Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I'm afraid I have to agree. The ink will be wasted because they won't reach their target audience.

If your customer insists after you've expressed your concern, do it anyway. I know that sounds awful, but if they are that determined and you won't do it; they'll find someone else who will.

Hopefully, they will respect your honesty and give you more business by printing up a direct mailing that could be sent to the correct contact.

Good Luck!

Unless your client does accounting work, it's likely to be a lost cause.

However, the envelope itself can be used for marketing, since the front desk opens the mail. Again this would only be useful if your client is doing administration-related products/services.

Before saying this is a hopeless cause, much depends on who your client's customers are; if he deals with large corporations where the mail goes directly to the accounting department, I would agree, the chances are slim and none. However, if the client deals with a lot of small businesses the potential for the success of your client's request greatly increases.

If the customers are small business the invoice may well go to the owner, his wife or her husband, or another staff person who wears multiple hats - all of which greatly increases the likelihood that the information will be read and distribured. If the invoice uses a perforated section for the marketing component,the accounting files are kept with the payment and the marketing component is free for distribution.

Additionally, think promotion instead of advertisement. In other words, offer a discount on a new product as a way of saying "thanks for your prompt payment," or us a "limited time offer" for a quick response. In other words, don't just say "hey, we've got a great new product" but "hey, we've got a deal for you on our great new product." Answer the age old "WIIFM" question to give them a reason to read and/or distribute the marketing section of the invoice.

So, ask a few questions. The success or failure of this strategy really depends on who your client's customers are - and even if it is a mix of big business and small business, if he only gets a 2% response from his small business customers, it's more than he's currently getting.

Karen Hosey

Trying to think positive...and hoping that using invoices for marketing would work, the first thing that comes to my mind is a coupon or ad with a perforation at the bottom of the invoice. Something that accounting can tear off and give to the decision-makers. Generally, accountants don't like to give anyone an invoice as they need it on file for audits, etc.