How Many Times Does It Take?

The title of this post comes up often when planning marketing, when talking to customers and when calling on prospects. We have actually heard prospects say, “I tried direct mail once, and it didn't work.” Once is not enough. When planning and executing any marketing or any contact with customers and prospects there are 4 considerations:

1. The message
2. The marketing vehicle
3. The target
4. The frequency

While we are here today to talk about frequency, let us first comment on 1, 2 and 3 on this list. The message The message to your prospects should take the form of something to get a prospect’s attention, lots of benefits (not features), an offer and lastly, a strong call to action. The marketing vehicle In direct mail the marketing vehicle can take one of three forms: a letter, a postcard or a package. We are big fans of postcards. Postcards are cheaper to print and cheaper to mail. You have two sides to market with and postcards can stand out in a mail pile. Packages are good. Lumpy mail always gets opened. Consider using an ad specialty, candy or something to cause the prospect to be curious, and then open the package with your marketing messages contained. The target Over 50% of the success of a direct mail campaign is based on the target. You can send the wrong thing to the right target and get response. You can send the right thing to the wrong target and get zero response. Make sure you outline the specification of your ideal client and translate this into your target market definition. Market to these for a higher level of success. Frequency A lady came to us one time to do a mailing to 5000 contacts. We suggested to her that she save 4000 of the 5000 names and mail 5 times to 1000 contacts. The cost to do one mailing to 5000 contacts and 5 mailings to 1000 contacts is exactly the same but because of the increased frequency to the 1000 contacts, the response name will be higher. The number often heard is it takes 6-8 marketing touches to get prospects into purchase readiness mode. That means when and if a prospect wants your product or service, they will think of you if they have been touched by your marketing 6-8 times. Consider making the look and feel of your touches similar so you are not starting over with each contact/touch.