Direct Response Marketing Techniques – Don't Be So Direct

Direct response marketing techniques should be used according to your budget. Some techniques are simple, while others require a larger investment.

Sometimes is seems that direct response marketing techniques should be anything but direct. Direct response marketing specialists are very fast to prove that there is one envelope color that always works better than another. Sans serif font type pulls 22% more than serif. Multi step marketing of the three steps provide more back end potential than other processes involving four or more steps. Typically these direct response marketing pros have all the documentation to prove that their methods work better than the next…

However, sometimes to take advantage of direct response marketing techniques, they should be used in ways that are indirect. Rules can be broken if the situation and campaign calls for it, and new rules need to be established.

I was hired by another company to manage the marketing for a very nice hotel in California. The job was an easy one. It was to announce the opening of a gorgeous new, upscale, very expensive hotel. Easy, right?

Keep in mind that I was just brought on for this job, so I did not have much experience if any with the company that I was dealing with. So I was ready to conform to their rules and see how I can fit it. What was I going to bring to the table? I was going to apply my basic knowledge of direct response marketing techniques by the book.

So I started out using a standard letter in a standard windowed envelope, and I was ready to get it out. I was also hoping and ready to do a lot more because the hotel deserved a better launch, or at least that’s how I personally felt. A hotel as nice as this needed to be introduced to the new people who would stay inside it’s beautiful luxurious walls. And sleep on its amazing beds looking out over the Pacific Ocean.

I was hoping for people to experience the “experience” of this hotel through my sales offer, and I was not too convinced that a standard letter in a windowed envelope would convey that message I was hoping.

So what did I do? I did what I always tell others to do, I took care of the project as they wanted me to, then I did what I felt would be best. I showed them the ideas that I had with the envelope and the standard letter, the serif type, but then I took it a step further.

I showed them something that I thought was worthy of that amazing hotel. It was a multifold, full color, bleed brochure that looked amazing, because it was exactly what the hotel felt like, inside and out. Rather than try and sell this hotel in words, I did so in pictures, capturing the grandeur of the hotel. Now, I’m not saying I’m a genius, but this direct response marketing technique really worked!

So what was the result of going against the grain so to speak? It was a staggering success. So looking back, yes, your direct response marketing techniques should be anything but direct!

So what did I learn out of all this? I learned that it’s best to follow directions, then take it one step further and follow your intuition.

James Calvin is an avid studier of direct mail and direct response techniques. For more details on his most recommended products check out his website. Direct response marketing techniques and other resources can be found here!

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