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1. Action items for dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike
I just got off the phone with a business associate in southeast Texas and he said the aftermath of Hurricane Ike is still unspeakable.
Many residents of southeast Texas, particularly Galveston, may be without electricity and natural gas for up to a month. And many won’t have water or sewer service.
Here are two action items you may want to consider:
- Make sure you’re not mailing into a disaster area. Click here to go to the USPS website and see areas where mail has been suppressed, so you don’t waste thousands on postage and printing costs.
- Consider donating to the Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Ike by clicking here.
Or the Salvation Army by clicking here.
Recently, Direct Marketing Update ran a 2 part series on how you can protect yourself and your business in the event of a disaster.
Part I contained recommendations on how marketers can deal with the after effects of a disaster.
And Part II covered how business owners and marketers can prepare now for any future disasters.
Email me at craig@cdmginc.com and I’ll be happy to send you either or both parts of the series.
2. Take Advantage of the #1 Profit Opportunity of the Year
The best time of the year to generate leads and sales is coming up soon…and the time to start your campaign is now.
I've kept track of seasonal mailing results over the last 20 years and 96% of the time, January mailings had the best results of any month of the year. That's why our clients will develop fresh creative and dramatically increase their mailings in January.
In fact, January often produces a marketing ROI that is 30% to 100% better than the same marketing efforts other times of the year.
Whether you're a B2B marketer, or market to consumers, right now is the time to act. The best results for fundraising, product marketing and lead generation are at the beginning of the New Year.
If you haven't started on your direct mail piece for January, you're missing out on a tremendous opportunity. We've generated spectacular results for clients mailing in January.
But time is running out. If you've been thinking about a high-response January mailing, I urge you to pick up the phone today and call me before it's too late. Don't miss this 30% or more sales boost.
If you need help with your offer, target list or creative, call me at 310-212-5727 or email me at craig@cdmginc.com so we can help you start your year profitably.
3. Did You Miss the Last Issue of Direct Marketing Update?
The last issue of Direct Marketing Update, stuffed full of valuable tips and strategies, was recently sent to your Inbox. If you didn't receive it, it could be because your issue got caught in your spam filter.
Click here to read it.
The last issue covered unbeatable direct marketing strategies like:
Make sure you're receiving each valuable issue of Direct Marketing Update. Add craig@cdmginc.com to the safe sender list in your email client.
Click here if you're not sure how to do this. It will take you to a quick instructional page for most browsers and email programs.
4. Postmaster admits to marketers: “You got hammered.”
As you know, the U.S. Postal Service is still in the midst of a growing crisis. Mismanagement, poor budgeting and changing markets have led to continuous postal increases that have unfairly hit the marketing industry.
Recently, even Postmaster General John Potter admitted as much. Speaking to the American Catalog Mailers Association, Potter said, “Quite frankly, you got hammered” in reference to last year’s rate increase.
The United States Postal Service projects revenue for fiscal 2008 will be $78.2 billion, while expenses are projected at $78.8 billion...resulting in a net loss of $600 million.
These losses are yet one more reason the government needs to change outdated monopoly laws and allow private companies to enter the postal delivery market.
The only real solution is privatization of the Post Office.
Now is the time to write your senators and congressmen and urge them to repeal the private express statute that prohibits postal competition.
Click here
for a searchable database of contact information for current congressmen and senators.
5. A critical tip for stopping shopping cart abandonment
In the last several issues, we’ve been discussing tactics to stop shopping cart abandonment.
One thing I didn’t mention was this important tip: studies show 1 in 5 shoppers didn’t complete the shopping cart process because the cart was missing the customer’s preferred payment choice.
Limited payment options can kill what would have been a sure sale. For maximum conversions, your site needs to have:
- Visa AND Mastercard
- American Express
- An option to phone in an order Toll-Free (preferably a 24/7 call center)
- An option to print out a mail-in order form
- And an option to print a form for faxing and a Toll-Free number to fax to
Why faxing? Believe it or not faxing is still an important tool for some businesses, especially those accepting international orders. Leaving out a fax number—or any of these payment choices—could mean a lost sale.
That's all for this Special Issue of Direct Marketing Update. I hope you'll keep an eye open for our full issue next week, as I have so much more exciting marketing news to share with you.
Yours for better profits and response,
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