Direct Marketing Tips for Promoting Groundwater Stewardship Program
When you have something to sell (like our program or stewardship ideas), you may find direct promotion to be your most effective means. A direct mail campaign can garner the interest and attention you might be looking for, but remember this: It is a campaign, not a one-time effort. It can take as many as 7-12 exposures for someone to take action, and sometimes a follow up phone call or one-on-one contact makes all the difference. Direct promotion works because it puts you in control and allows you to “speak” one-on-one with your potential client. In direct marketing (or direct mail), you are narrowly targeting your intended audience by defining certain specifications or characteristics as a way to reach your best customers...or at least those you think could become your best customers. Because you can control both the content and the look/feel of your message, you have the opportunity to illicit the response or action most desired from your target market, whether that action is agreeing to a Farm*A*Syst or signing up for a pesticide disposal day. Here are some of the basics for successfully using direct marketing ideas in your daily tasks with the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program: Set Your Goal, Define Your Project Ask yourself what it is you’re hoping to accomplish. What are the parameters of the event, service, or product you’re promoting? What do you have to offer and what are the incentives? What do you want to happen? What kind of budget do you have to work with? As you think about the answers to these questions, set yourself a goal that is specific and concrete and then define what needs to be done to accomplish that. For instance, you may be hosting a Clean Sweep Pesticide Disposal Day and you want to be sure to collect 4,000 pounds of materials (or more). Or you may have a goal to complete 40 Emergency Tubes this year. Whatever it is, you’re going to need to estimate well in advance how many contacts and messages you may need to make to accomplish that goal. Once you have decided what it is you’re trying to accomplish, what the event or service is, you will have an easier time developing your promotional material. Define Your Desired Outcome/Action When working on a specific direct mail project, you’ll first want to determine what action it is you desire. (It can be more than one.) Do you want producers to call for a Farm*A*Syst appointment or come to a workshop day? Do you want to have them register ahead of time for a Clean Sweep Satellite Site or just show up? If you want them to register, do you have a form they can mail back or do you expect a phone call? Knowing exactly what kind of response you need to have will help you determine what your message and mailed material will look like. It will also help you stay focused on what needs to happen. Refine Your Message Decide what information your audience will need to make a decision and take the desired action. Date, time, place, incentives, and contact information may all be important. Don’t forget to provide the “what” and the “why!” The “what” provides the nuts-and-bolts of the event, product, or service; the “why” provides the motivation, the incentive. It may be as simple as letting them know RUP credits are offered or as complicated as explaining the benefits of becoming environmentally assured through MAEAP. As you develop your message and refine it, remember to make it personable as well as informative; always direct your message as though you had one person before you, because only one person will read your direct mail… the person you sent it to! Identify Your Target Audience For most direct marketers, this is the hardest part. However, we as groundwater technicians are already working from a narrowly defined base of clients, i.e. farmers! Our challenge is to identify even more specifically who we are trying to reach with our message, who we want to hear from. Are you trying to reach new farmers who haven’t worked
Written & Prepared by AliciaMarie Belchak © 2002, 2003 Printed 11/29/08
with the groundwater program before? Or are you trying to re-establish contact with those who may need updating? Are you simply providing follow up information and customer service? Or do you want only people in a certain geographic area to know about an event? Identifying who your target audience is will provide the basis for finding them and their contact info. Develop or Utilize Your Database and Outlets Developing and/or expanding your database of clients should remain foremost on yout to-do list for successful contacts. Start with what exists within your program and add to it as you make phone calls and receive leads. In addition, consider where your target audience is located in the county or what other agencies your target audience may deal with on a regular basis. Contacting local governments and agencies can be a great way to gather new information or just simply have your materials mailed out for you. Utilize the resources already at your beck-and-call, like the USDA Farm Services Agency, NRCS, or MSU-E. Consider local co-ops, pesticide/chemical dealers, and township departments. Developing your partners can expand the reach of who you can access. Develop Your “Creative” Material Ok. So you’ve got a goal and desired outcome, a message and a target audience, and you’ve even found how to reach that audience. Now you’re ready to design your mailing material or handouts. This is called the “creative,” and at this point, your goal is to make your message as readable and understandable as possible. When considering how to layout the information you’ve developed, think about how you’ll be mailing your message. Is it a postcard or a flyer? A brochure perhaps, a letter or a package? Your message may need multiple formats and multiple methods of contact to be successful. And size can determine cost of production and postage. Also think about the use of color and spacing. Bright colors are eye-catching and may get noticed while soft-tones may appear more refined and professional. Similarly, visual interest can be attained through fonts, text tricks, and graphics. Use whatever creates the appeal and delivers the message appropriately. Just remember to keep the information from becoming too crowded and busy feeling or else your message may be lost in the jumble! Produce Your Marketing Materials So you’ve got your ideas finally layed out. Now, go to it! Producing your own marketing materials can be fun and fairly inexpensive (sometimes just the cost of paper and photocopying in-house), but it can also be time consuming. If your budget allows, printing companies and even direct mail companies exist to do the producing (and sometimes even the mailing) for you. Remember to test out your layout and ask for advice from those around you; they may see things you don’t. Once printed, it’s time to address and mail! Printing mailing labels from your database makes addressing 100’s of pieces a lot easier, but it still takes time. Plan ahead. Follow Up! This section could also be entitled “Repeat.” There are many ways to follow up, but the key is to do it and do it often. It sometimes takes several exposures (as many as 7-12) before a customer takes action. To make sure each one is a quality contact, think about having your message come from multiple places, like the feed store poster, the MSU-E newsletter and a direct contact at home. Likewise, if you sent a flyer or letter, send a postcard three or four weeks later. And don’t forget about the power of a phone call or personal visit! Once a potential client does take action, they may need additional encouraging and reminding about who you are and what you can do for them. Customer service updates or check ups can play a big part of a successful marketing campaign. Keep your customers happy, listen to them, let them know you appreciate them, and don’t be shy to ask for referals!
For more information on direct marketing, try these websites: www.small-business-marketing-abundance.com
Written & Prepared by AliciaMarie Belchak © 2002, 2003 Printed 11/29/08
www.mailers-software.com/tips www.usps.gov
Written & Prepared by AliciaMarie Belchak © 2002, 2003
Printed 11/29/08