Seriously..
For those of you that have had success with newsletters, does your phone ring plenty two days latter?
Good question, Mike. We did newsletters for years. This was before there was anything out there with the turnkey, personalized programs they have today.
Editorial note: It was (and is) a HUGE investment of time producing our own N/L. Today I would definitely go with a packaged newsletter program and invest my time where it counts- belly to belly, face to face selling jobs. (And no- I have NOTHING to do with Jon-Don's or anyone else's program.
Back to the question. Marketing is such a slippery subject. David Olgivy is reputed to have said, "50% of my advertising dollar is wasted. I just don't know which 50%!"
For example, you ask a caller, "What made you call my company?" She replies, "I got your name out of the Yellow Pages." True. But even she doesn't know what subconsciously made her POP! choose to dial your number. Seeing your trucks over the years? A neighbor that mentioned your name two years ago and that she has consciously forgotten? One of your radio ads? Or your newsletter that she glances at and throws in the trash? Who knows?
This is why these precise percentages that people quote on any given marketing medium tend to make me nervous. Marketing, especially if you do not have a direct response built into it such as a coupon, is both synergistic AND emotional. It is not wrong to try and track your responses. But there is an old saying, "The only thing worse than no numbers is bad numbers." It is very easy to get "bad numbers" when analyzing your marketing.
But I digress. Back to your question, Mike! No, we did not get a "flood" right after our newsletter hit. We DID have many of our clients tell us they enjoyed the newsletter. And Big Billy is right. We did not feature carpet cleaning as a main topic. We ran community news and events, customer and employee profiles, recipe contests, jokes (clean), etc. Oh, and we also ran a "Loyal Customer Special" each issue just for previous clients.
As usual, with marketing you roll the dice ...
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training and Marketing Dunce
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS Mike, at the end of the day I could never prove that my newsletter paid off based on direct response. But in my heart I think it is a much more effective way of marketing than mass media for most companies. And my numbers proved it. We were not a huge business. But we grossed $750,000.00 yearly in a market base of 30,000 people and with a very nice bottom line. My total advertising budget the last year before I sold the company? 2.8%! And as I recall almost all of this was invested in our newsletter program.
Special note to Big Billy Yeadon: Forgive me Bill for treading into your area. Guys, Bill knows more about selling to women than anyone in the industry. Maybe he could give me some hints with Sioux ...