Like oxygen is to breathing, the right strategy is to direct mail.
No matter what you sell or who you are selling to, the principles for marketing success are the same. There are three components to marketing, for anything, anywhere, at any price, to anyone. Every business requires three equal components to prosper:
- A marketing message
- A media to deliver the message
- A market to receive and respond to it
The Marketing Results Triangle
Called the Results Triangle, each part of this polygon feeds the others. But if the elements aren’t perfectly synchronized, marketing loses its power. There are several ways to render the model powerless, for example:
- Right Message – Wrong Market – Right Media
- Wrong Message – Right Market – Right Media
- Wrong Message – Wrong Market – Wrong Media
And so on.
When you want to break through to stronger sales, you must get all three parts functioning in sync. This begins with identifying the target audience. How can you choose the right message or media if you don’t know precisely who you are trying to reach? It’s impossible. So, your “who” will dictate the message and the media.
Who are your key customers? If you are already selling, take a look at your current clients and identify commonalities. Do you tend to sell more to accountants and CPAs? Perhaps to men who are NRA members and belong to a shooting range? If you can identify specific markers, you can flush out prospects using commercial mailing lists.
Like this:
One chiropractor noticed his most faithful clients shared two commonalities: they subscribed to Prevention magazine and paid for clinic services using an American Express card. This practitioner used that information to rent address lists for both the magazine and the cardholders, then targeted duplicates who lived in precise zip codes. For around $26 each, he found 27 prime names and eventually got 11 into the office (a 40% response!). Nine became patients, producing over $27,000 in revenues and offering referrals of their own.
Once you get smart about finding your WHO (the market), the selection of your message and media components will be clearer too. Use the Results Triangle to shape your strategy and get the momentum flowing!
