In this issue of MWTM we’re happy to feature an article by direct marketing expert, Dave Klein, CEO and President of Macromark Inc. Dave has recently joined our team of Masters and is a terrific addition with more than twenty years in the industry working with hundreds of clients in their customer acquisition efforts.
Marketers have many channels to choose from when developing acquisition strategies. Direct mail is a great way to prospect and acquire new supplement customers for many reasons.
Direct mail continues to grow and prosper...
Even with the growth of Internet sales
There are several advantages that direct mail offers when it comes to marketing your supplement products:
• You’ll open up an enormous new market thanks to the lists of proven buyers available to you.
• Supplement buyers are the PERFECT demographic for direct mail marketing.
• Life time value of customers is greatest when acquired through direct mail.
• Your sales or mailing piece provides unlimited space to tell your “story”.
• You can establish a coveted one-to-one relationship with your customer.
The lifeline to a successful business in direct mail is to have prospecting sources that are ready, abundant and ever-growing. While a lot of companies have transitioned advertising dollars to the Internet, when it comes to the supplement market, direct mail continues to grow and prosper. This is good for nutritional supplement companies. From a marketing and product perspective this trend not only makes sense, but it should continue for years to come.
Nutritional supplements are used by consumers in all age categories and across all income levels. While the importance of name availability with income or age selects is often critical, direct mail for supplement marketers is significantly more dynamic because of the availability of competitive and personal purchasing histories on certain lists.
The market for nutritional supplements through direct mail is already very strong. Thus there are a lot of lists on the market that offer direct mail sold users of nutritional supplements. This behavioral and purchasing characteristic of being a “known” nutritional supplement buyer is the difference between night and day when it comes to your marketing results. This one magical variable makes all the difference in the world when marketing your product through direct mail.
It just so happens that the biggest users of nutritional supplements are the aging baby boomers:
• They grew up on direct mail.
• They enjoy direct mail and .
• They are heavy information seekers.
This makes them ideal candidates for receiving direct mail on all types of nutritional supplements.
Direct mail for the supplement market has a distinct look and feel
Most of the successful direct mail pieces for supplements tell an interesting story about the product and how it came to be available. Many times there is a doctor or a scientist that endorses the product or perhaps they even created it, giving further validity to the combination of the ingredients found in the supplement.
The benefits expected from using the supplement are really what most of the mail piece should be focused on – the importance of the ingredients and how they can help the user of the product. Mail pieces can be written in many different formats and designs. They can be mailed as components in an envelope, as a self mailer that looks like a magazine or a “digest” sized publication. They can even be mailed in a postcard format.
Typically the more relevant information or sales copy provided the better. Direct mail doesn’t have limits related to the amount of content provided, and as a rule of thumb the more content, the better for the consumer or prospect to make an informed purchasing decision.
The SECRET power of a direct mail generated name
Probably the biggest advantage of direct mail can be found when developing your own buyer or customer list from the prospect mailings that you do. These customers respond to your next mailings or subsequent product mailings at much higher response rates than your original acquisition efforts. It’s not unusual for these customer mailings to produce results two to four times better than what your “cold” or prospect mailings yield.
This lifetime value of mailings to your customer list with the same product or other products from your nutritional supplement line creates the lifeline and the enterprise value for your direct mail supplement business. These customers will power your continued growth.
There are probably close to 70,000 different lists or sources for names available on the list market, but targeted lists made up of nutritional supplement buyers number between 100-200, making the testing and developing of successful direct mail plans very manageable and highly predictable. This availability of lists continues to be the fuel of growth for all future marketers of supplements looking to use this media for marketing their products. With lists averaging in size between a couple thousand names and several hundred thousand names, the universe of buyers is well over 10 million individuals.
All marketing or communication channels have their unique advantages and disadvantages that set them apart from each other, but when it comes to nutritional supplements, direct mail has proven itself to be the hands down winner.
Sincerely,
Dave Klein
CEO/President Macromark Inc.
www.macromark.com
PS – Check out The Master’s Guide to Supplement Marketing for more information on choosing the right direct mail lists and look out for a future MWTM feature on the power of retention marketing to your names.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Great FREE Resource
For those of you new to this blog, I'd like to welcome you.
And I'd also like to tell you how you can sign up for a great, FREE resource that will provide you with money-making marketing ideas on a weekly basis.
On top of that, when you sign up for this FREE resource...you also get a $59 special report -- Supplement Marketing Mastery -- FREE of charge.
Take a moment to visit the link below and sign up today!
http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/signup.html
Best regards,
Jody Madron
And I'd also like to tell you how you can sign up for a great, FREE resource that will provide you with money-making marketing ideas on a weekly basis.
On top of that, when you sign up for this FREE resource...you also get a $59 special report -- Supplement Marketing Mastery -- FREE of charge.
Take a moment to visit the link below and sign up today!
http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/signup.html
Best regards,
Jody Madron
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Incentivizing Your Offer: Why Everyone Likes a Bonus
Special offers aren’t just necessary in direct marketing, they’re imperative. Consumers expect that you’ll give them something, they expect that that “something” to feel valuable, and they are prepared to shop around to be certain they’re getting the “best” deal.
Your challenge isn’t just to find that special something that pushes your prospect into the purchase, but to package your offer in such a way that you stand out from the crowd.
Great copywriters (as we discuss in our Supplement Marketing Masters program) are able to put new and exciting spins on age-old offers, thus breathing fresh air into them and making them sound new and different. A great example of this is the comeback of the “buy one, get one free” or BOGO offer during the past few years.
Natural health products lend themselves quite easily to offers of getting one or more free bottles with your purchase. Over the past few years, the BOGO offer has been heavily used, incentivizing consumers to order larger shipments than they might have without the perceived value of the free product. Specifically, buy-three, get-one free is an extremely popular offer amongst supplement marketers.
If your cost of goods (COGS) is reasonable, then giving away a free-bottle with a payment for two bottles, really only costs a few dollars. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you actually spend, but how that value is perceived by your customer.
A few other offers that can be perceived as extremely valuable:
• Free information – a report or a book on a subject you know will interest your customer. Along with your product combating joint pain you might offer: “All orders of 2 or more bottles, will receive our special report on joint pain, “Five Tips to Avoiding the Triggers that Worsen Painful Inflammation”, valued at $39…yours free.”
• Volume discounts – Make them feel like they’re getting more for less. “Order our “Best Deal”, a six-month supply and we’ll give it to you for a 35% discount – a savings of $25 off the usual six-month price!” Follow-through is critical. Be sure the other deals aren’t as lucrative as the “Best Deal” and watch your average order value skyrocket.
• Free product – a trial supply of a complimentary product or a bottle of one of your other best-sellers. This creates not only perceived value, but generates interest in your other products. “Customer’s who order within the next 5 days, will receive a FREE bottle (a $15 value) of our best-selling immune boosting formula. Supercharge your immunity and watch your health improve drastically with Immune Booster, another of our bestselling products.”
One of the offers that supplement marketers have found extremely lucrative over the past few years is the auto-ship concept. The language differs from company to company (and so it should to differentiate them from each other), but the general idea is the same.
A credit card number is secured from the customer with the understanding they will be charged at a certain, ongoing frequency and product will be continuously shipped.
This offer has the obvious benefit to the customer of saving them time and money. If they’re taking your product with the suggested regularity, then they’ll receive ongoing shipments with no additional effort and never have to worry about running out of the product. In addition, they’ll receive the ongoing supply locked in at the lowest possible price with no shipping and handling cost – not just a perceived value, but a real value.
To you, this offer is extremely powerful because it provides you with a guaranteed stream of retention revenue every time you charge their credit card. You’ve gotten permission to charge the credit card every month or every quarter depending on your offer. You can be certain there are far fewer people who will contact you to cancel the auto-ship program than there are people who will re-order if you have to re-engage them every time they need more of your product.
Here at Marketing with the Masters, we’ve seen businesses with 30% of their customers participating in the auto-ship program – that equates to guaranteed income of millions of dollars per year!
There are many other types of offers and incentives that your customers would enjoy. We’ll come back to those in a future issue.
Until then, if you haven’t checked out our flagship product, don’t delay, follow this link to learn more: http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/W800L308.html
You’ll find all the answers you need to get a nutritional supplement business started via direct marketing and most importantly, backed by the Masters, you’ll have the confidence to get started right away.
Sincerely,
Stacy Berver
Your challenge isn’t just to find that special something that pushes your prospect into the purchase, but to package your offer in such a way that you stand out from the crowd.
Great copywriters (as we discuss in our Supplement Marketing Masters program) are able to put new and exciting spins on age-old offers, thus breathing fresh air into them and making them sound new and different. A great example of this is the comeback of the “buy one, get one free” or BOGO offer during the past few years.
Natural health products lend themselves quite easily to offers of getting one or more free bottles with your purchase. Over the past few years, the BOGO offer has been heavily used, incentivizing consumers to order larger shipments than they might have without the perceived value of the free product. Specifically, buy-three, get-one free is an extremely popular offer amongst supplement marketers.
If your cost of goods (COGS) is reasonable, then giving away a free-bottle with a payment for two bottles, really only costs a few dollars. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you actually spend, but how that value is perceived by your customer.
A few other offers that can be perceived as extremely valuable:
• Free information – a report or a book on a subject you know will interest your customer. Along with your product combating joint pain you might offer: “All orders of 2 or more bottles, will receive our special report on joint pain, “Five Tips to Avoiding the Triggers that Worsen Painful Inflammation”, valued at $39…yours free.”
• Volume discounts – Make them feel like they’re getting more for less. “Order our “Best Deal”, a six-month supply and we’ll give it to you for a 35% discount – a savings of $25 off the usual six-month price!” Follow-through is critical. Be sure the other deals aren’t as lucrative as the “Best Deal” and watch your average order value skyrocket.
• Free product – a trial supply of a complimentary product or a bottle of one of your other best-sellers. This creates not only perceived value, but generates interest in your other products. “Customer’s who order within the next 5 days, will receive a FREE bottle (a $15 value) of our best-selling immune boosting formula. Supercharge your immunity and watch your health improve drastically with Immune Booster, another of our bestselling products.”
One of the offers that supplement marketers have found extremely lucrative over the past few years is the auto-ship concept. The language differs from company to company (and so it should to differentiate them from each other), but the general idea is the same.
A credit card number is secured from the customer with the understanding they will be charged at a certain, ongoing frequency and product will be continuously shipped.
This offer has the obvious benefit to the customer of saving them time and money. If they’re taking your product with the suggested regularity, then they’ll receive ongoing shipments with no additional effort and never have to worry about running out of the product. In addition, they’ll receive the ongoing supply locked in at the lowest possible price with no shipping and handling cost – not just a perceived value, but a real value.
To you, this offer is extremely powerful because it provides you with a guaranteed stream of retention revenue every time you charge their credit card. You’ve gotten permission to charge the credit card every month or every quarter depending on your offer. You can be certain there are far fewer people who will contact you to cancel the auto-ship program than there are people who will re-order if you have to re-engage them every time they need more of your product.
Here at Marketing with the Masters, we’ve seen businesses with 30% of their customers participating in the auto-ship program – that equates to guaranteed income of millions of dollars per year!
There are many other types of offers and incentives that your customers would enjoy. We’ll come back to those in a future issue.
Until then, if you haven’t checked out our flagship product, don’t delay, follow this link to learn more: http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/W800L308.html
You’ll find all the answers you need to get a nutritional supplement business started via direct marketing and most importantly, backed by the Masters, you’ll have the confidence to get started right away.
Sincerely,
Stacy Berver
Monday, June 14, 2010
How to Spend Your Direct Marketing Dollars Wisely
Direct marketing comes in many shapes and sizes. There’s online marketing through email joint ventures, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization and many more. There is direct TV (also known as infomercial marketing). Then there is direct mail.
Every one of these channels has its pros and cons. Online marketing for example is often touted as the best place to begin for a new direct marketer, because it’s cost effective. But on the flip side, it’s not nearly as targeted.
A new client of mine doesn’t do anything else until his infomercial yields a million dollars in sales. His model for doing business has proven that he’ll then be able to adapt the marketing material for use online and in the mail with little to no risk.
One thing that most direct marketers can agree upon is the simple fact that buyers generated through direct mail typically have a much higher lifetime value than buyers sourced through other channels.
In my past life as a newsletter marketer, we found that names generated through direct mail who also provide an email address were worth four times as much as names generated through other sources.
If you think about it, it’s really quite simple. Direct mail, while unarguably more costly, gives you much better chance of capturing your target’s attention for long enough to convince them to buy.
With mail, your prospect literally holds it in their hands. There is no world-wide web lurking behind the mail like there is with the email that you’ve sent out or the web page that your prospect is viewing. And there is no channel surfing for other program competition that infomercial marketers fear.
The old adage “you get what you pay for” is true with direct marketing. My advice is to try both online and offline marketing of your products and services – you’ll likely find that online channels help you build a list quickly while offline channels provide you with prospects who are willing to buy once and buy again very shortly thereafter.
Direct mail will never go away completely because the buyers it generates are simply too valuable. Let’s look an example:
A Pay Per Click campaign, for example, may generate 10,000 new names...at a marketing cost of $10,000. Those names might carry a lifetime value of $25 each -- meaning a total lifetime value of $250,000. When you subtract out the $10,000 marketing cost, you're left with a total value of $240,000.
A Direct Mail campaign, on the other hand, may generate 5,000 names -- at a higher marketing cost of $20,000. But those names would carry a much higher lifetime value of $75 each. That means you'd see a total of $375,000 over the life of those names -- and a net of $355,000 once marketing costs are subtracted.
You’ll probably have to prove this to yourself to believe it, but I’ve seen it time and time again.
And you may end up successfully running marketing programs across various channels because the value of names via one is strong and the quantity of names via another is significant.
As you think about getting started on a lucrative direct marketing journey, be sure to check out our program, Marketing with the Masters. In our easy-to-read “Master’s Guides”, eight of the industry’s top “masters” share their knowledge, secrets and strategies for successfully launching direct marketing campaigns…for any business.
http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/W800L307.html
And if you don’t have a product readily available, we delve into the specifics of launching a nutritional supplement direct marketing program.
Plus, as always, feel free to get in touch with me at info@marketingwiththemasters.com and we can discuss your getting your program off the ground.
Until next time,
Stacy Berver
Every one of these channels has its pros and cons. Online marketing for example is often touted as the best place to begin for a new direct marketer, because it’s cost effective. But on the flip side, it’s not nearly as targeted.
A new client of mine doesn’t do anything else until his infomercial yields a million dollars in sales. His model for doing business has proven that he’ll then be able to adapt the marketing material for use online and in the mail with little to no risk.
One thing that most direct marketers can agree upon is the simple fact that buyers generated through direct mail typically have a much higher lifetime value than buyers sourced through other channels.
In my past life as a newsletter marketer, we found that names generated through direct mail who also provide an email address were worth four times as much as names generated through other sources.
If you think about it, it’s really quite simple. Direct mail, while unarguably more costly, gives you much better chance of capturing your target’s attention for long enough to convince them to buy.
With mail, your prospect literally holds it in their hands. There is no world-wide web lurking behind the mail like there is with the email that you’ve sent out or the web page that your prospect is viewing. And there is no channel surfing for other program competition that infomercial marketers fear.
The old adage “you get what you pay for” is true with direct marketing. My advice is to try both online and offline marketing of your products and services – you’ll likely find that online channels help you build a list quickly while offline channels provide you with prospects who are willing to buy once and buy again very shortly thereafter.
Direct mail will never go away completely because the buyers it generates are simply too valuable. Let’s look an example:
A Pay Per Click campaign, for example, may generate 10,000 new names...at a marketing cost of $10,000. Those names might carry a lifetime value of $25 each -- meaning a total lifetime value of $250,000. When you subtract out the $10,000 marketing cost, you're left with a total value of $240,000.
A Direct Mail campaign, on the other hand, may generate 5,000 names -- at a higher marketing cost of $20,000. But those names would carry a much higher lifetime value of $75 each. That means you'd see a total of $375,000 over the life of those names -- and a net of $355,000 once marketing costs are subtracted.
You’ll probably have to prove this to yourself to believe it, but I’ve seen it time and time again.
And you may end up successfully running marketing programs across various channels because the value of names via one is strong and the quantity of names via another is significant.
As you think about getting started on a lucrative direct marketing journey, be sure to check out our program, Marketing with the Masters. In our easy-to-read “Master’s Guides”, eight of the industry’s top “masters” share their knowledge, secrets and strategies for successfully launching direct marketing campaigns…for any business.
http://www.supplementmarketingmasters.com/W800L307.html
And if you don’t have a product readily available, we delve into the specifics of launching a nutritional supplement direct marketing program.
Plus, as always, feel free to get in touch with me at info@marketingwiththemasters.com and we can discuss your getting your program off the ground.
Until next time,
Stacy Berver
Friday, June 11, 2010
Boost Your Response By Up to 30% with One Simple Change
No question about it – consumers are still feeling the effects of our sluggish economy.
As a result, they’re working harder to shop for the very best deal with each purchase they make.
When marketing supplements via direct marketing, you can’t afford to leave any doubt in the prospect’s mind as they prepare to place their order. Good copy, strong testimonials and a mountain of scientific research are all great tools of persuasion.
One more way to instill confidence in your customer’s mind is by including the strongest possible guarantee. In some cases, a simple change in your refund policy could boost your response by as much as 30%.
It’s only human nature – as a marketer or entrepreneur – to work on keeping your refund rate as low as possible. After all, refunds are bothersome…they sometimes involve difficult customers and – most importantly – they represent money going out the door.
One of the more common mistakes made by new direct marketers is to downplay the refund policy in the hopes of avoiding refunds. There are a handful of situations where this may be appropriate…but in the nutritional supplement market, this is rarely true.
Your guarantee – and your offer as a whole – is an opportunity for you to once again grab the reader’s attention…and leave no doubt as to why the product and deal you’re offering is one he must take right away.
Think about it.
If you read any sales letter that describes – even with some of the strongest copy imaginable – how great the product is…and what it could potentially do for you, wouldn’t it only make sense that the letter would close with a powerful guarantee?
Your goal should be to remove any doubt in your prospective customer’s mind as to whether or not this product will work for him. If you’re offering, for example, a 100% money-back guarantee for 90 days while most of your competitors are only offering 30 days…your customer will feel your offer is more credible because you’re more willing to stand firmly behind your product.
Think for a moment about the world your customer – or prospective customer – lives in every day. Chances are, his initial purchase of a supplement has brought him many more direct mail solicitations for additional supplements from your competitors.
It would be foolish to assume that your prospective customer is NOT evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each offer received. If, for example, he receives two solicitations for a joint pain relief product in the span of seven days…those products, pitches and offers will be compared against one another so the customer can feel like he’s getting the best possible deal.
If you’re already successfully marketing supplements via direct mail – and looking for a quick boost in response – I would strongly recommend testing a more powerful guarantee.
And don’t let that guarantee simply speak for itself.
Let the reader know immediately – even as he’s just learning what the product will do – how firmly you stand behind your product. A simple passing mention on the order page will not help – use a strong refund policy for what it is: A powerful, response-boosting tool to help you generate more sales.
I’ve seen simple “offer” or “guarantee” tests increase response by as much as 30% for supplement marketers and newsletter publishers. It’s a simple, easy-to-execute test that can deliver fast results.
And remember while testing to accurately track the refunds generated by each policy. It’s not always true that a more flexible refund policy will lead to an increase in refunds – that’s why it’s so important to test.
If you’d like to learn about more ways you can quickly boost your response, drop me a line at info@marketingwiththemasters.com.
I’ve been in the direct marketing business for 18 years – and have provided the creative behind over one hundred successful campaigns. I’d be more than happy to talk with you about how you can improve your next marketing campaign with just a few simple steps.
Best regards,
Jody Madron
PS- For more great ideas – just like those you’re receiving in our Marketing with the Masters e-letter – to help give your business a marketing “jump-start” I urge you to check out our complete Master’s Guide to Supplement Marketing. It’s the most comprehensive – yet easy-to-use – direct marketing education resource available anywhere. Click here to learn more right now!
As a result, they’re working harder to shop for the very best deal with each purchase they make.
When marketing supplements via direct marketing, you can’t afford to leave any doubt in the prospect’s mind as they prepare to place their order. Good copy, strong testimonials and a mountain of scientific research are all great tools of persuasion.
One more way to instill confidence in your customer’s mind is by including the strongest possible guarantee. In some cases, a simple change in your refund policy could boost your response by as much as 30%.
It’s only human nature – as a marketer or entrepreneur – to work on keeping your refund rate as low as possible. After all, refunds are bothersome…they sometimes involve difficult customers and – most importantly – they represent money going out the door.
One of the more common mistakes made by new direct marketers is to downplay the refund policy in the hopes of avoiding refunds. There are a handful of situations where this may be appropriate…but in the nutritional supplement market, this is rarely true.
Your guarantee – and your offer as a whole – is an opportunity for you to once again grab the reader’s attention…and leave no doubt as to why the product and deal you’re offering is one he must take right away.
Think about it.
If you read any sales letter that describes – even with some of the strongest copy imaginable – how great the product is…and what it could potentially do for you, wouldn’t it only make sense that the letter would close with a powerful guarantee?
Your goal should be to remove any doubt in your prospective customer’s mind as to whether or not this product will work for him. If you’re offering, for example, a 100% money-back guarantee for 90 days while most of your competitors are only offering 30 days…your customer will feel your offer is more credible because you’re more willing to stand firmly behind your product.
Think for a moment about the world your customer – or prospective customer – lives in every day. Chances are, his initial purchase of a supplement has brought him many more direct mail solicitations for additional supplements from your competitors.
It would be foolish to assume that your prospective customer is NOT evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each offer received. If, for example, he receives two solicitations for a joint pain relief product in the span of seven days…those products, pitches and offers will be compared against one another so the customer can feel like he’s getting the best possible deal.
If you’re already successfully marketing supplements via direct mail – and looking for a quick boost in response – I would strongly recommend testing a more powerful guarantee.
And don’t let that guarantee simply speak for itself.
Let the reader know immediately – even as he’s just learning what the product will do – how firmly you stand behind your product. A simple passing mention on the order page will not help – use a strong refund policy for what it is: A powerful, response-boosting tool to help you generate more sales.
I’ve seen simple “offer” or “guarantee” tests increase response by as much as 30% for supplement marketers and newsletter publishers. It’s a simple, easy-to-execute test that can deliver fast results.
And remember while testing to accurately track the refunds generated by each policy. It’s not always true that a more flexible refund policy will lead to an increase in refunds – that’s why it’s so important to test.
If you’d like to learn about more ways you can quickly boost your response, drop me a line at info@marketingwiththemasters.com.
I’ve been in the direct marketing business for 18 years – and have provided the creative behind over one hundred successful campaigns. I’d be more than happy to talk with you about how you can improve your next marketing campaign with just a few simple steps.
Best regards,
Jody Madron
PS- For more great ideas – just like those you’re receiving in our Marketing with the Masters e-letter – to help give your business a marketing “jump-start” I urge you to check out our complete Master’s Guide to Supplement Marketing. It’s the most comprehensive – yet easy-to-use – direct marketing education resource available anywhere. Click here to learn more right now!
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