Test Marketing--How to Increase Your Direct Mail Marketing Response by Using the Internet to Test


I've discovered a really fantastic way to discover what works best in direct marketing, BEFORE doing traditional direct marketing. Use these internet tools to find what works best, then apply what you've learned to your traditional direct marketing, direct mail, etc. It's fast and less expensive.

How to Find What Works in Your Marketplace?

Overture provides an excellent tool to find what people are looking for on the internet. For all practical purposes, you can use that to apply to other types of marketing.

Go to http://inventory.overture.com. Type in some keywords that apply to your product or service. Overture will provide the number of times that search word was searched in the last month, and it will also provide a list of related words and how many times they were searched. This provides a really excellent tool to research what people are wanting, and how they are looking for them (at least what words they are relating to that search).

Using my business as an example: I provide training (sales, customer service, leadership and several other things).

So, which ones are in demand right now? I can do a search for "training" on Overture.

The results are:

  • Training --searched 165,196 times
  • Online training, searched 149,418 times
  • Management training, searched 133,499
  • Sales training, searched 70,496

    What can we learn from this?

  • It looks like I should focus more online training instead of face-to-face, or local training.
  • Management training is being searched for almost 2 times as much as sales training. So, shouldn't I focus more on management training over sales training? I'll certainly have a larger market.

    This can be applied to almost any kind of marketing, direct mail, cold calling, email, website, etc. Not only can I find the best direction (management training) but I can also find the right words to use in a direct marketing piece before sending it.

    Here's another one.

    Use GoogleAdwords, a pay-per-click online marketing campaign to find what works. If you haven't experienced GoogleAdwords, just go to www.Google.com and search for something. When the listing shows up there will be 2-3 sponsored listings across the top of the page, and 5-6 down the right hand side. These are pay-per-click ads, those companies pay for the ads only when someone clicks on them. You are taken to that site. At that time the sponsoring company pays so much for each time someone clicks on it.

    A really fantastic way of using this for a marketing study is that within 1-2 days, there will have been enough clicks to know which search words are working.

    Another one of the fantastic benefits of GoogleAdwords is that they allow alternating ads in an Adword campaign. So for any campaign you can have several different ads running. Within just 1-3 days there will have been enough people searching and clicking through that you can see

  • Which search words are searched for the most often
  • Which one of the ads are producing the most click-thru's

    It isn't unusual to see a 2 to 1 difference between the ads. So now you know how to say what in an ad and what kind of typical response rates you might have.

    You can also take the best ad, tweak it again. Check back in a few days and know if you've improved it or not. I've seen pay-per-click ads crawl upward to 10-15% response rates in a matter of a week.

    Now, it's time to start using those same words and structure in our next direct mail, or other direct marketing campaign. It's fast and very economical. Instead of taking weeks and costing a ton of money like a traditional test market would, we know in days what works for a lot less.

    Want to know how many people are looking for your product in your small geographical area? Set up a GoogleAdword campaign and set the geographic limitation to your address with a known radius. Come back in a few days and see how many searches you got in that territory. Then go out with your local direct marketing with what you just learned.

    Even if you aren't an e-commerce site you can learn a lot about what works in marketing this way.

    Alan Boyer, President/CEO of The Leader's Perspective, LLC, is considered one of the world's leading breakthrough specialists. He has worked with some of the worlds largest companies, on projects in the multi-billion dollar area, and with single proprietor companies. He has worked on many hundreds of projects with companies that have resulted in multi-$100 million savings or gains.

    With over 35 years of business, quality, and process experience, he has catapulted businesses lightyears ahead in weeks. Some have doubled and some have jumped 10 times. He claims the key to that is:

  • Helping the business owners/employees develop the business skills
  • Helping them overcome the limitations and attitudes that they built between their ears (the self imposed limitations, I can't, this won't work for me, I'm different)
  • By helping them find the breakthroughs in their business and thinking

    Helping companies worldwide reach further than they EVER thought possible?.FASTER

    http://www.leaders-perspective.com/Small-Business-Help.aspx

    mailto:AlanBoyer@leaders-perspective.com


    MORE RESOURCES:

    BzzAgent Provides Framework for Applying Direct Marketing Principles in Social ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    BOSTON, MA, May 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- BzzAgent, the social marketing arm of dunnhumby, today announced the release of its latest eBook, "To Sell in Social, Stop Getting 'Likes,' Start Building Advocacy" (Available at: ...

    and more »


    INAUTONEWS

    Most Effective Marketers in North America: IBM, Procter & Gamble, Ogilvy ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    Winning an Effie Award has become a global symbol of achievement since 1968, as Effie Worldwide honors marketing ideas that work. Based on the analysis of Effie Awards competition finalist & winner data from the past year, Procter & Gamble is the most ...
    Chrysler Brand Takes Home 'Grand Effie' at the North American Effie Awards GalaPR Newswire (press release)

    all 15 news articles »


    Daily Research News Online

    GfK Boosts Marketing Science Expertise, Innovation with Senior-Level Appointments
    MarketWatch (press release)
    Ellen Veccia has become GfK's Chief Marketing Science Officer; and methodological pioneer Mike Conklin has rejoined GfK as EVP of Marketing Science. Veccia came to GfK in January with the acquisition of Knowledge Networks, where she served as Chief ...
    GfK Adds Marketing Science CloutDaily Research News Online

    all 7 news articles »


    Small Business Marketing: Grow Your Business the Easy Way -- Engage!
    Huffington Post
    Small Business Week celebrates small business owners and their successes and highlights their challenges, which include growing their businesses in the face of rapid change, from national and state regulations to you guessed it -- marketing!

    and more »


    Supplier Marketing Spend Activity, Marketing and Sales Behaviors and ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    The research is based on primary survey research conducted by Timetric accessing its B2B panels comprised of senior marketing decision makers and leading supplier organizations. The geographical scope of the research is global - drawing on the activity ...

    and more »


    ALM Forms New Marketing Services Team to Offer Full Suite of Legal Marketing ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    NEW YORK, May 24, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- ALM, a leading provider of news and business information to the legal and real estate industries, today announced the formation of a new Marketing Services team that will work with clients to plan, ...
    ALM Launches All-in-One Legal Marketing OfferDaily Research News Online

    all 3 news articles »


    New Version of Industry-Leading ThinkVine Marketing Mix Optimization Software ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    CINCINNATI, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ThinkVine, a marketing mix optimization software company, today announced a new version of its award-winning SaaS solution for marketers wanting to achieve the best return on their marketing spend and ...

    and more »


    LECTRA: Lectra appoints Emmanuel Mussault as Director, Marketing Intelligence ...
    Reuters (press release)
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lectra appoints Emmanuel Mussault as Director, Marketing Intelligence and Communication This nomination is part of the development plan implemented by Lectra in early 2012 Paris, May 24, 2012 - Lectra, the world leader in ...

    and more »


    Engage and Reverb Communications Bring Public Relations and Marketing to ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    TWAIN HARTE, CA and ALAMEDA, CA, May 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Reverb Communications, a veteran public relations, marketing and publishing digital entertainment agency, and Engage, a full-service communications agency specializing in the ...

    and more »


    iTWire

    Marketo Partner Certification Awarded to LeadMD
    MarketWatch (press release)
    SCOTTSDALE, AZ, May 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- LeadMD, specializing in marketing automation and CRM consulting services, today announced it has been awarded the Marketo Partner Certification. Marketo's Certification Program recognizes partners ...
    Marketo Introduces First Integrated Solution for Social Marketing AutomationSacramento Bee
    Marketo Announces Winners of 2012 Revenue Performance Excellence AwardsPR Newswire (press release)
    Marketo Wants To Add A Social Boost To Every Marketing CampaignTechCrunch
    ADOTAS -MyCustomer.com
    all 24 news articles »

    Google News

  • Acne - Advertising - Aerobics & Cardio - Affiliate Revenue - Alternative - Attraction - Auction - Audio Streaming - Aviation - Babies & Toddlers - Beauty - Blogging & RSS - Book Marketing - Book Reviews - Branding - Breast Cancer - Broadband Internet - Muscle Building - Careers & Employment - Coaching - Coffee - College & University - Cooking Tips - Copywriting - Crafts & Hobbies - Creativity - Credit - Cruising & Sailing - Currency Trading - Customer Service - Data Recovery - Dating - Debt Consolidation - Debt Relief - Depression - Diabetes - Divorce - Domain Names - E-books - Ecommerce - Elder Care - Email Marketing - Entrepreneurialism - Ethics - Exercise - Ezine Marketing - Ezine Publishing - Fashion & Style - Fishing - Fitness Equipment - Forums - Games - Goal Setting - Golf - Grief Loss - Hair Loss - Happiness - Hardware - Holidays - Home Improvement - Home Security - Humanities - Humor - Innovation - Inspirational - Insurance - Interior Decorating - Internet Marketing - Investing - Landscaping & Gardening - Language - Leadership - Leases & Leasing - Loans - Lung, Mesothelioma & Asbestos - Management - Marketing - Marriage & Wedding - Meditation - Mobile & Cell Phone - Mortgage & Refinancing - Motivation - Motorcycles - Music - Negotiation - Network Marketing - Networking - Nutrition - Organizing - Outdoors - Parenting - Personal Finance - Personal Tech - Pets - Philosophy - Photography - Poetry - Politics - Positive Attitude - PPC Advertising - Press Release - Pregnancy - Presentation - Psychology - Public Speaking - Real Estate - Recipes - Relationships - Sales - Sales Management - Sales & Teleselling - Sales Training - Satellite TV - Science - Security - SEO - Site Promotion - Small Business - Software - Spam Blocker - Spirituality - Stocks & Mutual Funds - Strategic Planning - Stress Management - Structured Settlements - Success - Supplements - Taxes - Team Building - Time Management - Top7-Or-10-Tips - Traffic Building - Vacation Rentals - Video Conferencing - Video Streaming - VOIP - Wealth Building - Web Design - Web Development - Web Hosting - Weight Loss - Wine & Spirits - Writing - Writing Articles - Yoga

    Top
    Main Home Email Category Home