Best and Most Cost Effective Way to Direct Market

What is the most Effective and Direct Way too Market that is Budget Effective without costing over the limit?

Originally Posted by Sanddollar What is the most Effective and Direct Way too Market that is Budget Effective without costing over the limit?

What budget and how are you measuring effectiveness?

Cold calling is probably the cheapest way to go (although not the most pleasant). If you prefer to use mailing, I think it is much more effective if it is in conjunction with calling. I have NEVER had much luck with straight mailings and it can get expensive.

I am currently experimenting with a new direct mail idea: I call my target company and ask for the name of the decision maker. I then send them an inexpensive billfold in a hand addressed envelope which makes a curiously lumpy piece of mail. I attach a very short letter that starts out with: Why am I sending you this billfold? So I can help you fill it with money....." I then call them the next week to make an appointment to tell them about our "Fill The Billfold Challenge." The cost is a little over $1.83 a piece (which is still not bad), but I don't believe in "mass mailing." I think each piece should be hand picked, highly targeted, and followed up on if you want to get results.

So far, I've had good luck with this project, but I have not done it in a large enough quantity to draw any meaningful conclusions.

There is one advantage to being budget conscious: If forces you to nurture every lead and to find methods that are efficient. If you've got money to blow, direct marketing can become a black hole (especially if you think your first idea is dynamite and want to try it on a large scale!)

Originally Posted by RainMaker So far, I've had good luck with this project, but I have not done it in a large enough quantity to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Obviously, every market is different, but maybe it will give you some creative ideas. I actually adapted this from an article I read about a pizza restaurant owner who stapled a small seasoning packet to his letter in order to get curiousity seekers to open it.

Originally Posted by RainMaker Cold calling is probably the cheapest way to go (although not the most pleasant). If you prefer to use mailing, I think it is much more effective if it is in conjunction with calling. I have NEVER had much luck with straight mailings and it can get expensive. I am currently experimenting with a new direct mail idea: I call my target company and ask for the name of the decision maker. I then send them an inexpensive billfold in a hand addressed envelope which makes a curiously lumpy piece of mail. I attach a very short letter that starts out with: Why am I sending you this billfold? So I can help you fill it with money....." I then call them the next week to make an appointment to tell them about our "Fill The Billfold Challenge." The cost is a little over $1.83 a piece (which is still not bad), but I don't believe in "mass mailing." I think each piece should be hand picked, highly targeted, and followed up on if you want to get results. So far, I've had good luck with this project, but I have not done it in a large enough quantity to draw any meaningful conclusions. There is one advantage to being budget conscious: If forces you to nurture every lead and to find methods that are efficient. If you've got money to blow, direct marketing can become a black hole (especially if you think your first idea is dynamite and want to try it on a large scale!)

Thats pretty Intresting and yeah Creativety and Curiosty can lead to nice Marketing Idea's gona try out your idea see how it works out.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by sandlayer Thats pretty Intresting and yeah Creativety and Curiosty can lead to nice Marketing Idea's gona try out your idea see how it works out. Thanks!

Great and good luck. Marketing, for me, is quite a bit of experimentation. What type of sales do you do, Sandlayer?

Originally Posted by RainMaker I then send them an inexpensive billfold in a hand addressed envelope which makes a curiously lumpy piece of mail.

The ultimate goal of this experiment is make sales, but I always break down the goal of making a sale into a bunch of steps because I feel sales only flow in a series of steps (A to B to C to D...then sale.). Each step presents a possible hurdle but my goal at each hurdle is only to get to the next step--not to worry about the sale which is ususally only possible after step "D" is achieved.

The purpose of the lumpy envelope is to get my piece opened and read. (Step "A") Today someone said to me: "I got a lot of mail last week, but THAT one I remember."

Whether or not this experiment will lead to sales, I have gained a small victory. I have discovered how to get my mailers opened (and even remembered).

As an internet Direct Marketer, I use Google Adwords to test my ad copy and split test the ads to find an the "sweet spot" in my ad campaign.

From that targeted referral, I make sure that the link goes to a specific landing page that is tailored to that visitors "worldview" and create the copy for that landing page (I also split test this).

With the tracking software and systematic monitoring, I don't have to guess which copy is better... the data tells me

You can set your budget on Google so you don't go over your monthly alotted monies. There is a hiearchy in which I test me direct marketing campaigns, but I usually start with PPC.

Originally Posted by cs_obd As an internet Direct Marketer, I use Google Adwords to test my ad copy and split test the ads to find an the "sweet spot" in my ad campaign. From that targeted referral, I make sure that the link goes to a specific landing page that is tailored to that visitors "worldview" and create the copy for that landing page (I also split test this). With the tracking software and systematic monitoring, I don't have to guess which copy is better... the data tells me You can set your budget on Google so you don't go over your monthly alotted monies. There is a hiearchy in which I test me direct marketing campaigns, but I usually start with PPC.

I love the precision of this, cd_obd. I might like to try this sometime as I have an alternate marketing plan that tries to pull clients off the net, but have not had much success with it and cannot afford excessive experimentation at this time.

If you don't mind me asking, how big of a budget do you use for this (or in my case, how SMALL of a budget can be used for this?)

Hi Rainmaker,

Online Direct marketing is a superior way to test your ads.

Research keywords that relate to the products or services that you have on your site. Then create an adwords campaign using those keywords.

Also, when creating the campaign, you want to always have 2 ADs that are equally served on the Google Engine. Depending on the responses you get, and the data you view from the CTR (click through rate), you will be able to estimate which of the two ads is popular and relavant.

Upon deleting the Ad which was "underperforming" and creating another Ad to compete with you exsisting one, you are constantly playing "beat the control."

By continuously playing the "beat the control" game, you will see your CTR increase. Google rewards Marketer's with high CTR by having you pay less for a certain position.

Depending on your keyword research, if you so happen to stumble over a keyword that your visitors are searching for, and doesn't have too much competition, then there is a chance you will only pay $.05 per click

Now driving traffic to your site is only part of the conversion game. You also need conduct split testing on your Landing page. You may also use multivariate testing. By monitoring the effectiveness of your Copy through split testing, you will find which Copy works better for your targeted audience.

Through tracking your visitors from Google all the way to your optin, sales, or lead generation page, you will have the information to make good decisions on your marketing campaigns.

Hope that helps

Best,

Ritchie