THINK E-CARDS ARE STUPID? Then you weren't sitting in the audience at the “50 DM Ideas in 50 Minutes” panel discussion last month at the List Vision conference in New York.
Melissa Rothchild, CPA2Biz's senior director for marketing communications, offered an eye-popping anecdote in which she said an e-card offering a discount to CPAs on their fifth anniversary as customers resulted in a 50% open rate vs. the industry benchmark 30%; a 24% clickthrough rate compared with the industry standard 7%; and $66,000 in sales.
The key to the program is that CPA2Biz, the primary provider of marketing and technology services to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, sends the cards when customers aren't expecting them, she said.
“I had to do some lobbying internally initially, but now that they've seen results they're excited about [the program],” Rothchild said.
But that wasn't the only unconventional tip to pop up during the session.
Denise Elliott, vice president for sales and marketing at financial publisher Kiplinger, touted the virtues of revamping guarantee copy.
As an example, she read a cookbook's guarantee, which invited buyers to use the book from cover to cover, get it gravy-stained, and if they still weren't satisfied, return it for a full refund.
“Guarantee copy should be something that actually stirs you to action,” she said. She added that outer envelopes with “do not bend” printed on them have been working well in the publishing industry.
“I suggest if you haven't tried it, you should,” she said. However, she noted, postal code requires that envelopes with “do not bend” written on them must contain something of value that should not be bent. The Wall Street Journal uses a bookmark, for example.
“While the value may be debatable, you can argue about that with your postmaster,” she said.
Steve Froehlich, the ASPCA's director of direct marketing, said he's been able to get 8% to 12% of donors to join a monthly contribution program on a “till forbid” basis just by asking.
Froehlich also recommended that when nonprofits mail to lapsed donors, they should match that file against other nonprofits' donor lists to learn who's giving to other causes.
“This way you can see if their philanthropic interests are active, but not with you,” he said.
Kevin Lee, founder and executive chairman of search consultancy Did-It, recommended marketers get a handle on how many Web site visits prospects make before they buy.
“There could be a long research cycle that involves more than one individual, especially in business-to-business,” he said.
Susan Isley, vice president of marketing at Petals Decorative Accents, suggested that DMers make sure all marketing programs and materials look the same and are sending the same message.
Referring to the concept as “surrounding the brand,” Isley said: “There's nothing worse than sending an e-mail out with 25% off while a full-price catalog is hitting people's homes.”
