Know-How Exchange : Copywriting

It should be easy enough to test different offers and different copy.

My first reaction is to try a few offers that are not direct monetary offers -- perhaps gift with next purchase or a premium item not in your regular catalog. Discounting regular merchandise too often is usually not a great way to establish a reputation for having "fair prices." ("If you are able to discount, then you're probably charging too much the rest of the time.")

You may also want to find a professional copywriter who can create the inserts, so you're sure you are positioning the message properly.

And if you can keep the objective simple/clear, there's a much better chance you will be able to communicate it effectively and track results. If you're shooting at 5 targets, there's a good chance you'll get suboptimal results on all of them. If you focus on one at a time, there's a good chance you'll succeed.

You listed five valid objectives, and each has merit. So pick ONE and develop a marketing plan around it with goals and tactics. Launch, review, tweak, relaunch, review, etc.

Once you feel like that one is doing well, let it be working for you while you start the marketing test on the next one.

The order in which you test these will perhaps depend on the time of year and type of parts ordered.

Then before you know it you can rotate through these successfully, your staff will understand when and how to apply them to specific parts ordered based on how customers respond, and you will be thinking of what new offer to add and which to drop because it didn't get the response you wanted.

I also would suggest a stamp on the outside of the box that tells folks that there is something inside they need to look for. Everyone wants the prize in the bottom of the box!

Dear ECUmedford,

The first things this print piece needs to do is thank the customer for their order, and welcome them to your product solutions.

To create repeat business there must be a reason for the customer to buy again: consider including a GENEROUS coupon discount that's date specific; buy one, get two free offers also work well, as does the highly perceived (in terms of value) gift with next purchase, again time stamped to create an air of urgency and a solid reason to respond NOW. Not next week, or next month: NOW.

As for creating word of mouth, you'll only do this if
you read your customer's mind and offer them a solid solution to a problem they didn't even know they had and do this be exceeding their expectations and by fulfilling more than just a need by going above and beyond in terms of service of product delivery.

To recommend related products it's worth taking a look at Amazon.com's tactic of "People who bought this product also bought ABC product". This simple tactic employs social proof and engages "herd thinking", meaning, if it's good enough for X number of other people, it's good enough for your customer. And if you can include customer testimonials WITH this social proof, your marketing dollars work even harder. Try it. It works like magic.

Asking people to write a product review is a good idea, but in order to pull this off you must make writing and submitting the review SUPER EASY, and the best way to do this is online, via a simple opt in form (with which you can also build your e-mail listing).

The ideas you employ here don't need to be "clever", they simply need to be strong enough to make the customer want to take your desired course of action.

And as for discount codes, giving people something tangible that they can use is a great idea: big, bold coupons that people can cut out or download have a greater appeal because their use creates interaction. And if the coupon is originally set to offer a 25 percent discount and then magically turns into a 60 percent discount at checkout, the "delight factor" multiplies even more.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Princeton, NJ, USA

Any clever ideas in regards to type of piece and message to accomplish the above? We are certainly willing to use discount codes in the piece.

Jonathan - having created many of these inserts, I can tell you the problem is that you can spend a lot of money on copy and design - it takes a long time to fit it all in and look good! The other problem is you often get NO feedback, so all that effort is wasted!

What I always recommend is you aim to capture the customer's name, address and email address. Offer an incentive such as an extended warranty or money off coupon. Get them to mail their name or visit your landing page with lots of benefits listed, just for entering their details. Once you have the name you can test all your ideas until you find what works best for you.

It's a great way to build business.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

Peter