A desperate cry for help

It's curious to still hear business people saying 'been there, done that, didn't work' when it comes to Direct Marketing.

Whether you've had a good run at Direct Marketing or not, the facts speak for themselves. A recent report released by CEASA about Direct Marketing in Australia (1996) said the media spend on Direct Marketing last year was $6,316 million.

This means the average Australian businesses spends more than 50% of their advertising budget on Direct Marketing.

We thought it might be interesting to find out why a number of business people have a different opinion. What is it that makes them say 'been there, done that, didn't work'.

Over a 6 month period we conducted an anonymous survey of 138 companies who, by advertising with a coupon response, indicated they wanted our business and wanted us to respond by giving them our name and address.

Our results clearly show a huge problem area that desperately needs attention - even the big corporates weren't exempt from this!

We responded to all sorts of businesses. From clothing to funeral homes, cars, computers, lonely heart clubs, finance companies, religious organisations and more.

What would you expect responding to someone else's advertisement? You've gone to the trouble of writing your name, address and phone number on a coupon and in most cases bought a stamp, found a mail box and posted it.

Before I give you the results let me tell you what I would expect from a company who wanted my business.

A friendly, thankful letter, personally addressed and personally signed.
If available, a brochure, or some other form of information.
A response within a reasonable time, say, a week.
A follow up of any description, preferably within a week but certainly within a month.

Here's what we got.

Response Time

58% took longer than 7 days to respond
31% took longer than 21 days to respond
1 took 45 days, 1 took 52 days, 1 took 56 days, 1 took 63 days and 1 took 84 days!
After 6 months, still 18% hadn't responded

Follow Up

76% of those who did respond, didn't follow up at all.
5% put us on a mailing list and followed up more than twice (although these were predominantly religious organisations).

Personalised

50% just sent a brochure. That's it. No letter, no 'how do you do', no thank you for responding.
Of those who sent a letter, half of them had a standard letter with a printed signature instead of a real one.

Unusual

Only 4 companies sent something unusual like a bon-bon, coaster, tea bag, tape or sample with their response (that's less than 3%!).

So what does all this tell you?

With results like these, it's no wonder a large number of CEO's and companies say 'been there, done that, didn't work'.

The truth is, they've been there and missed it.

A large number of businesses using direct marketing principles seem to have little idea or don't care enough about fulfilment or following through. The end result is a loss, not only for the company who failed, but also for the industry itself.

It's not all bad news though. This widespread problem opens up a huge amount of opportunity for those that do it right.

So here's the key; If you follow through well, you'll stand out so much, people will find you not only memorable, but almost irresistible.

Direct Marketing works. It's something worth considering.

Good luck with your next ad campaign.