Let’s not kid ourselves.
The downturn is real. Most of us know someone who has been thrown out of work. In our own marketing departments, we all know how tough it has been to make budget.
But we need to be informed and accurate.
There are concrete signs that recovery is on the way. Just look at this selection of news pieces that have appeared in Australian media since 9 June 2009.
Property market on the up and up
Chris Vedelago 21 June 2009
“MELBOURNE'S property market appears to be headed towards a strong recovery as conditions begin to mirror the heady days of the 2007 property boom.
The auction clearance rate surged to 86 per cent this past week to hit its second highest level on record, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
The volume of private sale transactions has also risen to a record high, with 15,354 properties selling this year to date compared to 15,060 in the boom year of 2007.”
Recovery hopes get big boost
Angela Monaghan 14 June 2009
“BETTER than expected economic data from China is likely to raise hopes that the world's largest emerging economy could help to drag the rest of the world out of recession.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday that industrial output jumped 8.9 per cent last month, compared with a 7.3 per cent rise in April, and higher than a median forecast of 7.5 per cent growth.
Retail sales in China rose 15.2 per cent in the year to May, following a 14.8 per cent increase in April, which was also ahead of forecasts.
They were the latest signs to suggest that the Government's $585 billion stimulus was working.”
Consumer confidence records 22-year bounce
By Online business reporter Michael Janda - 10 June 2009
“Consumer confidence has recorded its largest bounce in 22 years after the news last week that Australia had avoided a technical recession - two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
The widely watched Westpac - Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index surged 12.7 per cent between May and June and now stands at 100 - meaning there are as many optimists as there are pessimists.
The bank's chief economist, Bill Evans, says the size of the increase is surprising and is the second largest bounce in the survey's 35 year history.”
Worst of financial crisis over, says bank
Peter Martin 9 June 2009
“THE only international organisation to foresee the global financial crisis says the worst of it has probably passed.
The Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements says "glimmers of hope" are sparking a "rebound of risk appetite among investors", pushing up borrowing by more than a quarter so far this year.
"The key economic indicators remain at depressed levels," the bank says in its latest quarterly report. "But investors are focused instead on incipient signs that economic conditions are deteriorating less rapidly than before, while intensified policy actions to counter the crisis have helped bolster confidence."
In Australia, the latest Dun & Bradstreet survey found businesses more positive with expected sales, profits and employment all improving from a low base.”
Business confidence back on the up and up
Glenn Dyer 9 June 2009 - Crikey
“Australian business confidence has surged to its highest level in well over a year, thanks, it seems, to the effects of the free-spending federal budget, the stockmarket and commodity rally and last week's better than expected growth figures.
The ANZ's job ads series for May fell 0.2%, the lowest fall for months. And several major international financial oversight groups have expressed cautious optimism that the worst of the global crunch is over.
The better business confidence came in the latest monthly survey of business conditions and confidence from the National Australian Bank.”
30 June 2009
If you are doing direct mail, you can cut costs
So you’d very much like to cut your mailing costs, if possible?
But you don’t want to drop revenue. You don’t want to lose market share. And you certainly don’t want to negatively impact your customer relationships.
Well, there are a few things worth considering.
1. Think again about email
OK, it’s true, email is not always ideal for initial prospecting. But that does not mean it should not be used at all.
For follow-up communications, email can be the best choice.
In conjunction with an initial direct mail piece, email can work well – say, for a reminder contact.
For renewals, maybe try email first and only invest in mail for the people on your database who are very slow to renew.
2. Provide a PURL for response
Personal URLs are likely to increase your response rate and therefore cut the cost of your follow-up mailing. And PURLs also make it easier for people to refer a friend.
3. Let them choose the channel
Can you introduce a ‘preference centre’ on your website? If so, customers and members will then find it easy to let you know how they want to be communicated with. Every time anyone chooses email or SMS, you save heaps.
4. Make sure you are ‘spot on’ with your list cleaning
Prior to mailing, you need to be full bottle with the latest tools for making your list 100% up-to-date. Your mail house should be able to advise. And watch the timing on this. If you clean your list two weeks before mailing, almost certainly changes will happen in the intervening time. You’ll end up annoying people (and wasting money) by mailing to them when they have only just unsubscribed.
5. Work harder at identifying segments that won’t respond
It’s terribly obvious, but a great way to save is to avoid mailing people who are not going to respond! Ongoing testing is essential. Be diligent in continually testing segments and sub segments. If you are not testing, you are not really doing direct marketing. And if your management won’t allow you to test, maybe it’s better for them to drop direct and invest money in something else. Perhaps solariums.
But you don’t want to drop revenue. You don’t want to lose market share. And you certainly don’t want to negatively impact your customer relationships.
Well, there are a few things worth considering.
1. Think again about email
OK, it’s true, email is not always ideal for initial prospecting. But that does not mean it should not be used at all.
For follow-up communications, email can be the best choice.
In conjunction with an initial direct mail piece, email can work well – say, for a reminder contact.
For renewals, maybe try email first and only invest in mail for the people on your database who are very slow to renew.
2. Provide a PURL for response
Personal URLs are likely to increase your response rate and therefore cut the cost of your follow-up mailing. And PURLs also make it easier for people to refer a friend.
3. Let them choose the channel
Can you introduce a ‘preference centre’ on your website? If so, customers and members will then find it easy to let you know how they want to be communicated with. Every time anyone chooses email or SMS, you save heaps.
4. Make sure you are ‘spot on’ with your list cleaning
Prior to mailing, you need to be full bottle with the latest tools for making your list 100% up-to-date. Your mail house should be able to advise. And watch the timing on this. If you clean your list two weeks before mailing, almost certainly changes will happen in the intervening time. You’ll end up annoying people (and wasting money) by mailing to them when they have only just unsubscribed.
5. Work harder at identifying segments that won’t respond
It’s terribly obvious, but a great way to save is to avoid mailing people who are not going to respond! Ongoing testing is essential. Be diligent in continually testing segments and sub segments. If you are not testing, you are not really doing direct marketing. And if your management won’t allow you to test, maybe it’s better for them to drop direct and invest money in something else. Perhaps solariums.
Getting started in mobile
When, as presidential candidate, Barack Obama used text messaging to announce his selection of a running mate, Direct Marketers throughout the US, took note.
Many suggested that finally SMS had arrived.
What Obama or his minders were obviously aiming to do was build an opt-in mobile database. And they were successful. Reports at the time indicated that some 3 million Americans jumped on board.
The Obama campaign machine then had 3 million pairs of ears and eyes to speak with, via their mobile phones, for the rest of the presidential campaign.
It sounds simple enough. And it actually is a perfect example of using an interesting promotion to create an opt-in list. A list that can then be ‘worked’ via email very cost effectively.
With 3 billion SMS users globally, SMS text messaging is used by more than twice the number of people who use the internet. That’s quite an opportunity!
So let’s get into mobile marketing as quickly as possible, you might say. Fair enough. But there are pitfalls.
The proven Direct Marketing principles need to be followed here, just as in every other channel.
And the first principle to think about is opting in. The ongoing Obama use of SMS worked for it was opt in.
You can integrate mobile into your communications stream most effectively by getting consent.
If your database is up-to-date, you need to go to your existing people and encourage them to opt in. And this is where your creativity is needed. There are lots of offers out there, so you need to choose something enticing that shows your prospects/customers/supporters that there is something in it for them.
There is a great deal more to mobile than this. But if you start out right, you give yourself the best chance to succeed.
Many suggested that finally SMS had arrived.
What Obama or his minders were obviously aiming to do was build an opt-in mobile database. And they were successful. Reports at the time indicated that some 3 million Americans jumped on board.
The Obama campaign machine then had 3 million pairs of ears and eyes to speak with, via their mobile phones, for the rest of the presidential campaign.
It sounds simple enough. And it actually is a perfect example of using an interesting promotion to create an opt-in list. A list that can then be ‘worked’ via email very cost effectively.
With 3 billion SMS users globally, SMS text messaging is used by more than twice the number of people who use the internet. That’s quite an opportunity!
So let’s get into mobile marketing as quickly as possible, you might say. Fair enough. But there are pitfalls.
The proven Direct Marketing principles need to be followed here, just as in every other channel.
And the first principle to think about is opting in. The ongoing Obama use of SMS worked for it was opt in.
You can integrate mobile into your communications stream most effectively by getting consent.
If your database is up-to-date, you need to go to your existing people and encourage them to opt in. And this is where your creativity is needed. There are lots of offers out there, so you need to choose something enticing that shows your prospects/customers/supporters that there is something in it for them.
There is a great deal more to mobile than this. But if you start out right, you give yourself the best chance to succeed.
6 words that people confuse
Here are six examples of words you hear or see misused quite often.
Continual, Continuous
Continual means repeated many times. Continuous means
going on without a break. I am continually being interrupted
by phone calls. People waiting for the bus formed a
continuous queue for 50 metres.
Fewer, Less
Fewer refers to number, less to amount. There have been fewer crashes on the roads this year. Children are buying less fatty foods from school canteens.
Anticipate, Expect
Anticipate means to be aware of a future event
and to prepare for it. Expect means to regard
something as likely to happen. The team members
are anticipating their next match with
confidence because they expect to win.
Imply, Infer
The following sentences illustrate the correct
usage of these words: The Minister implied that the
policy would be changed, although she did not
say so outright. The audience inferred that the
policy would be changed.
Advise, Inform
You can advise a person to apply for a position, but you inform or tell a person that he/she is eligible to apply. To some extent, when you advise, you are giving an opinion. Informing someone about something relates to established facts.
Affect, Effect
Affect means ‘make a difference to’ (verb), whereas effect means ‘a result’ (noun or verb) or ‘bring about (a result)’. The attitude of the staff was affected by the continual changes. The effect was low morale.
These sets of words are taken from the Action Words one-day workshop entitled:
“Writing Skills to Influence Decision Makers”. For an outline of the workshop, please email us: vikki@actionwords.com.au
Continual, Continuous
Continual means repeated many times. Continuous means
going on without a break. I am continually being interrupted
by phone calls. People waiting for the bus formed a
continuous queue for 50 metres.
Fewer, Less
Fewer refers to number, less to amount. There have been fewer crashes on the roads this year. Children are buying less fatty foods from school canteens.
Anticipate, Expect
Anticipate means to be aware of a future event
and to prepare for it. Expect means to regard
something as likely to happen. The team members
are anticipating their next match with
confidence because they expect to win.
Imply, Infer
The following sentences illustrate the correct
usage of these words: The Minister implied that the
policy would be changed, although she did not
say so outright. The audience inferred that the
policy would be changed.
Advise, Inform
You can advise a person to apply for a position, but you inform or tell a person that he/she is eligible to apply. To some extent, when you advise, you are giving an opinion. Informing someone about something relates to established facts.
Affect, Effect
Affect means ‘make a difference to’ (verb), whereas effect means ‘a result’ (noun or verb) or ‘bring about (a result)’. The attitude of the staff was affected by the continual changes. The effect was low morale.
These sets of words are taken from the Action Words one-day workshop entitled:
“Writing Skills to Influence Decision Makers”. For an outline of the workshop, please email us: vikki@actionwords.com.au
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