Doing the same thing and expecting different results

Over the past 15 years I have worked with sum five hundred dealer principles on every kind of campaign imaginable. The one thing that always rings true is the need to find new alternatives to old venues. Many retailers continue to throw money at tired and dried up marketing concepts expecting a different result. Nothing has changed in this instance. Murphy's law says that doing the same thing and expecting different results is a waste of time and money. Another dilemma facing retailers is "I tried it and it worked great but now it has stopped working, but I know it will pick back up." This is very common in marketing, that is why it is important to change a message on a regular basis. The (General Public) becomes immune to your advertising just like anything else. In a economy that is constantly fluctuating your budget can easily be spread thin, this is where Kelnic Corp can help. We are constantly making small changes in ideas that are presented to us to help cut costs and generate the most response to your advertising. Recently a client in the entertainment business placed a direct mail order, we did exactly as asked per his request. He was unhappy with the results. I asked him to change the postcard to an event ticket and resend it. He was reluctant, but agreed. The response was exactly what he was looking for, we didn't change the message we just changed the product that delivered it. Sometimes just bouncing an idea off someone else can mean small changes that will give you results you desire. Let Kelnic help you turn 2010 into a year to remember.

Turning Math into Money!

Get out your adding machine, calculators, abacus, or slide rule... we’re going to figure the value of a customer!

Customer A drives into your store and purchases $10 worth of gas (don’t laugh, it’s a Smart Car), $4.00 worth of Potato Chips (opting for the more expensive “0 Trans Fat brand), $2.22 worth of beverage (he doesn’t really want 2 20oz drinks, but it’s such a great deal), and a $2.00 instant lottery ticket... (he lost). Total purchase $18.22... But hey... all of these marketing ideas REALLY worked right?

Customer B walks up to your store, still a little sleepy eyed and dressed in a neighbouring business’s uniform, and purchases a $1.29 coffee and a $2.19 microwaveable breakfast sandwich. Total purchase $3.48...

Which customer is more important?
The real answer... both of them, and from here on out everything else is a guess, but humour me if you will.

Over the course of a year, customer B will probably work 5 days a week, 51 weeks out of the year. He’s walking so he probably lives nearby. Is this $887.40 sale worth keeping? You BETCHA!!!

This is your customer base, and while everyone wants a BIGGER customer base, many people overlook the base (foundation) they already have in an effort to make it bigger. Almost every request for a direct mail consultation we receive starts with “I want to attract customers who.....” And while many of our clients are maximizing their client base (after all, they are our clients ) we get phone calls all the time going in the complete opposite direction. Our advice is start with the most VALUABLE and EXPENSIVE mailing list available..... YOUR OWN! If you add up the amount of money you have spent on advertising and marketing since the start of your business.... Then add in all of the customer service dollars you have spent, and divide it by the number of customers who’s contact information your currently posses, you will see what list seller in the direct mail industry would call a 401(k)!

So send out a holiday card, start a loyalty program, an exclusive sale or offer, do something to drive (or walk) the people who have put food on your table in the past back through your doors, possibly with a friend or family member. If you have spent $500 a piece trying to get them, isn’t it worth $5 a piece to get them back? 500 new customers did NOT move into your area yesterday, did you do anything to get 500 OLD customers back in?

Are you ready to?

LETS GO!

"Marketing" What is it?

mar⋅ket⋅ing
  /ˈmɑrkɪtɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [mahr-ki-ting]

–noun

1.
the act of buying or selling in a market.




2.
the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.








It surprises me how many people show up on the marketing scene, touting the next greatest idea. How many times have you heard someone present a method that’s guaranteed to increase sales by 700%? What’s even more interesting is this is their first line in the conversation, without even taking the time to learn what your business is or what your needs are! A recent trip to a clients business led us to a 4 hour discussion that had nothing to do with OUR products, but instead focused on their products and what it was they wanted to see happen, and how their growth plans had changed and evolved, and what the next steps where in realizing their goals. While 4 hours is certainly the exception and not the rule, it is absolutely impossible to create a functional marketing concept without first understanding what the actual goal is.



A good way to evaluate your potential success with a marketing firm or concept, is to gather some thoughts in advance. Decided what it is that you want your business to do. Evaluate your strengths so that they can be positively marketed. Identify your weaknesses and ask for advice and help in turning them around. As with any good business contact in your network, your marketing team should be able to offer some tips, tricks, or advice in “all activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer”. While marketers certainly do NOT know all the answers, (and beware of ones that claim they do) they should be able to send you in the right direction more times than not. Marketing is MORE about business growth and development than anything else. If you are completely satisfied with your current state of business, then you don’t need any marketing advice!



BUT.......



If you want to make even $1 in sales growth, you need to evaluate your entire marketing strategy. If you want to REALLY blow the doors off this year... Then why not let us spend an hour with you learning about YOUR GOALS!

We call this “direct mail fatigue”, and everyone has it.

Hello-



While I was going to St. Ives I met a man with......... Did you finish the sentence in your head? If you didn’t then let’s try this one... Hickory Dickery Dock, the mouse ran........

It’s funny how limericks, rhymes, jingles and tag lines stay with us, regardless of how long it’s been since we have seen or heard them. A certain fast food chain who shall remain McNameless spent alot of time and money to insure that it would in fact always be a good time for the great taste of McName-with-held, and for the most part, I can only assume, it has served them well (and hopefully they in turn have served their customers well). Is there a flip side to all of this? YOU BETCHA! How many times have you gotten a direct mail piece indicating that you “MAY HAVE ALREADY WON XXXXXXX”? Here is an excellent example of many different people spending even more money and time separately to SABATOGE the chance of anyone else being able to use a prize giveaway. We call this “direct mail fatigue”, and everyone has it.



So, that’s the bad news.



Now for some good news. You can still use a prize promotion or giveaway offer effectively, you just have to be MORE creative then the last guy. If your advertising and marketing plans don’t stick out, than how are you going to? And who says you HAVE to use direct mail anyhow? Ever thought of hanging something right on your next customers door? Or how about serve a nice juicy succulent prize offer right on the dinner table? Imagine this conversation.....

“WOW... I’m starved and this smell delicious”

“Mmmmm... And does it ever taste good”

“Hey Look at this” (said with half a mouthful of delicious dinner) “Spend $300 at (insert your business here) and get a free (insert prize here)”

“We should check that out tomorrow”

Not bad hey?



Every week we go to the mailbox and see literally hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars wasted in direct mail advertising. It’s either poorly designed, mixed in with 40 other indirect competitors for the same dollars, and 7 of these are usually your direct competition!!! WOW, how did that happen?



Don’t throw your dollars in your customers trash bin, let us help you use that money to increase sales AND profit. Call us for a free quote, and find out how we can help you drive your bottom line to the TOP! What have you got to lose besides a few customers?



Our recent success with Pizza Pie Promos™ has offered our clients up to a 7% response on In-Home direct marketing campaigns across Michigan. We are starting to open up territories through out the United States and Canada. We are currently looking for one exclusive partner in your market. This partner will have higher returns than even direct mail can offer for a fraction of direct mail costs. This offer guarantees millions of views per campaign. Let us tailor an event specific to your area. Our slow burn tactics gives you the Super Sale effects but over a period of time, so your staff can easily and effectively handle all traffic. Would an additional 20-500 customer per week help you push the needle in your market? With over 15 years of Aggressive Automotive Marketing experience I believe this to be the best and most efficient advertising venue opportunity available today.



Check us out at www.pizzapiepromos.com



Let us cut your advertising budget for the quarter in half or more and still give you the results you desire.



P.S. If you sell watches, I know 7 women who would love to throw out an old mouse infested clock!

Do it right the first time!

Story Time....

Had an interesting conversation with a new client last week, it started with him screaming about marketing and advertising and what a waste of money it all is. Well, of course I was hooked. After a few obvious questions I got to the heart of the matter... He had just spent $9500 and 3 weeks working on a direct mail piece that, while certainly a good offer, had returned him 0 responses. Not one phone call, walkin, web-hit, NOTHING!

WOW!!! My first thought was who in this economy has $9500 to throw around on a marketing campaign??? My second thought was this guy needs some help!

It’s hard not to be sold on the next biggest thing when it comes to increasing your sales. Everyone wants to get in on the action before the action has gone by the way side. The problem with this rush to “spend” is that you can really overlook the little things, and we all know the devils in the details. Within 1 hour not only had we signed a new client, we had developed a brilliant piece that did the job he ACTUALLY wanted! He was actually interested in getting web-hits and phone calls, he wanted BUYERS!

Fast forward to this morning. I thought 7:30 was a bit early for a phone call. Seems our new client isn’t convinced..... Can you believe he had the audacity to accuse me of paying over 230 of my friends and family to come in to HIS store and make a purchase just to make us look better? (smirk) My Direct Quote “On the $1500 we charged you, I could have only paid 3 people.... where did the other 237 come from?”

Don’t be fooled into low returns by high costs. Start out slow and easy. Use your increased sales to fund future growth, and above all... GET HELP!!!

If you would like to increase YOUR sales by up to 20%, give us a call and see how we can create a low cost high return program for your business.

Thanks Josh for this post. You can call Josh directly with any questions or a FREE marketing consultation. 231.709.8885

This is why when sending direct mail you should leave it to a professional.

It's cost-effective, costing between .75 cents and $1 per mailing, including paper, ink, envelopes and postage. It's effective, averaging between 1 and 3% response rate. It allows controlled growth. You choose how many you send, and since you know the average response rate, you know how many will probably reply. And it gives you one-on-one attention.

But direct mail is only truly effective if you get at least that 1 to 3% response rate. I've heard about direct mail failures from many small business owners. In fact, I'd say most who've tried it don't believe it works well at all based on their response. Sometimes those responses have been zero.

It's frustrating to pour hours of your best copyrighting into a direct mail letter that bombs. You may feel that not only have you wasted your time, but you've also wasted a bunch of cash that could have been put to better use somewhere else.

But, most of those business owners have committed cardinal sins in their direct mail copyrighting. And their response rates could have been far higher had they known a few things about writing direct mail.

It all starts with the envelope. If it looks like "junk mail", it'll probably be tossed instead of opened. There's no chance of getting your message if it hits the trash can, and that means you have wasted your time and resources.

So, make sure your direct mail letter is opened by making them want to see what's inside. You could:

•use real stamps instead of a postage meter


•take your logo off the return address so they think it's from a real person rather than from a business


•address it in handwriting rather than print


•use a different font than what's normally used


•make the envelope a different color than white


•print a teaser on the envelope
And those are just a few tips. Use your imagination. What gets you to open an envelope?

Once you get them to open it, attention shifts to the letter itself. You have literally seconds to convince them to read on, or once again it hits the trash can. What makes the biggest difference? Your opening headline.

Get their attention with a compelling heading, and try to aim for some kind of emotional response. The stronger that emotional response, the better. Your headline could ask a question. Or it could provide an answer. And it should highlight your biggest benefit in some way. "How to..." is a good bet. "Why" also works. Asking a question stimulates our curiosity, and that usually means we'll read on.

Attract more interest with your first few paragraphs. They're your introduction. If it bores them, they'll stop reading.

Know your target market and write the body of your copy directly to them. If they're women, use words that appeal to women. And if they're men, use words men relate to. Copy written for younger consumers differs from copy for older ones.

Today's direct mail has shifted away from using envelopes because the odds are not in your favor that they will be opened but if you insist on using one have a professional design your campaign. Too many small business's try to do it on their own and that is why direct mail tends to be a bust. Kelnic Corp has over 15 years of dedicated work history to moving the needle in your market, where ever you may be we have had successful campaigns. Our marketing experiences spans US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Europe. Our experience in driving traffic is your advantage over most of our competition. We just did a direct mail campaign with our first nursery ever and to our amazement and our clients, they saw 10% of the mailers come back during their one day sale. It is your ad budget use it wisely. With our automotive marketing background we give you the strongest ability to move the needle. Automotive advertising is some of the most aggressive marketing out there and we can take that experience to help you in any industry.