Discoverable Messages and Direct Marketing

As marketers, we often think of there being a fundamental difference between the two ends of the media spectrum; on one end, direct, where an individual’s contact information is known and a message can be delivered directly, and on the other end mass media, where a broad audience is targeted based on demographics or audience characteristics. This has been an acceptable framework for a long time, as the difference in approach, goals, and outcomes has always been very significant.

This mental framework, however, disguises the fact that it is truly a spectrum. With recent advances in technology, and transitions in buyers, we are seeing a trend from both ends of the spectrum to progress towards the center. This means that the approach, goals, and outcomes of each media approach is becoming more similar, and the way in which we use them is also converging.

Mass Media and Precise Targeting

Mass media, historically, was extremely broadly targeted, based on high level demographics or audience profiles, and relied on your message being “discovered” by a small percentage of the viewing audience. Now, with online media, targeting of a message is growing ever more targeted. Ads can be targeted based on behavior, demographics, or firmographics, almost to the level of individuals, while search advertisements are targeted to the level of the query the individual is searching on.

No longer are these purely mass audiences. While they are not truly "direct" marketing in the sense that an individual's contact information is known, the precision with which the messages are delivered to specific segments makes them almost as precise.

Direct Marketing and the Challenge of Attention

On the other end of the spectrum, with the exponential growth in all forms of direct communications, especially online forms such as email, the challenge is no longer the delivery of the content. Now, the challenge is having the message within it “discovered” by the recipient, rather than ignored, thrown away, or deleted.

An email or direct mail piece may arrive (assuming things like good email deliverability, of course), as intended, at the recipient, but unless the recipient either trusts that the message will be of interest based on knowing the sender, or finds the subject line or teaser copy interesting, the message will be ignored. This is not unlike a television commercial or online banner ad that fails to attract the interest of the viewer.

Shared Challenges

The challenge that marketers now share, whether approaching this from the perspective of mass media or direct marketing, is that content must be both precisely targeted and highly relevant. The exact demographics, and most importantly psychographics, of who a buyer is and where she is in her buying process must be understood so that content, when presented, is "discovered". In the direct world, this can be measured by the rates of content interaction vs emotional unsubscribes while in the advertising world, it is measured by clickthrough rates on ads.

The more well targeted a message is in either approach, and the more relevant the content, the better a message is "discovered". It is only through having a message "discovered" and read that we as marketers are able to change the perceptions of our buyers.

How are you thinking about your messages? Are you seeing the difference between "direct" and "mass" media decrease?

Direct Mail, Email, and the "Teaser" Concept

Email and Direct Mail are very different marketing media types for B2B marketers. However, there are always lessons to be learned from one media type that can be applied to others. In Direct Mail, a lot of thinking goes into the "teaser" to get people to open the envelope. Laura Cross, who has done a lot of Direct Mail work in her career as a Marketer, talks about the techniques and strategies used for a Direct Mail teaser, and applies them to email marketing.

The ways that we inspire our audience to click through to a landing page are very similar, as Laura explains in this quick video:




(if this video does not load, click here to watch the Direct Mail, Email, and Teasers video)

Laura highlights the six key questions that email recipients answer as they decide whether to click through on your email:

Who – is this relevant to me?
What do I need to do?
Where do I need to go or to click?
When should I do this? Is there any reason it's urgent?
Why should I care?
How will this help me?

If those questions are answered clearly, in a way that compells the recipient, they will click through from your email to your landing page. I hope you enjoy Laura's video.

Bella Pictures: Direct Mail in Nurture Marketing

The marketing team at Bella Pictures is one of the most interesting and innovative groups I've had the pleasure to work with. I ended up adding two Bella case studies to Digital Body Language because of the interesting work they were doing. In the first of those case studies I'll share here on this blog, Teresa Almaraz and her team used direct mail - post cards - as part of a drip nurture campaign. Usually reserved for bulk, outbound, large list campaigns, direct mail worked extremely well as part of a nurturing campaign timed around the bride's wedding date.

By taking advantage of the fact that print on demand providers were able to deliver direct mail in an on-demand way, Teresa and the team at Bella were able to use the media type in an unexpected way, with great effect. I hope you enjoy the case study:

Bella Pictures: Direct Mail in Nurture Marketing

As the premier provider of wedding photography in the United States, Bella Pictures deals with a very defined prospect audience: recently engaged brides-to-be. The sales cycle itself involves an equally well-structured timeframe as anyone who has been involved with the planning of a wedding can attest. To maximize its success, Bella guides brides through photography selection using a carefully crafted nurture program that starts with the first contact with the bride.

One of the key conversion points for brides-to-be was the initial meeting with a photographer to discuss her photographic preferences. In the hectic process of planning a wedding, a meeting with a photographer could easily be forgotten, or the bride could show up without having thought through the questions she would be asked, such as the type of photography, styles, album choices, and special shots to request.

To resolve this challenge in the process, Bella Pictures turned to direct mail. A postcard was sent to each bride, targeted to arrive just days before her scheduled meeting date. The direct-mail piece served three purposes. First, it reminded the bride of her upcoming meeting, with her meeting. Second, it presents a tangible, high-quality piece to the bride to impress on the bride the aspects of photographic quality that are likely to be important. And third, the direct-mail piece provided a checklist for the bride to work from, ensuring that she had considered all the key photography decisions she would have to make.

In a sequence timed around the bride’s wedding date, the nurture process guides the bride through the timelines and decisions needed. By orienting its marketing process around the bride and her decision process, Bella significantly lifts its conversion rate from initial contact to booked appointments. Even with direct mail, which is typically not viewed as a drip/nurture marketing vehicle, Bella aligns with the bride’s buying process.