Here’s How to Increase Action to Increase Response… and keep your direct marketing on course

The old cliché for real estate success was “location, location, location!” Well, direct marketing success carries with it a similar formula:

“frequency, frequency, frequency!” More action means more response. And the quickest way to generate response from prospects is to send them one great offer after the next. And make it so impressive that they can’t wait to respond.

So what are the greatest stumbling blocks to “frequency, frequency, frequency?”

In . . . de . . ci . . sion. H e s i t a n c y . Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . crastination.

Unfortunately, we often see business owners and managers agonize over what to send and how to send to the point where they never send. With the best intentions, they’ll gather a committee together to wrestle over mundane points. If one channel is mail, they’ll argue the paper stock. If another channel is email, they’ll argue typeface. They’ll argue the background color and even the subject line. And all this happens before they tackle the most critical elements: the ideal list of contacts, compelling offer, and gripping headlines!

The quickest road to direct marketing success that we know is to keep it simple and keep sending a message. Concentrate on a great offer supported by clean, crisp graphics.

Yes, it really can be that simple!

Certainly there are times – such as the launching of a new product or facing off with a tough competitor – when the creative struggle is necessary and worthwhile. But we would hazard to guess that a large portion of your message could be and should be more frequent, simple and straightforward. Remember that if you don’t have a steady consistent messaging campaign, using multi-channels to extend your reach, your results will be sporadic, at best. And if you second-guess yourself to the point of inaction, you always get the same, predictable results – nothing!