I am not picking on CNN, all the news channels do it. And while they are stirring people’s fears, they are also capitalizing on the situation with huge advertising dollars.

An Honest Assessment

Make an honest assessment of your business. Take everything into account. Your budget, what projects or sales you actually have on your books and which ones you can honestly count on. What was last years sales for the first quarter? This is all information that you need to use to help you determine your projected sales.

Create a spreadsheet and compare the numbers. Project what your first quarter revenue is going to be. Is it going to be higher or lower than last years? If it is going to be lower, you need to find a way to make up the difference by either cutting your budget or upping your marketing.

Support vs. Sales

When tightening your belt, its best to cut from the support area. That is why you will see retail corporations cut corporate jobs before they cut store jobs. Why? Because the store jobs generate the revenue. Without the revenue the business ceases to exist.

I hate firing somebody as much as the next guy (although some of us seem to enjoy it, i.e. Donald Trump). But sometimes you have to shed some weight so that the whole business does not close and everyone, including you, lose their income.

Is a new computer a reasonable expense? Is it a necessity? Will having it increase your sales? If so, buy it, otherwise wait for a strong profit before making the purchase.

If your business is struggling, you have to have only essential personnel, stock and equipment. You can run the business on a skeletal structure. It may mean longer hours for you, but do not worry, it is not going to be long term.

Your Marketing Budget

Many business owners are tempted to cut marketing budgets in lean times instead of cutting back on other expenses. Its easier not to buy that ad or send out that mailing than let an employee go. However, in a lean economic time, it is imperative that your marketing budget grow, not shrink.

If you do not have customers, you will not survive. The only way to get customers is to make sales. The only way to make sales is to have leads or in store walk ins for retail locations. If the market has shrunk, you need more of the market share in order to survive, and dare I say it, prosper.

A Time Of Opportunity

The depression is famous for many things. Mainly, depression, fear, soup lines, and unemployment. But there is another little known fact about the depression that should be touted. More millionaires were made in that time period than any other time period in our nation’s history. That includes the tech boom and dot com era.

During the depression, there were men and women who were not faint hearted who laid it all on the line and went for it, they pursued their dreams when many people were just sitting around feeling sorry for themselves waiting for the government to “bail” them out.

They realized that as big business and small business alike faltered, opportunity was born. They went for it in the midst of the tragedy and it paid off huge dividends for them, their families and all the people they employed.

If you are facing a downward turn in your business, remember that your competitors are too. Businesses will close. People will be laid off, but at the end of the day someone is going to come out of the fray on top, and it minds well be you.

1. What Is Your Product

I know what your thinking, I already know what my product is. Well that’s great, but are you able to articulate your service or product in one sentence. Perhaps your business has several different offerings and micro-marketing would be more effective. For example, “I help people save money with energy efficient windows” is much more specific and effective than “I do home improvements”.  It is a good idea to micro-market your services in a mailer, so pick one service you offer and stick to it. Once you get the customer, you can always up sale them on your other services.

2. Who Buys Your Product

This is something we harp on constantly, but if you are targeting the wrong audience, you are not going to get a good response. Pay attention to the personalities of individuals you do business with. What is their background and culture? Create a profile of your customer so you know who you need to target with your Atlanta direct mail advertising.

3. Why Do Customers Buy Your Product Or Service

What is the greatest benefit offered to the person who buys your product. People want to know the benefit of your product or service, not just the features. If you can show them that their life will improve in some way, they will be more apt to buy. If all you do is list your features and do not show the benefits of the features, you will not have a successful Atlanta direct mail campaign.

4. How Are You Going To Reach Them

Would a five page personalized letter sent be more effective than a simple postcard.  Based upon the “Who” and the “Why”, what will peak your potential customer’s interest while building trust. Of course other factors come into play such as budget, but it is definitely worth your time to figure out how you are going to impact them.

5. Where Do Your Customer’s Live

Do they live in million dollar suburbs or do the live in midtown? You need to find out, because birds of a feather flock together. If you have customers concentrated in an area, you know that people in that area are interested in your product. So find out where that is. You can also simply break it down by income. Mailing services can help you with this or you can visit your tax assessors’ county website.

6. When Is The Best Time To Send Out Your Atlanta Direct Mail Advertising

It is best to start getting your name in front of your customers a couple of months before you hit the big season. For example, if you install swimming pools, send out two mailers in January, February and March. That will put you in front of your potential customer six times before the main season hits. In April, send out a mailer every week and you will see a big bang because the potential customers will remember your name and already be comfortable with your business.

Atlanta Direct Mail Advertising is an effective way to get your name out there and drum up some business, even when other companies are struggling. As long as you do your homework, you should get some great results. Happy Hunting!

Have you ever received an advertisement or read an article that was very convincing? It caught your attention with a dynamic design. It conveyed good information about a product or service. However, you simply discarded the advertisement and went on to the next thing that got your attention. What happened? You were not asked to do anything, so you did nothing.

A Call To Act

It is important to give a strong call to action in any advertisement. Sometimes the call can be simple phrases like “Call Now” or “Buy Now”. Some others start out by giving subtle hints in the copy of the mail piece. Like, “check out our website” or “get a copy of our catalog”. By the end of the sales pitch however, the call to action must be strong in order to help people decide to purchase your product or service.

Give Me Some Direction

One of the reasons a call to action is so effective, is that consumers rely heavily upon what others tell them and respond to those suggestions. Position yourself to be one of those influences. Of course consciously, they would never rely on the sales piece to help them make that decision, however sub consciously that little bit of direction will spur them to take the next step.

To help understand the process lets break the steps to a converted sale down a little further.

1. The consumer’s attention is caught by the mail piece. Perhaps it is the colors or pictures on the advertisement, or maybe it is a subject in which the consumer is interested.
2. The consumer reads over the advertisement and is convinced how the product or service will be beneficial.
3. A clear, simple call to action is given. The consumer sees the call and realizes that in order to enjoy the benefits the action must be taken.
4. The consumer completes the action resulting in a sale or lead for your company.

It doesn’t matter if the color scheme and design of your mail piece is perfect and you outline the benefits of your product masterfully, if you do not give a call to action the process will be incomplete and you will not make the sale.  So if you want to make the most of your direct mail marketing, make sure you ask your potential customers for it specifically, over and over again.

1. Who is your target market?

This is an extremely important question because it helps you answer all of the other questions. Take a sampling of your customers. Identify their gender, race, economic status and as much other information as possible. Take that information and see what your customers have in common. Once you see what the most common factor is, find the second and the third. Than conduct your direct mail campaign to that specific group.

For example, you may find that your average customer is female, older than 40 and live in homes over $200,000. It is much easier to develop a strategy that is effective for that group than a strategy that is effective for everyone.

2. Based on your target market, at what quality should you print?

If you are targeting high end businesses and your flier looks low end, you may not get as many responses as you planned. On the other hand, the expense of high end mail pieces may not be justified if you are targeting lower income individuals.

• Color or “Black and White” Printing: If you are focused on a high end clients who may spend thousands of dollars with your business you may want to use color because it gives a high level of professionalism. On the other hand, if your customers don’t spend thousands with your business and you depend on mass sales, it may be a better option to use black and white so the cost doesn’t eat up your profits.
• DPI: Or dots per inch, is a measurement of printing quality. The higher the DPI the better the quality. When getting quotes always ask about DPI, because although some quotes may seem similar, they may be at ver different DPI’s.

3. How much should you spend on printing?

There are often hidden charges in direct mail campaigns. They are not really hidden, they are just not often thought about. For example, letter addressing. Once you have a flier, you will have to address and send it.

Depending on your situation it may be better to lower your printing cost and spend more of your budget on actually mailing the flier. On the other hand, it may be more appropriate to have a super nice mail piece and mail it out to individuals who earn more than $200,000 per year in your area.

If you are in need of printing servces, you can contact Better Letter and we can assist you with your printing needs.

The United States Postal Service is implementing some new rule changes that may impact your future mailings. Meeting these new requirements ensures that your mail is in full USPS compliance. Furthermore, it will allow you to continue to claim discounted presorted automation postage rates. This new change the Post Office is implementing is in the area of NCOA Move Update.

Move Update is the term used by the USPS to refer to updating mailing addresses with National Change of Address (NCOA) information. In a nutshell, Move Update is making sure the person your mailing to, still resides at the address your mailing to. On November 23, 2008, the Post Office will change the rules on the NCOA Move Update requirements. These new Move Update requirements will cover more classes of mail, and addresses will also have to be Move Updated more often.
The reason the Post Office is making this change is because they are trying to reduce the amount of Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) mail. In 2006 alone, over 9.7 billion pieces of mail were sent out with addresses that could not be delivered. This cost the USPS almost $1.9 billion to process, forward, return, or destroy.

There are several factors that lead to a mail piece being undeliverable. One of the most common reasons is that the mail piece recipient has moved. Whenever someone fills out a USPS Change of Address card, or goes to the USPS Change Of Address web page, a record is generated in the NCOA master database. By electronically comparing the addresses in your mailing list against this master database, you can find the new addresses of those who have filed a change of address with the Post Office. Once you’ve identified the new movers, you then have the option to update your mailing list with the new information. Electronically Move Updating your mailing list before you mail is one of the easiest ways to conform to these new USPS requirements.

NCOA Move Update checks are already required for Presorted First Class Mail. On November 23, 2008 Move Update will also be required for Standard Mail. Another change occurring in November is that your mailing list must have been processed through a USPS approved NCOA updating process within 95 days of the date of mailing. Previously, the standard was 185 days.
Make sure your local mailing service provider has the means to electronically Move Update check your mailing lists prior to each mailing. This will ensure that your mail complies with the new USPS Move Update regulations.

Besides the obvious need to stay in line with USPS mailing policies, there are many other compelling business reasons to comply. Mailers failing to comply with the Move Update rules stand to lose their automation discounts. This would apply to all the pieces in a given mailing, not just those pieces that couldn’t be delivered. Obviously any violation would also invite increased scrutiny of future mailings by the Postal Service.

It should be noted that electronically Move Updating your mailing list may have some additional upfront costs involved. There is usually an additional data processing fee charged by the mailing service that processes your mailing lists in order to provide electronic Move Update Services. But overall, Move Updating your mailing list should be a money saver. Besides negating the threat of losing automation discounts on your current and future mailings, there are other reasons to electronically Move Update your mailing lists. By cleaning up your mailing list before each mailing, removing undeliverable addresses, removing duplicates, and removing bad addresses, you will mail fewer pieces. Obviously, by mailing less pieces you will lower the overall cost of your mailing. Why keep paying over and over again to send out mail that is undeliverable? Not only should Move Updating your database save you money on the overall cost of each mailing, but it should also allow your mail to be delivered more quickly and accurately. These reasons alone should more than repay your efforts.

It is important to start preparing to meet these new USPS requirements now. In order to start electronically updating your mailing lists there is usually a USPS required form that must be filled out and filed. Do not wait until November 23rd to start this process. It’s time to get ready for the new Standard Mail Move Update requirements now.

NCOA Move Update Form

1). Research is your friend - leverage what you know about your customer base
By knowing who your target market is and just targeting them, you can increase your success rate dramatically. If you send out 10,000 advertisements for a retirement village and 5,000 of them go to twenty somethings, your success rate is going to be very low. Contrarily, if you send them to people 60 and over, your success rate is going to be astronomical.

2). Slow and steady wins the race
It is important to remember that the most effective direct mail campaigns, are just that, campaigns. The more times a consumer sees your service or product, the more likely they are going to convert into one of your customers. A one time shot in the dark mailer is simply not going to be effective. Go ahead and plan on doing more than one mailing to see the best results.

3). Crunch The Numbers
Determine how much budget you have for this project and prepare accordingly. For example, if you have the budget for a 10,000 piece mailing, break those up into five different mailings of 2,500 pieces. This will be much more effective in the long run, cost less up front, and return high dividends. Especially if you pay attention to tip 1.

4). Determine mail piece size
Print houses make money based on the amount of printing that they do, so they will encourage you to print large fliers and advertisements. However, in many cases, it may be more beneficial to print postcards and hit a larger target audience. If you are planning on sending out 6 mailings, start with postcards for the first 3. As your revenue increases, you could easily create a larger mailing piece for the last 3 mailings.

5). Style is not a good substitute for substance
Graphic artists are great, but you should never substitute the substance of your advertising message for style. Substance is what sells. The substance of a message: “We have the largest selection of wedding dresses in Atlanta at the best price” carries more weight than just some nice graphics of a wedding dress.

Ultimately, you want to give your substance with style. The advertisement should catch someones attention, but the message should stick with them.  The only exception to this rule is if you are selling style. For example, an advertisement for a graphic artist better be top notch graphics, because the graphics are the message.

Overall, if you take the time to research your project and plan out your marketing strategy you will most likely be successful.

Credit card companies know that direct mail gives them the ability to reach a very specific demographic of the population at minimum price.  For example, credit card companies know that a college student is very likely to act upon an offer for a credit card.  As soon as a student graduates high school, that student starts receiving direct mail credit card offers.  And usually, within months most students have acted upon those offers.

So how does the process work for a smaller business.  Lets say that you sell red golf widgets:

Step One: Determine who purchases red golf widgets

Your red golf widgets are expensive and your customers are typically men between the ages of 30 and 45.  You also know that most of your customers have an annual salary greater than $75,000 per year.

Step Two: Determine where your customers are located

You know that your customers probably live in houses with values greater than $190,000.  You also know that if you canvas a neighborhood that is located on a golf course, you are going to have a greater chance of reaching customers who play golf.

Step Three: Determine how many mailings

How many direct mail pieces are you going to send out and when?  When selling a more expensive item or service, the amount of time it takes to complete a sale increases.  This means, that a customer is less likely to respond the first time they see an advertisement.  The most effective strategy for red golf widgets is to send out direct mail pieces to a smaller geographic region five times.  Some companies may decide to send out one mailer to a larger audience.  However, the more times a customer sees a business advertisement, the more likely they are to try the product or service.

Step Four: Design and Printing

Its time to develop your fliers and have them printed.  Most printing houses have in house designers that can assist you in designing your mailing piece for your target audience.  After the design, the print shop will print the mail pieces.  If you are unsure of where a good print shop is located, you can contact Better Letter for a referral to a print shop the Better Letter team has worked with in your area.

Step Five: Mailing Your Direct Mail Campaign

After having your mailing piece printed, the next step is to have your mailing handled by a mailing house. A mailing house handles the addressing and sending of the actual mail pieces.  By having just one address, the mailing house can send the mailer to the surrounding area.  Simply give the mail house an address of one of your customers located on the golf course and the mail house will take care of the rest.

Postage is expensive these days.  And if you were to send out direct mail at full price, the cost would be astronomical.  This is where Better Letter comes into play.  Due to the volume of Better Letter’s mailings, Better Letter gets extremely discounted mailing rates.

Better Letter is able to pick up your printed direct mail pieces anywhere in the Atlanta area.  Would you like more information about our Atlanta direct mail service?