It’s a lot of fun sitting at our conference table discussing the keys to successful direct marketing.
Yesterday I recounted a situation with a wholesale company that I found very frustrating.
A candy wholesaler on the west coast does $5MM to $6MM in sales per year. Almost all of their sales come from their website. They do no advertising. They have never sent a follow-up e-mail campaign asking for a reorder. All they do is sit and wait for the next order. They almost do not care whether the next order comes or not. They seem to be fat and happy with the sales they have and rather look forward to being lazy.
What a crime! With the proper Customer Retention Management (CRM) they could easily double their sales with the customer base they have.
Here’s the opportunity:
Candy directly affects one of the senses: TASTE. Candy is also consumed. IT IS USED UP and NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. And, candy can relate to certain periods during the year: CHRISTMAS, THANKSGIVING, EASTER, etc. What an opportunity to sell more to the customer base this company already has. Direct marketing is an emotional sale. When the senses are involved, the emotional side of the sale is enhanced.
Hence, this is why you see such a success with the following in direct marketing:
FLOWERS: They involve smell and vision beauty. They also involve certain days of the year with heightened activity …. Birthdays, Valentines Day, anniversaries, etc.
TRAVEL/RESORTS: They involve the eyes and dreams of pleasure. Here pictures of a South Seas Resort can weave the dream of pleasure.
PERFUME/COSMETICS/HAIR STYLES: These products and services involve the sense of smell and vision of beauty. One very smart marketer used YouTube with a before and after picture to sell their cosmetics.
The big point we were discussing was the opportunity many companies have by properly keeping a complete database of their customers. Particularly if they are able to tie in their products and/or services to the basic senses. It becomes very easy to weave the dream to create additional sales.
Don’t be lazy and wait for sales to come in over the transom. Create a compelling reason for your customers to come back and buy more.
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1 comment:
Steve - I completely agree with your observations that Emotion-based marketing techniques will absolutely drive up response rates and increase customer engagement, especially with direct marketing efforts. A case in point, we were once trying to increase response and attendance to some breakfast seminars; so we applied a clear "coffee" scented varnish to the letter in the #10 envelope invitation mailings and our response rate increased 5-fold and we had standing room only attendance! We also received many positive comments. Recently, I have just priced out a project for a hotel resort promotion that will utilize a "suntan lotion" scent varnish on the direct mailer, intended to stimulate the sense of smell to help the recipient visualize relaxing on the beach! It's surprising how many marketers do not utilize these kinds of available techniques to stimulate our senses and emotions to help better engage us!
Thank you for your post!
Neal Sceva, CDM
CPC Solutions
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