Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Fax: 020 7323 4165
Designed by Da Vinci
Successful
Business to Business
Direct Marketing
. . . an essential guide for small and medium organisations
Introduction
02
Across the UK, in every sector and to every audience, business-to-business direct marketing generates enquiries, leads and
direct sales, as well as helping companies to establish and maintain their brand presence. This booklet has therefore been
produced by the Direct Marketing Association to help small to medium sized businesses understand what business-tobusiness direct marketing encompasses, how to plan and execute effective campaigns and how to do so within a legal and
best practice framework.
It has not been written for major companies they
already invest time, effort and marketing spend in the
same arena, often through direct marketing agencies.
Rather, it has been developed to help small businesses,
which do not normally use agencies or consultants. For
such companies, where senior staff typically wear many
hats, from management to finance, marketing to sales,
marketing plans are often difficult to produce and review
objectively. This booklet offers a structure to overcome
the problem.
While the following 26 pages do not provide sufficient
room to cover every aspect in depth, they do introduce
all the areas you will need to be aware of. The defining
of marketing objectives, for example, together with
budgets and costings, design and image, and the
various media available. There are also lots of references
showing where to find further information.
If we achieve nothing more than compliance with legal
requirements and best practice for those who use this
booklet, we will be delighted. Like many areas of
business, direct marketing combines common sense
and controls with inspiration to produce the very best
campaigns. This booklet hopefully pushes readers in
the right direction.
If there are some key rules to remember about businessto-business direct marketing, you will find after reading
this booklet that they are:
Contents
Page
Business Objectives
04-05
06-07
08
Creativity
09
Media Options
10-17
The principles and creative strategies of direct marketing media, covering direct mail, press,
inserts, directories, telemarketing, the Internet, e-mail, radio, TV, door-to-door and tradeshows
18-21
Testing
22-23
24-25
Resources
26
Further Information
Contacts for in-depth information, including the DMA website, library and resources
27
03
Business Objectives
04
Whether establishing goals, or deciding how to realise ambitions, all businesses need a plan a roadmap, if you like, to the
future. An integral part of any such plan, either to achieve growth or at worst stop a decline in business, is the Sales &
Marketing strategy. Used wisely, with measurable objectives against which to monitor progress, identify shortfalls and
highlight successes, it can make the difference between winning and losing.
Strangely, perhaps, one certainty about business and
marketing planning is that what actually happens will
vary from the plan. Having specific objectives and a
structured plan, however, will identify what you need to
do to get back on track.
Lets say you run a marketing campaign, for example,
and estimate 200 new business enquiries will result in
100 new clients. While this may be logical, based upon
past experience and achievable, a what if projection
will guide your future actions, if you do worse or better
than expected.
Growth
What size would you realistically like your
company to be?
How quickly can you get there?
How much profit could you reasonably make?
What rate of growth can you fund?
Do you need to change location to achieve this?
Do you need more staff?
How does your role change?
Competitive Analysis
What are your competitors doing locally, regionally,
nationally and on the Internet?
What are they better at than you?
What are your strengths?
How can you gain a sustainable competitive
advantage?
Market Analysis
Why do your current customers use you?
Why do other customers buy from your competitors?
How many similar customers remain in the market?
Customer Loyalty
Are you providing the service your customers
really need?
How will their needs change in the future and how
will you change your business to anticipate them?
Are you rewarding regular customers through
loyalty schemes?
Developing existing customers
Do you have all of the business from your customers?
If not, why not?
What else could you sell that is complementary to
your existing business?
More customers
Where do you find more customers like the ones
you have?
Can you work further afield or through the Internet?
Where can you advertise to gain prospective
contacts?
Targeting
Have you defined your market by secondary as well
as primary targets?
Have you considered media options that offer
routes to incremental business from your
secondary targets?
Are there niche markets where you could position
your business specifically?
Extensions
What can you add to your business that meets
another related market need?
How can you fill spare capacity?
Partnering
Is there a non-competitive business with a similar
customer base where you can jointly provide a better
service to customers?
05
06
Budgets are an important question for small businesses because many simply create a mailer or insert, door drop or leaflet
without a clear idea of how it fits into an overall strategy or plan. It is still, however, worth asking some basic questions
because it gives a clearer idea of the total marketing budget available to achieve goals that have been established. How much
do you want to spend, for example? What income and profit return do you need to achieve from that spend? When will the
investment start to provide returns? Asking questions like this not only adds reason to your planning, it can actually help you
in your future plans.
Planning your budget
650
175
1,000
220
130
500
Total cost
2,725
1,000
50
3,725
74.5p per pack
07
08
However small your business, however niche your marketplace, image really does matter, particularly in direct marketing.
When potential customers read your brochure or visit your website, you will not be there to make sure they get the right
message. Even if your company image is a direct reflection of your own personality, you need to be sure that your personality
comes across in every item, at every point of contact.
Developing and maintaining the right image for your
business does not have to be complicated or expensive.
What it does require is thought and honesty. Thought
that ensures your image is simple, easy to understand
and consistent across everything you do. Honesty to
recognise that what you promise is what you can
reasonably deliver in the eyes of the customer.
This is what will help you develop a brand for your
company. There are many definitions of the key
components of a brand, but the following should enable
you to cover all the important areas:
Your vision
How do you want your customers to feel about you?
As authoritative and established, for example?
Or as contemporary and cutting edge?
The first would lend itself to a traditional image, while
a contemporary image would be more appropriate
for the second. It is important to avoid sending out
mixed messages.
Your position
How do you want to be perceived in the marketplace
compared to your competitors?
This might include price, product performance,
innovation, service and support, all of which would
position you differently.
Your proposition
This is a combination of your vision and your position
that sums up in a simple statement what you offer to
your customers, what you will deliver, and how they
will benefit.
Creativity
There are many excellent books written to help you develop copy and design that will both build your brand and achieve a
better response for your marketing efforts. Now, however, is the time to start considering creativity. Particularly when the
golden rule is to put yourself in the position of your potential customers and think about how they will look at your marketing.
Probably the most important point to make is that you
are a buyer as well as a seller, so think about the
communications you receive and what makes you
respond to some and ignore others.
Does it stand out from the crowd, for example?
Magazines contain ads on every other page and you
probably get 40-50 items through the post every week.
So what will make someone stop for that extra
second and consider what you are saying rather than
your competitor?
Once you do attract attention, there are only a few
seconds to make your audience want to find out more.
So let them see instantly what is in it for them by leading
with a benefit they can relate to.
Finally, tell your audience what you want them to do
and make it as easy as possible for them to respond by
providing a number of options. Whether by phone, by
writing in or by accessing your website, everyone has
their own preferred route.
Requirement
What are you producing?
Mailing, press ad, radio ad etc.
Communication Goals
What do you want to achieve?
The launch of a new product?
Visitor traffic for an exhibition?
Direct sales?
Proposition
What is the single most important thing you are
promising to do for them?
This should always be a benefit to the customer, not
a feature of the product.
Desired Response
What do you want them to actually do?
How do you want them to do it?
Target Audience
Existing customers?
Prospects?
How well do they know you?
Practical Considerations
What are the specifications for the size of a print
advertisement/the file size of an Internet ad/the
dimensions of a mailing pack.
09
Media Options
10
One of the biggest decisions to make and often one that comes before budgets or design are even considered is the
media you choose to communicate to potential customers. Whether direct mail or the Internet, each medium has strengths
and weaknesses, attractions and pitfalls. Remember, though, that the choice is not either/or. You will often find that a
combination of media employed at the same time will produce a better result than using each medium on its own.
Direct Mail
Traditionally the core medium for business-to-business
direct marketing, direct mail has a number of key
strengths:
Press
Depending upon the nature of your product or service,
there are three types of press to consider:
Consumer
Even for business-to-business audiences, local
and regional newspapers may be a more costeffective route.
Business
Most areas have local business magazines or
newspapers, often produced by local newspapers
as a supplement, or created by local business
organisations such as Chambers of Commerce
or Business Links.
11
12
Inserts
In theory, inserts represent the best of both worlds,
especially for business-to-business marketing. They
give you the creative flexibility of direct mail, and
enable you to communicate far more information than
an advertisement. Plus you gain the high level of
targeting and market penetration that are offered by
the leading publications. However, it will probably
come as no surprise to hear that achieving success
is rarely so simple.
The same issues about understanding publications and
the real quality of their readership apply to insert
planning as they do for press advertising. Other issues
also arise because the cost of insert advertising is
significantly higher than press advertising.
How many inserts will the publisher take for each issue?
If you are one of 3 or 4, then there is a good chance
you will get noticed. But if the reader finds 13 or 14,
what are the odds of them taking the time to sift
through this many?
If a high proportion of readers are unlikely to be core
prospects, a high proportion of the money you spend
producing the insert will be wasted.
Are there alternatives to the traditional loose insert? It is
well worth talking to the publisher because even smaller
magazines are increasingly offering opportunities that
increase your chance of getting noticed. Simply having
your insert bound into the publication is an option thats
been around for a long time, but other ideas you could
consider include cover mounting a CD, producing a
leaflet that wraps around the magazine, etc.
Telemarketing
Directories
Door-to-door distribution
13
14
The Internet
While the Internet is obviously the newest medium
available for business-to-business direct marketing, it is
already being used to generate considerable revenue.
There are three main ways to generate responses:
Sending e-mails
Sending e-mails
Used appropriately, sending e-mails can not only
generate extremely high response levels, but do so
far more cheaply than any other media. As always
however, there are some key issues and guidelines
you should consider:
15
16
Advertising
Search Engines
Advertising
As with any direct response channel, the key to Internet
advertising is targeting. If you work in a specialist sector,
there are probably key sites that most of your target
market visit and use. If your marketplace is much
broader, Internet directories or buying guides for local
businesses are worth considering instead.
Once you do find an appropriate site to advertise on,
look carefully at the site plan. Are there specific sections
that fit more closely with your product or service? In
general, the more relevant your offer is to the content of
the page where your ad appears, the better your
response should be.
If you do decide to test the water, talk to the site owner
about what types of advertising formats they support.
Do not automatically presume this means producing a
banner and if you do produce a banner, think of ways
to make it more engaging and interactive than simply a
static headline.
Search Engines
Web design companies will tell you that there are many
different tactics to improve your success rate, called
Search Engine Optimisation, but there are two basic
things you can and should do:
17
18
One of the keys to success in business-to-business direct marketing is building your own database to increase
your revenues. Which is easy to say, but where do you start? Provided you know what you are going to do with the database
once you build it, it is more straightforward than you might imagine. Especially when you realise that if you update it with
responses to each direct marketing exercise you run, it will become a tool that drives your business forward.
Collecting data
Enhancing data
Using technology
Lets say, for example, that you have had a good year
and are prepared to commit a budget for cards and
presents but that not every customer should receive
the same card or present. If everyone in your company
creates a spreadsheet of their contacts and assigns
each contact a tag to show how important the contact
is, you will have achieved two things immediately:
Database Checklist
19
20
While your database will allow you to track your current customers and prospects, you will also want to contact other
potential customers. Not just to replace the 20% or so of your prospect database who will move on, change jobs or retire
each year, but also to grow your business. For this, you will need to rent or lease a list of individuals with a similar profile to
your current customers who you suspect will also be interested in your product or service.
The first thing to work out is how many names you are
going to need to achieve your objectives. Only
experience will tell you what response levels you are
going to get, but you are likely to need a few thousand
names rather a few hundred to gain the responses to
justify the effort.
The best lists for this purpose are recently telephonecompiled files or publishers lists where the
subscriber has to fill in a detailed form in order to get
the publication. Try to negotiate a one-time call deal
if you can, so that as soon as a contact agrees to an
appointment or wants some literature, the data for
this prospect becomes yours.
Summary
Decide whether you are going to do all the work
yourself or get a List Broker to do it. Using a List
Broker will not cost you extra because they get paid
by the List Owners. If you are going to do the work
yourself, judge each list according to these criteria:
21
Testing
22
One of the biggest advantages of direct marketing in general is that most of the channels can be tested before committing to
a full campaign. So different offers, media, approaches and lists can be tried to discover the best avenue for your particular
product or service. Even with small budgets, which do not allow different elements of, say, a direct mail pack to be tested
before a campaign rolls out, the whole campaign is then a test. So on the next direct mail pack, something different can be
tested and the results then compared. All of which creates a body of knowledge within your company that builds over time to
make your direct marketing more and more successful.
Whole books have been written about testing, many of
which are available from the DMA bookshop, the basic
principles are as follows:
What to test
This depends on the medium you choose, but the
opportunities are almost endless. When using
advertising, for example, you could try different sized
adverts, different positions, different days, different
offers and different publications, all of which will vary
the result in some way. For direct mail, on the other
hand, try testing different lists, different offers,
different words, different items in the mailing pack,
and different mailing times.
The practicalities
The smaller you are, the harder it is to test different
things. Mailing 800,000 businesses with a control
pack (the established one that has achieved the best
result in the past), and a further 200,000 with a test
pack (the all-new approach with a different offer or
creative treatment) to find out which gains the best
response across a whole selection of lists is one
thing. If you only mail 1,000 people a month,
however, or are unsure which offer to make, try half
and half and carry on with the most successful. It
may not be statistically valid, but common sense
plays a part.
Adapting plans
There is no point in testing unless you are prepared
to learn from the results and change what you do
on the larger scale. Even large companies are
sometimes guilty of small tests that they could not
or would not continue on a large scale. So always
ask if this works better, will I use it? If the answer
is no, test something else instead.
23
24
Business-to-business direct marketing is growing from strength to strength. More companies are using it and profiting from
using it properly. In light of this, many organisations now promote and encourage best practice. For companies who employ
best practice, it helps in the planning of effective direct marketing campaigns. For customers, it protects their interests too.
That said, the following details all the things you should be aware of when conducting your own direct marketing campaign.
The addresses, telephone numbers and websites for the organisations are listed overleaf unless otherwise stated.
The DMA
ASA
Data Protection
Consumer Protection
The DMAs Preference Services enable consumers to
register their wish to opt out of receiving unsolicited
messages by e-mail, mail, telephone or fax.
Organisations are obliged either by law or by Codes of
Practice to ensure that consumer wishes are adhered to.
For more information, contact the DMA.
Copyright Directive
E-Commerce Directive
The objective of the E-Commerce Directive is to ensure
that information society services benefit from the
internal-market principles of free movement of services
and the freedom of establishment. In particular, it
concerns the principle that their provision cross-border
throughout the European Community cannot be
restricted. For more information contact the DTI.
25
Resources
26
Business-to-business direct marketing does not just require financial resources, but human resources too. Staff are needed to
implement, manage and monitor direct marketing campaigns, develop and maintain databases, and of course handle the
additional business generated. That said, proper planning will give you some idea of the extra resources required and when,
and also what level of expertise is required. Most potential suppliers will give you advice and help, to decide what to do, but
there are some key areas to consider.
The database
New customers
Handling responses
Once you have given potential customers various ways
of responding, you then have to deal with that response,
whether by capturing data, sending out brochures,
conducting phone calls or making sales presentations.
Time is often the critical element here. If you cannot deal
with an enquiry quickly, how can you provide the service
any customer would naturally demand?
Flexibility
Nobody can be sure what responses they will get from
any marketing activity, even seasoned users. While
outside activity could have a major impact, you will be
reluctant to commit to extra resources just in case. But
do be prepared particularly if you use a medium such
as radio or press that can deliver a peak of response
very quickly, compared to direct mail that can be more
easily spread.
Further Information
ADVERTISING ASSOCIATION
Abford House
15 Wilton Road
London
SW1V 1NJ
E: aa@adassoc.org.uk
W: www.adassoc.org.uk
T: 0208 7828 2771
F: 020 7931 0376
ADVERTISING STANDARDS
AUTHORITY (ASA)
(FOR VOLUNTARY CODES,
AND TO CHECK ADVERTISING)
Brook House
2-16 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HN
E: inquiries@asa.org.uk
W: www.asa.org.uk
T: 020 7580 5555
F: 020 7631 3051
BRITISH MARKET
RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
Devonshire House
60 Goswell Road
London
EC1M 7AD
E: admin@bmra.org.uk
W: www.bmra.org.uk
T: 020 7566 3636
F: 020 7689 6220
CONFEDERATION OF
BRITISH INDUSTRY (CBI)
Centre Point
103 New Oxford street
London
WC1A 1DU
W: www.cbi.org.uk
T: 020 7395 8247
F: 020 7240 1578
CHARTERED INSTITUTE
OF MARKETING (CIM)
(FOR TRAINING)
Moor Hall
Cookham
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 9QH
E: marketing@cim.co.uk
W: www.cim.co.uk
T: 01628 427 500
F: 01628 427 499
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
(FOR DATA PROTECTION)
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
W: www.dataprotection.gov.uk
Enquiry/Information Line: 01625 545 745
Notification Line: 01625 545 740
Switchboard: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE
AND INDUSTRY (DTI)
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H OET
E: dti.enquiries@imsv.dti.gov.uk
W: www.dti.gov.uk
T: 020 7215 5000
F: 020 7222 2629
www.businesslink.org.uk
27