Marketers are spoilt for choice with marketing media to choose from now, so it’s surprising that DM remains so popular. According to Royal Mail, B2B DM volumes in 2006 reached 1091.04 million items with total expenditure on B2B, £2321 million. The reason for these huge numbers is probably because it works. DM remains highly cost-efficient for the returns it produces and integrated with other marketing vehicles, it has proved itself a vital component of the overall mix, driving qualified prospects to more detailed messages pushed out through other channels. So how do you get the most from it?
The most creative design and targeted content in the world will have no impact if it’s sent to the wrong person or company, so the investment made in building the right mailing database is critical. A study from the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) found that a list’s quality had the largest bearing on the effectiveness of a DM campaign, potentially increasing responsiveness six-fold (compared with a 1.35 per cent increase in effectiveness if the design was good versus poor).
Given that the typical mailing list suffers a whopping 37 per cent data decay over just a year, according to Royal Mail, marketers need to ensure that they are working with the very latest information.
Organisations such as database marketing company, Blue Sheep, supply data that has been compiled and validated from multiple sources. Marketers can get the most from such resources by profiling their existing customer records and adding rich information, then buying data on ‘lookalike’ businesses, advises Dee Twomey, founder of agency Marketing Zone and author of ‘Direct marketing in a week’. Noting that 1.4 million items are returned as undeliverable each week, she says that as much as half of the time invested in a DM campaign should be devoted to research.
When selecting a data source, always check that it is DMA-registered as this will ensure it is reputable, adds Matthew Pepper, client services director at data service provider Abacus.
There are various sources of B2B data on the market, ranging from compiled files through to response lists and the newly established co-operative approach, he says. Abacus is a co-operative approach, combining contact name data with transactional information. This allows mailers to target active buyers with recent purchases – people who they know hold a budget and have the authority to purchase on behalf of their company, Pepper explains.
Annual rises in postage costs coupled with the new PiP (size-based pricing) mean that direct mail is becoming more expensive. So what options exist for marketers looking to trim costs?
Andy Beer, tactical marketing director at digital franking machine producer Pitney Bowes, notes that Royal Mail does offer discounts, for example a minimum two pence discount for all mail sent via a franking machine. Across an enterprise, or for a small business, such discounts can quickly make a tangible difference.
Technology is assisting with adaptation to PiP legislation, too. The latest technology will automatically assess the length, width and thickness of a mail piece to determine which PiP format it belongs to. Businesses able to adapt could realise savings of up to 40 per cent on postage costs by changing formats. For example, A4 communications can be adapted to fit A5 envelopes using automated folding and inserting technology, he says.
However, organisations that are keen to cut costs associated with the logistics of DM can do a lot more than simply looking to shave a few pence here and there off postal pricing. Looking purely at postal cost for DM is a false economy, Beer warns. The real savings come when the entire document production process is integrated and automated. It is then that intelligent, targeted mail is created, resulting in healthy response rates as well as customer retention.
The artistic talent will argue that their role has the biggest impact, making the difference between whether a mailshot is absorbed or tossed straight into the bin.
A new direct marketing campaign developed by Haygarth to launch the Kia Carens mid-sized MPV, is a good example of what’s possible. The campaign, which encourages recipients to visit their local dealer for a test drive, focuses on the car’s versatility in seating and space.
The creative uses a flipbook showing the car in its various forms. The hook asks, ‘When is a family car not a family car?’ with each page offering typical family scenarios. Answers include, ‘When it’s a taxi’, ‘When it’s a minibus’ and, ‘When it’s a pickup truck’. A similar, tailored creative has been designed to target fleet and taxi prospects.
Yet Twomey of Marketing Zone warns that in other cases, organisations get carried away with the creative element and risk losing their audience in the process.
The recipient will have little time, so you need to get the message across quickly and effectively, she notes, warning against over-use of ‘teasers’. A well-written and well-targeted letter can do the job very well, she notes, citing an example of a client that achieved a 20 per cent appointment rate across Europe through something this simple. The company, which builds breweries, had a complex message to get across to a small and highly defined prospect base, which would be making a huge investment if they became customers.
The key proposition was not about engineering, but about the cost per hectolitre of liquid, Twomey says. We explained our solution in a letter, which addressed all potential objections.
So who should write the copy? Someone who knows the business and its proposition inside out, someone who knows the target audience intimately, or a professional written communicator?
Old school DM was all about mailing your press ad, says Jim Stringer, creative director at telemarketing company, Cypher Direct. Lots of people still think this is the way to ‘do DM’, but they’re wrong – DM has evolved and now it’s about establishing dialogue, getting closer to your audience and eliciting responses that contribute vital information to your database.
This being the case, marketers need to choose writers that truly understand the business and proposition being promoted, how the business addresses their prospects’ current business challenges and how to communicate this in a language they understand. This will differ depending on whether the intended recipient is the MD, a financial director, departmental manager or a purchaser, so different content will be needed for each recipient type.
In business marketing, it’s still individual people you’re speaking to, and they will respond in different ways just as consumers do, Twomey notes. Make sure you engage people, emotionally as well as rationally. Don’t assume too much or be too clever respondents shouldn’t have to work at understanding the message you’re trying to get across, she warns.
Make sure you have a hook, cover off any objections, provide evidence and substantiation, provide alternative response methods, and use appropriate language. For example, the rail industry ‘loathes’ puns such as ‘Get your business on the right track’, she adds, advising to pre-test audience reaction if you can.
Once you’ve got clean data and a well-designed mailing to send out, how can you maximise response?
Key influencers include timing, integration with other marketing activities, the use of incentives and special offers, and the availability of alternative means of response (for example, by phone, email, text, etc).
On timing, Stringer of Cypher Direct, says, This helps lift response, yet many businesses time campaigns to suit their own schedules and not the schedules of their prospects. Your data (and experience) may give you insight of when a prospect is most likely to be receptive to contact. This is particularly relevant to businesses with a defined ‘anniversary’ such as insurance or when a warranty ends.
Tie in such timing with a limited-duration offer and response rates should soar. Time kills the deal, so if someone raises their hand you need to be in a position to bite it off, says Stringer. You need the flexibility to analyse your results on a daily basis, monitor the trends and respond accordingly with a tailored promotion or proposition.
Neil Hartley, manager at direct marketing specialist SPSS, agrees, End-users are more savvy about marketing initiatives now, he says. With the introduction of loyalty cards, customers are aware that they are providing information about their habits and preferences; in return they expect to receive offers and promotions that are tailored to their needs. So it’s not just the data you collect, but what you do with it that counts.
Being able to exploit the medium of direct mail to maximum potential, demands that the discipline is not treated as something distinct, but as something that follows on from and leads into other marketing activities.
As an example, Graham Ellor, director of planning at marketing agency TDA, points to a charity client that was trying to engage its supporters at a deeper level. The cat charity relies on sponsorship from the public to fund ‘cat cabins’ to house animals until they have found a new home. The campaign involved providing live video feeds so supporters can see online how the animals are being cared for. Rather than simply include the web link in a targeted email, TDA designed an advent calendar-style DM piece with windows that opened to reveal the cats. Email is so intrusive and so easily filtered, that we used the DM to encourage supporters to sign up to the emails in which they’d receive the link, Ellor explains.
SPSS’s Hartley adds, Organisations that treat on and offline customer activity in isolation are failing to optimise the ROI from marketing spend.