Comp Click

By Craig Bradburn

 Voice broadcasting sends your marketing message to thousands of phones automatically. It’s easy to imagine a voice broadcast message because they are used widely. Politicians use voice broadcast to get out the vote, schools use voice broadcast to get school closing information out and sales companies use voice broadcast sell products and services. Capitalizing on a voice broadcast is effective and easy.

Voice broadcasting is effective because it tailors messages for targeted audiences. Think of your best sales presentation and then imagine you can get that message to thousands with the push of a button. Even better, imagine that the thousands you are reaching have asked to hear about what you’ve got to say. Voice broadcasting gives you this targeting advantage because the dial lists used to place calls are opt in form generated.

Voice broadcasting’s return on investment is higher than other mass marketing techniques. Because it’s targeted, voice broadcasting gets your message in the hands, or ears, of interested prospects. That means that the money you spend yields a greater return. Some online companies have reported a one in thirty four response rate for their voice broadcast campaigns. That’s on par with direct mail response rates, but the cost per lead runs less.

Voice broadcasting’s simple and easy to use formats are effective tools to boost your sales and increase qualified business leads. Compared to a typical print campaign, voice broadcasting trims cost by eliminating postage, printing cost and some other expenses in development. But there is still production costs associated with voice broadcasting. The good news is that there are voice broadcasting companies online that provide turnkey packages.

Voice broadcasting gives you a high degree of control over your marketing message. You can scale your level of involvement to fit your needs. If you are a stellar copywriter, then you can work with the voice broadcasting provider to let you write the copy. If you have a good and practiced speaking voice then you can be your own voice talent. The level you are comfortable with in providing content is the level you should work at. If providing the content is an important thing to you then search for a provider who will work with you.

To find voice broadcasting providers simply enter the keywords “voice broadcasting” into your favorite search engine and take a look at the offerings. Most providers handle the entire package online, making it easy for you to work with them. Package prices cover most needs and prices range depending on how many calls you want to place. Shop around for providers and ask questions about how much you can be involved in the production and how they generate their calling list. These two areas of questioning should help you nail down a good provider for you to use.

Craig Bradburn specializes in teaching people how to start profitable home-based businesses using Voice Broadcasting. Get free access his most sustaining strategies and resources.

Email: craig@craigbradburnmarketing.com

Site:http://www.bestleadsexposed.com

Office: 1-866-617-8631 (toll free)

Get Top Results When You Crank Up the “Direct” in Your Direct Mail
By David Poulos

 By its very nature, direct mail promotions are designed to be one-to-one communication vehicles. As marketers, we are all aware of this in the back of our minds, but in practice, sometimes the “direct” portion drops off the map, and we end up producing unplaced promotional brand ads in an envelope. If you want o see the best returns possible from your direct mail program, make sure the “Direct” angle gets full attention.

There are several ways to rev up the “you” in your programs. The most effective one starts with the concept of the mailing itself. As you envision the final mailing, conceptualize your offer, the list, the copy platform, the thematic graphics and other elements, get a good fix on your target audience for this particular mailing.

The “It” Person

Now take this to the next level, and picture in your mind a specific individual who fits the descriptors and parameters of your typical customer in your target market. Ask some key questions about your mailing with regard to this person: 1) Would this mailing appeal to this person? 2) Is the offer suitable for them and their needs? 3) Would this copy and these graphics attract their attention and resonate with them in an emotional way? 4) Is there enough reason for them to respond, to pay, to write a check and send it in?

If the answer to any of those questions is no for that mythical person in your head, then adjust, correct, edit and revamp until the answer is yes to all of them.

Copy is King

Many of these personal elements start with the copy. Often, the offer is what it is, and either can only be changed minimally to match the audience or is inviolate based on the time and resources available. If you’re in that box, then the solution is to start with the copy.

The word “You” is extremely powerful - indeed, you can’t write a true direct mail piece without it. If your copy speaks directly to that person in your mind, you are by fiat having that one-to-one conversation, and must use “You” to address that person directly, in first person voice. In today’s highly digital climate, the use of a person’s name in the copy is almost passe, but you would be surprised how little it actually gets used, aside from personalized laser letters. For postcards, fixed multipage packages, and other formats, digital technology allows for the use of the recipient’s name and other information in repeated appropriate fashion, to juice up your message and really push the audience’s emotional buttons. This will drive your point home almost as powerfully as the word FREE in the offer, and will draw in the reader and involve them in your description and your message.

Good copy for direct mail should tell a story. Listing benefits, describing features has its place, but the meat of the piece is a message directly specifically at the reader like there is no one else around, and it’s just the two of you having a short conversation. The story should be illustrative, persuasive, cohesive, and have a point. No matter how long it is, (and there are endless debates about copy length - see Hershel Gordon Lewis for details on both sides) you should make a point, explain why your point is the best, make your point again, and get out after asking for the order.

Let the Data Be Your Guide

To be able to write persuasive, effective copy, to concoct an effective working offer, you have to really know the audience. You can get to know the audience, but to do that, some research is in order. Carefully select your list to be as homogeneous as possible, to select as many similarities as you can to define the audience as finely as you can. That list if selects is the basis for your research. In order to get to know those people (and a market never bought anything, people buy products), you have to have an actual conversation with a few of them, to pick up the subtleties, the similarities and the things that really push their buttons emotionally that get them going, that get them excited.

To gain this seemingly insider knowledge, pull a random selection of twenty names and addresses from your list. Engage a service to reverse locate these folks’ phone number, take an evening and call 5 of them, and make your pitch, in as low-key, responsible, easygoing manner as you can, and listen carefully to the prospect. Create a set of pre-scripted questions, and ask them in a natural organic order, like a regular conversation, and listen carefully to the responses. Record them if you can (with the permission of the person on the other end), and review them carefully, listening not to frame your next response or question, but just to isolate the answer. While you’re listening, ask yourself these questions:

1) How does this person speak, what word choices do they make?

2) How do they synthesize the information you are presenting? Do they parrot it back to you verbatim, or do they absorb, summarize and paraphrase your concepts?

3) Do they pick up and use any jargon you use related to the product?

4) Does the product seem to be something they need, or just want?

5) Do they seem to understand the product you are offering or are they just being polite?

Armed with the answers to these, after about 10 interviews a pattern should emerge in the answers that will guide the adjustment of your offer, your copywriting, even your creative approach so that it will resonate with this audience. It is also a great way to verify your list selects, while you have your test subjects on the phone (do you really have a minivan, is your income really $80,000 a year, etc.).

These ideas should give you plenty of ammunition with which to shoot down your current work and start from scratch, to really personalize your direct mail and make them truly “Direct” to the audience. Apply these techniques to your last project, recreate it with the new approach, and A/B test it against your control - you will be surprised at the results.

Article Source : Article King Pro - Free Reprints and Distribution

David Poulos, Chief Consultant at Granite Partners has been offering marketing guidance to firms for over 25 years. Specialties include non-profit marketing and full-scale strategic marketing campaigns. He can be reached at http://www.granite-part.com, or 410-472-4570.

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