What arrived in YOUR post this morning?

Remember the days when the postman came laden with piles of junk mail each morning? Chances are you only spend a few minutes sorting your letters but considerably more time wading through the spam in your inbox.

Now don't get me wrong, I really like email marketing and used correctly it's a really effective marketing tool. 

However, with more businesses cutting costs, direct mail is once again a way to surprise, delight and attract customers. 

As ever, you need to use it wisely and think about what you are going to say and why. 

When we decided to launch our marketing club earlier this year, we decided to make our initial contact with people through the post. We selected bright orange envelopes and square cards to make our mailing stand out. We used premium quality cards and took the time to handwrite personal notes to the people we invited to our launch event. 

We decided on this approach to show our guest list that valued them and taken the time to invite them personally to our event. When asked for their feedback, they confirmed that the envelopes intrigued them and by personally writing to them they felt both appreciated and committed to the event. 

Of course, you don't need to use the same approach but the best things I receive are (a) a little different and catch my eye (b) acknowledge I am a valued (potential) customer and (b) have a clear message that encourages me to take action. 

What caught your eye in the post today?

Hannah Sookias founded Sookias Media in 2005. As a marketing consultant, trainer and speaker, she works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. Hannah is also the co-founder of the Effective Marketing Club  which gives business owners the opportunity to learn new ways to market their business and the time to put into practice what they've just learnt with experts on hand. 

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Marketing 'To Do' list syndrome

Every business knows it needs to continually generate leads. Without them, sales pipelines dry up and new business disappears.

But despite marketing being the lifeblood for new leads, many firms suffer from the Marketing “To Do” List Syndrome. This is where marketing activities get pushed to the bottom of the list and other things always seem to take priority. In my experience this is for a number of reasons:

Busy Bees

For many the pressures of day-to-day business, fulfilling orders and customer service take precedence so marketing gets pushed down the list. Whilst this is understandable and OK in the short term, leads start to dry up when time for marketing activities isn’t ring-fenced.

Gappers

Another reason is because people are unsure whether it’s the right thing to be doing or not sure how to do it right.  This skills gap means they put things off or try things half-heartedly to develop the excuse, ‘we tried that but it didn’t work’.

Ostriches

As the saying goes, if you always do as you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. Sadly this is no longer true in the marketing world. With new technologies, a web full of information at your fingertips, companies can no longer keep their heads in the sand. They need to engage with their prospective customers and existing clients more regularly and in different ways.

The Prescription

Happily there is a solution for all of these syndromes:

1. Firstly, set a regular time to undertake your marketing. Book a slot in your diary and stick to it.
2. Be kept accountable by joining a marketing club or investing in marketing mentoring.
3. Set marketing targets to track your progress and unleash your inner competitiveness.

Hannah Sookias runs the marketing consultancy and training company, Sookias Media and is also the co-founder of The Effective Marketing Club. She works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets.