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Publ isher ’s Corner

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Table of ContentsPublisher’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Secret to Nissan's mail success . . . . . .1What works: Using analytics to stop attrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Pfizer’s direct levels playing field . . .4Remailing strategy: No game for amateurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5New CD technology ups personalized response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Is the infomercial dead? . . . . . . . . . . . .6Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Marketing Memos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

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Mobile marketing: 7 direct marketing rules for success by Craig Huey

Now that there are 255 million U.S. wireless mobile device

subscribers—roughly 84% of the population—this medium gives direct marketers a distinct advantage in today’s marketplace.

Never has the ability to make a sale been as fast and easy.

Unlike the web, and just like direct mail, mobile marketing (or M-commerce), delivers targeted content to the prospect, not the other way around.

The ability to trigger an immediate call to action and

The secret to Nissan and

Infiniti’s direct mail success

Nissan and Infiniti dealerships have enjoyed consistent 4% or better response rates from mailings to customers over the past 4 years. The reason direct response is working so well in this marketplace? Database personalization.

The dealers are promoting their service with drop rates of 6 to 8 times a year. But the mailer copy is more fine-tuned than just urging readers to visit local dealers to have the car inspected, get a tune-up or receive general maintenance.

Specific wording is crafted based on a consumer’s behavior and stage in the dealer’s program life cycle. Formats include letters and coupons for oil and filter changes, transmission flushes and other

simultaneous response is the M-commerce secret weapon that skyrockets profits .

Anytime/anyplace mobile subscribers are attuned to text messages, emails and digitally delivered coupons as well as web offers. What’s more, the mobile channel spans ages, ethnicities and economic strata.

The Internet that was accessed only from a desk is a thing of the past .

Here are 7 rules for you to master the mobile marketing revolution and get the most return on your M-commerce investment.

No intrusive messages .1 . The first step in creating mobile marketing is to think about why your prospects use a mobile device in the first place. Pushed messages must offer immediate, value-added information. Coupons, instantaneous contest participation, voting and buy-now text are proving effective.

More than 3 in 10 mobile

D I r e c t r e s p o N s e


users—some 78 million U .S . consumers—recall seeing or hearing advertising on their mobile phones .

Go local with 2 . keywords . Prospects using mobile as a search device are seeking local services and immediate answers. When choosing keywords to serve up your offer, think localization like “Pizza Los Angeles” or “Accounting Las Vegas.”

Text messaging remains the most common advertising format recalled in the U .S ., U .K . and India .

Optimize for 3 . download . Ensure your content is quick and easy to view and navigate. Create web landing pages inherent to mobile users. Write in short text or provide codes that get users directly to your product. The easier it is for prospects to access your landing page

from an iPhone, the more they’re likely to use your service.

Mobile text codes will become as common as URLs as consumers’ #1 memorable way to connect with products or services .

Practice good direct 4 . response . Mobile could be considered the “Holy Grail” of direct response marketing because of its interactive capabilities. Prospects can make immediate purchases via phone and/or by credit card over the web. Include touchback text like, “Would you like us to contact you when this product comes in/goes on sale?”

Mobile marketing today is what the web was 10 years ago . 6 .5 million U .S . mobile consumers had used text messaging to make a purchase in Q1 2008 .

Benefit from testing .5 . Controlled segmentation never had it so good. Marketers can define test parameters: Which content to show to whom and when. Geotargeting is a good example. Try an offer for city dwellers and another for people in rural areas. Adjustments can be made in real time based on test feedback.

Make the most of 6 . speed . With a company website, if you want to run a test campaign or behavioral targeting campaign, it could take weeks before your website developer makes the changes you need. With mobile, you can have a test up and running—and collecting data—within 30 minutes. Stop focusing on the technology to change your website. Focus on the

mechanics of getting your best idea into the mobile space.

It’s more important than ever to understand how consumers are using digital media . One-half of all mobile data users expect to purchase goods or services using their handset .

Cross-integrate .7 . Like any great marketing campaign, the more you tell the more you sell. Mobile makes the most sense when integrated into a larger, multi-platform campaign. Be sure to print, post and serve your company telephone number. Remember, first and foremost, mobile devices are phones.

Don’t forget to apply the power of direct response rules in your copy, art and offer .

Mobile web is ringing off the hook. All day, every day, teenagers, soccer moms, businesspeople, plant managers, health professionals and other contractors are on the go and on mobile.

According to a DMA consumer research study, 24% of the respondents indicated that they have responded to a mobile offer .

Master mobile marketing to target your offers on an intimate, one-on-one medium with prospects who are engaged and highly valued.

Every marketer should execute a highly targeted mobile marketing campaign.Call me at 310-212-5727 or write [email protected] if you need help on how to implement mobile into your direct marketing mix.

Publisher’s Corner…continued from page 1The ability to trigger an immediate call to action and si-

multaneous response is the M-commerce secret weapon that skyrockets profits .

Statistics show mobile marketing mes-sages can generate stunning response rates as high as 15%, like this campaign Creative Direct Marketing Group created for online portfolio service Stockstream


te l 3 1 0 - 2 1 2 - 5 7 2 7 • f A x 3 1 0 - 2 1 2 - 5 7 7 3 • e m A i l c r a i g @ c d m g i n c . c o m3

Seeing what works: How one confectioner used analytics to stop attrition

Secret to Nissan and Infiniti’s direct mail success…continued from page 1

basic services that are the driving force behind the winning response rates.

Coordinated by the brand, car owners are receiving the information direct from their own dealers.

The front of one Nissan mailer depicts an oceanside highway with the words “Escape” and “Motion Without Concern.” The flipside headline reads “Trust genuine Nissan service and parts to get you where you want to go.”

Since its inception, more than 1,000 Nissan dealers (roughly 70% of its total U.S. and Canadian retailers) and 95% of Infiniti dealers have joined

the personalized mail program.Nissan has mailed to more than 20 million

customers. The manufacturer says it’s happy with the way the mailings are working and that it plans to continue its direct mail program, regardless of testing ideas to extend into email distribution.

— Direct Magazine, June 2008 249 W. 17th Street

New York, NY 10011 www.directmag.com

More than ever now, we’re seeing it’s how you personalize your message that’s driving

revenue. If you need help analyzing your customers or mailing list to create a relevant and well-timed message, call me at 310-212-5727 or write [email protected].

Chocolatier Harbor Sweets® was puzzled. While the confectioner had always generated the bulk of its business by mail, the company had noticed customers were slipping away.

The cataloger found its answers by reassessing its four-catalog drop to a list of 130,000 during the fall/holiday season. Were customers receiving the catalog too much? Too little?

Testing was the only way to know for sure

A test cell was chosen to receive a special promo offer: Free shipping on any orders during the 2.5 calendar months that included both Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations.

The timing worked with a 9% response.

How could Harbor Sweets make sure the catalogs they were printing and mailing would be reached by the people who wanted them most?

Careful analytics proved more wasn’t necessarily better.

Then the confectioner took its segmentation—and analytical thinking—a profitable step further. By divvying up its four-time fall drop between four various groups, with one group receiving all four catalogs and the other three each receiving one less than in previous years, the company noticed buy patterns remained the same.

Harbor Sweets realized that catalog timing was influencing buy behavior and that by monitoring the mail and return carefully, fewer catalogs could be dropped without losing sales.

This company learned a valuable lesson

The use of analytics is not to reduce costs, but to see how to improve strategy.

In this case, Harbor Sweets was able to reallocate mailings for the same ROI and less out-of-pocket expense.

How about your business? What’s worked well during the holiday season in years past? Email craig@cdmginc .com to share your success story.

— Direct Magazine, June 2008 249 W. 17th Street New York, NY 10011 www.directmag.com


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Move over Pfizer: Direct marketing levels the

pharmaceuticals playing fieldMarketplace changes and the use of direct response

in the pharmaceutical industry are paving the way for small research and development companies to actively compete with large retailers.

In 2008 alone, pharmaceutical companies are projected to generate $10.6 billion in sales through direct marketing. But that number is going to see a huge increase—as much as $15.2 billion by 2012—according to a study from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

One reason driving the spike

There are a number of drug patents expiring. Over the next few years, “Big Pharma” leaders can expect an explosion of generic competitors—of any size.

Both the consumer and B2B (doctors, hospitals, labs) marketplace will be flooded with these generic drugs. Smart marketers should grab the opportunity to find ways of creating value for these

new medications.

One company that jumped on the direct response bandwagon

with great success is Cialis, creators of an erectile-dysfunction medication.

Direct response success

What’s important to know is that the company decided to go a different route than most of its competitors


by allocating 50% (versus 10% to 30%) of its marketing budget to direct response.

Over a period of 3 years, Cialis ran both B2C and B2B. Highly targeted consumer ads had males ages 18 to 75 asking their doctors about the drug by name. A myriad of direct response formats was used to reach

healthcare professionals—sales calls, TV, long-form in medical journals and direct interaction with prospects at medical conferences.

Here’s how two other companies are seeing

success with direct response

Novo Nordisk created an eMarketing division to focus solely on brand, Web

portal, customer relationship/database marketing and integrated multichannel metricing and ROI…including viral marketing.

Supplying information while getting people to talk was the strategy behind building customer educational-social portals like novomedlink.com and changingdiabetes.us.com. This foray into online social media was followed by a Voices of Diabetes blog.

These strategies have proven a wonder-drug for the team at eDrugSearch.com. The user buzz about the company’s Healthcare 100 initiative (a blog ranking system within its website) has gotten its write-ups in a number of newspapers and mentions in medical blogs. Viral marketing and social networking keep the website on the tips of many tongues.

— Response Magazine, June 2008 201 Sandpointe Ave., Ste. 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707 www.responsemagazine.com

Pharmaceutical companies are projected

to generate $10 .6 billion in sales through direct marketing in 2008 .



Remailing strategy: No game for amateurs

It’s a direct response truth that most profit comes from reselling current customers. So in a down-turn economy, the practice of remailing holiday catalogs can up your ROI all the more.

Remailing is the art of tracking customers who have purchased before and dropping them a second or third catalog during the fourth quarter.

Even with so many consumer choices, Q4 is still the most wonderful time of the year for increasing contact with customers and prospects.

Here are 4 types of remailers to beat out big-box retailers and your

direct competitors 1 . Conventional Mail the same piece verbatim. 2 . Fresh-wrap Change the front and back covers and cover flaps. Innards remain the same. 3 . Repaginate Like moving the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, products remain the same but are placed differently. Creative may change and out-of-stock items are replaced by overstock. 4 . Insert Chukar Cherries has had success with including a package insert with each order…when customers are both eating and reading about the product. Be careful with insert choices. You may want to stick with the tried and true. Sierra Trading Post tested a niche insert that didn’t work; the outdoor gear cataloger has gone back to using its core title as a product insert.

Now it’s time to design your remail strategy by deciding what type, when to send and how many to drop for profitable success.

Use this checklist to make remailing work for you

Print but don’t bind. A way to save on printing costs is simply to print now, bind later. This give you the distinct advantage of trying different covers, testing various cover tease copy, and even placing items that are selling better than others on the cover. Binding now locks you in to featuring certain

products that may or may not move as fast as others. Watch your numbers. Your first tendency may be to mail to everyone. Don’t. Remailers should go to fewer customers than your last catalog. The fewer the catalog changes, the fewer customers should receive it. Try dropping 30% to 50% of your first edition list. Unless it’s a repagination; in which case, a 90% drop might perform well. Drop, track and analyze. Target only the best. The Pareto principle rings true even at holiday time: Most profit comes from your buyers. In the highest-buying season of the year, start with 50% of your buyers—including recent first-time purchasers. Mail before Christmas. But not too much before. Aim to hit your guaranteed delivery date. Despite higher shipping costs, last-minute consumer Christmas shopping is on the rise—a boon for remailers. If you can hit a mailbox within the first 3 days of December and still ship product on time, you—and your customer—will have a happy holiday. — MultiChannel Merchant, July 2008

11 River Bend Drive South Stamford, CT 06907-0242 www.multichannelmerchant.com

One reason technology provider Sony DADC is getting terrific ROI from a new direct response product is because it’s not your usual piece of mail. International recipients of eBRIDGE, a CD-ROM embedded with a source code that loads personalized marketing information per customer, can make buy decisions accordingly. Data like previous purchases directs users to specific click-through web pages.

30% boostIndustry suggests any personalized pitch creates about a

30% boost in ROI; carmakers are jumping on eBRIDGE s ability to show product demonstrations.

— Deliver Magazine, June 2008 30400 Van Dyke Warren, MI 48093 www.delivermagazine.com

New CD technology ratchets up personalized direct mail response



Is the infomercial dead? (Not by a long shot)

In a digital age where viral video, Podcasting and mobile texting are the rage, what’s become of TV

commercials and infomercials? Is the infomercial dead?

Hardly. In fact, with today’s technology and increased cable, the opportunity to sell by long-form video has never been better. Viewers are tuning in to their favorite shopping channels from almost any location. Commercial replays on YouTube only increase sales ability.

Almost any unknown product can become a household name with the use of a well-produced, direct response pulling infomercial.

The goal is to make the sale of your product via long-form video help pay for the production cost—and then some.

5 secret ingredients to a successful infomercial

Pick the right productProducts that are easily understood

do extremely well in this genre because they’re easy to demonstrate. Infomercials made George Foreman® Grill and Bonzai Knives household names. Items that readily solve a problem, like the TopsyTail® (for creating instant hair-dos) are desirable.

Household items sell well, and products that can deliver weight loss or other aspirational results have been enjoying high ROI for a number of years. We’ve seen phone calls spurred on products that are new, completely different and haven’t been seen anywhere else. If your product is useful and unusual, it’s a good infomercial candidate.

Choose the right lengthKnowing when to choose short-

form (30 or 60 seconds) over a 30-minute infomercial is crucial.

How to tell? Short form works best for lower- priced items that are easily grasped. For informational products, try using testimonials in a short-form version as a lead-gen tool.

Here’s the rule of thumb: The more credibility needed, the more time it takes to tell about the product. Testimonials in long-form are your best form of establishing credibility for direct sales on items like real estate offers, skin treatments, nutritional supplements, makeup, hair replacement systems and large or new types of appliances.

General Motors is using a long-form with testimonials to sell its Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

Have realistic expectationsLike any other marketing medium,

TV can be a bonanza or a bust—or somewhere in between. Practice good direct response: Expect to test. It’s not unusual to be very successful just by breaking even on TV because the medium creates a hefty aftermarket demand for products.

Be prepared to deliverThe “As Seen on TV” phenomenon

has proven a true profit story. TV has shown to drive retail volume 7 to 10 times more than with no television advertising. Infomercials and TV advertising commercials have produced billions of dollars in sales.

Plan carefullyThe #1 reason infomercials fail is

from poor business planning or a sales model that doesn’t work. Choosing the right media partners, telemarketing scripts and fulfillment operations will determine your success or failure. Packaging at the shelf, if not properly thought out, can result in product returns. Infomercials can generate big business; be scrupulous when planning each line item.

Editor’s note: CDMG, Inc. has created a number of successful infomercials for a variety of products. Call Craig Huey at 310-212-5727 and he’ ll be happy discuss TV with you.

Top 5 Long-form Infomercials for 2007

Rank and Name Product Description

1 Free & Clear Real estate moneymaking system

2 bareMinerals® Makeup

3 Tempur-Pedic® Foam mattress

4 Winning in Cash Flow Moneymaking with notes

5 6 Week Body Makeover™ Weight-loss system

Top 5 Short-form Infomercials for 2007

Rank and Name Product Description

1 NutriSystem® Weight-loss meals

2 Proactiv® Solution Acne treatment

3 Total Gym® Home gym exerciser

4 Jenny Craig® Weight-loss centers

5 Bowflex® Home gym exercisers

Source: ElectronicRETAILER The Gold Book 2008/2009



Publisher’s Note:

As revenue from mobile advertising continues to grow by leaps and bounds, now is the time to get in the mobile ad game.

The key to conversion is to create a Google search campaign for mobile use that leads your prospects’ clicks to do one of two things:

The visitor either lands on your Google-supplied Business page or, the hand-held device automatically places a call into your business.

Sound good?

And the best part is there’s an easy way to getting “clicks that lead to calls” without any technical web development!

Follow this formula to get your first Google Adwords mobile search

campaign up and running@ Create a new search-only

campaign in your AdWords account. Call it Mobile.

@ Click the Mobile Ad link.@ Accept Text Ad (the default).

Create your ad by writing an 18-

character compelling headline and 18-character call-to-action.

@ Choose the options for prospects to call you. Fill in your business name and direct-to-your-desk phone number.

@ Cherry-pick keywords prospects would type into a Google Mobile search box. Forget “long tail” terms; think one or two words, short syllables. Like: “Chinese food close” or “flowers near here.”

@ Almost done…just enter your maximum CPC bid and daily budget amounts. As with any keyword-targeted campaign, be sure to turn off Content Network below Campaign Settings. Otherwise, your ads list will be buried in article and long-form content pages.

@ Remember, for retailers, B2B businesses and service providers (insurance, legal, financial, investment) that crave phone leads, what works best when designing a mobile search campaign is the philosophy of local use.

— Search Engine Watch, June 2008 270 Lafayette Street, Ste. 700 New York, NY 10012 www.SearchEngineWatch.com

Our prayers go out to those in the South who have been impacted by the hurricanes .

We have written an article titled “Your Direct Mail Disaster Prep Guide .” In this article, we tell you how to protect your company and give you wise ways to guard your marketing during floods, hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters, including another terrorist attack .

I’d be glad to send that article to you . Simply email me at craig@cdmginc .com . If you are interested in having me help you with your marketing, I’d be glad to talk with you or give you

a FREE critique of your direct marketing website or marketing materials . As a subscriber to Direct Response, you get my personal attention to your marketing campaigns . I am more than happy to identify those things that could be depressing your response and recommend ways to increase it .

Also, feel free to call me at the office and speak to my assistant Deb at 310-212-5727 .

Sincerely,

Craig A . Huey

Mobile search: Turn Google Adwords into a lead-gen giant

CreditsDirect Response is published 12 times per year by Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc . Address subscription orders, correspondence and change of address to:

Direct Response, 21171 S . Western Ave ., Suite 260, Torrance, CA 90501

Phone: 310-212-5727 Fax: 310-212-5773

Email: craig@cdmginc .com

The information contained in Direct Response has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy of the information is not guaranteed .

Subscriptions: 1 year (12 issues), $79; 2 years (24 issues), $149 . Foreign: 1 year, $88; 2 years, $164 . Extra copies of any issue: subscribers, $5 each; nonsubscribers, $10 each .

❏ Check enclosed (please make payable to Direct Response)

PUBLISHER Craig A . Huey

ART DIRECTOR Bill Heim

Name ________________________________Company or Organization _______________Address ______________________________City _________________________________State ____________ Zip _______________Phone ________ ( ____________________ ) Fax # ( _______ ) _____________________Email Address _________________________Direct Response’s format and entire contents © 2008 by Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc . and may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise used in any form without the express written permission of CDMG .

WRITERTia Dobi

ISSN 1085-1321



Marketing Memos

Quote of the Month:Direct marketing is evolving every day; in some cases, it seems that we have

come full circle . A few years ago, there was the rush to telemarketing, and then came the rush to the Internet . Now marketers are starting to understand that all of these—telephone, mail, internet, email, so-called ‘new media’—are simply alternative channels that enable direct contact with a customer—Audrey Price-Dix, Assegai Awards Chairman

*** Personalized, customer-product recommendations are in full-swing online at both Sears.com and Kmart.com DMNews notes Sears analyzes 15 line items, including customers’ previous buys, key search terms and brand choices to serve up data allowing for a niche experience from homepage to checkout. Recommendations help shoppers find products faster, plus offer items they may not have thought about.

*** Search Engine Marketing Guide 2008 shows how listening to its online audience made a profitable difference for Los Angeles’ boutique Lisa Kline. The prestigious clothier swapped its chosen search phrases “Los Angeles boutique clothing” and “Hollywood fashion” for the seeker-preferred “celebrity boutique clothing” and “celebrity fashion.” After optimizing its website with the new keywords, Lisa Kline saw a 59% surge in revenue from search engine traffic.

*** A recent report by Forrester Research shows ROI has been dismal for 2008 corporate bloggers, with 38% of 189 companies rating blogs as “marginal” to their marketing strategies; 15% found them “irrelevant.”

*** Armstrong found a new way to interest and engage customers with their email blasts. BtoB reports that by segmenting its lists, the flooring manufacturer’s opens and clicks shot through the roof. The list was split into four parts based on job function and products used.

*** Direct marketers will find bottom positions six or seven on search results web pages are the most profitable.

According to a report by AdGooroo, bidding for highest-paid search engine marketing (SEM) positions makes sense for high-budget advertisers looking to build brand awareness. But smaller companies will find the lower positions are also highly effective…but with a lower cost per click.

*** Mobile Web presence is to 2008 what Web presence was to 1998, an absolute must-have to the marketing mix, according to DMNews. Mobile browsing is up 89% year over year; page views have increased 127%. Since Google ranks mobile-optimized sites higher than nonoptimized sites (when searching from a mobile device), having a mobile Web presence could be a profitable competitive advantage. Context and local relevancy are key to mobile success.

*** Worldwide spending on Internet advertising will total $65.2 billion in 2008, according to a report by IDC. Spending is projected to grow 15% to 20% annually, reaching $106.6 billion by 2011. Keyword ads will continue to dominate the Internet, followed by an increase of display advertising on the World Wide Web.

*** While only 35% of Americans over age 65 are online, about 75% of those are white, college-educated men. Seniors outpace other age groups in tracing family’s genealogy online while emailing photos, gathering health information, visiting support groups and reading l ocal community news, according to the Pew Internet Project.

*** TravelZoo.com is asking for deals on demand, according to eM+C

Magazine. Each Wednesday, the discount travel site emails its top 20 travel deals to more than 12 million subscribers. No need to be a website advertiser to make the editorial cherry-picking. Despite the quick-deal sell-outs, users are saving the emails; referring back to them for inspiration on what brands to fly on a later date.

***The #1 way to maximize an SEM budget is to segment by keyword and laser-target your audience. DIRECT magazine reports a recent test by Optimost for a popular retail florist. Visitors who searched “late delivery” converted very differently than those typing “free shipping.” Higher conversion rates resulted in sending each person to a page emphasizing their priorities.

***A new report by MailerMailer shows that 74% of consumers who open an email message do so within the first 24 hours, and in 48 hours that number rises to 83%. Email Marketing Metrics Report measured more than 300 million email messages sent by 3,200 of its email clients across 21 different industries over a 6-month period.

*** Nearly 70 million Americans will be subscribers of a radio service by 2012, predicts Parks Associates. The forecast includes 39 million satellite radio subscriptions and 30 million HD radio scripts.

*** According to a Direct Marketing Association report, the use of direct marketing by American financial institutions is substantially increasing. Stats include the use of noncatalog direct mail (41.8%) as the primary DM channel; Internet advertising spending growth at 17.8% each year to 2012—with broadcast advertising climbing 4.8% for the same. Banks and credit card companies had the best ROI in 2007 at $13.37 per dollar spent. DM sales for this sector are forecasted at $286.2 billion in 2012.

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Publisher ’s Corner

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Table of ContentsPublisher’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Paper woes mean new strategies for direct mail . . . 1What‘s working in B2B: The Good…and the Bad . . 4USPS: 4 changes that affect your business . . . . . . 5Strengthen your site‘s sales ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6#1 way to supercharge your Internet marketing . . . 7Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Publisher’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Marketing Memos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Quote of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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9 special strategies for direct marketing to the mature market by Craig Huey

Last month we started our discussion of the best, most- profitable opportunities for

marketing to mature Americans.

This month we’ll continue our discussion, including which formats work best, ways to overcome skepticism and which products and services are the hottest performers.

Strategy #4Get into the psychology of

a mature prospect.

Resistance to change and dedication to tradition are important characteristics of the mature market. Avoid the suggestion of change and newness as much as possible.

For example, market your products as simple to use, nondisruptive to one’s lifestyle and something that makes life more comfortable.

The idea of exclusivity also works well with older

Grist at the mill:

Paper woes mean new

strategies for direct mailers

Most marketers know to plan for Christmas in July or August. But with this year’s tumultuous paper market, the time for implementing new production tactics is now.

What many industry analysts forecasted heading into 2008 has come true: Reduced demand and several mill closures, coupled with rising energy and manufacturing costs, have rendered paper exceptionally tight and prices rising.

The mid ‘90s saw a similar tightening of supply

consumers. Members of the mature market are especially keen on products and services that aren’t necessarily available to everyone.

Some older Americans feel that their age gives them status, while others feel crushed by the aging process. Be aware of these dichotomous perceptions as you create your advertising. No one wants to be marketed to as an “old person” particularly baby boomers.

Strategy #5

Consider which formats will work best for your target audience.

With today’s mature market, one size definitely does not fit all. Currently, statistics show 92% of mature Americans aged 55 to 65 are online users compared to 67% of mature Americans aged 65 to 75. And studies also show these age groups open almost all direct

Part 2 of a special 2-part series

D i r e c t r e s p o n s e


mail they receive.

With those statistics in mind, take a look at your target audience to determine what the best format mix is.

For example, if you’re targeting younger pre-retirees and retirees, you could find great success with an integrated print/online campaign.

But if you’re targeting older seniors (75 and up), consider skewing your efforts more toward print, direct mail, radio and TV since they’re more comfortable with that media.

Strategy #6

The mature market is skeptical. Know the keys to disarming their skepticism.

Members of the mature market are extremely cautious about the buying process since they’ve had years and years to acquire a high level of skepticism.

Specifically, mature buyers over 70 tend to be more distrustful than other segments of the market. Some don’t even like to give out their credit card number (AARP told them not to!), many refuse to order via Toll-Free numbers and they are on the lookout for anything that seems like a rip-off.

So how do you disarm the skepticism of the

mature market?

• Make sure to prove your claims with plenty of endorsements and testimonials. Show other people like the product

and it improved their lives.

• In particular, retirees and seniors are impressed with celebrities or other recognizable individuals who use the product or service.

• Use positive but realistic images rather than stock photos and posed images of a smiling older couple.

• Use examples of product/service use. Don’t just tell them its great product. Walk them through it, so they know how your product or service works (particularly if it’s a cutting-edge product).

• As I mentioned in Strategy #2, be sure to use statistics and facts. The mature market understands information better if it’s laid out in concrete definitives. Don’t just say “the natural cure cholesterol pill that has helped thousands” say “91% of users have lowered their cholesterol by 53%!”

Strategy #7

The mature marketplace prizes value.

Remember even retirees with a comfortable nest egg are still on fixed incomes. The mature market seeks to get the most for a dollar and make their money last. For this reason, mature consumers prize value and look for it in every buying situation.

• Tout value by including premiums in your advertising like special offers, coupons, free gifts, samples, and of course, discounts.

• As in any direct marketing campaign, the premium should be related to the primary product being sold—and have a high perceived value.

• Consider building a relationship with older Americans by offering a special discount created just for mature buyers.

Strategy #8

Experiment with a multiformat approach

Mature Americans respond positively to direct response television and radio. Direct response radio in particular—primarily in the talk and news genres—produces fantastic results. This is proven by the success being enjoyed by alternative health companies and financial services aimed at retirees.

Also, the use of videos, interactive CD-ROMs and DVDs, in recent times, has been a real boon in marketing to older Americans. Older Americans will watch videos and DVDs and respond very positively to them.

One reason is that the format is more leisurely and more step-by-step. Seniors want to feel that they are making the decision to buy gradually and without coercion.

DVDs and CD-ROMs are also excellent to use as premiums. Studies have shown mature buyers, particularly in older-skewing prospects, have a great desire for media premiums. Consider creating a narrated version of one of your printed premiums for easy viewing.

Publisher’s Corner…continued from page 1


Te l 310-212-5727 • Fa x 310-212-5773 • em a i l cra ig@cdmginc . com3

Strategy #9

Consider your optimal products and services.

Generally speaking, the top two priorities of the mature market are health and financial security.

In particular, if you’re selling financial goods and services, remember the #1 concern of the mature market is not making wealth, but rather protecting it. Address volatility, safety and long-term capital protection in your campaigns.

Health products and services are another big area. Mature

Grist at the paper mill…continued from page 1

and increasing prices.

Here’s what catalogers are saying today to stay in the black:

• Stay need-specific. Specificity is key, says John Baumann, president of Swiss Colony. The multititle mailer circumvents stock problems by staying in constant contact with its printers and paper suppliers. By alerting them to exact production schedules—and Swiss Colony’s tenacious promise of meeting them—buying paper remains stress free.

• Up your web mentions. For French Toast, opting for fewer pages is prompting the schools uniform cataloger to consider more print mentions of its web presence. About 80% of sales come in through the Internet already.

What’s more, the company is currently locking in its paper costs for this year’s catalog.

• Use dual vendors. Using two paper vendors, as in the case of jewelry and décor merchant Ross-Simons, is one way to stay ahead of the paper-supply curve. This provides necessary leverage to ensure delivery.

Understand today’s marketplace to take advantage of it

Although coated groundwood remains “extremely oversold” with no end in sight, freesheet (both coated and uncoated) is not under duress. While this could change, what design, stock and postage choices can you make today to best utilize what’s mostly available?

For example, instead of printing entire catalogs on expensive or hard-to-get paper, gift and housewares mailer Miles Kimble is testing high-bulk stock for its text pages.

And what’s most important for catalogers, says Strategic Paper Group’s Dave Goldschmidt, is allocation, allocation, allocation. Goldschmidt stresses ordering in advance, for the right amount of tons, as well as accurately forecasting with your mill in the right month, on the right grade and basis weight.

You’ll want to heed this advice to stay right on the money when history is made in Q3, the time mills are overloaded with holiday catalog paper production. Securing paper then will depend on protecting your allocated assets now.

— MultiChannel Merchant, April 2008 11 River Bend Drive South Stamford, CT 06907-0242 www.multichannelmerchant.com

consumers constitute 74% of all prescription drug purchases in the United States and most mature Americans have at least one disabling health condition. However, mature buyers don’t want to dwell on the debilitating effects of old age. Stress how your product or service will keep them fit, active and healthy.

Other hot markets for the next 10 to 15 years are travel, fitness, family fun, convenience and information services. Grandparenting represents another enormous marketing area.

The mature marketplace is enormous and growing dramatically in size and affluence each year. If your product or service appeals to this far-reaching and affluent group, consider creating a specific campaign that targets this group.

If you have a product or service that caters to the mature market and you’re having trouble putting together an effective campaign, call me at 1-310-212-5727. My agency has extensive experience marketing to the mature market and we can help you, too. Or email me at [email protected].


4

What’s working in B2B direct marketing: The good…and the bad

Let’s take a look at what we know is working in today’s B2B marketing universe and what’s not.

The good…These online applications are

already delivering real value for B2B marketers.

• New sources to mine prospects

Emerging social directories make it easy to add more names to your lists. Inc. Magazine calls Jigsaw.com “the world’s leading rolodex” with over 8 million business contacts. Leading players Jigsaw® and Spoke claim 7 million and 35 million contacts, respectively, while newcomer Salesconx, is still in its alpha stage.

User-maintained Jigsaw started as a business-card swapping service, where sales and marketing people could trade or buy contacts.

Spoke on-demand B2B contact information married with networking tools that allow people to hook up within the site.

Newcomer ZoomInfo’s approach seems irresistible. It mines businesspeoples’ names, addresses and titles from corporate websites then makes the data available to marketers.

One caveat, of course, is that these databases are

compiled—not response—files. And still worth a look to search by industry, company or individual name.

• Interactive digital media

The demise of rich media in banner advertising early on was the lack of direct marketing know-how by its original creators. Some ads had the flashy look of TV spots; but offers and a call to action were sorely missing.

But time [and education] has healed all wounds. Direct marketing tactics have made their way into rich media and WebTV ads are making their way into the “sometimes stiff” B2B world.

Gone are the days of “boring corporate video.” Cruise a B2B portal today and you’ll see dynamic video, stylized peeling pages and well-scripted web television. Last year Cisco Systems tested a live video presentation embedded within a

banner ad. In 2008, Cisco also pioneered the use of video to deliver customer testimonials and case studies, posting hundreds every month.

• Virtual trade shows

Attending a conference from the comfort of your desk can be beneficial when factoring time, convenience and cost. Ecommerce trade show eComXpo is an example. Pure profit factor: User-group or client conference, where attendees have a relatively strong desire to attend in the first place.

The bad…While failure can be a good

teacher, here’s where you don’t want to engage your time, energy and attention.

• Cold-call emails

Postal rental lists are proving more profitable for prospecting than renting email files.

• Unsociable netwotking

Think sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Tribe and XING. Great for finding people to do business

with; lousy as a direct marketing tool. ■

— Direct Magazine, March 2008 249 W. 17th Street. New York, NY 10011 www.directmag.com




USPS: 4 changes that affect your business

Acting on the latest changes at the United States Postal Service keeps more money in your pocket. Here’s what you need to do.

➊ Stop mailing to “vacant” addresses. Mailing to vacant addresses is like money down the drain. Manage your mailing list as efficiently as possible by using the new “vacant table file” now available to the USPS Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) address matching software. The tool allows mailers to pre-identify mail that can become undeliverable-as-addressed. “Vacant” addresses are any dwellings that have not been occupied in at least 90 days.

And using CASS software may qualify your business for automation or postage discounts.

➋ Rethink (recalibrate) your bar-code strategy. Commercial and nonprofit mail entered into the mailstream either from your point of origin or at a destination bulk mail center will experience a cut in the standard mail bar-code discount. Currently at a 1.4-cent discount for using a bar code on mixed automation area distribution (AADC) letters, USPS is slashing the savings by

1.1 cents to $.003.

Under the new rates, then, a 1-million unit AADC drop using bar codes will save you just $3,000 rather than $14,000.

➌ Shop vendors before sending competitive products. On May 12, the USPS raised prices on its Priority Mail (+4%), Express Mail (+3.1%), parcel

select (+5.7%) and parcel return service (+2%) and +21.3% for international surface airlift.

So it could pay to get estimates from UPS, Federal Express and DHL.

Additionally, the USPS has announced new requirements needed to qualify for commercial base and commercial volume pricing on certain international products.

➍ Prepare for new flat-sized mail address standards. March 29, 2009 marks the day mailers will need to adopt new address placement and formatting requirements for periodicals, standard mail, bound printed matter, media mail and library mail flat-sized pieces sent at automation, presorted or carrier route pieces.

In its effort to “promote consistent addressing” the USPS’ implementation of its Flats Sequencing System (FSS) will sort flat-sized mail into delivery sequence, reducing carriers’ time spent manually sorting mail.

Revisions for automation and presorted First-Class Mail flats are also included. ■

— DMNews, April 2008 114 W. 26th St., 4th Fl. New York, NY 10001 www.dmnews.com

In 2004, more than 9.7 billion mail pieces were undeliverable;

600 million of those were “vacant” addresses



Strengthen your site’s sales ability: The basics of writing a page title tag

Perhaps the most overlooked sales real estate on your website is the title tag.

A title tag is defined as the white text message that appears in the top left-hand “chrome” area of any browser window. It’s your opening statement to the world about each and every page on your site.

Whenever a user bookmarks a page of your website, the tag copy typically becomes the bookmark name.

What’s more, search engines love title tags; they almost always appear as the snippet title in a user’s search results. Typically, your title appears in a larger font size and as a blue hyperlink above the search-result description.

Behind the scenes, search engines use the copy of your page title tag to determine what a particular page is about.

Title tag as influencer: Your page title tag is the first thing a [live] user reads and what a [search] spider sees when scanning organic search results.

Follow these steps to get the human responses and search engine rankings your pages deserve:

➊ Distill it downTitle tags need to be unique to

each page and written according to a page’s content.

What helps sell you best is to call out the biggest benefit on the page. It pays to get crystal clear on what you want your prospect

to know about your product or service first and foremost.

Using the same title tag for multiple pages confuses search engines. With that approach, search engines could see the two pages as indistinguishable. On a playing field where volume and differentiation count you don’t want this to happen to you.

➋ Put keywords firstNow here, more isn’t always

better, contrary to what you may have heard. What’s important is that you know which keywords are the most meaningful to searchers who are looking for what you have to offer. Then place those towards the beginning of your title tag.

Remember, only about 65 characters actually appear in the titling of most search results. Search engines know this too; words beyond that add negative weight.

As with all direct marketing copy, cut the clutter. Make sure each word carries sales messaging (feature or benefit) and keyword worth.

Like this:

A simple way to think about a 10-word title tag is that each word shares 1/10 of the overall value.

➌ Don't kill the copyExcess fat can potentially

negate your good thinking. Repeating keywords or the inclusion of too many keywords in a title tag is unnatural to the

human ear; search engine spiders are likely to reject it for the same reason as well. This is known as “loading,” and some sites have been dropped from search results altogether for this practice.

As with all good copy, read it aloud a few times. If it rolls right off the tongue, sounds true to the page’s content and includes at least your most prominent keyword, then you’ve upped your chances for high web ranking.

➍ Stay on brandToo often companies have

web techs or other employees who are not marketing-educated write their title tags. This is a huge mistake. Ideally, title tags should be written by an expert direct response copywriter.

Larger company sites may want to establish a title tag pattern, especially if your organization has multiple platforms within a single company.

You can expect only two outcomes if no one person optimizes your title tags.

1. Duplicate title tags

2. Poorly optimized title tags that confuse readers and negate rank

Remember, it’s a lot easier to get your title tags right before pages go live than it is to change them later.

— Marketing Profs, LLC 2008 419 N. Larchmont, #42 Los Angeles, CA 90004 www.marketingprofs.com



Publisher’s Note:

Internet marketing has seen tectonic changes in just the last 3 years. Some of these will accelerate while others will fizzle and die, never to be heard from again.

One new trend is only going to pick up speed. It’s the pay-per-click (PPC) video ad appearing in sponsored search results as a link that showcases the sought-after product.

Today, a search for “laptop” or “Smartphone” on Yahoo! or Google might land you search results with a sponsored or partner link to a video that showcases the product.

For instance, take a geotargeted PPC ad in the northeastern U.S. Search for “shop Honda” and more often than not in the results you’ll get a graphical “Partnership” listing that says “Play Now.”

One quick click plays a 360-degree shot of a Honda with arrows pointing out various attributes. But it’s mainly a branding message, not a call to action—copywriters take note.

A Yahoo! search for “Special K” returns a nifty 23-second

The #1 way to supercharge your Internet marketingmade-for-the-web spot inviting you to visit SpecialK.com, where you can sign up for their Get Swim Suit Ready email or text message service. The product promise is undeniable: “Lose 6 pounds in 2 weeks.”

Implications of PPC video are tremendous. Expect a surge in the ante on highly competitive search terms.

What’s not to like about clicking a video image

over a plain text ad that’s just a blue link?

Think of PPC video ads as low-cost television. The power of your product is catapulted to an almost-complete sensory experience. Depending on what you say and show, you can pre-qualify your prospects in much deeper, more concrete ways. ■

— Web Digest for Marketers, April 2008 79 Pine Street, #102 New York, NY 10005 www.sdfm.com

Editor’s note: Like a great TV spot, PPC video ads are not easy or simple, and they’re not for every situation—but they can pack enormous sales power, mainly in the details of how the advertiser gets billed and in the avenues opened

If you’d like to get together in June and July, I will be in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington DC.

Those in the mail now are reporting to me that responses are holding up well for both B2B and consumer marketing. In certain industries, responses are down 10% to 15%. In this type of marketing climate, make sure your creative is as powerful as it can be and follows the direct marketing rules.

As a special benefit for subscribers to Direct Response we can give you a complimentary critique on your print ad, banner ad, website, TV or radio commercial. Just give me about 2 weeks to respond.

Finally, for those who are going into the mail,

be sure your drop date is the last week of August for maximum seasonality life.

For other media, it’s the first, second and third week of September where you’ll get your seasonality increase and response.

Order paper now if you haven’t already done so for the Fall and Winter. And don’t forget you should not be marketing after the first week of October. Wait until after the election because of the political competition and distractions.

Craig A. Huey

CreditsDirect Response is published 12 times per year by Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc. Address subscription orders, correspondence and change of address to:

Direct Response, 21171 S. Western Ave., Suite 260, Torrance, CA 90501

Phone: 310-212-5727 Fax: 310-212-5773

Email: [email protected]

The information contained in Direct Response has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy of the information is not guaranteed.

Subscriptions: 1 year (12 issues), $79; 2 years (24 issues), $149. Foreign: 1 year, $88; 2 years, $164. Extra copies of any issue: subscribers, $5 each; nonsubscribers, $10 each.

❏ Check enclosed (please make payable to Direct Response)

PUBLISHER Craig A. Huey

ART DIRECTOR Bill Heim

Name _________________________________Company or Organization ____________________Address ________________________________City __________________________________State _____________ Zip ________________Phone ( _______ ) _____________________Fax # ( _______ ) _____________________Email Address ____________________________Direct Response’s format and entire contents © 2008 by Creative Direct Marketing Group, Inc. and may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise used in any form without the express written permission of CDMG.

WRITERTia Dobi

ISSN 1085-1321

in terms of sell ability, creativity and customer prequalification. Call me at 310-212-5727 so I can show you how—from producing infomercials to web video—my staff and I have the expertise in ROI-centric direct marketing that today’s technology-based search firms cannot offer in the Internet marketplace.



Marketing Memos

Quote of the Month:

❝ Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret...to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.

❞ —Leo Burnett

❱❱❱DMNews notes tracking email open rate is a flawed metric, and of no value to marketers. Preview panes, blocked images and reading emails on mobile devices seriously alter the definition of “opened.” Better to track conversions and revenue per email.

❱❱❱Constructing B2B marketing is becoming infinitely more complex. Target Marketing reports gone are the days of straightforward, one-dimensional campaigns using trade ads or PR. What’s needed now are the capabilities of new media: enewsletters, webinars, podcasts and vertical search engines, along with strategic vs. tactical planning.

❱❱❱ FinancialTimes.com has opted-out of subscription-only readership; now viewers can access up to 30 free monthly articles, reports DMNews. In the past year, unique users have grown by more than 70%; page views by 50% and online ad revenues have risen 40%. Improvements include ex-panded video journalism and upgrades to the site’s design and performance. (Competitor wsj.com charges $79 for a web subscription.)

❱❱❱ Search Marketing Standard shares a study by the Online Publishers Association pinpointing the methods used to locate videos online. Random discovery: 44%; forwarded in emails from friends/family: 43%; unique web address: 43%; via search engines: 39%; links clicked in subscription emails: 27%; by RSS feeds: 4%.

❱❱❱ Americans would rather wait than decipher. According to Opinion Research Corporation, people are more annoyed when talking to a customer service representative with a thick accent (20%) than they are with long hold times (17%).

❱❱❱ A story in Deliver Magazine talks about the radically changing face of loyalty programs. After a quarter of a century, companies are evolving theirs to be more relevant to the consumer experience (fitness centers offering services from childcare to personal trainers; health insurers offering lowering premiums to customers who stay fit). GE Capital Solutions attributes $2 billion in business to just one of their loyalty programs.

❱❱❱ In-stream ads in online video content are not popular,

according to a recent survey of 2,600 web users age 18 or older by Burst Media. The study found that 50.7% of respondents stop watching online video when they see an ad; 15.3% leave the site altogether. Some 69.1% pay the same or less attention to in-stream video ads than to standard creatives on the same page.

❱❱❱ A new study from the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council shows that most retailers (85%) make people click twice to unsubscribe. Six percent require three clicks to opt-out. Only 9% of retailers are utilizing the best marketing practice —one click (unless the mailer is offering alternatives to unsubscribing, of course). Unfortunately, 44% of retailers don’t offer any alternatives with their opt-out language.

❱❱❱ According to a Direct Marketing Association report, the use of direct marketing by American financial institutions is substantially increasing. Stats include the use of non-catalog direct mail (41.8%) as the primary direct marketing channel; Internet advertising spending growth at 17.8% each year to 2012—with broadcast advertising climbing 4.8% for the same. Banks and credit card companies had the best ROI in 2007 at $13.37 per dollar spent. direct marketing sales for this sector are forecasted at $286.2 billion in 2012.

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