Response: The Complete Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing

by Lois K. Geller

Overview

Geller is president of a New York City-based direct marketing firm, Mason and Geller Direct. The new edition of her guide provides entrepreneurs, small companies, and large corporations with updated tips and techniques in direct marketing that have developed since publication of the first edition in 1996. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198035992
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	1190L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Lois K. Geller is president of Mason & Geller Direct Marketing in New York City and counts leading corporations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs from around the world among her clients. She teaches Direct Marketing at New York University and is the winner of a gold ECHO Award, eight Andy Awards, and several gold CDMA RSVP Awards. Seth Godin is author of Permission Marketing and Unleashing the Idea Virus.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xiii
	Acknowledgements	xv
	Special Acknowledgement	xvii
	Introduction	xix
1.	How I Got Started	1
	Thank My Lucky Stars
	Catch the Luck Yourself
2.	Why Go Direct?	4
	The Advantages of Direct Marketing
	Dispelling Direct Marketing Myths
	A Direct Marketing Success Story
	And the Survey Says...
	The $200 Hot Buyer Incentive
	Adapt the Concepts to Fit Your Business
	Choosing a Product to Sell
	The Small-Firm Advantage
	Play Up Your Personality
	The DM Questionnaire
3.	Elements of an Effective Offer	27
	What Makes a Good Offer
	Offer Options
	Testing: The Ultimate Opinion Poll
	Checklist
4.	Identifying Your Customers	44
	Compiled Lists
	Direct Response Lists
	How to Choose a List
	Creative List Planning
	Using a List Broker
	List Maintenance and Computer Service Bureaus
	Target Your Ideal Prospects with Database Marketing
	Prioritize Your List with RFM
	When Your Business Grows...Consider a Database, Think CRM
	Checklist
5.	Creative Techniques for Successful Direct Mail Packages	63
	The Direct Mail Advantage
	The Outer Envelope
	Envelope Success Stories
	The Letter
	Six Strategies for Winning Copy
	More Winning Words
	Typography and Design
	Letter Success Stories
	The Brochure
	The Order Form
	Order Form Success Story
	The Business Reply Envelope
	Keep Your Printing Costs in Mind
	Seasonality
	Checklist
6.	Distinctive Direct Response Advertising	104
	Setting Clear Objectives
	Location, Location, Location
	Working Within Your Budget
	How to Make Your Ad Stand Out From the Crowd
	The Copy
	Get the Most for Your Advertising Dollars
	Broadcast Media
	Checklist
7.	Catalog Connections	128
	A Tool for Serious Marketers
	The Catalog Boom
	Make a Statement with Your Catalog
	Develop a Catalog Plan
	What Goes Where
	Pricing the Catalog
	What's the Good Word?
	Writing Effective Copy
	Capture your Readers' Attention with Snappy Headlines!
	Catalog Art
	Make it Easy to Order
	Your Online Catalog
	Checklist
8.	Fulfilling Orders and Expectations	157
	Who's Fulfilling What?
	Prefulfillment Essentials
	The First Step: Order Entry
	Sending Out the Goods
	Using Outside Services
	Shipping Delays and the Mail Order Rule
	Regulations on Selling Through the Mail
	Checklist
9.	Costs and Mail Order Math	176
	Determine your Promotion Costs
	Finding the Break-Even Point
	How to Calculate the Break-Even Point for a Direct Response Ad
	Analyzing Catalog Sales
	Analyzing List Results
	Checklist
10.	Planning Your Campaign	193
	Background
	Objectives
	Strategy
	Tactics
	Ballpark Estimates
	Contingency Plans
	Timetable
	A Sample Marketing Plan
	Use Your Marketing Plan as a Reference Guide
	Checklist
11.	Loyalty Programs: Frequent Flyers, Frequent Buyers	207
	High-Quality Products
	Extraordinary Customer Service
	Ongoing Communication
	Calculating Long-Term Value
	Staying in for the Long Haul
	Keep It Fresh and Fun
	Other Loyalty Program Success Stories
	Partnership Programs
	Checklist
12.	Direct Marketing for Big Business	231
	Big-Business Advantages
	The Challenges Big Businesses Face
	Finding Solutions
	Big-Business Success Stories
	Checklist
13.	Direct Marketing for Small to Midsize Businesses	244
	One Case Study: Smart Research = Small-Business Success
	The Top Ten List: Secrets to Small-Business Success
	Keep Your Vision in Mind
	Checklist
14.	Relationship Building in the 21st Century: The Internet and Beyond	255
	Building Relationships One at a Time
	Back to the Future: Servicing and Caring for Customers
	Loyalty Programs: The "Mom and Pop" of the 21st Century
	Aftermarket Selling
	The Internet
	Web Site Basics: The Virtual Storefront
	Keep It Simple
	Online Branding
	Interactivity
	Developing a Great Site...Over Time
	Caring for Customers Online
	Creating Traffic
	Privacy and Security
	Email Marketing
	Keep 'Em Coming Back
	Making the Most of Opportunities and Customer Relationships: Conversations with a Profit-Driven Internet Entrepreneur
	Look Forward ...
	Checklist
15.	Direct Marketing Around the World	289
	Regions of Opportunity: Canada, England, Ireland and Germany
	Europe
	Japan
	China
	Southeast Asia
	Australia
	Latin America and Mexico
	The Mechanics of Overseas Campaigns
	Checklist
16.	The Successful Marketer	314
	Feasting on Direct Marketing Success
	Characteristics of Success
	You Are Not Alone ...
	Glossary	331
Appendix	Direct Marketing Resource Directory	341
	Index	351

Editorial Reviews

A Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing
Direct marketing has worked for Sears Roebuck, Sharper Image and Banana Republic, among others, and it could work for you. Lois Geller, the president of Mason & Geller Direct, explains that it can be the key to expanding your company's customer base and increasing its profitability. She and other direct marketing experts believe it is the single most effective way to sell, and Response explains how direct marketing can be tested, tracked and used to make a profit. Direct marketing campaigns sell billions of dollars worth of goods and services to consumers and businesses worldwide, and Geller lets her readers in on the secrets of its success.

Geller writes that anyone can use direct marketing tactics to create or improve business, and she offers step-by-step, scientifically planned, tested and proven direct marketing tools and techniques that can work for any type of business. By providing her readers with multitudes of examples of direct mail letters, reply envelopes, flyers, coupons, ads and television and radio campaigns, she demonstrates how these tools can be used successfully on both large and small scales. To back up her beliefs in these techniques and prove their effectiveness, Response also contains numerous interviews with the people who have successfully started and grown their own direct marketing enterprises.

Small Businesses Can Test, Too
Geller also explains the ins and outs of testing. Although big businesses have been very successful at performing this type of scientific experimentation, Geller offers tips to help small businesses get into the game. Instead of giving up after a single direct mail letter gets disappointing results, she writes, a small business can learn much from sending out the same letter with a small copy change. For example, she explains, a restaurant owner can send out one mailing that offers a free glass of wine with dinner, and in another mailing, the offer could be a 10 percent discount on weeknight dinners. The offer that gets the best response could be continued while the other one is dropped.

She writes that the most effective method of getting direct marketing to work for you is to "create small tests of several versions, calculate which produces the best return, and then do a larger mailing using those results." Because low-volume tests can be so useful, she writes that businesses of any size can benefit from this simple tool.

Since it is more expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep an old one, Geller also explains the importance of creating long-term relationships. She professes her faith in direct marketing as the perfect way to establish and maintain long-term customer relationships, as well as keep avenues open for referrals and new customers. She writes that any small business can benefit from sending out a flier or a postcard every few months to announce a sale, describe a new product or introduce a new staff member.

'What's in It for Me?'
Without an offer, Geller explains, direct marketing is merely retail selling by mail. To help companies answer the customer question, "What's in it for me?" she describes the elements of an effective offer that closes the sale. She writes that the three characteristics of an offer that works are:

1. Believability: No one will believe they are going to get something very expensive for free. An offer must make sense to the customer.
2. Involvement: Give the customer a special reason to buy. Get customers to visualize themselves already using a product or service. "Buy one and get one at half price," is a good way to help customers calculate how much they can save.
3. Creativity: Be just a little different. An offer that is specific to a product or service being offered will get the highest response. Exclusive offers are also appealing.

The rest of Response delves into the fine points of identifying customers through compiled lists and list planning; creative techniques for successful direct mail packages, which include strategies for winning envelopes, letters, copy, design and order forms; direct response advertising; creating and mailing creative catalogs; fulfillment; determining costs and break-even points; and planning an effective direct mail campaign. She also helps big and small companies build relationships using modern technology, and sell internationally.

Why Soundview Likes This Book
Response covers the tactics and strategies of direct marketing from concept to long-term relationship by offering numerous examples and ideas that create customer interest. Geller knows her stuff, and in this updated and revised edition of her classic bestseller, she demonstrates the approach she has taken on her path to success as a direct marketing guru who has the tips and techniques that work in traditional formats as well as via the Internet and other electronic methods. Copyright (c) 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

"Response is a great practical guide for marketers and it's a key tool for us. I consider it to be the cornerstone of the group's Direct Marketing training." —Liz Bieler, Director Insurance Services American Express Company

"Lois Geller's direct marketing genius has been winning customers (and awards) for me for years Now she has a true winner for herself. Lois' book is destined to be on the bestseller list for a long time."—Anne McCall Simms, General Manager Fairmont Spas Inc.

"Response is a terrific resource to have in one's personal or professional library. It is filled with practical examples, valuable tools and insightful tips. It serves as a step-by-step guide to delivering successful direct marketing programs time after time after time. Whether it is used for professional enrichment or educational enlightenment, the reader will not be disappointed. It is an excellent book and I would recommend it for anyone doing a direct marketing program!" —Renée L. Harris, Director, New York University Marketing and Management Institute Center for Direct and Interactive Marketing

"The practical approach and real-life examples in Response provide an invaluable foundation in direct marketing. Lois is a master teacher whose enthusiasm shines through on every page. I continue to reach for Response both for inspiration, and to ensure my own work is on target." —Daniel Coyne, Marketing Manager, Special Projects, Direct Marketing Association, Inc.

"What's so unique about Response is that it brings direct marketing to life—it offers insider information and only could have been written by someone who has tremendous knowledge and depth of experience. Lois has done a superb job!" —Murray Miller, Senior Advisor to the President and COO, American Express Company

From the Publisher