I’m often asked if being part of a well-established Madison Avenue agency, which is part of an even larger holding company, changes the way that we approach the practice of direct marketing. Or, is any difference in theory or practice between large and small direct marketers.
The truth is, I don’t know. Answering this definitively would require a visit to the hundreds of agencies and thousands of direct marketers out there that practice the same discipline and finding out how they do what they do and how each one determined its particular approach or solution to its unique DM problem.
And, while I’ve seen the inner workings of small and large firm alike, I wouldn’t want to assume that my "focus group of one" could accurately answer this question. But there are a few practices of large agencies and their large clients that smaller direct marketers can (and should) follow.
Put the Customer First.
What the client wants or expects of us is tremendously important, but we need to remember they hire us to do the right thing for their business. That means putting consumers at the center of the experience and making sure they will be happy with the client’s product, service or and/or communication. End of story.
Seems like a no-brainer, but I still see clients speaking to themselves on their sites, in the ads, and in lots of places in between.
I often see online forms and applications designed by software engineers to capture information in the most utilitarian manner possible. This is fine for a software engineer, but terrible for the consumer who prefers an entirely different brand of utility, which is intuitive, easy on the eye, and commensurate with the task at hand.
To find out how consumers will react to a mailing, a site, or even a Web form, just ask them. Ask as many prospective customers as time and budget will allow -- just make sure it’s the consumer, not the client who is driving the experience.
Do Your Homework.
Setting the agency or the direct marketers up for success goes beyond just asking consumers for feedback. It means understanding all things that influence the experience the direct marketer is trying to create.
This includes, but is not limited to, the client’s target audience, marketplace and competition. Not even a single client dollar should be invested unless there's a firm grasp on these three things.
We don’t even write a creative brief until we make sure we know exactly who we are talking to, what the competition is saying to them, and where the market is trending. Small direct marketers can save money (but not effort) by doing this on their own. It doesn’t take a huge staff to conduct some basic research.
The same applies to website design and development. I would rather test a site concept against a few people in a room with a computer and a list of tasks than forego any usability testing because there was "no time or budget for that kind of thing."
Do something. Anything. Small direct marketers can learn 80% of what they need to know by testing a few folks with some decent prototypes, than if they didn’t test at all. And, if the resources to do the proper homework are not available, invest in consultative resources that do.
Test.
If I had to guess one practice that may not run its due course in smaller shops and direct marketers, it’s that of true structured testing. Sending two different versions of a communication into market does not constitute a test.
To test a communication, there are certain principles to follow, which are automatic for large companies and every bit as cost effective for small ones.
- Establish a "control" based on what has performed best in the past.
- Keep the test simple -- too many changes spoil the test results.
- Keep everything consistent except the one or two variables that really matter.
- Test a quantity great enough to be statistically valid.
- Testing never ends. Test continually.
Push.
The idea of pushing the client to welcome new and provocative ideas, applies to all agencies. We all have to remember that clients hire us to be their experts in one subject or another. Too often, we recycle the same strategies and tactics we know the client is expecting to see or hear about. Sure, it’s harder to sell a new idea, but there are two great benefits to pushing:
- When pushing leads to results, it strengthens client relationships.
- When we see new ideas in market, the bar is raised for all of us and makes the industry a far more interesting place to work.
Hockey great Wayne Gretzky said it best, "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." Whether your playing field is covered with ice and sticks or cubicles and conference rooms, the same basics apply, regardless of size.
Philip Sandler is senior vice president and managing director of Wunderman Interactive.
