Direct Results

Contractor/consultant Jeffrey Scott is a big fan of direct marketing. "It's a very targeted, cost-effective way to market your business," he says. At the same time, direct marketing—direct mail in particular—can be a drain on your resources if you don't implement your strategy in the right way.

"Breaking through with your marketing message can be a challenge, especially these days with all the 'white noise' consumers are dealing with," Scott points out. "Cell phones, e-mail, billboards, advertisements ... the consumer's brain is forced to deal with so many things that it simply tunes out most marketing messages that it sees and hears."

Enter the double-edged sword: direct marketing. If you do it right, your message can slice through the flurry of white noise and make a direct, positive impact on a potential customer. If you do it wrong, your direct marketing efforts will simply add to the white noise and detract from your bottom line.

Scott says there are five main mistakes to avoid when putting together your direct marketing strategy.

1. Mass Mailing

According to Scott, the biggest direct marketing mistake is adopting the "mass mailing" approach without having a target in mind. You blanket an area with door hangers or a postcard mailing, with little thought given to who those prospects really are. Sure, you might pick up a few accounts this way. But chances are, you'll have wasted money in the process.

"A friend was telling me how, every April, he gets a very impersonal mailing from a lawn maintenance company based in a town 40 miles away," Scott relates. "This company obviously wants to expand into this market, so it's sending mailings to just about everyone who lives there. My friend said he laughs every time he gets that mailing because it goes straight in the trashcan. 'If this company knew anything about me, they'd know I'm not the type of person who's going to purchase their upscale lawn care services,' my friend pointed out. This is a perfect example of how you can waste money on 'mass mailing.'"

To maximize your response rate, Scott says the first thing to do is invest in a good mailing list. Think about the important demographic data points you can hone in on: age, income, home value, job title, and magazines the prospect subscribes to, etc.

"Develop a target profile," Scott advises. "If you don't, you literally won't know what kind of list to buy. The more defined your target, the more effective your mailing is going to be. You will be able to send more mailings to your target, but fewer mailings in total, thus saving money while increasing your chances of response."

2. Sending to Dear Resident

When you have a good list, you can make the mailings personal. Collecting addresses and sending out "Dear Resident" mailings is not enough. "I think it was Dale Carnegie who said, 'The sweetest sound a person has ever heard is their own name,'" Scott tells. "That's true in direct marketing, also."

Some marketing studies suggest that direct marketers can enjoy a 44% increase in response if they use the prospect's name, a 135% increase if they use the prospect's name and some color, and as much as a 500% increase if they also incorporate some customized text. So personalize your mailings.

3. Me-too Marketing

Scott says the "me-too" look typically proves to be a waste of your marketing dollars. More importantly, "When you start to look like everyone else, you're in danger of making your business look like a commodity," Scott reminds. "And that's when closing the deal often comes down to price."

As Scott points out, green industry companies tend to paint their trucks green. "I think that's a mistake," he says. "The consumer's brain sees so many green landscape trucks that it says 'no big deal' and moves on. If you want to catch the consumer's attention, you need a color that stands out. Our company uses blue and silver. I know of another leading landscape company that uses orange; boy does that stand out. Pick a color that does just that, and use it in a tasteful way."