Marketing is selling to a defined audience. Sales are to anyone, but marketing is devoted to finding and selling to the group who is most likely to make a purchase.

Reaching business to business (B2B) customers

There are three ways to reach B2B customers and prospects: Magazines, Direct Mail, and Trade Shows. Of course, there’s salesmen, and then there’s the phone, but I hate making selling phone calls almost as much as salesmen “just stopping by” my office. Read More »

Here, we discuss increasing mid-level readership and increasing direct mail response.  Learn to fine tune the body of your letter, paragraph by paragraph.

The opening paragraph

The opening paragraph of your direct mail letter is the place to show your biggest benefit.  Lead with your best stuff first – or did you want to wait and take a chance you’ll lose readers?  This should be your hottest copy and your most exciting benefit. Read More »

All direct mail marketing campaign packages have common elements: outer envelope, letter, brochure; most have a reply card or reply envelope.  While a 4-color brochure can supply the glitz and glamor, it’s the letter in today’s direct mail marketing campaign that brings in the orders.  Examine the letter in your direct mail campaign with an eye towards generating higher readership, which means more phone calls and orders.

Once people open your direct mail package they glance at your brochure, but they read the letter. But is it really a letter?  Read More »

Post cards are excellent direct marketing vehicles. Because of their short format, they’re not great at closing sales, but they’re awesome at flushing out people who are interested, generating inquiries and making your phone ring with very warm prospects.

This is the fourth article in the series on increasing response by Jeffrey Dobkin on creating effective post cards. The first article set the goals and objectives of your post card marketing campaign. The second and third articles examined how to write and design post cards that draw maximum response and make your phone ring. Here are 15 offers you can make to get your phone to ring. Read More »

This is the third in the four article series by Jeffrey Dobkin on creating effective direct mail marketing campaigns with post cards. The first article listed 5 objectives and goals of your direct mail post card campaign. The second article on post card marketing highlights 5 ways to create your postcard campaign to make your phone ring with maximum response.

This article continues with 7 more new ways to increase response from mailing post cards. Read More »

Post cards are one of the easiest direct mail marketing campaigns to create.  No folding, stuffing, sealing, stapling, affixing – just print, address and go.  Postcard postage is cheap compared to the rest of direct mail, and delivery is fast because mailing first class can cost the same as bulk mail when post cards are bar coded and mailed in zip sequence. Read More »

Here’s why I like postcard marketing campaigns. Short crisp and to the point, direct mail postcards are one of the fastest and lowest cost ways to make your phone ring. This is the first of 4 articles by Jeffrey Dobkin on how to make your post card marketing campaign drive more phone calls to you and generate more response.

Post cards are not necessarily a good marketing campaign for the straight-up, out-and-out closing of a sale, but if created correctly direct mail post cards can be great for pre-selling products Read More »

This is the easiest phone call you’ll ever make. It’s your “Reason To Call.” It’s what you DIDN’T tell them in your letter, post card or your last phone conversation becomes important.

Sure, you’re mailing your best prospects to get them to call you, or at least that’s the objective of the mailing pieces I create for my clients.  Read More »

1. Dash off a letter, then photocopy it on cheap bond, and send it with a business card… and call it a direct mail campaign.

Or worse yet – photocopy your old brochure and send it with a business card and call it direct mail.  Then, when it doesn’t work call me up and complain, “Yea, we tried direct mail and it doesn’t work.”  Real direct mail letters and literature are created from scratch with their original purpose defined as “to use as a direct mail solicitation,” and the objective of “To generate a phone call.”

And BTW, a real direct mail “campaign” isn’t a single mailing of anything.  Campaign = more than one mailing. Read More »