direct marketing

rewardFreeWine I was shopping last week at Eddie Bauer in the mall. The customer service was great and I had an enjoyable shopping experience. At least until I checked out. Then I was asked if I had a rewards card. No, thank you. It’s free. I’m not interested. Why? Because I hate carrying around 2309238098 cards from different companies. I don’t feel that’s a reward. You assign me a number, make me carry a card, track what I purchase and occasionally give me coupons for your stuff. I think the reward is surely in your favor.

First off, these types of rewards programs bother me because they’re already tracking what I purchase. I usually pay by credit card, so that pretty much assigns my identity to what I purchase. They just want my permission to market to me. I get it, but I don’t want it. Instead, how about randomly giving me a coupon at time of purchase? That would be much more of a reward than this veil of a supposed rewards program.

Don’t get me wrong. I think you should reward your customers…and your business partners…and your referrals. I just think they should actually be rewarded. Give them something they want. It can be a discount on your services or a referral fee or whatever. Just don’t pretend you have a rewards program when you actually have a direct marketing program.

Be open. Be honest. Reward your customers.

(photo by FreeWine @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: direct marketing, referrals, customer rewards, business, rewards programs, marketing

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emailfrozenchipmunk Emailing a prospective client can be difficult at best. Following up on potential leads is important, but so is saying the right thing. It may help to consider your email piece as an elevator pitch – you only have a few seconds to grab attention and entice the customer to continue the conversation. Here are a few tips to help make your email more effective:

Keep it short – No one wants to read pages of text in an email. If it’s longer than 3 or 4 paragraphs, it’s too long. One or two paragraphs (short!) are best.
Focus on the customer – What benefits are you offering them? What will they gain from your product or services?
Be concise – Get right to the point about who you are and what you’re offering.
Use bullet points – Short phrases in bullet points can be effective for getting across a message succinctly.
Provide examples – Potential customers want to know what you’ve successfully done in the past. Keep examples short and link to longer explanations or case studies on your website.
Keep it simple – Even people in your industry won’t want to read wordy technical explanations. Make sure just about anyone can understand what you’re talking about.
Link to your website – for more information or longer testimonials or stories.
Include a call to action – Whatever you’d like the person to do. It’s most effective if its something you’re offering them on your website (for free) that you can use to gather the lead (and measure that they’re actually interested).
Introduce Yourself – Customers want to know who you are, but keep it to 1 or 2 sentences (think elevator pitch). Link to more information on your website.
Followup – Don’t rely on customers to contact you. Followup with another email or a phone call during a specified time period. Ask when and how they prefer to be contacted.
Respect privacy – Have a privacy policy and follow it. Allow people the option to opt-out of receiving emails from you. Post it on your website and link to it in your emails.
Give them space – Don’t bombard potential customers with phone calls and emails. Give them time to think and do their own work. Contact them at specific times through their preferred channel.

This an evolving list. Do you have tips that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them in the comments!

(photo by frozenchipmunk @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: direct marketing, email marketing, internet marketing, business, leads, lead generation, sales, marketing

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