Cash registers ring, are you listening?”
We know three things. One, the holiday season is coming up (please pass the eggnog); two, the upcoming postal rate changes will give the direct mail industry an even bigger headache; and three, oodles of promotional clutter always get in the way of our selling messages being seen and heard.
Don’t cower under the Christmas tree yet! There’s a time-tested formula called the 40/40/20 rule that offers proven guidelines for direct mail campaign creation. Campaigns run according to this principle are likely to have a greater impact on more prospects, and your customers will have a very merry Christmas 2010 (and 2011…and 2012). Without further ado, we present Tedesco and Farquharson’s 40/40/20 Direct Mail Rule.
Developed by Dr.’s Tedesco and Farquharson after years of laboratory studies (OK, years of managing successful direct marketing campaigns), the 40/40/20 rule is a handy guideline for understanding the three main components of a direct marketing campaign, as well as just how important each aspect is to the campaign’s overall success:
• 40 percent of your time and resources should go toward developing your list/database;
• 40 percent of your time and resources should go toward creating and paying for the most compelling offer you can imagine; and
• Focus only 20 percent of your time and resources on the creative.
Heresy! The leader of a 15-year-old design and marketing services agency like Tedesco is advocating only 20 percent of effort toward the creative? Yep, you betcha. See, the purpose is sales growth.
Think back to your last direct mail campaign: Did you pour half your time and resources into creating a beautiful design? If so, how many calls did you get from enthusiastic prospects saying: “Your offer was OK…but your promotion just looked so good, I had to take you up on it?”
Yeah, Farquharson didn’t think so. Next time, try to cut your time spent on the creative down to 20 percent. If your habit is to focus on design at the expense of everything else, rest assured you’re not alone. In our experience with direct mail campaigns, typically months go into the creative. Then, at the last minute, someone says, “We’re about ready to go to press. What’s the offer and to whom are we going to send it?”
40 Percent: THE LIST—Keep It Clean and Up-to-Date. You want your promotions to arrive at the right address with the right information, don’t you? Get on your hands and knees and “cleanse” your list. Activities can include merge/perge, as well as de-duping at the resident, household and individual levels to get rid of repeat contact information.
If time and resources for this kind of thing are scarce, consider enlisting a data management services company to polish your list to spotless accuracy. CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) and NCOA (National Change of Address) certification systems are useful address correction tools that can keep your list’s contact information up-to-date, removing outdated info like last week’s trash. List cleansing and maintenance activities will help your mailing campaign run like a well-lubed press.
40 Percent: THE OFFER—Consider Using Inexpensive Giveaways to Drive Benjamins. Tedesco’s company recently helped a client give away free electronic versions of its lowest-selling product through a social media promotion. Although this product had a pretty high value in the user’s mind, the out-of-pocket cost to the customer was $0 (can’t get much cheaper than that!). This offer helped drive hundreds of users to the client’s newer and more popular products. For your next direct marketing campaign, consider a similar promotion that provides a good incentive to forge a future business opportunity.
20 Percent: THE CREATIVE—Design for Design’s Sake Is Out. Admittedly, neither of your hosts is named Les Wunderman. Yet, we’ve worked on enough direct mail campaigns to understand which types of designs tend to work and which don’t.
Figure out what your piece needs to accomplish and choose a physical direct mail form that supports your goals, not the other way around.
For example, if you have two distinct business lines, an accordion-folded piece will allow you to describe one business line on one side and the other on the second. (A wraparound panel will reduce USPS-required tab seals!) Or, if you’re trying to appeal to window businesses, use a gatefold design that opens like a window. If you have gold, silver and bronze levels of service, consider a step-down accordion fold so the form assists the function. We strongly caution you not to say, “That’s a neat piece; let’s fit our message to it.” You might end up with a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
Good direct marketing campaigns contain the three ingredients explained earlier in the right proportions. Think of the 40/40/20 rule as a recipe for Kung Pao chicken—there needs to be the right mix of chicken, sauce and vegetables in order to produce a tasty, completed dish. You can deviate from the recipe a little, but too much change and you risk ending up with Dung Pao chicken! Yuck! After all, recipes exist for a reason.
Speaking of which—we just got hungry! See you back here next month. PI
—Bill Farquharson, T.J. Tedesco
About the Authors
Bill Farquharson is the president of Aspire For (www.AspireFor.com). His Sales Challenge can help drive your sales momentum. Contact him at (781) 934-7036 or e-mail bill@aspirefor.com. T.J. Tedesco is team leader of Grow Sales, a 15-year-old marketing and PR services company. He is author of “Playbook for Selling Success in the Graphic Arts Industry” and five other books. Contact Tedesco at (301) 294-9900 or e-mail tj@growsales.com.
Bill Farquharson is a respected industry expert and highly sought after speaker known for his energetic and entertaining presentations. Bill engages his audiences with wit and wisdom earned as a 40-year print sales veteran while teaching new ideas for solving classic sales challenges. Email him at bill@salesvault.pro or call (781) 934-7036. Bill’s two books, The 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever and Who’s Making Money at Digital/Inkjet Printing…and How? as well as information on his new subscription-based website, The Sales Vault, are available at salesvault.pro.
Very much alive and now officially an industry curmudgeon, strategic growth expert T. J. Tedesco can be reached at tj@tjtedesco.com or 301-404-2244.