Most small businesses are looking for ways to get new customers and reactivate existing customers but are too busy to learn new marketing strategies.
1) Write a blog - most businesses should have a blog that is updated regularly so clients can keep updated on your business. People will bookmark or subscribe to your RSS feed and “by magic” stay updated on changes with your industry and business. If you don’t know how to install a blog comment below and I can help you out - it is VERY easy.
2) Pay Per Click - this is a very effective marketing strategy but if done incorrectly can cost you a lot of money with very little results. Search the internet and learn all that you can about PPC. Pick up the book “Adwords for Dummies” as it is an easy read with good tips and tricks.
3) Postcard Marketing the right way - it amazes me how I get the same postcard in the mail over and over from the same business. They don’t test different headlines, formats, colors, etc but expect good response rates. There is something to be said about branding but you can still brand your business but change up the postcards. We highly recommend to people to personalize each postcard to the client (not just a generic postcard for everyone). Variable Data Printers allow you to print personalized message on each postcard and the cost is not much more then sending out 1000 generic postcards. We recommend PrintsMadeEasy
Their customer service is excellend (I don’t say that about too many companies anymore), pricing is great and quality is superior.
Everyone is looking to improve their Pay Per Click Conversion rates once someone visits your URL. Google likes to see your keyword in the display/destination URL and displayed on your destination page.
Let’s say you have 20 main keywords that means ideally you should create 20 different landing pages specific to each of those keywords. That sounds like a very tedious task.
By using our PurlBlitz software you would just create one landing page template and display different text/images based on the keyword ad that was clicked on. Your landing pages would then be very specific to each keyword and improve your quality score with Google.
I will upload an example of these personalized ads and landing pages very soon as check back for my release information
Direct Mail Postcards are not dead. In fact I am seeing increased response rates if done correctly. People get so much email they tend to delete majority of it.
Here are 3 ways to Increase your Direct Mail Response rates:
1) Design/Test/Design/Test your Headline. This is the most important aspect of the postcard. I would either include the name of the recipient or name of the company you are sending to in the Headline. Your headline should be interesting and spark some type of interest for the recipient. You need to use a Variable Data Printer to personalize each postcard. The best one I have found is PrintsMadeEasy.com
2) Buy a good mailing lists. There are thousands of companies that claim to have a good list. The more you know about your list the better you can personalize each message to the recipient. For example if you included age as one of the data fields you could design postcards that are targeted to that age group.
3) Target your message to one product or service. You may have many different products or service to sell but send a targeted marketing message so you can keep the recipient focused on what you are trying to sell. Too many times companies send out generic postcards and expect a high response rates. You can always drive people to a PURL landing page and mention your other products.
Our PurlBlitz software that will be released very soon will help your direct mail response rates especially direct mail postcards. Create thousands of personalized landing pages instantly.
On average you should expect 1-2% response rates on your direct marketing piece. So why do 98% of people throw the postcard away?
It is because they have no connection to the marketing piece and are bombarded with 5000+ marketing messages everyday.
To stand out and get your message read you need to create a connection. Talked directly to the person by personalizing the marketing message.
You can personalize each postcard you send to include their name, different photos/message if male/female and direct them to different websites.
Here is a headline I received on a postcard recently.
We will solve all of your Heating and Air Conditioning Needs…call 555-555-5555 to get more information.
If we personalized that postcard it could read:
Clint, we will solve all of your heating and air conditioning needs.. visit www.xxxxxx.com/clint.steiner.html to receive a special offer.
You have created a connection with the recipient and they are more likely to visit that URL to find out about the special offer. When they go to that page it will be personalized to them and it can even have different offers depending on the person.
You will instantly receive a notification when they visit the page so you could call the person while they are still reading the offer - that creates CONNECTION. Go one step further and send that recipient a Thank you card automatically just for visiting your website.
Using these techniques you can increase your direct response rates from 1-2% to 10-30%.
Add our blog to your RSS feeds and stay updated on the release of the PurlBlitz Software - it will dramatically change your direct mail and email marketing response rates.
