In this issue:
- Branding 101 from the Canadian Beaver
- Quarter BILLION dollar empire began with handwritten letters
- Breaking through the clutter – email vs. print… the results are in!
- Segmentation creates campaign windfall
- What to test… how to test… and why you MUST be testing
- And Much More!
Fellow Business Builder,
Love us or not, Canadians are here to stay. What’s amazing is to look at the disproportionate number of Canadian success stories, especially when you look at the fact that we have 10% of the population of the US. I have lived both north and south of the border – and I much prefer the southern weather (I moved to Dallas in July and was in heaven at 115 degrees)! But I also love my Canada.
I am continually amazed at some of the ingenuity that comes from Canadian businesses as well. Many of them never hit the media south of the border, but have some incredible lessons to share.
Quarter billion dollar empire started with hand scratched ‘hokey’ sales letters
For example, did you know that Harry Rosen Men’s Wear – with 2006 revenues of $200 Million dollars – got started with a simple sales letter campaign? I saw an off-the-cuff remark by Harry Rosen in an interview that he got his start by mailing “these hokey little handwritten letters” to top CEOs and VPs across Canada. I emailed him to find out if he would be willing to share any of those with me – unfortunately, he never kept a copy of a single one! It’s a shame – those would have been a masterpiece.
Action item: For your high end offerings, why don’t you test this? List out 50 of your ideal clients, those you would love to have as a testimonial. Craft a sales letter to them using everything shared by Clayton Makepeace and the other editors and then handwrite it out 50 times – personalizing it along the way to each of the 50.
Or, if you have lower end products or are just being lazy handwrite out the letter with a generic salutation send it to a printer and have them reproduce them en masse. This won Bill Glazer of Gage Menswear (now of the Glazer Kennedy group) international awards and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenues. If you have ever seen his letter you will know what I mean. It was done on yellow lined paper, all junked up with scratched out words, handwritten borders for the coupons in the letter… and VERY messy looking. But it worked – and made him a FORTUNE. Why reinvent the wheel – it worked for Harry… it worked for Bill – why wouldn’t it work for you?
Bell Beavers Break Out
Another one from the telecom giant, Bell Canada. They have been running some ads on television over the years for the “Bell Beavers”. Typical cliché Canadian Beavers who watch hockey and drink beer (unlike any Canadians I know…).
Bell wanted to control a larger percent of the Quebec marketplace… which is a notoriously competitive price shopping market. What did they do? They BUSTED Frank and Gordon, the 2 Bell Beavers, on charges of “Lying about low prices”. The direct mail campaign educated consumers on the hidden costs that competitive suppliers used – and showed them how to truly find value in the market.
The graphics behind the campaign showed Frank and Gordon behind bars… in their mug shots with them holding “I am innocent” placards…newspaper headlines “wrongfully imprisoned?” showing how Bell was innocent. The results? A 250% increase in business! Leveraging the branded lovable beavers, with a solid direct response style offer, a little bit of humor mixed in for good luck – and a breakout campaign emerged (one that they fully plan on using across the country… for good reason).
Action item: is there a hero, a villain, or a mascot you can use in your promotions? For my Wild West Wealth Summit, I used cartoons to make this one stand out from the others - and found CashCartoons.com invaluable for this.
Try creating a bobblehead cartoon of yourself through these guys and use it in your promotions and on your website. If you don’t want your picture plastered everywhere – use your pet, your kids, your staff – just try it! You will definitely stand out – which is the point in an overcrowded marketplace!
Or, you could hire an artist to create a cartoon book, using various staff members, partners and clients as the characters. Use the book to tell your story and entertain people along the way. I do know that cartoons are working phenomenally well in certain direct mail campaigns for some serious marketers these days… something to test out in your own.
Mob of 2.5 Million Tree Huggers Take Over Canada
Kidding on the tree huggers. This success story is about Mountain Equipment Co-Op, who is Canada’s largest outdoor sporting goods chain. Part of their massive success is in their sizzling database, which is now growing by over 200,000 per year (each of these is a paid member)
They do not invest much in their actual advertising – but they put a significant amount of money into their print catalog, which goes out to members twice a year (the spring edition is 132 pages and the winter one is 84 pages).
Their catalogs are a masterpiece of action photos (those using the outdoor mountain gear on some very treacherous adventures), product shots and long copy descriptions. 85% of their members ASK to receive the catalog and the average life span of the catalog is 8 months in their clients’ homes.
With over 2.5 million paid members, they need to be very careful with their catalog creation and printing costs. Some of the ways they keep these costs manageable?
Action items: What can you do to further segment, clean and organize your database? Once you have them into finely defined niches, what can you do to focus your marketing on each niche? It could be as simple as a targeted email or direct mail campaign to a small portion of your list. It could be a print catalog of products that are only of interest to each segment. It could be landing pages dedicated to areas of interest… even voice broadcasts to your sub-lists.
[Source: 2007 Customer Focus Direct Mail Study. |
One last one that I found especially pertinent…
Days Inn Double Duties Their Direct Mail Efforts
Have you found yourself getting overwhelmed with email? Deleting more than you are reading? So are Days Inn customers.
Days Inn went back in time thought to boost their email results. Leveraging offline media to get people back online has resulted in a huge difference in repeat customers and frequent buyers.
When they surveyed their database they found that clutter was especially noticeable in their customers email inbox – versus their physical mailbox. Reaching those people through email was getting them declining results and costing them money.
Combining an online offer with an offline promotion has results in exceptional results. The split test they ran consisted of two equivalent bonus offers – worded differently and with a different call to action. Half the print database also received email as well.
Their results were very conclusive showing that a combination of email AND direct mail products substantially yielded higher response from their clients.
Action item: when was the last time you put stamp to paper and mailed something to your clients and prospects? I know from my own results that offline offers substantially increase response rates – and WILL boost your bottom line numbers.
Send them a postcard first; make sure your database is clean and up to date. Send them some newsletters (which we discussed in previous editions). Send them a catalog send them something in print! Make it pertinent to what they have bought in the past, or have expressed interest in purchasing.
The key to marketing success in 2007 and beyond is to combine the reach and speed of online marketing, with the power and tangibility of offline marketing.
Troy White
Author, Small Business Mastery
Troy White is a top marketing coach, consultant & direct response copywriter based in Calgary, Canada. He has a powerful approach to growing small businesses and entrepreneurial run ventures on a budget. His free Cash Flow Surges blog shares tons of great strategies at http://www.troysblog.com
Discover numerous techniques for turning your personal and business stories into solid marketing campaigns. From online email marketing, to product brochures and descriptions. Complete instruction for new entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. Powerful tools for every business. Guaranteed. http://www.StorySellingTips.com
A Final Note:
If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please submit a comment below and I will see how I can help.
“Of all the formats used in direct mail,
none has more power to generate action than the letter.”
–Dick Hodgson
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