I have spent the last 15 years testing, tracking and tweaking my marketing plan to try to get the absolute best results for my business. In 1998, it was just me with a phone and a computer. Today, I have more than 200 employees and bring in more than $40 million in revenue annually.
I don’t say this to toot my own horn but just to give you confidence that what follows is legitimate.
There are just four things that you need to do in order to build the ultimate direct mail marketing system. This is a marketing system that continually generates leads and turns them into loyal customers. Best of all? The end result is that it enables your business to steadily and sustainably grow — along with your bottom line.
Step 1: Use direct mail.
This effectively generates leads to fuel your marketing growth.
In addition to using targeted mailing lists to reach out to prospects, a truly complete marketing system is dual-focused. It doesn’t just focus on new clients. You have to continue to build the loyalty of your current clients as well.
Marketing to both prospective and current clients is the best way to create sustainable growth. This allows you to simultaneously build your brand recognition and your brand loyalty.
Step 2. Track your mailings.
This is how you prepare yourself for success.
When your direct mail reaches your prospects’ mailboxes, the calls and Web visits will start to come in. You need to be ready for that. You can’t get the best return for your investment in a mailing if you don’t put yourself in prime position to convert every lead generated. Luckily, you can do this by tracking your postcards or mail. Your mail house should offer this to you.
Step 3. Develop a follow-up system.
This gives you a form of hassle-free review to get the most out of every lead.
A majority of your prospects will visit your website before they call your office. So once you’re prepared to handle your in-office response, you have to do the same for your online presence. Without a system in place to follow up with these prospects, your leads will likely slip away.
I’ve found that a wonderful online resource for this is Google Remarketing. It provides you automatic targeted follow-up with prospects that visit your website.
Step 4. Track your response.
This is how you empower yourself to continually improve your results. Call tracking is the way to do it.
Using a unique routing phone number on your mailing, call tracking allows you to track the response that each campaign achieves. You can also experiment with design or message changes to optimize your marketing response.
This technology records your calls so you can quality-check your reception process and sales tactics. Lastly, it gives you all the data and resources you need to continually analyze and improve your marketing results.
When you are building your company’s marketing system, be sure to include all four of these components. Once you do, your marketing will be on track to help you drive your desired results and fuel your growth. ●
Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania. She originally started PostcardMania in 1998. The company now employs more than 200 people and has more than 53,000 customers in more than 350 industries. Visit www.postcardmania.com for more information. Find her on Google+.
