a mega million dollar global firm – you ARE the face of your business. So, your message needs to be succinct, clear and compelling. It can be funny as well, but make sure you are amusing in a professional manner. Off color or strange doesn’t cut it.

* Cold calling. In order to reach out to new prospects, especially if you’re on a lean budget, this is something you’ll have to do. And even if your firm’s been around for 40 years – it’s an essential part of keeping that marketing engine well oiled, no matter if your firm is large or small. Every week, like clockwork someone in your firm should be cold calling a few new prospects, as you’ll never know when you’ll need to reach out to new territories or industries, or deal with the new director who’s just landed at your old client’s company.

* Your employees or independent contractors. Each one has the ability to say great things about your firm, or not. They can be part of your marketing if you seek to engage them correctly.

* Your clients. Yes – it’s true! Your own happy clients should be a part of your marketing plan – cause a satisfied customer tends to good-mouth a firm, and can lead you to some very well-qualified leads, who already have a more open door to your overtures, just because they’ve heard great things about you. This is savvy marketing that you can’t afford not to tap into.

* Last but not least – Your clients, as happy clients are easier to “supersize” into buying more of your products and services then new ones. So keep in touch (can you say “marketing”?) Ask questions (marketing). Find solutions to before they snag you (yup – that;s great marketing too.)

There’s more, of course how you engage your clients, the sales process, secrets to cold calling done right – but those are fodder for future columns. It is my fervent hope that you’ve gotten the gist of how critical marketing is to your firm’s success, and that you take some of these money- making ideas and implement them today!

• Classically you must use a simple formula to develop winning creative:

• A
  • Attention. Grab the attention of the target so that they know you are there and have something important to tell them.
• I
  • Interest. Your message must be specifically targeted to the suspect in order for there to be interest on the part of the target to go any further with you.
• D
  • Desire. Your message must be strong enough or interesting enough to create an answer to the specific customer need that you defined above is why your in business. You stimulate interest and created desire for the target to need your product or service.
• A
  • Action. A->I->D has stimulated the target to action. You have defined what that action is to either buy something from you or to simply let you know that they are interested in your company, product or service.

• Use the mechanism of the “Creative Brief” to translate your plan into a device that can be used by you to communicate with your creative people about how to get your marketing message into a graphical form for media use.
• Never tell a “creative” that you don’t like the execution. Instead use the following elements to objectively evaluate the message creative.

1. Key fact about the product or service that needs to be told.

2. What problem must the creative solve
3. What is the objective of the advertising/promotion
4. What is the single most important benefit, promise that consumer should believe in
5. What facts support this promise 6. Who are we talking to
7. What negatives might they sight about the client, product, etc
8. Who are we competing with
9. What are our advantages or disadvantages
10. What action do we want the consumer to take
11. What tone and manner should this communication have
12. How will success of this program be evaluated
13. Mandatory issues or taboos
Media alternatives (define the media plan to be used to get your message to your target):

• Is your product or service a “mass product” that will be targeted to mass media or is it very solution specific and ought to be targeted to “highly segmented” markets?
• Is it hybrid?
• Seasonality: product or direct marketing.
  • Direct marketing Seasonality
    • First quarter is the best time (Jan-Mar)
    • Next best time is September
    • TV direct marketing is good in the summer. When reruns are on, people watch the commercials.
• Target
  • Demographics
    • Age, gender, income, education, occupation
  • Psychographics
    • Lifestyle, behavior, wannabe behavior

Start at the beginning…
The Marketing Mix (every business must be examined to define that these 5 critical elements are strategically in place in your marketing orientation):

1. Product
* If your business is targeted to the consumer market or to the business market, your orientation must be customer-centric. Make sure that there is a market for your product or service before you invest any dollars in marketing. Gain consumer feedback on your product/service. Make modifications based on that feedback. Do it either with an ad hoc survey or through professional market research, but make sure that people or businesses want what you have to offer. Beta test your product to get the bugs out and also to create testimonials for your product/service. If your product is consumer centric and live tested with testimonials, you are ready to launch the new or improved version.
* Who are you and what do you stand for? What is your promise to the market about your product or service (your brand)? What makes you unique? What is your unique selling proposition (USP)? Why should the target customer even consider your product let alone actually spend money for it and then return to spend more money? Who is your competition and what are the competitive products in the market currently? Why are people buying competitive products? What is your edge over those products? You must answer all of these questions to define your marketing strategy and communication messages.
* Do a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis of the market and your self in the market. What macro-environmental influences are there to define how best to posture your company, product or service.
2. Price
* Do a financial analysis of your business before you look at pricing strategy. “financial analysis” does not just mean looking at your accounting statement. That’s the start. You must separate fixed and variable costs so that you can ultimately calculate your variable profit and your breakeven. Your “variable profit” is the incremental profit that you make on each item you sell. Know what the economics of your business are before you get into pricing decisions.
* Calculate your own breakeven and create a variable profit paradigm for defining break even so that you can determine “fair” pricing. “Fair” means don’t charge too much to your new business for existing levels of business. The new products do not have to absorb 100% of the overhead. Part of that is already being absorbed by existing services/products. Don’t penalize your new product launch with a pricing structure that prevents competitive pricing or low pricing.
* In other words, when you price an item, if you are a going concern, there is no need to absorb overhead costs into the pricing formula. The question to be raised is what is your variable cost to produce and deliver a new product. What is your current variable profit? Your average price for a product less the variable costs or direct cost to make/buy and deliver to your customer, equals variable profit. Take your fixed costs in running your business, divide by the variable profit percentage and the result is the break-even dollar amount of total sales needed to cover overhead. Divide that by the average dollar price and you find the break-even unit sales level.
* Know what the competitive environment is like. What pricing is competition using. What price incentives are they giving. Are you better offering a discount on price or a rebated promotion. Which will maintain better perceived value.
* Do some studies to evaluate the pricing discrimination of your customer. Do some price testing to determine which price is the best price. Define the perceived value of your product or service. Knowing that, combined with the financial analysis discussed above, you will know what your range of flexibility is in setting the market price.
* Do you want to have a high penetration into the market or do you want to reap or skim the profits earned from early adopters among your customers. High penetration is low pricing; skimming the profits is high pricing. Your choice here is based on your beta test & testimonials, the quality and quantity of competitors in your space and your available promotion budget.
3. Place
* Get to the customer where they want to be gotten; get to the customer where they are. Define what their touch points are. Physical. Virtual. In person. On line. In the mail. Where and how do they want to conduct business? Determine the logistics of your channel to your customer based upon how the customer wants to buy or receive information. Let the customer tell you where and how they want to not only buy from you but to receive marketing communication messages from you. Can you sell them by using direct marketing methods or do you need shelf space in a physical shopping environment. If you need shelf space, define how you are going to get that space. What incentives do you need to get that space. Are there mixed channels of delivering your message that are available.
* Who is your target market and how are you going to reach it? How well do you know your target? Why do they behave the way they do and what motivates them to buy. Where are they and how do you reach them. What other clutter are they faced with and what do we know about them that would indicate the type of breaking through the clutter you will have to do?
4. People
* What kind of training have you given to your people so that they are customer oriented? Have you established good CRM (customer relationship management) practices so that when the phone rings and is answered by your staff they are making the caller feel right at home and comfortable for calling? Do they speak English well or other language depending upon your targeted prospect? When was the last time you reviewed their scripts? When was the last time you cold called your own customer service number to see how you would be treated as a customer or prospect? Would you want to call back or just go onto another vendor?
* Are your people aware of cross selling and trading up practices? Are they aware of your product lines and office directory so that they can clearly service any caller? Do they know how to ask your customer “do you want fries with that burger….” related to your product lines or services?
5. Promotion
* Taking all of the above into consideration, have you structured your integrated marketing message to be consumer centric and need driven? Your strategy must be about solutions and the subject of your communication must be your target not you.
* Surround your target with your message. Don’t just rely on one type of communication medium to reach your target. Create your message so that you will maximize interest where the target is. SPAM existed long before email marketing. Just think of all the 5,000 (according to Ad Age) messages that you get each day from marketers vying for your attention. How many do you respond to? You reject the majority. But you respond to the one that breaks through the clutter.
* Know how to manage the creative effort, objectively, so that your marketing message gets translated into the proper creative representation.
* Know the media that you use and the value that each has to deliver your message. Make certain that you understand the difference between “awareness” media and “response” media and how to exploit each for your purposes. Know how to measure each. If you want response, then strategically you want to do direct marketing. Remember, direct marketing is not just direct mail and that direct mail is not necessarily direct marketing.
* You want your message to be accountable. If you spend a dollar, what do you get in return? You must be able to track it and see it result in a response. A negative response counts. That tells us its not working to the specific target it was sent to.
* Test, test, test variations of your message, creative and delivery in a scientific manner.
* Set up your relational data base to track messages and responses to your targets.

Next issue: “Creative Plan – Think Out of the Box.”