Marketing incest - why does it happen over and over again? It's like reading the classified. Ad after ad says the same thing. Nothing new, just same old junk - no new twist. It's junk mail. It hits the can faster than a kid with the flu. So why am I still getting this in my mail? And why is someone paying to have it end up in my trash?
This afternoon I received the umpteenth hundred postcard telling me that ‘this house over here sold'. I get on a lot of agent's mailing lists. I do it purposely to see what is being sent out for real estate marketing in different areas. Normally, if it doesn't get my attention in less than two seconds, it's trash. I do that purposely too. I want to see who out there is getting attention with their direct mail. If it doesn't get my attention in 2 seconds, then it's not going to get your target market's attention. Pretentious... I think not.
Here's the deal... No-one, in their right mind, waits around all day to read the mail. Nope. No-one. They grab the mail, throw out the junk, open the bills, sigh and then read the personal mail. That's it. Unless you have a pic with a naked girl in the front yard, your postcard is garbage. (no... don't put a naked girl in the front yard...bad)
Ok, so I have to tell you about this post card... See if it sounds familiar. "123 sample street... listed & sold by Johnny Dogood, making the difference in real" (apparently ran out of room for ‘estate') then underneath it is a little rambling about how he is here to help if you are looking to buy or sell real estate. No pressure, no obligation... Quick question... Isn't every real estate agent ‘here to help' if you need to buy or sell. WOW. Ok. Well here the clincher... Here's the show dog... ready... Wanna hear it... "Free market analysis." I am floored. I have got to call this guy, forget the bills, forget the letter from granny... I have to call this guy right NOW before he runs out of free market analysis offers!
Trash.
Hello. What is going on here? The worst part is that the paper that he used for the mailing is of lesser quality than that of the paper that they print the ‘missing person with an ad.' It even FEELS like junk mail. How are you going to get anyone's attention if you are fading your marketing message amongst junk mail?
Two seconds from hand to trash... What do you have to say to get in the pile of ‘important enough to read' mail?
That's the question... that's the paradox... or is it? It's your paradox. You need to take your marketing seriously. I am sure that you think you are, but if you found the postcard story all but too familiar then you are wasting the precious 2 seconds you have to get someone's attention. They may not take the postcard and frame it, but if you can just get an extra 2, 3, 5 seconds out of them, then you have gotten a message across. You have gotten your money's worth out of your advertising. Make them chuckle; make them look twice, whatever. You can spend the same amount of money and have people run into you at the local grocery store and say, "Hey, I know you... you are the one that sent that postcard. Right?"
Look, direct mail is like an internet pop-up ad. No one asks for it, it is just there. The only difference is that you have the chance to make A LOT of pop-up ads in a very small target market and you have the chance to make it count. Make them chuckle this time, make them laugh the next and before you know it people are actually stopping to read YOUR mail. The bonus, you get to have fun with it and gain a lot of market saturation. They may not be ready to buy OR sell, but they now have formed a sort of relationship with YOU. When they decide its time to move...who are they going to call? I have my bets that they won't be calling ‘Johnny Dogood.' Where are your bets?
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