Category Archives for Tylerica Blog
What’s Old is New Again – Direct Mail and Email Marketing
As the saying goes, “what’s old is new again”. Constant innovation in marketing is to be expected. After all, how else can businesses “stay ahead of the curve” and not look “ho-hum” or “me too”? But innovation as it applies to Marketing does not have to mean that everything we know today will be useless tomorrow. In fact, the famous McGraw Hill “Man in the Chair” ad from 1958 is just as relevant a concept today is it was almost 60 years ago although the media used to deliver the message may have changed , as this short video from the Business Marketing Association illustrates. Two ways to deliver marketing messages, Direct Mail and Email Marketing, are making a comeback and may be worth another look for marketing your business.
A few years back, Direct Mail seemed to be dropping off as postage rates went up and the internet became increasingly dominant as the “go to” source of information. Now don’t get me wrong, the internet is still a huge player, and having a “Total Online Presence” for your business is an absolute must. But, the internet is not the only channel that savvy business owners use to market their businesses. Getting someone’s attention using an eye-catching direct mail piece should not be counted out. The US Postal Service has a product offering called “Every Door Direct Mail”, which allows businesses to target specific postal delivery routes at a very attractive rate (at the time this was written, 16 cents per door). This rate undercuts the rates charged by many door flier delivery services, and this affordability, coupled with the widespread availability of high-quality postcard printing at reasonable cost, is creating a lot of renewed interest in Direct Mail.
To be even more effective, rather than “sell” your prospective client, a direct mail piece should direct them to take action in order to learn more. This call to action could be a “mail back for more info” card, a phone number to call for info, or a suggestion to visit your website. The benefit of this two-step approach is that it not only gives you a greater opportunity to build “know, like, and trust” in order to move your prospect toward an eventual sale, but it also allows you to gather contact information in order to implement a “drip marketing” campaign. That brings me to the second “old is new again” topic, Email Marketing.
When Social Media began its meteoric rise, there were those who felt that the era of marketing via email was coming to an end. After all, who was going to bother with email when they could “connect” on Social Media? While leveraging Social Media in marketing definitely has its place, it is not the wholesale replacement for Email Marketing that many thought it might have become. For one thing, many people use “Social” for strictly that and ignore ads placed there. Furthermore, as the Social Media sites take measures to deal with the flood of traffic that their popularity has created, your posts are likely not being seen by all of your friends. So the possibility of something “going viral” — even if only among your friends and their friends — is decreased. Re-enter Email Marketing,
To be effective, Email Marketing must be done right. This means using good looking emails with the “right” content. It also means having them delivered via a reputable service that does not have capacity issues, that is “whitelisted” by Internet Service Providers in order to maximize deliverability, and that contains the features to keep you in compliance with Federal “CAN-SPAM” laws. When it is done right, Email marketing can help publicize special offers, or promote goodwill by getting the word out about your community involvement. It also has much to offer that is useful for implementing two-step marketing campaigns. Giving away a free report or some other value-added piece of content in exchange for contact information that allows regular “touches” via Email can pay large dividends. Email Marketing increases your “know, like, and trust” with your customers and prospects by educating them about you and your business and by keeping you top-of-mind so that when they are ready to buy they call you.
So the next time you want to “change up” your marketing to stay in front of your competition, consider another look at Direct Mail and Email Marketing. They might just break you out of the “same old, same old” and propel you into new growth.
3 Business Strategy Tips Gleaned From the Disney-Lucasfilm Deal
In October of 2012, it was announced that the Walt Disney Co. was acquiring Lucasfilm Ltd from George Lucas for $4.05 Billion. Here are 3 things small business owners can take-away from this news:
1. Expand Strategically
Speaking of the acquisition, Disney CEO Rober Iger said “This is one of the great entertainment properties of all time, one of the best branded and one of the most valuable.” That being the case, was the $4 Billion that Disney paid top-dollar for a franchise that has already peaked? Probably not. Iger went on to say that “it’s just fantastic for us to have the opportunity to both buy it, run it and grow it.” In other words, the acquisition was not just about buying cash-flow, but it was also about buying potential. It is not about acquiring for the sake of having, but about investing in the future. There are already plans for additional movies, and merchandising and theme-park features can’t be far behind. Small business owners looking to expand should take note and look beyond what the cash-flow their expansion will provide, but also what additional opportunities for leverage their expansion would create.
2. Have an Exit Plan
George Lucas said “one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next.” By selling LucasFilm to Disney, he accomplished two key goals. First, Lucas ensured that the Star Wars franchise development will outlive him and be part of his legacy. Second, with an extra $4 Billion in his pocket, he has even more resources to pursue other goals. Very few small business owners plan on running their business until the day they die, but how many have a solid exit strategy? If you are in this latter group, building the strongest, most valuable business that you can now will enable carrying out your ideal scenario for exiting your business. That brings us to
3. Do What You Love
Clearly, the Start Wars franchise has been a passion of Lucas’ for many years. Lucas was so particular about the “look & feel” of Star Wars that he even created two companies, Industrial Light and Magic (for Special Effects) and Skywalker Sound. The entire THX audio designation was all about quality assurance for theaters being able to faithfully reproduce sound in movies. But Star Wars itself is only part of Lucas’ story. Lucas bootstrapped his way into the film industry with a short film he directed as a graduate student that then became Lucas first feature-length film before the landmark America Graffitti. Now, Lucas plans on returning to short, independent films, as well as his philanthropic endeavors. Many times, small business owners become consumed with running their businesses and they forget about why they are in that business, or what else they might be doing with their time.
How about you? What do you make of the Disney-Lucasfilm deal and, more importantly, do you have a sound strategy to grow, run, and exit your business at the right time so that you will always be doing what you love?
What We Can Learn From Clark Kent’s Career Change
The big news in the superhero world is that Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent, has quit his job at the Daily Planet newspaper. According to DC Entertainment, “the resignation reflects present-day issues – the balance of journalism vs. entertainment, the role of new media, the rise of the citizen journalist, etc.” Another quote from one of Clark Kent’s journalist peers: “Times are changing, and print is a dying medium.” Lastly, it looks like Clark Kent’s new career direction will be blogging. Pair the shift in Clark Kent’s career trajectory with the “real world” news that after 79 years in print, Newsweek will no longer be available in that medium. As of 2013, Newsweek will become a digital-only publication called Newsweek Global. Expectations for 2012 are that total spending for on-line advertising will surpass total spending for print for the first time.
So what conclusions can be drawn from this for the world of marketing a small business? The most natural is that print media is dead, so stop spending money there. But this would be incorrect. In some situations, advertising in print is a still a viable tactic to support the overall marketing effort. The key is in understanding and defining that “some”. Another conclusion might be to go “all-in” on websites, SEO, pay-per-click,Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. While a substantial shift to digital is more likely to be the recommended tactic in today’s marketing world, “all-in” may be a bit strong. So how is the small business owner to know what to do?
While some shifts in tactics are almost certainly required of most small businesses, knee-jerk reactions to keep up with a trend are not the answer. The true answer is found by placing the primary focus on developing (or modifying) an overall marketing strategy. By focusing first on the message and defining the target market, the specific tactics to support that strategy will become clearer. Once the strategy is nailed down, budgeting for and implementing specific tactics become more manageable.
How has your marketing strategy changed in response to the times? What are your primary tactics in the current era?
Read more about Clark Kent’s career change: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/great-scott-clark-kent-quits-daily-planet-article-1.1189611#ixzz2A9EUww7E