THE MARKETING HUB

Here are some tried and tested tips...

• Identify the group of VIP cold prospects that you would really like to be doing business with. What 'speculative budget' per head are you willing to invest in getting their business? Probably more than your Non VIP cold prospects. Look closely at the list. Study the profile of each person there – the key contact that you would like to open up a dialogue with. Now, start to think about a high value promotional gift that would not only be appropriate for that person but that would be really welcomed by them. Mail this gift to them as a precursor to a well-crafted letter or invitation. Make it clear that the gift is coming from your business.
• I took this approach with five key individuals from five blue-chip companies. We purchased five high-quality Parker pens from Creative Vision Promotions and had each one engraved with the recipient's initials. There would be no chance of those pens being given away would there! The results? Three out of the five VIPs actually contacted my client direct, resulting in a huge national contract from one of them with two others in the pipeline.
• What about your non-VIP prospects? Well, you can incentivise their response to a promotion with a promotional gift. As long as you ensure that the gift is one the recipient will welcome (and not give away) and that it's entirely appropriate to your brand, then it will increase your responses versus a non-gift approach. Map out a list of gifts that you consider will act as good ambassadors for your brand and your values. Don't just go with one gift; always test one against the other. Factor the cost of postage so that you don't get any nasty surprises when the finance department start to check your figures!
• A good way to encourage people to visit your newly written or relaunched website is to offer them some form of incentive for doing so. The first 10, 20, 30, people to give you feedback by e-mail or telephone will receive a desk set and so on.

So draw up a list of the direct mail activity that you have planned this year. Work out what responses you are looking for and what your overall campaign objectives are. Now, look at how you can use a promotional gift to encourage a higher level of responses or indeed a higher quality of responses. Develop a keen interest in the offers that you see in magazines and in the mailers that you receive, as they will often inspire you. There's a reason why these companies are offering promotional gifts. It is not necessarily out of the goodness of their heart! It is because they work...