Jorge's Thoughts: Innovate Your Marketing with Direct Mail

Of all the marketing vehicles, direct mail marketing gives you the most opportunities to specifically target your ideal prospect, to be innovative and to be more personal. 

From new technology in printing to the delivery of fresh ideas in messaging to the ability of addressing your prospects in a creative and personalized manner, direct mail allows you to drive response and drive engagement with your most ideal audience in a way that can powerfully impact your business.  

Here's how:  

1. Personalization:  Personalized mail stands out and gets attention. For your target audience to receive a direct mail piece from you shows that you have taken the time to deliver a customized message based on their potential needs. 

Additionally, 73% of American consumers said they prefer direct mail and 62% said they enjoy checking their mailbox. Give your target audience not only something to look forward to but also something that is personalized and will help you develop an initial impression.  

2. Packaging:  Direct mail response rates are higher than all digital media. Before your prospects respond to your direct mail, they first have to open it. You've got a small window of time to make that happen: 5-7 seconds. Make sure you stand out in the mailbox with creative packaging. 

Maximize response by using the latest print and imaging innovations to create the best looking and highest impact invitation in the mailbox. Take advantage of live stamping, handwritten fonts, full color graphics, odd size envelopes and other techniques that will help you avoid that dreaded look of junk mail. 

Pro tip: Postcards are for coupons and local general advertisers. All important and personal mail comes in envelopes; just ask Hallmark! 


3. Digital components:  Digital vehicles on their own may not generate enough response to keep you interested. You are targeting that guarded 50+ age group who still like traditional media, so you will need to reach with a mix of personalized direct mail, TV , radio, social media and internet ads. That approach will cover more ground, expand your message and give you more reach - what we call “critical mass” in the marketing world. It’s a combination of all or some of these that gives you maximized exposure, more opportunities to generate a higher response and stand above your competitors.

I've created a series of podcasts on this and other marketing tips to help you reach your target audiences. If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to cover via this type of content (or any type of content), tweet me at @JorgeVillarRME! 

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#howdoyouinnovate

3 Tips for Creating Targeted Video Content

“You might make a video with 89 views. But one of those viewers could be a producer at CNN. Undervaluing just that one view is a huge mistake.”

-Gary Vaynerchuck, C

EO of Vaynermedia and host of Ask Gary Vee

We all want to produce video content that earns a million hits, right? But if your videos don't go viral, are they less valuable, entertaining or informative? Absolutely not! 

They're likely more targeted. 

Video content is undoubtedly the most powerful medium in your marketing toolbox. When done effectively, it prompts interaction, it puts a personality with a name, it adds a layer of dimension to your content marketing and it's likely more interesting and more compelling than written content. While the financial services industry is heavily regulated, there is most certainly flexibility in how advisors can - and should! - use video content to market to targeted audiences. 

Consider these stats: 

• 64% of marketers expect that video content will dominate their overall marketing strategy. 
• 78% said video is the most leveraged medium of content. 
• 57% of financial brands want to increase their marketing investment in video. 
• 57% of consumer internet traffic will be from video content by the end of 2015.

So what should you show in your videos? What should your focus be? What content should you present? Here are some ideas to help you get started: 

1. Create a vlog to tell a story. 

A vlog - or a video blog - is a cost-effective, effortless way to share who you are, to establish a personal connection and to build your reputation as a trusted local expert. Show your audience what matters to your brand, how you became an expert in your industry or how you've helped past clients. 

2. Use behind the scenes footage to show how your brand operates. 

You have a team who collaborates with you, puts in long hours with you and helps you provide excellent service to your target audience. Use video content to show that to your prospects and clients. Don't give away your secret sauce, but do give your audience a sneak peek into your culture and what makes it, your products and your services unique. Think of this content as the bonus footage on a DVD. 

3. Create a themed series to share knowledge. 

Share advice on topics that your target audience is concerned with. Present information in a concise, easy to follow and entertaining manner. Show your audience how your advice on these topics has helped clients by including testimonials from them or sharing their stories. 

For instance, our The Marketing Minute series focused on providing quick marketing tips to financial services professionals. Here's an example: 

What would you add to this list? Tell us below or tweet us!

@RME360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Jorge's Thoughts: How to Build Connections through Data

We volunteer a lot of information about ourselves to the digital world, and marketers know that. Good marketers make effective and appropriate use of data that will allow them to:

1) create messaging for products, services and solutions to target interested audiences

2) begin building relationships with prospects and clients 

With the vast array of marketing that arrives in the inboxes and mailboxes of our target audiences, it's crucial to the success of our campaigns to break through the noise. How do we do that? 

Build your connection based on data. 

For prospects: 

1. Use critical data points when prospecting. These include age, income, zip codes, IPA and net worth. This is the core set of information you need to ensure you market to those who will be best served by you. 

2. Obtain data on an audience 15-25 miles within your office. Those within this range are more likely to attend your seminars and visit your office. 

3. Identify 7,000-15,000 households that meet your criteria for a target audience. 

4. Use your selected data points to craft your message. Your messaging should speak directly and effectively to the audience profiled by the data. 

5. Stay top of mind. This requires you to send messages frequently and over a long period of time. Develop a strategy that includes messages delivered in a variety of ways for the next 8-10 months. 

Remember: Competition can be fierce. You may have 300-500 advisors within the 15-25 miles who market to audiences similar to yours. 

For clients: 

1. Dig deep within your data on existing clients. In building relationships with your clients, you learn more about them. Use that data when crafting your messaging. This includes data points such as hobbies, habits and affiliations. 

2. Create personal and individualized messages that do more than sell your products and solutions. Acknowledge your clients' birthdays or ask them about their children's softball teams. 

3. Use social media to complement data you've obtained from lists, but use data gathered there responsibly. Craft messages based on social media information in a respectful tone and with content that provides value to your clients. 

Remember: Clients often rely on emotions when making decision. Establish a solid emotional connection with them as you build your relationship. 

Tweet me and let's chat about using data to connect with your target audience:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#connectdata

Jorge's Thoughts: 3 Tips to Develop Messaging that Converts Sales

If you've got leads, great! 

If you've got qualified prospects, congratulations! 

But how do you move them down the funnel? How does your current messaging impact your conversion rate and what can you do to improve it?

Believe it or not, every piece of written real estate matters when it comes to conversions. Each word on your print marketing, your digital messaging and your presentation materials has the power to lead to conversions, but some words have more power than others. 

Check out these 3 tips to consider when developing your messaging:

1. Stand out. Valuable prospects already have financial advisors. To earn their business, it's important to recognize that your messaging must be in steal away mode. What are you saying that is different from their current advisors? Inspire those valuable prospects to consider your services by showcasing what makes you unique. 

2. Identify pain points as well as solutions. Your prospects are likely to have several pain points of various concerns . While they won't find it pleasant or comfortable to discuss them,  they may not to do business with you unless there is something to resolve. Put the spotlight on how you can solve their pain points and make them more comfortable with their financial futures. 

3. Be top of mind. Your target prospects may not need you today, next week or next month, but inevitably they will need you. Your brand should be what they think of when they are ready to seek financial resolutions. That means your marketing efforts need to be consistent and that your messaging needs to address a variety of issues. For instance, if your target market consists of those age 55 and up, consider that their lives change every 4-6 months. Life events such as retirement, major illness or death in the family will trigger their need for you, so your messaging must speak to those concerns. 

Tweet me and let's chat about tips to convert sales:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#convertthissale

Jorge's Thoughts: Debunking the Top 3 Seminar Marketing Myths

This week, we're taking a look at seminar marketing across our social media. Take a look at these top 3 seminar myths and let us know what you think in the comments below!

1) Feeding at the events 

This is a must to create that social event environment and not that antiquated lecture, workshop or sales pitch scenario. Also, the obvious: it allows time for you and/or your team to make appointments; otherwise, attendees would just leave after your presentation. The restaurant setting is neutral and familiar to your attendees. They probably go there many times on their own, and it's not suffocating or compromising like the other closed door venues. They know they can just leave the crowded restaurant if they wanted to.

 Something is bothering them financially, which is why they originally responded. If there are a few couples who appear to be there just information shopping or just gathering ideas, then so be it. They help fill the room and give you that emotional dynamic that makes people feel comfortable. You are going to get a 20% to 30% appointment ratio from the people who are attending whether you feed or not. You need the numbers on your side. Top producers do not worry about food costs because the ROI takes care of that. Ironically, not offering food does not change the appointment ratio nor does it mean that the attendees are truly more interested in what you are presenting . It will just end up being 30% appointments of less attendees. 

 

2) Converting attendees to appointments 

The amount of appointments you make at your seminars is 100% in direct proportion to the following factors:

• Did you have enough attendance? 

• Did you connect with your audience socially? 

• Did you tell stories that were relevant to the attendee's financial concerns? Could they relate? 

• Did you give your local background and tell your own story?  

• Did you intrigue your attendees with potential solutions and options and not a product pitch? 

• Was your topic current? Did you have too many slides?  

• Did you inspire the audience to feel like their confusion and worries about many financial issues were normal? 

• Did you explain and clarify what will happen at their first office appointments, include that nothing will be sold even then? 

• Did you have an effective and professional process to ask for the appointments during the dinner session? 

• Did you pre-sell appointments during their presentation and not just at the end? 

• Was the event feedback form explained and handed out? 

• Were you diligent in calling attendees who could not commit to a time and date the very next day? 

• Did you ask if a better or a later date would help them commit?  

• Did you offer the option of a private complimentary phone call review session if they were not willing or ready to meet face to face yet? 

 3) Saturation in marketing 

The real saturation is not in the marketing; rather, it is in the amount of advisors who are in direct competition in the immediate area. In one city corner at a business district intersection there could be 10 to 30 advisor offices. Many advisors ignore that fact and decide to blame bad seminar results on the amount of marketing that they perceive is happening in their backyard. If that were even remotely true and it was not working, then why would so many others send out invitations? 

The reality is that a very high percentage of those who are even doing seminars are doing them wrong. Wrong invites, wrong lists, wrong venues, wrong dates, wrong messaging...on and on. They may want to cut corners, save pennies, not take the time to understand marketing and end up usually partnering with local printers instead of experienced direct marketers. Good marketing is based on good data. Understanding and following the 10 to 15 critical variables that create successful outcomes is challenging. 

To wrap this up, everything we do here at RME360 is intended to create predictable marketing and sales processes that will continuously drive prospects and results for advisors over and over, all year long. We have 20 years of data. Let us show you how we can generate a continuous flow of prospects for your business. 

Tweet me and let's chat about seminar marketing:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

Seminar Marketing Success Factors: The Critical Factors You Must Avoid

Long before social media marketing, there was the original social marketing concept: seminar marketing. And while there are many marketing trends that allow you to reach your targeted audience with your brand messaging, your brand can't afford to ignore the classic solution of seminar marketing that brings you face-to-face with interested prospects.

Click here for our FREE white paper to learn more!

#planyourseminar





By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Back to Basics: Three Tips to Make Direct Marketing Work for Your Brand

So you think direct mail is dead, huh? Think again! 

Direct Marketing Association found that the response rate for direct mail to an existing customer averages 3.4%. 

Epsilon found that 50% of U.S. consumers prefer direct mail to email. 

And Target Marketing found that direct mail has the highest rate of success in new customer acquisition at 34%. 

An effective direct mail piece walks your brand, your products and your services into your prospects' homes and you become the topic of conversation around the dinner table. Professional, personalized and compelling direct marketing packages coupled with targeted consumer data will open the door for you; the quality of your products and services will close that door on your way out of a successful sale.

























Check out these three tips to having a successful direct marketing campaign: 

Use a list that best fits your needs. Use multiple data files to identify your prospects by age, income, zip code criteria and other important selects. What about your markets should you consider? What lifestyle choices of your prospects will make a difference when narrowing your target? Work with a list database expert to ensure you have the right list. 

Create a professional, personalized and compelling mail piece. This isn't the time to mail our your company brochure. Your direct mail piece should have a strong offer and a strong call to action as well. Your brand's brochure allows it the opportunity to inform, but its direct mail pieces should ask for specific action. Give your prospects multiple ways to respond to increase your chances of that action. A marketing services expert can provide you with copy and design services to ensure your message invokes the response you seek. 

Manage your responses. While you can't anticipate the exact number of responses you will receive, you can plan ahead so you can manage those responses swiftly and effectively. This will depend on the action you identify in your messaging. Are you asking prospects to email you for more information? If so, have that information ready to send and/or discuss. Are you asking prospects to call in and discuss a particular product or service? If so, train the team who will field those calls on what types of questions to expect and how to answer them. Are you asking prospects to visit a landing page and download something? If so, make sure the messaging of that deliverable matches the direct mail piece and that the link is functional and accessible. 

What other tips should you consider when launching a direct mail campaign? Tell us in the comments! 

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Lead Generation Tips for Today's Marketing Landscape

According to findings in the B2B Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends survey, lead generation is second only to brand awareness as a major goal for content marketers in 2015. But what strategies should you use? What small tasks can you accomplish each day to earn more qualified leads?

Let’s take a look at 6 ideas that can help you begin your sales cycle. 

1.      Embrace social media.

This concept isn’t rocket science, but it does mean more than just creating a Facebook page. Embracing social media to generate leads means selecting channels that your target audience uses, creating and curating content daily that works for those channels and that is compelling and relevant to your audience, developing a reputation as a thought leader in your industry and talking with your followers, not just to them. While you won’t see an immediate train of quality leads pulling into your brand’s station, you will begin to connect with those interested in your services and begin to foster relationships.

2.      Send direct mail.

Yes, you read that correctly. Direct mail may have its detractors, but don’t count it out when it comes to your lead generation strategies. HubSpot notes that 18-34 year olds prefer direct mail and that it’s an effective lead generation investment when targeting hyper-local communities. Many marketers focus solely on email to generate leads, so direct mail has more of an opportunity to stand out. Work with professionals who understand how to create the right content and who can target the right audience for your brand.

3.      Hold contests on social media.

There are several ways to hold contests on each social media channel, but for the purpose of lead generation, focus on email-gated contests. Followers will need to enter their email addresses before they can successfully enter your contest, and you can also ask for a follow or a retweet in addition to their contact information. If your contests include the submission of videos or photos, you can collect user-generated content (UGC) as well.

4.      Test and use hashtags.

In 2015, using hashtags should be a no-brainer. What some marketers tend to overlook is the need to test hashtags. Having your brand be a part of the conversation on trending topics and participating in Twitter chats are good ways to be seen as a thought leader, but as you become seen as more of an expert, you also want to create your own content and your own hashtags. Ensuring those hashtags will stick means ensuring your message will amplify its reach. 

5.      Create original content for LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is giving its members access to its long-form blog publishing privileges as a way to create a stronger community of professional insights. These blogs can be great resources for lead generation and can be posted to your company’s LinkedIn page as you further establish yourself as an expert in the industry. Create content that is helpful and interesting to your target prospects. Include a specific call-to-action to subscribe to your company blog or YouTube page and to follow your company’s social media accounts. You can also include a CTA to sign up for a webinar or download a white paper, but be careful not to leave your prospects with the feeling that they are being sold to. 

6.      Revise your strategies as needed.

Your marketing strategies are living, breathing entities; as the behavior and needs of your prospects change, so should your marketing. Measure the results of each activity regularly and revise accordingly. There is nothing about your target audience that is set in stone, so how you interact with them and earn them as leads must evolve as needed.

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Make the Multi-Channel Approach Work in 2015

Yearly mail volume sent in 2007: 212 billion

Yearly mail volume sent in 2013: 158 billion

Weekly average of business and marketing emails read by consumers in 2007: 304

Daily business and marketing emails sent in 2013: 100 billion

While email and all things digital remain powerhouses in marketing, direct mail is also an effective medium when it’s part of a multi-channel approach. The numbers above clearly reflect a downturn in print mail pieces, but they also speak to a key direct mail strategy: the use of effective targeted marketing. What does this mean? The age of big data stepped in. For marketers, that meant targeting their messaging to more than mere demographics. For consumers, that meant fewer pieces to sort through and a greater likelihood that targeted pieces received were considered.

In 2015, the intersection of effective targeted marketing and integrated print and digital messaging can optimize consumer engagement with your brand. Here are a few tips to help you plan your marketing and make a multi-channel approach work for your brand:

Personalize your campaigns.

Data selects such as age, ethnicity, gender and zip code are the fundamental bits of information needed to begin any direct mail campaign, but big data is about more multifaceted information. Who are your prospects? What do they like? What are their buying patterns? What are their lifestyles like? This level of data will help you better target your ideal audience.

When you can more strategically target your ideal prospects, you can more effectively personalize your marketing. When your ideal prospects receive personalized marketing, they are more likely to respond to your offer. MindFireInc®, a direct mail tracking software company, studied 650 multi-channel marketing campaigns and found that personalized campaigns consistently and overwhelmingly beat out static campaigns in generating a high response rate from recipients. 

Tell your story.

Brand advocates are the most powerful force in marketing. Do you have customers who can attest to your brand’s way of doing business? To your brand’s products and service? Using their testimonials on your direct mail pieces can not only tell your story but can also build your credibility.

What other stories are meaningful to understanding your brand? Think about marketing pieces you connect with: what types of stories do they tell? Solidify your relationships with your target prospects by evoking emotional responses; sharing your brand’s stream of stories that create its overarching narrative is crucial when earning connections with your prospects.

Mix your marketing.

Print marketing has more than earned its place at the table, and so has digital. 2015 will see this integration pushed further, making both mediums work for your brand. Use your social media footprint on your print pieces to encourage your prospects’ engagement with your brand. Conversations on these platforms build brand awareness as well as brand advocates. Also, track responses with personalized URLs (PURLs). This gives your prospects a way to respond online and gives them a more unique experience with your digital identity than merely sending them to your company website. 

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

RME360 Celebrates Our 20th Anniversary

2015 is an exciting milestone for us as we celebrate 20 years of success. 



We will celebrate the past and look forward to 20 more years of bringing our clients face to face with new prospects. 

Stay tuned to our blog and our social media for anniversary promotions and exciting announcements in 2015!

RME360 Facebook

RME360 LinkedIn

RME360 Twitter

How to Use Postcards to Generate Leads and Website Traffic

When compared to traditional letter invitations, postcards aren’t the best choice to promote seminars. However, what they can provide is a cost-effective way to generate website traffic and additional leads if done effectively.

Here are a few tips to consider before you start your next direct mail campaign with postcards:  

·        Use the right list: The first and most important step is to find and work with an experienced and credible list broker. Make sure the addresses are up-to-date (no more than 60 days since the last update) and have been run through the National Change of Address (NCOA) system. You will have the choice of renting the list for one-time use or multiple use. If you know your market well (and the zip codes of your market) and you’re going to mail postcards consistently for 6 months or more, you should buy the list for multiple use.

·        Personalize: Be sure to work with a printing company that can personalize the first name of person on the mailing list on every card. This is above and beyond just the address block.

·        Get right to the point:  Postcards get delivered in a format that's ready to read. Take advantage of this by making the biggest benefit you offer the first thing the reader sees. This will make them want to read the rest of your postcard. (Example: “John, are you retired or retiring soon? You have options!”)

·        Sell the right thing: Marketing postcards are most effective when they are used to generate website traffic or interest. (Example: “Call me today for a free retirement planning consultation and receive a copy of my free report.”)

·        Make it easy to respond: Be sure your company phone number and website address are both easy to read and find on the postcard. And, because most people get their mail after they get home from work, you should consider getting an after-hours answering service. People prefer talking to another person – not a machine – so if you’re going to invest in postcard marketing, invest in a live 24-hour phone answering service to capture your leads.

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360