First, what is Multi-Channel Marketing? A practice of interacting with customers using a combination of indirect and direct communication channels.  Websites, direct mail, social media, catalogs, email, mobile, and retail stores are all communication channels that that can enable customers to engage or take action. Multi-channel marketing also allows for customers to choose the channel that best suits them, and by giving them choices you may actually increase your response rate. 

It's a numbers game. Multi-channel customers spend about 3 times more in front of different screens than single channel customers do. They have more control over their buying process so the more options available to them increases the chances of them buying your product or service.  Another benefit is that multi-channel marketing allows for interactive marketing to become more prevalent and creates multi-faceted, stronger filled campaigns.  This allows for communication to build brand awareness, customer loyalty and brand loyalty.

Although there are many positive attributes of multi-channel marketing there are also some challenges involved.  Not to worry though because here at DataMart Direct we have all the tools needed to make your multi-channel marketing efforts successful!! We will work with you to integrate cross media platforms and use the proper combination of:

• Variable Digital Printing: If you collect data points on your customers, use them to provide relevancy. It you don't have them, start. 
• Personalized Landing Pages: 
• Emails
• Mobile Marketing
• Personalized Direct Mail
• Text messaging

One of the challenges of having so many communication channels is that not only do you need to deliver your message to your customers, but you also must keep them engaged.  A great way to do this is through the use of PURLS, something we are quite experienced with here at DataMart.  A PURL is a personalized URL and it provides a powerful, interactive, online response channel for print and/or electronic communication.  By using database management you can integrate a PURL into an email or direct mail campaign and lead customers to a personalized landing page where their contact information will be auto filled in from the database.

A thank you page will be generated with customized offers and details based on each individual customer responses.  Real time lead trigger is then sent to the sales team and full reporting of campaign can be measured.  So as you can see, a PURL is very beneficial because it allows for communication within multiple channels such as mail, website and email.  Also, if your business is in retail, a PURL has the potential to drive your customers to a specific location by providing information as to what location is nearest to them.

Another challenge of multi-channel marketing is generating your customer’s willingness to act.  It is unrealistic to expect them to change their communication channel or device preference, so marketers must coordinate highly orchestrated touch points that span multiple channels fluidly in a way that customers will find meaningful.  An EDDM mailer would be an example of print marketing and is a great method for attempting to generate new customers.  Mobile marketing is another good method to use because it gives customers an interactive experience and since 80% of the nation’s population carries mobile phones why not give them an experience they will enjoy?

The main thing to focus on is establishing a multi-channel marketing platform, one that includes processes and technology to support.  Campaign management, advanced analytic's and execution and digital marketing are all components to a successful platform.  By establishing a platform, you will be able to integrate traditional and emerging channels which will simplify the creation of cross channel campaigns. DataMart is here to help you and we offer all these services in house so it doesn't have to cost you a fortune!

Another concept to focus on is consistency.  Customers will experience your brand as a whole, whether their interactions are online, in person, over the phone or a combination of all of these.  There needs to be consistent delivery of positive value throughout all channels in order to reduce risk of turning your customers against you. 

I'd love to hear how you connect with your audience, what works and what doesn't. feel free to connect.

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We are diligently working on a new podcast to launch in September 2019. sign-up for updates.

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But before you launch any campaign, you want to make sure your business partner, those who are executing your project, will offer you a successful platform.  Do they the necessary tools and technology in place to ensure your project not only launches properly. And do they have the knowledge to assist you in making it successful and profitable for you from start to finish.

Here is a list of 6 traits of a Direct Mail Provider (DMP) who can help you reach your audience, meet your goals and take you project to the next level.

• Goals: Do they have a clear understanding of what you are hoping to achieve from the project? Any DMP with a printing press and postal permit can produce a mailing, but one that takes a vested interest in what you are trying to accomplish will stand out over one that is just trying to feed their hungry equipment.
• Experience: A DMP that has printed and mailed work in your vertical or niche can provide options and ideas you might not have thought of. Producing thousands of campaigns over many years offers insight on successful projects as well those that missed the mark. Never underestimate the power of knowledge in marketing and never be afraid to ask questions. Maybe they can provide insight on content, timing, mailing list, even the size and design of the piece. Their expertise can add value to your audience and should be part of your over all strategy. Simply put, if they are good, they will learn from you, so be open to learn from them.
• Technology: Today's printing and mailing processed can be very complicated and should be interactive. Ensure that the company not only has knowledge of the  industry, but the available technology to bring your campaign every option for success. That could be printing on a Digital Press allowing for personalization to better target your message. The use of presort discounting practices to save on postage. The ability to track, time, and manage the mailing process. This can help in your response and follow-up to respondents.
• Process: Is there a process in ensuring a successful campaign? Can you see proofs, either digital or hard copy? Can they provide reporting of the mailing addresses, postage costs, and clear invoicing of services provided? If you need to show results, ask up front what can be provided. A good company has many tools that can give you the confidence that nothing is overlooked.
• Attention to details and overall responsiveness: Are they asking questions that will move the project forward? Do they communicate with a level that provides you the comfort that you are both on the same page? A minor misunderstanding or confusion can create an error all parties will regret, especially if the realization comes to life after the project has mailed. So always feel comfortable in asking along the way, and listen to their questions as that might show there is a disconnect that needs to be cleared-up.
• Pricing: Walt Disney one said, “I don’t make movies to make money, I make money so I can make more movies.” The cost of a project is often one of the biggest drivers of who wins business and who doesn't. Make sure when you talk to DMP's, is the value they are bring to the table worth the cost you are paying. It is true that the lowest price will often get that level of service, but over paying isn’t in your best interest either. Listen for those who talk about opportunities to reduce cost and increase inefficiencies. Talk opening about pricing and what you are getting in return for your dollar. The bottom line is you must have trust in your provider and the value they are offering for the cost.

The final though here is do they have an interest in your success and helping you grow your business.

It has always been my belief that if I help you be successful, you will most likely be back for the next project. Run from those only talking about cost and not about you long term strategy. Fro them it's a transaction, but it should be about taking your marketing to the next level.  Even something a simple as producing a mailing can have a huge impact on your audience's perception of who you are. Make it as engaging as possible, and have fun!

Let me know your thoughts or other considerations you use when choosing a Direct Mail Service Provider.

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One of the coolest things about emails marketing tools today is that you can connect and engage with your audience over a period of months without ever clicking send.

First off – get a plan. That is the hardest thing you have to do. Really! How often should I reach out to my audience? What do I say? What can I offer? Will they get annoyed from hearing from too much? Should I have one master list, or break them down into sub-lists? Should I collect address info?

These are some of the things you really need to think about before you launch your campaign. As far as frequency, it all depends on your business and who your audience is. Is the content you will be sending timely? If so, maybe more often makes sense. But if it is not, good and valuable content maybe once a week, or every other is sufficient. I believe less than that might not be good idea because the fact is, we get many emails if I only hear from you once a month or less, I might forget about who you are and that is not the goal here.

So we have our plan in place, next is the start the start by mapping out a communication strategy.

Let's say you have a retail establishment, a restaurant (or plug in your business here). What is the goal we are targeting for our campaign? You want to get people to come in for all your great food and ambiance. Here are the steps you need to make this happen?

Build a list by having your staff ask if the guests would like to join and get something off the dinner they are enjoying right now (yes, we customers are selfish so give them a reason you join). Think of it as an investment in your business, not just a giveaway. Always think of your customers from a Lifetime perspective, as opposed to the one-off sale. If you are able to bring them back month after month, would that discount today matter down the road?

But now what? You say, “Sending something out every week or two sounds great, but the reality is that I get busy, don't really have time, can't always think of enticing offers, sometimes I'm just not that motivated with all the other day-to-day distractions I'm always faced with.”

At least your honest. Too often we create these marketing campaigns only to let them fizzle out because of other needs in our daily business lives. Remember the distractions you are faced with everyday, are also bombarding your customers, so a steady plan to keep your message in front of them is the goal and key to long term success.

The Tip to beat those distractions: Auto-Responders or Auto-Followup Sequence.

If you use an email marketing tool like Aweber, you can sit down and map out a series of emails that will do out to your list every time someone new joins.

Let's say you put together a series of 12 email offers. don't just offer discount like a free appetizer, a BOGO (buy-one-get-one), or a Wednesday special…Yes those can be incorporated maybe as an after thought, but what you really want to do is engage with your customers. Maybe ask them what they like or suggestions on improvements. Tell them your story, why you are in business and what you hope to accomplish. What about that great staffer they should get to know. We have great stories around us everyday, if we can provide value to our audience and really connect, we can always offer a discount at the end. Then you can set them up to launches every week or two. Now you have a process where you are communicating with your audience for 3 or 6 months without ever having to create a new one each week. This is called batching.

The beauty is you can always do that for that special event, sports game night, or holiday.

The opportunities are endless, so get started today!

Lets' review:

1. Map of 12 emails you can send out to your new subscribers
2. Build the emails in a tool that will let you schedule them
3. Set them to launch in a strategic manner so you are connecting weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, however it makes sense for your business.
4. Start the process of building your list with an offer to get them to engage. A special, an industry white paper, something that has value for them and will show you are a leader in your industry.
5. Before the 12 emails run out, set aside time to take those subscribers in a different campaign, so you can connect with the for another series of content.
6. TRA – Track, Revise, and Adjust. It's a never ending process.

Marketing is never simple and it's always time consuming, but it has never been easier to use technology to help you stay in touch. So use them.

If you have any questions, let's connect and talk about it.

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Marketing is tough. It is! It's time consuming, it's stressful, it's confusing, it's overwhelming…. so let's get started, huh?

It's really not that bad if you are willing to commit. And here is a list of 5 things you can do to make it less stressful. First thing to do is get a pen and piece of paper, or better yet grab some post-it  note so you can make move your ideas around while you are brain dumping. Don't do this on your computer or tablet, it's easier to work with paper, then once you have a framework transfer it to your tech-tool of choice to maintain.

1. Commit: This is the hardest most challenging step in anything you do, not just Marketing. You have to be willing to stick with it to get the results you need. Understand I am looking in a mirror when I say that-I'm as guilty as anyone… I get distracted by many shiny new objects.
2. Set Goals: What do you want out of this effort? More clients, more exposure, more engagement? Is it add more clients? Make more presentations? Close more sales? If you have a goal in place, it will be easier to be sure you don't stray and get side tracked. List 5 things you want to accomplish. Keep it to 5, don't over do it as it will dilute the focus.
3. Strategy: Once you have the goals you can focus on the plan to achieve it. The most important thing here is how much time are you going to Commit to your strategy to achieve you goals? It doesn't have to eat up all your day, but block out some time. Start with 30 minutes a day at 10 am to plan and another 30 minutes at 5 pm to recap for the next day's session. If everyday it too much, try M-W-F, or Tues-Thur (but make it 60 min to maintain the amount of time).
4. Tools: Pick the tools you are going to use for your efforts.
   • Web Based Tools: Social Media, like twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook? Blogging? Podcasting? Email? A combination of some of these will be most effective. I am making an assumption here that you already have a website up and running. If not stop reading this and get that done. More than 80% of all research start with a web search, so if you don't have a presence on the web, there is no need to go further.
   • Print Tools: Ok, not so much a tool you would think of, but print such as flyers and advertising still gives them something to hold on to and can be designed in such a way to provide relevant information to your audience.
   • Direct Mail: Still one of the most powerful tools to get the right message to the right people in a cost effective manner. Also with the technology in data and personalization, you can truly target your content with high impact in more powerful ways than ever before. You can segment your list, customize the offers and content based on demographics, location, past purchase, The more relevant the messaging, the better the response.
5. Results, Pivot, and Reboot: As part of this process, set time to review how it's going. Are you achieving the results you want? If not, where are you seeing success?Maybe it's time to Pivot the strategy and refocus on what is working. Then Reboot. It doesn't mean forget the original strategy, but building on the success. It also is an opportunity to take a fresh look at what's working as you move forward. Remember, this isn't an overnight thing. Marketing is not a Sprint, it's a Marathon. It's a life-long business process. If you're not ready for that reality, you will be hard pressed to ever get to the results you want.

The good news is that once you have this plan and process in place, you can delegate it. Who else in your office can manage this for you, or an outside partner? Never forget the power of those outside your organization. Your time is money, and your efforts should be focus may be better suited in other areas once you have the goals in place. But always stay involved. I do believe if you are a leader in your organization – You should be part of this process. But then let someone take the reigns, so you can focus on the business. Then you can just grab that 15 minutes and the end of the day to keep engaged in the process.

What's your process? I'd love to hear about them. Marketing is a vibrant community. We can learn a lot from watching what other do.

The post How to Make Time for Marketing appeared first on Recovering Marketer.

Who do you buy from? Why do you buy from them? What made us make that purchase?

We buy from people we Know, Like and Trust? Yes, it is that simple.

• Know: We buy from Amazon or Best Buy because we Know what we will get – a competitive product at a good price in a timely manner.
• Like: We hear about a great new restaurant from someone we like, and we'll give it a try.
• Trust: We ask our doctor for a referral because we Trust them with our lives quite frankly, so their opinion matters and we'll follow that advice.

When we are connecting with new prospects and potential customers, we struggle everyday with the fact that some people don't buy our products, even if our offering is better, more competitive, simply put – Way Better than who they got it from before. So what gives? Why don't they buy from us?

The Know:

Do they Know my company, my product, or my service? We all understand how important it is to make a connection and establish a relationship with a new prospect. Did you know they are busy? Have lots of their own work to do? Getting to know you may just not be that high on their list. So we have to give them a reason.

That starts with the pain points your customers have that your product can solve them? We buy products and services to address an issue we have. We are always looking for ways to save time and make my life easier, will your offering answer that need? Maybe your product can help with a productivity issue that can allow me to focus on my business or other daily tasks. Maybe your service has an innovative approach to a problem that will not only save me time but in doing so will save me money.

Let's say you are sending a letter, direct mail piece, or email as a first connection. Illustrate these solutions in a clear and concise way. If they see the value, they will continue the conversation. Provide a case study that explains how your product provided an answer to that pain point, and how it's implementation offered benefits beyond the customers' expectations.

Your customers chose your company to fill a need they believe you were best able to handle. Highlight those needs and let that next customer know that you have the solution to help them alleviate those pain points and that is why they should get to Know you and your company.

The Like:

Will they Like us and what we are producing? We know we're awesome, but do they know that? How can we get them to see it?

Once we get to know a new company, we need to be sure we like them. Let's face it, if we are going to be in a relationship with the companies we work with, we want to like them and what they are doing.

Now might a great time to do a survey of your existing customers to find out why they bought from us. Is it our amazing customer experience? Exceptional products? Competitive pricing?

As we start the courtship of trying to get a prospect to Like us enough keep moving forward, we can never lose site that we are trying to convince the prospect that we are reputable, and we have their best interests in mind, Nothing is a quicker turn-off than someone trying to sell us something who crosses a line that gives us that uncomfortable feeling. 

A note of caution – the problem with the Like, is that it doesn't mean we have to best friends. There is a fine line between a personal friend and a business relationship. Often, I have seen marketing or sales person cross that line with devastating results.

Remember,  it's not about us, it is about them. Everything we do needs to be focused on their needs. And the Like is not so much about the liking us, but liking what we have to offer. The more we focus on that, the quicker they begin to trust us.

The Trust:

No one is going to have Trust without first getting know us and liking what we have to offer.

One would think once you are here, the close is easy. But this one can be very challenging. Mostly because when we get to the trust stage, a decision comes into play. If I buy, what happens next? In the B2B world, often there is fear. If I decide to buy your product and it doesn't live up to expectations, it could reflect badly on me or worse yet – I could lose my job, In this stage, you have to back your claims. This can be done with a trial period, a testimonial or reference, some concrete proof that you can deliver what you are promising.

One way to do this, is to demonstrate your authority on the subject. Have you written about it in a book or blog? Is your experience easy to reference? Be prepared to have the proof needed to gain that Trust. Show the results others with the same predicament have achieved.

The Know, Like, and Trust Method is used every day, often without strategically thinking about it. We practice this process in our personal relationship all the time. But it can be most effective if you set goals to achieve each of these stages, one at a time, and in a methodical way.

Look at your marketing. Your flyers. Your emails. Your communication. If you didn't know you, is there a clear path or reason anyone should get to know you? It may take multiple efforts (and it usually does-sometimes years). But first they need to Know who you are. Then believe what they have seen enough to have a conversation. That's where you develop a relationship enough so they begin to Like you. All leading up to them having enough Trust in what you offer to know it is worth their money.

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What is the difference, and why should we consider it in our plan. Which is better, SEO or SEM?

Search engine optimization is the building block so let's start there. I am amazed at why this process is still so misunderstood and clients are still so confused by it. I think it has a lot to with the fact that SEO is so intangible. It's there and we all have to pay close attention to it, but many still have no idea what it's doing.

In a nutshell, SEO is the method of optimizing your website to be search engine friendly driving organic or natural traffic from the search engine result pages. Those visitors who click through and land on your page is what it is all about.

When you search for a product or service, you get a results page. This list is based on keywords, content, and site structure of your site and how it matches up to the search. The goal? To rank high in the results so they see your company in the first page or so. Easy concept, challenging task. This is where the organic results term you might have heard of comes from. No one paid for that placement, it's just good SEO. Below is an example of organic results for a search.

There are two forms of SEO, On-Page and Off-Page

On-Page SEO tactics:

• Optimize: Is the site designed for responsive screens (mobile and tablets)? How is the the page load speed. Visitors are impatient-we won't wait long
• Blog: Keep your blog posts current (post as often as your can-nothing more of a downer than a stale ignored website
• Meta Data: Incorporate keyword naturally throughout not only the content but also in your meta data. Look at your meta descriptions, title tags, heading tags, alt text, and the like
• Page URLs: Keep them clean and formatted properly
• Social sharing: Make it easy for visitors to tell the world with social integration within your content

Many think of SEO only in the On-Page strategy, but Off-Page should not be over looked. Here are a few tactics to consider. It's a little more challenging as it requires more work, but can provide great results. Why would this help results? If a topic drives a visitor to another site, and they click on a link to yours… uhm that's a good result! I won't dwell on it, but here are a few thoughts to consider.

Off-Page SEO tactics:

• Backlinks: Have authoritative or high quality sites link back to yours, Creating a natural backlink profile can have a profound effect of visitors and results
• Social Sharing: The use of Social Media Marketing, or having other platforms drive traffic and search results back to your site
• Social Bookmarking (Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit)

So what is SEM? Search Engine Marketing is a form of Internet marketing that involved the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPS) through optimization and advertising. thanks Wikpedia.

The main difference here is SEM, generally speaking, is paid for.

Note the search below and the little “Ad” icon to the left (that appear at the Top of the page). Wasn't by accident.

SEM is usually driven by PPC (Pay per click). This could be through a search engine itself (Google, Bing) or through Social Media (Facebook, Youtube…) or a website your are visiting. Essentially, you are buying ad space on the search engine results page. How much you pay is where you rank.

Why would you pay for clicks? After all, your site is awesome! Well, let's just say, your site is new. Or maybe you are just starting out on your SEO journey. maybe using this tactic could drive more visitors to your site while the SEO takes effect (it is a journey-not a race). Since it takes time for SEO to take hold, SEM might be a way to jump start activity. It;s like an umbrella covering many tactics.

Targeting might be another reason. With PPC, you can drill down to specific searches and weed out those on the fringe.

In the end, SEO is a must. SEM can be a stop gap while you are building your credibility. Once you evaluate if the cost justifies, it may be an option to add to your marketing toolbox.

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