So you want more bang for the buck!

Never before has it been more important to live the mantra "In order to make money you need to spend money". The key is to spend with purpose. Marketing executives are under the microscope within every organization. When margins, sales and conversion rates shrink the first step is to ask what are we doing to market our products and services. The second question better be how do we know what is working and what is not.

The good news is that there are more ways than ever to market and reach your potential audience. Some are basically FREE. Others will cost you more than in the past but can produce higher returns than ever.

FREE - Social media works. If you don't think so let me share this little personal story. As a salesperson I use social media to keep tabs on my prospects and learn what makes them tick. The other day after enjoying a lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and being impressed with their menus and other printed materials I "Liked" them on Facebook. Now, everyday I see some tidbit about B-Dubs on my Facebook wall. On June 4th one of my friends invited me to join him and a few others to watch our beloved Blackhawks crush the Flyers in game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I asked what to bring and he said some chips. Later in the day, on Facebook, B-Dubs posted on their wall "Who will win tonight Blackhawks or Flyers". Well that got me thinking. A bunch of guys, hockey, beer what's missing? I know 50 Mango Habenero Boneless Wings. A simple contact at the right time sold 50 Wings. If it spoke to me how many others did it speak to?

Traditional direct mail is on the way out. Although a good way to reach large numbers, the return is basically unknown. When was the last time you actually returned a business reply card? This was the primary way marketers had to track results of a campaign. Today direct mail can be targeted with relevant information. This alone will increase your response but still leaves a big hole when it comes to tracking. In order to truly measure the results of a campaign marketers today need to turn to PURLs and customized landing pages. The use of this technology produces a campaign that is capable of feeding REAL-TIME, TRACK-ABLE, and QUALIFIED results.

A well crafted "integrated cross-media campaign" is capable of returning 2-5 times more deals than a traditional campaign. Deployment will cost you more but the return will far surpass the increased cost. If you have not taken advantage of these technologies I encourage you to test market a campaign. Split your next direct mail campaign between traditional and integrated and see for yourself!