Direct mail is still supposed to be one of the most effective ways of reaching your audience. In business-to-business settings, we also know that this reliance is also turning up the heat for marketers to attempt new and innovative ways of using this medium.For example, take a direct mail piece that was sent by our good friends over at an industry news site.

They thoughtfully sent us a 3’ x 2’ poster board mock-up of what our potential ads would look like if we took advantage of the ad space on their homepage. Unfortunately for them, their ad space is way to pricey but at least we now know why.

Show Notes:
I) The Project
II) Small Business Client Mania
II) Day-by-Day Recap
III) Speak no, hear no, see no bad ambitions – get no bad marketing

Project Files:

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Podcast:

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Plenty of times, we weigh aggressive marketing tactics like cold calling and person to person selling with more passive tactics like advertising and mass media targeting.  The more aggressive you are, the more you’re in your targets face, the more opportunities you are bound to uncover. On the other hand, you have the more passive and some would say polite approaches to marketing that tend to place emphasis on letting the product or idea sell itself because its that good.

Obviously, we know which works better in a message-saturated environment.  Just like the featured speakers, the ones those are more aggressive usually get top billing.  Very seldom do people want to sit and listen to a quiet, reserved soul for 45 minutes straight.  Then again, it’s those same quite, reserved souls that we tend to move towards when we look for someone to trust.  Often, we relish the chance to put our faith in those that can promote consensus simply because its not about the big wins for them, its about the steady hand and the cool head.

Which is better for marketing and can nice marketers really take lessons from the more brash ones in order to strike a balance?

For myself, I can tell you I have tried both and I don’t want to give up on the idea that you can strike that balance.  The challenge is finding that right mix.  Though I can tell you this is probably my toughest personal challenge here is what I do know for sure:

1. You have to make it sincere so before you take the first step, you better believe in your product/idea.
2. You have to start with what the target wants, that means being above all being flexible.
3. Lastly, you have to be thorough.  If you want to be polite you have to make sure you cover all of your opportunities because there is a tradeoff between the number of opportunities you will generate.

For all intensive purposes, I am going to call this Gentleman/Gentlewoman Marketing.  I will try to elaborate on this further but here’s the gist: Gentleman/Gentlewoman Marketing will be defined as the assumption no one wants to have a marketer in their face 24/7 but you still want to be front and center in the target’s mind.

As we move into a society where on-demand technology is promoting the possibility of removing message saturation by eliminating ads, perhaps we need to take a look at being more polite to get our message across.  Nice guys might finish last but at least you root for them to finish.  I am willing to bet the same goes for ‘nice’ marketers.

I) What The Heck Is Everyone Doing Back Here?
II) Political Communications Mania
III) Get O.V.A. Direct Mail
IV) Game Plan: Just Be

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Referenced Links:
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Like some bad cliché that you just can’t stop using in your copy, I still return there though because of my incredible addiction to their dark, rich, aromatic coffee. I step up to the register, wait the 2 minutes it takes for them to acknowledge my existence, then proceed to list off my order, modifying it at least twice, until I find something they actually have in stock (today they were out of cranberry scones and large coffee cups, go figure).

Point being, I started out in a place like this. It’s not so bad, and I understand that there are going to be terrible customers that you can’t appease no matter how much you try. However, it occurs to me that this is the perfect muse for creating effective direct marketing communications, the topic of this week’s podcast.

Here’s the set up: Cosi builds a brand and a marketing style around an image of a classy, euro-centric café that is perfect for any occasion. The food, the cafes, and the outreach all meld to create a marketing experience that makes you want to return to Cosi for everything from a quick cup of coffee in the morning to late night drinks with a date. In this situation, a disconnect appears in the marketing experience right there at the point of product access.

When you are constructing a direct marketing communication (pronounced ‘direct mail’), you aren’t just writing a letter. You are literally beginning a marketing experience.

Bare in mind that if you’re lucky enough to get your stuff read, you still have to use a call to action to create pull-through to a sale or other marketing result. That call to action is going to send your target to a website, a phone number or another marketing touch point. You better believe that it’s important for the letter (or postcard, or whatever) to match whatever verbiage or tone the touch point has.

Cosi – or rather the local management of this café – is really not in this for the marketing experience but their actions aren’t helping anything.

Do yourself a favor…each of us have a muse, whether situational or personified. If you take the time to create something, share that muse with your touch points. Explain to them why you’re doing what you’re doing and why it’s important for them to give a hoot to as well.

Believe me, the situation I encountered this morning is the best example that a muse, like an idea, is only as good as your ability to materialize your concept throughout the entire product experience.

Put that in your tip jar and percolate it!

Referenced Links:
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Marketing Book Suggestions Comming Soon!

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Show Notes:
I) Halloween Commerce
II) Interview With Kristen Malo, Marketing Director – The Fright Catalog
III) News: Destination and Direct Marketing, Beer Pong Gone Wrong/ PR Quote of the Week
IV) Game Plan: Research and You Shall Find

Referenced Links:
FrightCatalog.com
America’s Promise
NEW DISCUSSION TOPIC: Direct Mail – How To Make It Less Annoying

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