Many have been programmed to think that just because it is new, it is then therefore better. And in many cases with respect to technology this is probably true. Well, I’m not necessarily sure that is true when it comes to Business Email Marketing. The Internet has given us so many things;  Ebay, Amazon,  Youtube and something called Email. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Email has opened up virtual worlds in terms of communicating with people for both personal and business matters alike. It seems that everyone is on the internet and also likely to have at least one email account.  However with this explosion of email usage, along came with it the proliferation of email marketing and of course the exploitation, which had both good and bad ripple effects in the business-to-business and consumer marketing world. It’s a great, cheap, fast marketing medium but because it’s new and sleek doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than what we had before in Direct Mail? Thought I would create a little head-to-head battle Royale or something…Old vs. New…I can hear the promoters now…okay maybe not that tantalizing.  But I thought I would toss it around a bit, try to see which business marketing vehicle would survive the challenge to be crowned, well, better.

Yes, e-mail is by far the cheapest method of communicating available…at the moment at least…and the clear advantage over direct mail is that you can send a message/offer to thousands of people with the push of a button. Direct mail is a little more labor intensive, if you will, having to print something, put your marketing materials in envelopes, get them addressed to each and every individual,  and yeah, pay for the cost of mailing them as well.

Rd#1. Business Email Marketing

Business email marketing might be cheaper, and appears to be easier, but there is more to it than meets the eye. First you need to be sure you are emailing the right person or it will end up being be deleted almost immediately. Then you need to be concerned about the “Subject Line”  and what is contained in the body of the email related to the subject line. Ugghhh. Spammers are creative, using various subject lines with little relative subject matter to back it up or a hint of being targeted to the right audience. You don’t want messages from your company ending up on the “Spam List”, never to have another email message read by that person ever again. On the other hand, direct mail doesn’t have such filters so it is not as easy to block as junk email, plus it isn’t automated. It will more than likely get to the person. How it will be received or read is another thing, but still more likely to make to its target audience.

Rd.#2 B-to-B Direct Mail

Not to go on a tangent, but people tend to abuse a good thing which is another reason why people may also respond negatively to email marketing. It is not only because of all the spammers, but also the endless amount of crap that is being sent; from porn to dating to online degrees to life insurance to you name it..in the end people are being inundated with untargeted, garbage…albeit easier on the environment to recycle!  Plus all the fraudulent online schemes we hear about on the nightly news segments. People are starting to develop a negative impression on business email marketing and are starting to just simply delete emails they don’t recognize, if the Firewall doesn’t get to it first, which is a whole different subject. All because of a few bad apples. On the other hand, direct mail is seen with a little more respect and is part of our daily routine.  And people actually enjoy picking through their mail and opening things to see what surprise might be inside. Don’t  you?!

Furthermore, business direct mailing has a more personal feel to it (and it takes time to personalize it which is gotta count for something!) and people tend to enjoy getting mail more. Don’t worry if you didn’t know. Even market researchers have remained puzzled by this phenomenon as to why people tend to have warmer feelings towards direct mail. Plus, an added benefit to b-to-b marketing is that more than one person might see it! 

Rd. #3 B-to-B Direct Mail

However, business email marketing purists might ask about the potential of snail mail getting screened out by gatekeepers such as an Admin before getting to the target audience? Plausible that in the business-to-business marketing world their respective target audience, decision makers, would perhaps have administrative assistants and thus the propensity for their mail to be pre-sorted prior to reaching its intended audience. Therefore, email would be better in this regard as it reaches the target audience directly.

Rd. 4 Business Email Marketing

It would seem we have a split decision. Actually didn’t think it would end up this way at the beginning. Both business-to-business marketing mediums make compelling cases as to which is a better vehicle, generally speaking. Here in lies perhaps the better question which is to ask; for what? Each medium is solid in terms of its overall and general effectiveness although each is particularly good, and better than the other, in certain cases or situations. For example, I might choose direct mail in customer acquisition campaigns and generating sales leads. However I would perhaps choose email as a more effective tool to communicate with customers and those individuals who have provided you with their information looking to receive future communications from the company. Or even simpler, use direct mail to communicate with people who you don’t know but would like to…and email with individuals who already know your business, product or service at least in some capacity.

Technology has made it even easier to construct full-blown email marketing campaigns. However don’t rest on your marketing laurels and fall into “marketing content traps” that make your emails unreadable, uninteresting and obnoxious. Below are a couple of pitfalls to avoid.

1. Annoyingly excessive use of punctuation marks, ALL CAPS, symbols, etc…Stay away. People will more than likely interpret it as SPAM and delete your message without giving it a second thought…or so you hope, otherwise it could be worse and be labeled “spam” so future emails get sent directly into the Spam Folder. Plus it is pretty tacky. It is extremely difficult to express emotion in an email and don’t think by using the aforementioned tricks will get it done. It takes more than some tricks to have a successful email marketing campaign.

2. Non-descriptive and uninviting Subject Line. Interesting I have this next behind the use of “annoyingly excessive use of punctuation marks…”. However you can still create interesting and enticing subject lines without having to add some cheesy flare to it using ALL CAPS!!!! Don’t scream at me. Tell me, the customer, why I should read your email. What benefit will it have for the customer? Keep them interesting as possible as it will help improve the open rate…but don’t try and deceive. Be honest and upfront or risk having your customer send your company’s future messages into the dreaded Spam Folder.

3. Content that is too long. People don’t want to invest a lot of time reading an email, or much of anything really in this day and age, but especially email. As much as possible, Emails need to be short, sweet and to the point. People are simply more inclined to read shorter, more concise emails even if they don’t respond to an offer or reply to the message. They will at least read it and perhaps respond at a later date. If the message or article requires more space simply summarize the point and use a link to your website where people can go read the rest later.

4. Repeating the same message over and over again. Repetition is good in some ways, and I would recommend staying in touch with your audience. However, if in your email marketing message you continue to say the same thing, well, ever heard the expression; fell on deaf ears? People will begin to tune you out and when you actually have something pertinent, it will be missed. Try to keep the messages a little fresh so that people will continue to at least open them and see what you have to say.

5. Poorly constructed and cluttered layouts. Too many people think that they need to have all these images, links, and colors in their email for it to be deemed “good” or have a chance at it being successful. Again, know your audience. People tend to enjoy more simplified, easy to read and navigate emails. Cluttered or simply emails that present themselves as being too busy overwhelm people thus having a tendency to be trashed immediately. Now these tactics may in fact enhance the email, but as my dad would always tell me; everything in moderation. Too many images and links are distracting. You would hate it if it distracted the reader from your main point, wouldn’t you?

I was speaking with a friend the other day, a small business owner in NY, about his sales and marketing strategy and what he should do in these tough economic times. We discussed it thoroughly and interestingly enough came out with some new ideas and focus. Below is a general overview of the principals, ideas and strategies that came out of that conversation which helped transform his sales and marketing plan moving into 2009. Perhaps you are already using some, if not all, of the following in your own sales and marketing plan. If not, maybe it will at least get you thinking and perhaps even gets you to reevaluate your plan so as to ensure it is properly focused and getting the most bang for its buck.

1. Retention: Customer retention should be #1 on any business owners’ priority list. However many businesses seem to neglect this market segment perhaps thinking that they have their business already and their customers are loyal. Right? Wrong! Competition is fierce, and in this day in age where everyone is vying for attention and the economy is tight, you need to be actively communicating with this audience so that they are not “distracted” by other companies and go elsewhere. Remind them of why it benefits them to buy from you and remain as a customer.

2. Reacquire/Reactivate Customers: The most overlooked yet an easy and perhaps the most cost effective revenue generating avenue a business can pursue is to simply reengage and try to “reactivate” previous customers. Perhaps refresh their memory of who you are, why it would benefit them to do business with you and get creative with an offer. Or get them engaged somehow. Offer them something free with no obligation.

3. Direct Mailings: Now is a time perhaps to mail a little less and get smarter, more strategic about it. Make sure your list is up-to-date and addresses are accurate. Don’t waste money by sending mailings that will be undeliverable. Verify addresses. It’s worth the upfront expense. You may also seek alternative solutions and buy a business mailing list to help supplement your sales and marketing campaign so as to reach a wider and more targeted audience.

4. Email Marketing: The cheapest way to communicate, market your goods/services and gain instant results. This is a technology driven world and most everyone has an email address. As with direct mail, obviously your customer or prospecting database will be the most effective and the cheapest. Otherwise, and again, research other means by which to obtain business email lists. With the click of a mouse you could be sending out thousands upon thousands of emails.

5. Online Marketing: Many companies in 2009 are focusing their marketing dollars online with tools such as banner ads, adword campaigns, online videos and social media outlets. Online marketing has seen the greatest increase in spending during the last few months as it cost less than traditional media and you can track results. They key is to test and re-test. Make sure you are sending the right message and targeting the right audience before initiating any big campaigns.

6. Be Really Creative: Whether it is direct mail, email or banner ad, all communications can be improved upon and every offer can be more inviting/tempting. This goes back to my earlier point with respect to talking to your customers and potential customers alike about why your products and services are better and how they will benefit by purchasing them. And great creative with the offers as well. Be bold and enticing!

7. Competition: Be sure you are paying attention to your competition and what they are doing with their marketing. What offers are they presenting? Who are they targeting? What marketing vehicles and mediums are they using? They may have a good idea that you could copy and/or use to your advantage. Don’t be too proud and not use someone else’s ideas. If it is good, use it. Why reinvent the wheel?

Sounds simple yet so many businesses and marketers alike overlook the process of verifying addresses of their mailing list. Whether you are buying a business list or utilizing your own customer data, it good business to verifying addresses.

Each year millions upon millions of pieces of direct mail get undelivered because of inaccurate mailing addresses. Imagine how much money could be saved by simply running the data through the National Change of Address (NCOA) directory database to verify the mailing address.  It can cost the average company thousands of dollars a year for failing to verify addresses. Think about the cost to create a direct mail piece (materials & labor) plus the cost of postage. Imagine the money you can save simply not sending something that will be undeliverable!? What if the money saved could be allocated to acquiring another customer or spent elsewhere for that matter?

There are a lot of factors that go into the success of direct mail campaign. I’m not suggesting that verifying mailing addresses are the panacea to having a successful direct mail campaign or the cost cutting cure all. Obviously many businesses expect some direct mail to be ignored and even some addresses to fall through the proverbial cracks. And it will. However failing to do so is almost irresponsible given the cost benefit ratio. Having your data NCOA validated doesn’t have to be a significant expense, but could save you thousands. Be careful though and do your research as many companies will outsource this process and pass the cost on to you. InstantBusinessList.com offers a solution using its proprietary software for a nominal fee.  To learn more about Instant Business List NCOA validation solutions and verify your mailing addresses call us at   888-474-6021  .

In my last post I spoke about the tightening economy and how businesses tend to focus on cutting costs in a recession. Sounds good to me, but when it comes to cutting your marketing budget other business-to-business marketers based on recent surveys are doing just the opposite. (see the blog “cutting costs in a Recession..”) What these b-to-b marketers’ top goals were and in particular, which media vehicles they are most intent on spending their marketing budget on in 2009?  

Marketing Goals for 2009

When surveyed the number one focus of Businesses’ marketing budget was on customer acquisition with approximately 65%. The number two goal was customer retention at approximately 30% with Brand awareness falling behind as number three.  All are very important, however, and especially in tough economic times, savvy business marketers see the need to manage their marketing dollars more effectively and focus heavily on customer acquisition.

Marketing Vehicles Used Mostly in a Recession

It should come as no surprise but online media was the biggest beneficiary of the downward economy, which costs less than traditional media. Topping the list was email marketing, followed by website development within social media outlets, banner ads, and webcasts. With the increase in internet usage when it comes to researching and purchasing products/services, businesses are flocking to this medium for marketing purposes. However, and as I’ve pointed out in previous posts and will dedicate another post too in the next few days, there are pitfalls to email marketing and other online marketing mediums mentioned above that people should take into consideration.

Although B-to-B marketers sited online media as their medium of choice for increased spending (55%) other areas businesses will be spending their marketing dollars on are Direct Mail (28%), Telemarketing (15%) and print. Interestingly, direct mail is probably the most costly in terms of its entire package, but many still argue it is the best medium for reaching your target audience, which is probably why it is second on the list. More people are prone to open an interesting package or letter with a targeted offering than any other form of marketing. Don’t forget the 40-40-20 rule will still apply.  It is of no surprise to me that direct mail will still be heavily used by b-to-b marketers as it is and/or can be very effective. Telemarketing, although some people despise it (cold calling is not always fun), can be very effective as you can present your product/service offering to the target audience, respond immediately to any obstacles, perhaps close a deal and create instant business. Not bad if you ask me but labor intensive.

In short, many business owners are focused on spending more money on their marketing budgets heading into 2009 and there are focused mostly on customer acquisition. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate your marketing budget and campaign. Make sure you are focusing on the right marketing initiatives

Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard that we are in a recession. Times are tough. Most every business these days is feeling the woes of the tightening economy and looking at ways to cut costs. Many business are asking themselves the same questions; Am I going to survive, and if so, how? Unfortunately I don’t have a crystal ball or a magic cure-all pill that is going to lift you out of these tough times. However, one thing I can tell you is that by doing nothing at all; “hoping” that things will change; that customers will simply remember you, think of you or will easily find you; will more than likely mean your businesses’ inevitable failure. 

Interestingly enough and perhaps counter intuitive, but as the old adage goes; sometimes you have to spend money to make money. In a recession, everyone looks at ways to cut back on spending, which makes sense. Frankly everyone should always being looking at ways to operate more efficiently. However, and if at all possible, I would caution you on looking at cutting your marketing budget. It’s not rocket science, but in order to survive you need to generate revenue, not just simply cut back on expenditures. And I’m not alone in my thinking. Recent surveys have shown that approx. 35% of businesses plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009 and approx. 45% plan to keep it the same. Think about it. People are tightening their belts, yes, but they will still need to buy various products and services to keep their business and lives running. This simply means that businesses need to be more vigilant in generating new business/customers as well as keeping their existing customers/business. Thus, it doesn’t make much sense to choke the mechanisms that do this i.e. marketing and communications.

This doesn’t mean you have to spend like drunken sailors or better yet like our Government likes to do. But by not spending money on trying to acquire new customers and leads, or communicating with and retaining your current customers (perhaps some up-selling) is a recipe for disaster…and perhaps the ultimate failure of your business.

See my next blog where I will talk about which B-to-B Marketing vehicles people will be focusing their spending on…and how to get the most out of your marketing dollars.

There is no questions that buying a Business mailing list to market your product or service in a great way to get instant business. When you buy a Business mailing list you are gaining access to wealth of valuable information for a variety of industries including the names and addresses of the decision makers within your target audience or area of business. Buying a mailing list is a great way to open up a lot of proverbial “doors” to a wide range of people (potential customers!) to speak to and inform them about your product/service.

However there are a lot of things to know and consider when buying a mailing list including various factors pertaining to the specifics of the mailing list. There are a wide variety of mailing lists that can help you reach your target audience so you need to do some research. (For more information go to www.instantbusinesslist.com and sign-up to receive a free report on “7 Dirty Little Secrets The Marketing List Companies Don’t Want You To Know!”)

One of the most significant factors to be considered when buying a business list, or any list for that matter, is how accurate the information is and whether the list has been NCOA validated for change of address updates. This helps to ensure that the address for a particlur business is correct and that you are getting what you paid for. Think about how frustrating and expensive it is when a direct mail piece is unsuccessfully delivered.

The other day I was speaking with a friend, who happens to be a successful Business Development/Marketing Manager, about generating sales leads and discussing ways to increase revenue. During the course of our conversation, direct mail was brought up as a tactic to which he proclaimed “direct mail is DEAD”!  WOW! Dead? Really!? He must have had some sort of traumatic experience or something to make such a statement. This of course sparked a little debate and got me thinking: is direct mail dead?

With the advent of the internet and electronic marketing coming on roughly 20 years, it has become for most the advertising medium of record, but is direct mail dead?  There are many people out there who share this sentiment and believe this to be true. These are perhaps some of the same people who thought brick-and-mortar companies would be a thing of the past by now, obsolete, if you will and that everyone would buying their goods online. I for one still go to the grocery store to select my goods and yes, I still like to actually touch and feel certain products prior to purchasing them. Call me crazy!

Well, I am reminded everyday when I go out to my mailbox, especially this time of year; this statement of direct mail being dead is certainly not true. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there are tons in the way of what I will term “junk mail.” There is quite of bit of stuff being mailed that is making its way straight to the recycling bin (if we are lucky) or otherwise in the trash can. However, and again especially this time of year, I’m reminded of the fact that I enjoy opening things as well. With the caveat of course being that it must present itself as interesting, cool looking or perhaps something worthwhile or of value to me. Yes, there is a point in all of this and the key to it all, if you will, is whatever you send must be interesting or present value to your target audience. Cut through the clutter as “they” say. Send me something that really stands-out….and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an expensive, colorful or a music playing box of sorts wrapped in exotic materials. It could be as simple as a postcard with a clear and easy call to action or offer.

There is a lot to direct mail/marketing and there are certain tried and true rules to follow when you are developing a direct marketing campaign. One; make sure you have a clear understanding of who your target audience is and make sure the data (business list, email list, consumer list) is as accurate as possible. Two; create something that is going to stand-out. Remember there are lots of things in the world vying for everyone’s attention so you have to make sure your piece is different. It must stand out. Three; Make an offer or include a clear call to action. Four; and this is something people always fail to realize and is overlooked or not often discussed, but you must speak to your audience more than once. So follow up. It usually takes multiple communications before a person acts.

Thus I will now pronounce that direct mail is very much alive and well!!

So I’ve been asked numerous times, “which is a better resource or tool for marketing your product/service to businesses and generating instant business (or revenue)?” Well, I hate to break it to you but there is no simple or right answer for that matter to that question.  Debate, yes. Clear, no. Essentially both can be an effective resource to utilize in your marketing campaign, but the devil is always in the details. In short, a Business List can be cheaper to obtain, but more costly in reaching your audience by having to utilize direct mail or telemarketing tactics. Conversely, an Email List is typically more expensive to purchase, but obviously the medium is much cheaper. In either case the old 40-40-20 rule (40% Data, 40% Offer and 20% Creative) will apply no matter when measuring your marketing campaigns success not matter which resource you choose. Whether it is a direct mail or an email marketing campaign, I believe you will find statistics which show both will and/or can achieve similar results.

However, it would stand reason when developing a marketing campaign not to exclude any medium when trying to reach your target audience and generate instant business. Direct mail, Emails, Telemarketing, targeted ad campaigns, etc. All should be considered, weighed and perhaps all should be incorporated to some degree.

Note: before buying a Business List you should read 7 Dirty Little Secrets The Marketing List Companies Don’t Want You To Know! by registering at www.instantbusinesslist.com to receive your FREE copy!

I have saw thousands of ad copies online and offline over my lifetime. I have was reading excellent ad copies that made me buy right away and chosen that may have had a decent product, but had a poor ad copy that turned me away.

Now that I am in business, I have written some of my  own ad copies. Some of them have worked, some ofthem own bombed. The key is to keep affecting and testing instant business ad copy, do not easily come up with one and then stop. I don’t have a college degree in copywriting, but I know to find out based on what i read in the mistakes and never give up.

Below I’ve made a record of 42 deadly ad copy sins that I’ve made over the decades and that you can figure out from:

-no compelling headline
-no believable testimonials
-no sub headlines
-no alluring benefits
-no features
-no steady guarantees
-no asking or answering questions
-no proof of advantages offered
-no contact information for questions
-no endorsements
-no conversational writing
-too long of sentences
-no deadline to order
-no free trials
-spelling mistakes
-grammar mistakes
-too light of text
-too dark of background
-ad mimic does not blend together
-no breaks in ad copy
-no bullets
-ad copy in all CAPS
-few ordering options
-no visual aids
-no comparison to competition
-no reminding of help or deadlines
-no information about instant business business
-no appealing adjectives
-no appealing phrases
-too large of text
-too small of text
-no emotional appeal
-too huge of paragraphs
-no story telling
-no underlining or bolding of keywords
-too very brief of ad copy
-too for a while of ad copy
-no facts or situation studies
-hard to understand jargon
-no free bonuses
-too low of price
-too high of price

Don’t get me wrong, not all 42 of my ad copy sins will apply to each and each ad you write. It is simply a list you can use in the future. If you currently have an ad copy, compare it to the list right now. instant business ad copy could make or break instant business sales .