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The Secret Is Out! Independent Research Shows Using CDs/DVDs in Direct Marketing Dramatically Boosts Response Rates
An independent research study released in October, 2003 by Cambridge Associates of Stamford, CT confirmed what Evatone customers have long known: The inclusion of a CD or DVD in a direct mail package or as part of a direct response ad produces a bounty of benefits:
* Response rates averaging three times that of traditional direct response – with some respondents reporting a 600% improvement.
* 50-60% greater recall of material on the disc vs content delivered by print alone.
* Often greater cost efficiencies when compared to catalogs and booklets. The reduced weight of the discs compared to heavier print mailings resulted in meaningful postal savings.
* A more compelling presentation of the product or service incorporating sound and motion
* More effective response tracking and database collection
* Ability to provide Internet links for more information or direct ordering
* Perception among recipients of having received something “valuable”. Recipients considered the disc to be worth as much as $15, and were, therefore, more likely to play it.
* Greater likelihood than standard promotional materials to be saved and/or passed along.
Evatone is your one-stop resource to take advantage of this response- generating phenomenon. Let our Eagle Marketing division design powerful creative mailings or ads to feature your discs and identify the right people to receive them. Our full-service CD and DVD departments can take you from authoring to mastering to replication. And our speedy in-house Mailing Services group can process your mail list, address the mailing, and get it on its way.
Don’t miss out on this proven marketing and promotional technique! Contact your Evatone rep today!
Work On Your Own Publicity Campaigns
Need More Business, but Can’t Afford the Direct Mail Campaign Outlined in the Course? Start a Publicity Campaign for your business today. I cannot think of a less expensive and more effective way to generate new business than this. When I was producing videos full time, I followed my advice and got to know the local journalists who might be read by my target audience – small business owners, corporate marketing honchos and non profit agency PR people.
Writing Press Releases and getting them published is a vital to the success of your business. It doesn’t cost you anything more than time and effort. So go to your library today and learn about getting free publicity and press releases. The following is excerpted from the book Marketing with Digital Video
PUBLICITY
Whether your customers are local, national or international, you will want to get as much free publicity as possible for your company. And it is a certain way to grow your small business, corporation or non-profit. There are many good books to help in this work. One is Six Steps to Free Publicity — and Dozens of Other Ways to Win Free Publicity for You or Your Business by Marcia Yudkin available from her web site www.yudkin.com
If you produce videos for others, you will want to see the Steve Yankee’s Video Producers’ Automatic Newsmaker System available at http://www.videobusinessadvisor.com/automatic_newsmaker_system.html
A local video production can be a great news story that many local newspapers and magazines will publish. Mention video production and many people conjures images of Hollywood sets with camera, lights and other “glamorous” show biz stuff.
Shooting a business video is a golden opportunity for free publicity and now is the time to plan for it. Start thinking about the most newsworthy or interesting angle of the video you’re making. How is the product, service or idea going to help people? If you have a friend in the news business, give him or her a call and ask if you can buy your friend a cup of coffee to pick their brain. Be sensitive to the fact that most journalists would be insulted if they thought you were trying to bribe them.
Launch your publicity campaign by making a list of newspaper and magazine editors in your region. Then send each one a well-written press release about your production. Sending photos of the production can increase the odds your story will be published. Be sure to read a lot about press releases before you write one. If you did not send photos or if the editor did not care for them, he or she may want to send their own photographer to shoot your production company at work. If so, you’ll want to choose one of the more visual scenes you’re planning to film and then set a convenient time. The photographer will undoubtedly want a shot of your cameraman filming something interesting. Give some thought to how you and your product or service can be a natural part of that photograph.
Publicity shots will slow your production so allow the photographer to shoot just the one scene you’ve selected. Granted, this publicity does take some effort. Is it worth it? You bet it is! Consider why you are doing the video in the first place. This publicity can help achieve the same goal and costs you nothing. Preproduction planning takes a lot of work. While a lot of the work is in the hands of the cameraman, it is your planning and attention to details that control the ultimate quality and cost of you
Your Mailing List
One group that you should be sure is in your mailing list is the biggest employers list. In my area there is a list called biggest employers of Rhode Island. In my previous home it was the biggest employers of orange County, New York. It may have a different name in your area. This is nearly always produced by some government agency in your area. To find this list in your area call or visit your chamber of commerce. They may have a copy or can direct you.
When you get the list type it all into your database as described in the course. Find the appropriate titles in that company and mail a letter like the one in my course or call them. Get to know as much as you can about them. Keep notes in your database. This list of employers represents the biggest budgets in your area. They should be a very important part of your marketing campaigns.
While you’re in the Chamber Offices, ask if they have a copy of last years members. If so, they may give it to you for free. Type these names and companies into your database. Use judgement about the types and sizes of businesses and non-profits as I explained in the course.
Just don’t rely on the CDs you can buy that claim to have every business in the US. They are often out of date and that can cost you a fortune in postage. Worse than that, they may just be from the Yellow Pages. That means that every hair salon, deli, funeral home, and candy store is in the list. These are not the kind of businesses that contract marketing videos. You want the kind of businesses and non-profits that do contract marketing videos.
Offer More Services to Your Target Market
If you’ve taken my advice in the Professional Video Producer course, you know that you need to put a lot of effort into identifying the people who can use your services and have the money to hire you. Even when you sell these people a great video you produce, this contact probably won’t hire you again for several years. But they will still need lots of other marketing and promotional services and you may have talents they need. Here are a few possibilities:
- Still Photography
- Press Releases
- Brochure Design and Writing
- TV Commercials
- In House Training Videos
- Web Site Design and Promotion
- Multi Media Production and Distribution
If you have talents along these or other lines, develop them and offer your services. In this way you expand the focus of your company to include a range of marketing services beyond just video production. This has many advantages for you:
- You are marketing to the same person who hired you to produce the video. This alone can save you a fortune because you don’t have spend money and time to find them again.
- You have more income streams which gives your company more financial stability. If one stream slumps for a while, others will take its place.
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