From postwar Ferrari’s to vintage Bentleys to the newest, most futuristic concept cars, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the place for automotive enthusiasts to bid farewell to summer and hello to some of the most rare and captivating automobiles on the planet, and premier data company Martin Worldwide was there to do both.

The event, held annually at the Pebble Beach Golf Course, supports both the United Way of Monterey County and the Pebble Beach Company Foundation in a combination that stretches back over fifty years. The Concours D’Elegance has donated over twelve million dollars in that time.

To contend in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, an automobile must be a well preserved or accurately restored vehicle still quite capable of doing what it was meant to do—be driven. It will almost certainly have some historic value—perhaps in its day it served to debut new technology or new styling trends or it has an amazing racing record. And it will be rare—possibly a singular example of a special chassis bearing a respected coachbuilder’s art, so the crowd drawn to the event is eclectic and large.

As a leading seller of specialty automotive data for over fifteen years, Martin Worldwide recognizes the importance of building upon and strengthening not just new, but long-time relationships. The data company made an appearance and sent Adam Silberberg, a top Marketing Specialist and expert in the automotive data industry, to join the flock of eager thousands in support of their long-time clients and the good cause.

“I have attended the Concours d-Elegance since 1988.  Every year comes with it, a new experience.  This year, I had the pleasure of conversing with Jeremy Piven, Arturo Keller, Ernst Lieb, Thomas DuPont, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Jay Leno, Jason Alexander, Smokey Robinson and many others.  I keep saying this every year, but – this was, by far, the best year yet!”

Before going after those businesses, make sure that you have adequately answered the following questions:

Objective

What percentage of new business are you looking to acquire to meet your revenue goals? Are your new business leads specific to your target market?

Determine how many qualified B2B business leads are needed to meet these revenue goals. What response rate is realistic?

How many sales are needed to meet your minimum objective?

Competitive Advantage

How is your sales pitch crafted to influence the key decision-maker of the business?

Are you prepared to answer the question ‘why do we need your product/service?’

How does your product or service beat the competition in terms of price, value, performance, and positive ROI for your customers?

Testing

Did you send a copy of your mail piece to yourself as a test-run? Would you open it? Would you be attracted to the offer?

Would you react positively to the sales pitch that your salespeople are using? Your business leads can’t sell your product for you… they can only get your foot in the door!

Analytics

What does the term “qualified business lead” mean to you? Do you have a system in place for qualifying and measuring the response rate of your campaign?

Your Martin Worldwide business leads are a valuable product. Are your salespeople accountable for their use and recycling of their business leads?

Are you running sales reports daily, weekly and monthly?

Are you flexible? Are you willing and ready to alter your pitch, packaging or do whatever it takes to make the sale?

The Martin Worldwide Top 10 Common-Sense Guidelines

For a Successful Direct Mailing Campaign.

1.   Does your letter SCREAM “OPEN ME?!” Your offer is only as good as the packaging you put it in.  What good is a direct mail campaign without a clear and concise call to action ON THE ENVELOPE?  Don’t settle for plain or blank envelopes.  Make your letter colorful, powerful, and enticing.

2.   What are your customer’s needs? Does your mail piece help your customer’s bottom line?  If you are using business sales leads, put yourself in your customer’s shoes.  Why does this business need your product or service?  What entices them to contact you?  If you are purchasing a consumer mailing list, ask yourself: how have I addressed the core needs of the consumer?

3.  Include multiple ways for them to contact you…quickly! Make sure you make it convenient for your customer to contact you and buy from you.  Cover all of the basics: your web address, email, telephone number, fax number, mailing address etc.

4.   Plan your mail piece. Make sure it looks professional.  Is your letter attractive?  Does it appear to be authentic?  Does it make your business appear to be large and successful?  If you are purchasing business sales leads, does your mail piece make an impact on the decision-maker?  Is it something that is presentable to the CEO?

5. Is the call to action clear? Why should the recipient contact you NOW?!

6. Is your offer ‘irresistible?’  Does it represent a real-world value to your customer?

7.  Does your mailer clearly and elegantly show the benefit of your product/service? When you buy lists from us, we take as much time as necessary to explain how buying mailing lists will result in a positive ROI for your business.  We explain to the recipients of our direct mail campaign that our data will enable their business to grow.  Have you done the same?

8.   Do the graphics support the offer? Does the imagery benefit or hinder your offer?  We have launched successful direct mailing campaigns both with and without graphics.  What imagery is absolutely vital to your campaign?

9.  Repeat your information, and your offer. People remember what is repeated to them.  It is better to keep your message powerful, simple, short, and repeated, than long, overstated and complex.  Your business information should be everywhere the client might want to look for it.

10.  Plan well, but quickly. You will only achieve your goals if you make your campaign happen!

Why Test?
Unlike traditional marketing and advertising, testing is the foundation of direct marketing.  Because of quantitative nature, direct marketing and its elements are very conducive to testing.

Testing is done to learn what works and what doesn’t work with your respective target markets. It is when two or more variations of one variable are compared to one another simultaneously with all other variables the same.

Testing your direct marketing in small groups will help you determine which variables will lead to the greatest success. Once testing is complete, you can roll out your entire campaign based on the most successful test results. Testing takes businesses closer to defining the best campaigns.

What to Test?
There are several variables that have an effect on your purchase and response rates:

The format of the marketing vehicle. Should you mail out a postcard or a letter?

The offer. Are you offering something for free, or a premium conditional upon a sale and/or response?

The target. Are you delivering your target to the right audience?

Color and design. Which set of creative artwork get more response than another?

Subject line of an e-mail. This is the most common place to start the testing of a direct e-mail marketing message.

When to Test
• When you want to improve response/sales
• To improve profitability, cost control, and ROI
• When you want to expand to a new audience or new market
• When considering a new marketing vehicle
• To test a particular demographic variable within your target market
• To test particular timing for delivery of your marketing (seasonality, frequency, etc.)

Tips
• Keep track of your testing.
• Keep testing methods simple.
• The larger the test sample. The more reliable the results.

First, a professional with a solid track record who has present years developing personal contacts in this highly specialized industry can almost always outsell an in-house operation. It’s not enough to know more about your list than anyone else. You have to know the brokers, the agencies, and the mailers who should be renting it. You have to know which mailers are ordering which types of lists, through whom and when. You have to know how to position your list against competitive properties, how to segment it for maximum effectiveness, how, where, and when to promote it. Pros spend years learning this. You can’t expect the same performance from your secretary, brother-in-law, or that promising intern.

Second, a good list manager can achieve a given level of sales at a lower cost to you than if you do it yourself. The economics of scale apply. When a list manager visits brokers or users of lists on a cross-country trip, at conventions, or trade meetings, he or she can spread selling costs over a number of list properties. Even over the phone, a manager can push more than one list in a single call.

With a few exceptions, the more knowledgeable and more proficient list managers are to be found on the outside. Inside management only makes sense if the people involved are the equal of outside managers, and since good inside managers tend to gravitate outside, the edge here is with outside experience.

Outside costs are predictable. The manager gets a fixed percentage. That fee covers all inside costs. Inside costs can easily get out of line, particularly when list stays level or dips. The budget is a critical factor for inside management; it is a fixed proportion of total revenues using outside management.

Outside list managers usually have better systems for reporting in place.

The outside list manager touches more bases than the inside manager, and can therefore be aware of more pressure points, including mailers who pay slowly, if at all.

Those lists that call for the use of an outside list manager include:
• All lists where economics of scale favor paying part of the costs, not all of costs.
• Virtually any business mailing list.
• Any new list or new concept.
• Any list where the current staff is already overloaded.
• Any list where skilled labor power is not available for inside management.

The job of a headline is to grab attention, appeal to the reader, communicate benefits, and introduce you immediately.  The headline should motivate, regardless of whether it generates excitement or fear; as long as it generates some emotion that motivates the reader to continue reading; it’s doing its job. Headlines are the first, and often the only, impression you have to make on a prospect.

There are many techniques to writing headlines, but they usually come back to copy that focuses on the benefit(s) that you offer that no one else does; your competitive advantage.

Here are some tips for a more compelling and stronger headline:
• Think of your headlines as being news.
• Use words that sound important and valuable.
• Use quotation marks around the headlines.
• Use upper and lower case letters; not caps.
• Use benefit- and action-oriented words.
• Be extreme and outrageous yet compelling.
• Pique curiosity.
• Move the reader to the body copy.
• Reveal mistakes.
• Be short and sweet in the number of words in your headline.
• Use numbers to quantify your promise and to convince and emphasize.
• Highlight an advantage.
• Make an appeal to an emotion.
• Make a comparison.
• Reveal a secret or insider information.
• Relate to your products or services.
• Ask a question.
• Identify your prospect’s biggest challenge or area of pleasure, and address it.
• Make a promise or recommendation that addresses challenge or desire.
• Use emotional motivators.
• Converse with the prospect in a one-on-one conversational tone.

Despite an age where one is overloaded with all kinds of information, particularly from the marketing and promotional perspectives, direct mail is still one of the best ways to reach your target market.

Targetability
No other form of marketing is as targeted as direct mail. It is a personalized communication between you and the person receiving it. You have full control of the messaging, presentation, and frequency of the direct mail piece. You select who is going to get this piece and, naturally, you want to make sure it is going to those who will most likely respond to it. You get to pick the demographic, geographic, psychographic, and other characteristics inherent of your target.

When purchasing a mailing list from a company like Martin Worldwide, they could narrow down those characteristics (known in the industry as “selects”) to precisely identify those who most likely will respond to your offer.

Measurability
Measuring the outcome of mass marketing initiatives is often challenging; however with direct mail, it is quite measurable. You can track how many responses you received from the various offers presented in your direct mail. You know how many pieces were sent and how much they cost to create and deliver. By calculating the amount of pieces sent versus the number of responses received shows you the return on your direct mail investment. This quick assessment allows for duplicating or expanding a successful campaign, or adjusting or canceling the campaign if it isn’t working.

Reliability
According to the United States Postal Service, the rate of successful delivery of direct mail pieces is very high, especially when compared to e-mail and mass marketing channels that may or may not be targeted.

Effective Marketing
The repetitive nature of a consistent direct mail program makes it very effective. It can be a cost effective way to make enough impressions on your prospects to inspire the desired action you intended (example: a purchase of your product).

Personalization
Unlike other vehicles such as a newspaper, magazine, or radio ad, you can personalize a direct mail piece. You can customize your piece to address each contact in your mailing list. You can use actual names instead of blanketed terms like “Dear Customer”. The person receiving the direct mail piece is less likely to discard it appears created just for them. Although personalized pieces will outperform non-personalized mailings, you must be careful to not make the direct mail piece look mass produced.

Your Sales Rep in Absentia
Traveling to meet your prospects can become costly and time consuming. Your direct mail piece delivers your message, offer, and allows for response all without you being there.

Easy to Test
Direct mail lends itself well to ongoing tests. It allows you to test all kinds of variables to adjust your direct mail piece or program to maximum effectiveness.

Marketing on the Down Low
When you advertise using mass media channels, everyone sees your message…including the competition. Direct mail allows you to market without being in plain view of your competition. You pick who receives your message, so the chances that your competition will see your direct mail piece are slim.

Pass It Along
Direct mail pieces are tangible items received by your target market. If the piece is tantalizing or interesting enough, many times direct mail is kept to be reviewed another day by the recipient or given (or “passed along”) to someone else who may benefit from your offer.

These are just some of the reasons why direct mail is popular and used by companies large and small. A direct mail campaign starts with an updated, accurate, customized mailing list; a key factor to the success of everything that follows. Industry leaders such as Martin Worldwide can work with you every step of the way to ensure your mailing list and sales leads is created with your specific needs in mind.

I was fortunate to land my first marketing position right after graduating from college; however, the position wouldn’t start for another 10 months. During my hiatus, I got a seasonal position as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service to help with relocation expenses. What does this have to do with direct mail tips? Everything!

During my time as a postal carrier, I delivered thousands of pieces of mail, a good portion being direct mail pieces. I often witnessed which pieces people kept and which ones they trashed. This sparked my curiosity – what factors contribute to the success or failure of a direct mail piece?

To this day, I still address (no pun intended) this question when creating direct mail pieces. Drawing upon my experience as a mail carrier, as well as my career as a graphic designer and a direct marketer, I have been able to assemble useful tips to help develop successful direct mail campaigns that increase business leads response rates.

Development

The process begins with brainstorming over the piece…

• Know your target! Make sure your message is as personalized as possible. The personal touch greatly improves response rate.
• Determine your objective(s) for the direct mail piece and how you plan to accomplish them. Although direct mail objectives are unique for each initiative, common purposes for direct mail are:

1. To promote your business.
2. To acquire new customers.
3. To increase sales.
4. To promote and generate interest in new products and services.
5. To nurture customer relationships. Your plan should be realistic, measurable,
6. To include milestones to stay on schedule.

• Determine the Offer. Simply sending out a direct mail piece to your customers isn’t enough. The offer you include in your direct mail piece must be attractive enough to grab their attention. It should be different than your competitors’ offer. The offer must be relevant and meet the perceived or actual needs of your target. Popular offer tactics include:

1. Offering free delivery or free sample of product.
2. Including a coupon.
3. Create a sense of urgency with a limited time offer.
4. Sending a follow-up mail piece.

• Call to Action. Your direct mail piece must have a call to action. This is arguably one of the most important factors in a successful direct mail piece. Your piece must answer the question, “What do I want them to do when they read my direct mail piece?”
• Figure out what your budget is for your direct mail campaign. Factors that can determine budget include:

1. Designing and writing the mail pieces (example: the size of the pieces)
2. Sourcing the mail pieces (example: finding paper stock, a printing house, etc.)
3. Building, buying, or renting a mailing list
4. Sending your direct mail pieces (example: mailing 500 pieces versus mailing 5,000 pieces)

Design

Now that you know what the mailing piece will be about, it is time to design it. Items to consider in its design…

• Keep It Simple. In designing direct mail pieces, ultimately, it’s often a matter of leaning towards simplicity. It doesn’t mean that the quality of design must be sacrificed for the sake of simplicity. Remember that direct mail pieces have a functional purpose to them: to build interest and encourage responses. Its design elements must be quickly discernable to the eye as well as visually pleasing.
• Use fewer fonts and be sure your type is easy to read. Don’t overlook the use of canon fonts like Arial and Helvetica. Maximize the color contrast between the text and the background and be careful with your text placement. Avoid placing type over busy backgrounds or complex patterns when possible.
• Restrict your palette to fewer colors. Experiment with complimentary colors (example: blue and orange, red and green), and don’t forget the impact of monochromatic (meaning variants of the same color) dynamics. Take a look at the creative in grayscale so you can get a sense of how it translates in B&W.
• Magic Color is Red. The psychological effect that red has in advertising is well documented. It is said that red attracts attention, inspires impulsiveness, and generates excitement. It’s no wonder that red is the most used color in the world of advertising design.
• Step back and look at the “big picture.” Throughout the design process, it is easy to be drawn into the details. Don’t forget to balance your attention to the finer details with an equal amount of stepping back to experience the overall composition.

Delivery

• When you buy quality business leads, use a targeted mailing list that includes at least the following information:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Phone
4. Date of Birth
5. Gender
6. Occupation
7. E-mail Address

• Maintain your mailing lists to ensure that duplicates and bad addresses are eliminated. This will reduce your number of returned mailing pieces and reduce postage costs.
• Make sure that your pieces are in compliance with postal delivery standards. Most mail houses are current with the regulations. If you employ a mail house or will be mailing the pieces yourself, be sure to research the guidelines.
• Make sure the address is as accurate and complete as possible. The following will also improve speed and deliverability of your mail pieces:

1. Print address labels. This reduces legibility issues. If you use transparent labels, make sure color of the piece or envelope doesn’t hide the visibility of what is written on the label. If you will be writing the addresses by hand, write clearly and neatly in print.
2. Use Appropriate Postal Suffix: ST (Street); BLVD (Boulevard); AVE (Avenue); LN (Lane); CIR (Circle); RD (Road); PKWY (Parkway); ALLEY (ALY); SQ (Square); APT (Apartment); BLDG (Building); FL (Floor); STE (Suite)
3. Use ZIP+4 Code: A more detailed zip code description of the location you are mailing.

• Track the response. Whether including a tracking or promotion code on the mailing piece or using the plethora of CRM and electronic tracking methods available, the ability to track where your responses are coming from is extremely useful for subsequent mailings.
• Send a post card to your entire mailing list once a year via First Class postage. If there are any undeliverable addresses, the US Postal Service will inform you. Since they do this for free, this is an economical way to help maintain the accuracy of your mailing lists.

Good luck!

The advice presented was given in response to a reader looking to expand his business, which specializes in doing photography work for heavy industry companies. The artist, who has used mailing lists in the past with little success, asked “Are there firms out there that compile lists of potential clients meeting very specific criteria?”, and since you are reading this blog, you probably know that the answer is a resounding “YES!”.

Mailing lists can be complied from a variety of different sources, including the opt-in databases of a particular industry or profession, phone directories, government filings, subscription records, and other information listings. They can be customized to fit virtually any profile — geographic, industry, job title, income, business size, gender, hobbies, homeownership, ethnic background, etc. Our company specializes in providing this sort of data for both business and consumer lists, covering more than 14 million businesses and 290 million consumers in the US today.

The article, though brief, goes on to identify some ways to select and optimize the use of your business mailing list. The author, Ilana DeBare, notes that your list must identify the right decision-maker in a company, otherwise it will probably get tossed into the circular file, and must be up-to-date, too. It’s best that your business lists include a variety of ways to contact the lead, including mailing address, telephone number, and email, so that you can maximize your exposure with the client — one source is quoted as saying you can more than double your response rate by calling prospects shortly after sending a mailing. A couple of list brokers are identified, but the article fails to identify how to be positive you’ll be truly satisfied with your list. If you don’t want to be stuck with a list that leaves you dissatisfied by its performance, there’s one thing that you be sure your list has — a strong guarantee!

At Martin Worldwide, we stand behind all of our data 100%. If the artist had been “looking for lists” with us, he would have had access to lead listings customized for the particular needs of his business, and the performance of his data would have been guaranteed against failure. We are so confident in our clients’ happiness with their lists that, in the unlikely event a list fails to perform, we will replace it with new data at no additional charge. And, with the assistance of our marketing services staff, selecting the right list for your business is easy. So, if you’re not just looking for lists, but for customized lists that will provide you with a return on your investment, Martin Worldwide is your answer.