Twenty-five is a number with a lot of significance in our world. It is the atomic number of manganese, it is the number reserved for the player deemed the best “slugger” on a baseball team, and it is the name of the national board game of India. To the hardworking men and women of the Beasley Direct and Online Marketing agency, however, twenty-five carries a much higher level of significance.

A Walk through History

The Beasley Direct and Online Marketing agency was founded in 1990 by Laurie Beasley after a successful career as a marketing manager for Borland International. After leaving Borland, Laurie began to consult for other software and hardware companies who all recognized the need for an upgraded revenue model. This was rewarding consulting work; however, Laurie began to recognize that companies were having trouble executing the plans. Direct marketing is both science and art, and companies were struggling with both aspects. Eventually, Laurie decided to switch from just being the consultant who built models, to a full-service agency that built the model and executed it using database marketing.

In 2001-2002 the U.S. experienced the dot-com crash. Many agencies went out of business then, but Beasley Direct and Online Marketing thrived by adding a full set of services to help companies get their digital marketing programs up and running, including websites, email programs, and online advertising.

In 2008 the world experienced the Great Recession. Many more agencies went out of business during that year and the years which followed. The members of Beasley Direct jumped in and helped companies shift a heavy proportion of their marketing budgets to online, including search and social media.

Beasley Directs Growth along with Marketing Advances

Despite the challenges of the past, technology moves ever forward. With the arrival of the Internet, a huge shift occurred in marketing. To stay ahead of the curve, Beasley Direct added creative and technical services for developing websites and online advertising. As Internet marketing has progressed, Beasley Direct fought to stay ahead with the addition of sophisticated email and search marketing services, and more recently content marketing and social media services.

“Marketing managers must understand and use a wide array of tools…. We help clients avoid letting the tools replace or hinder good strategy, and to the relief of most of our clients, we help in the day-to-day optimal use of the tools.”–Laurie Beasley, President of Beasley Direct and Online Marketing

With all these advances in marketing technology, a huge need grew in the industry for training marketers to keep up and stay ahead of changes. To meet this growing need, Laurie Beasley created and managed a Certificate in Direct and Online Marketing at San Jose State Professional Studies, and then cloned this program at UCLA Extension, UC Santa Cruz Extension, UC Berkley Extension, and the Online Marketing Institute. Many of the Beasley Direct consulting staff members now teach in these programs.

What Does the Future Hold for Beasley Direct and Online Marketing?

“I believe the future of marketing will evolve with social media and the internet. Mobile marketing will continue to force innovation on marketers to keep their websites, search and social media effective for the mobile user. The introduction of mobile apps, kiosks, and third screen interactivity will provide many more avenues for marketing messaging and lead generation.”–Laurie Beasley

A Message to Other Marketers

“Marketing never stands still, and you need an agency that will keep you ahead of the curve. Beasley Direct has stayed far ahead of the learning curve, adding technical and creative skills to an ever-growing list of media channels.”–Laurie Beasley

With a future that includes wearable technology and a technologically desensitized population, the fight to stay ahead of marketing curves will never be over. However, you can bet that Beasley Direct and Online Marketing will be at the front lines, ready to provide absolute top notch services.

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Elizabeth Beasley, Account Manager, Beasley Direct Marketing

This post was authored by Elizabeth A. Beasley, Account Manager, Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc.

Elizabeth Beasley serves as an account manager at Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc www.BeasleyDirect.com   Elizabeth manages new client onboarding and accounts, social media, corporate presentations, corporate website, and database maintenance. She also serves as an account manager for the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California www.DMAnc.org, managing event logistics, registration and promotion. She holds a B.A. in Communications from National University.

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Laurie Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing

News Facts: Laurie Beasley, President of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc.  was invited by the Western Independent Bankers Association to speak on email marketing at the 2015 Education Summit and Expo, September 21-23, 2015 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Ms. Beasley’s session title will be “Optimizing Email for Desktop and Mobile Viewing: Keeping Email Users Satisfied and Engaged.”

Ms. Beasley’s session will discuss how email marketing is evolving from desktop to mobile viewing. However, financial services in all industries must not stop optimizing for desktop viewing. While 52% of email opens happen from mobile, only 2% click on links in the email from mobile vs. 11% who click from desktop. This means financial institutions must optimize emails for BOTH the desktop and mobile viewing if they are going to maximize click through. This session will cover the essentials of how to make sure desktop email marketing and mobile email marketing are effective no matter where customers are viewing. Also covered are responsive email design and cross browser compatibility.

About us:

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Beasley Direct is a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California www.DMAnc.org. Laurie manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern Californiawww.NorCalBMA.org. She is also an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc.  is known for bringing the latest marketing strategies to online and direct marketing. Beasley Direct provides services in email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, website design, media planning, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, and database management. Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. helps clients in both B2B and B2C marketing. Beasley Direct Marketing is privately held and headquartered in the Silicon Valley suburb, Morgan Hill, California. For more information, go to www.BeasleyDirect.com or call Laurie Beasley, President, at 408-782-0046 x21 or email lbeasley@beasleydirect.com.

Western Independent Bankers https://www.westernbankers.com/ was established in 1937 and is the premier networking and educational organization for community banks in the West, connecting leaders from a wide geographical area to engage in focused exchanges of experiences that typically don’t take place elsewhere. WIB informs, educates and connects community banks with the resources and services to achieve the highest standards of personal and organizational performance. WIB has 180 bank members and 130 community bank service providers.

Contact:
Laurie B. Beasley
Ph: 408-782-0046 x21
Fx: 408-782-9604
lbeasley@beasleydirect.com

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Laurie Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing

News Facts: Laurie Beasley, President of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. was asked by the Direct Marketing Association to write the introduction to the Direct Mail response rates section of the newly released DMA Statistical Fact Book 2015. Several insights were included in Ms. Beasley’s introduction, including two key findings:

• Direct Mail response rates for most direct mail marketers have declined significantly since 1987, which accounts for a lower mail volume. But response rates for department store direct mail have increased 2.5 times during that same period. When mailing first class, both department stores and credit card marketers have seen their response rates double between 1987 and 2013.¹
• And when the DMA analyzed who “will read immediately”, positive intent by 22-24 year olds increased from 35.6 to 41.2 percent 1987 to 2013. Perhaps marketers have learned how to target emerging consumers with relevant messages and offers.²

Ms. Beasley concludes: A new generation is reading direct mail, and paying attention. Now it’s up to the marketers to train them and nurture them to become lifelong consumers and enthusiasts for direct mail marketing.

Find out more about the Direct Marketing Association here. Order The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book here.

¹ The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book, USPS Household Diary Study, 2014, p. 61
² The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book, USPS Household Diary Study, 2014, p. 68

About us:

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Beasley Direct is a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California www.DMAnc.org. Laurie manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern Californiawww.NorCalBMA.org. She is also an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institutewww.onlinemarketinginstitute.org. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. is known for bringing the latest marketing strategies to online and direct marketing. Beasley Direct provides services in email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, website design, media planning, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, and database management. Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. helps clients in both B2B and B2C marketing. Beasley Direct Marketing is privately held and headquartered in the Silicon Valley suburb, Morgan Hill, California. For more information, go to www.BeasleyDirect.com or call Laurie Beasley, President, at 408-782-0046 x21 or email lbeasley@beasleydirect.com.

Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
The Direct Marketing Association (thedma.org) is the world’s largest trade association dedicated to advancing and protecting responsible data-driven marketing. Founded in 1917, DMA represents thousands of companies and nonprofit organizations that use and support data-driven marketing practices and techniques. DMA provides the Voice to shape policy and public opinion, the Connections to grow members’ businesses and the Tools to ensure full compliance with ethical and best practices as well as professional development. In 2012, the Data-Driven Marketing Economy (DDME) added $156 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy and fueled more than 675,000 jobs. The real value of data is in its exchange across the DDME: 70 percent of the value of the DDME — $110 billion in revenue and 478,000 jobs — depends on the ability of firms to exchange data across the DDME..

Contact:
Laurie B. Beasley
Ph: 408-782-0046 x21
Fx: 408-782-9604
lbeasley@beasleydirect.com

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The new “DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book” is out. Laurie Beasley, President of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc., was chosen to write the intro to this year’s Direct Mail Marketing section. Here are Laurie’s key findings for effective direct mail:

For decades, direct mail was the workhorse of direct marketing. Then came the Internet, and some marketers migrated to far less expensive contact methods like email, online advertising and search marketing. The total number of direct mail pieces mailed each year steadily declined.

However, direct mail has been holding its own in recent years and some indicators point to a resurgence. According to the most recent USPS Household Diary Study, overall mail volume was down only slightly and standard mail volume actually increased. In fact, the percentage of total mail volume attributed to direct mail has steadily grown year by year, from 39.9% in 1990 to 56.9% in 2014.

Lower overall mail volumes should make it easier for a marketer’s piece to stand out in the mailbox. But since the decline is primarily in first class, the competition in standard class advertising mail has become more intense. To increase direct mail effectiveness, marketers might want to consider making their pieces less promotional and more “official looking” like increasingly rare bills and statements (since more and more transactions are done online) to get the attention of a busy consumer.

As in past years, there are some encouraging trends. Response rates for most marketers have declined significantly since 1987, which accounts for a lower mail volume. But response rates for department store direct mail have increased 2.5 times during that same period. When mailing first class, both department stores and credit card marketers have seen their response rates double between 1987 and 2013.¹

Department stores may have better geographic and customer information that allows them to target more selectively. Credit card companies may have better data on their best prospects, justifying the higher cost of first class mail. Does better data translate to better response? That hypothesis is supported by user diaries, where most retailers get very high scores for “read immediately” and “found useful”²

Better targeting with higher response rates makes direct mail more affordable. But the ultimate cost per order or per lead are always what count, and better response rates and better conversion with direct mail can offset the postage and printing costs that you don’t have with electronic media.

Direct mail is also one of the most trackable and measurable of all media, boosting the quality of analytics for the campaign overall. A multichannel marketer knows when mail is arriving, and can use this knowledge to turn on the tap for other touch points such as email and telemarketing. Thus direct mail benefits other media and can boost the overall effectiveness of the multi-touch campaign.

For a final bright spot, take a look at the “will read immediately” numbers on Figure 1 below. Positive intent by 22-24 year olds increased from 35.6 to 41.2 percent 1987 to 2013. Perhaps marketers have learned how to target emerging consumers with relevant messages and offers.

Figure 1

A new generation is reading your mail, and paying attention. Now it’s up to you to train them and nurture them to become lifelong consumers and enthusiasts for direct mail marketing.

Find out more about the Direct Marketing Association here. Order The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book here.

For more information on how to create more successful direct mail programs, download our guide 10 Ways to Optimize Direct Mail Campaigns.

¹ The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book, USPS Household Diary Study, 2014, p. 61.

² The DMA 2015 Statistical Fact Book, USPS Household Diary Study, 2014, p. 68

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Laurie Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing

This blog was authored by Laurie B. Beasley, co-founder and president of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Beasley Direct is a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California. She manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern California (www.NorCalBMA.org). She is also an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

The post Effective Direct Mail Makes a Comeback: Why It Can Be More Effective Than Ever appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

By Laurie B. Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing

We’ve been sourcing B2B (business-to-business) prospect lists for our clients for more than 25 years. A lot of players have come and gone in that time. Dunn and Bradstreet (D&B) is the oldest list owner, and start-ups like Netprospex and Discover.org have come along. Some prospect list companies license their data for continuous updates in your CRM system, and some lists, like OmnichannelBase and Saphhire, offer lists for single or multiple campaign use. The question we are asked most often is “How do you tell which is a good list and which is a bad one?” We’ll try to answer that.

How to Tell Good B2B Prospect Data vs. Bad

Five criteria determine list quality and appropriateness for your purpose:

1. Amount and completeness of data available
2. The data source
3. How the data is validated
4. What selections are available
5. Are lists single or multiple-use?

In the chart below we show several B2B list providers and some of their features.

Figure 1: B2B Prospect List Provider Features

*Data source strategy definitions:

Heterogenous: Multiple types of data sources

Aggregated: Data collected and re-sold

Homogenous: One source of data, such as phone surveys

Evaluating a Prospect List by the Amount and Completeness of Data

The first criteria to evaluate a B2B list by is the amount of data they have available for your target market. As you can see from the chart above, the total amount of data available from various list providers varies greatly. For example, you have ReachBase, which boasts a stunning 73 million records, and we have Discover.org, which offers 360,000 records (they specialize in IT, Marketing and Finance job functions). The first thing you should do in your list search is give the list vendor a list of key selections for your target market. This should include: job function, industry, company size, and geography (if appropriate). You should also ask how complete the contact records are. For instance, ask how many of the contact records have matching email addresses and phone numbers.

Ask the List Owner How They Collected the List

The second criteria you should evaluate is the data source. In other words, how was the data collected? Some list owners are homogenous in their approach. They compile their data from one source, such as making phone calls to companies. Other list vendors aggregate their contacts from multiple sources, such as publications and websites. Other list vendors are heterogeneous; they do both phone validation and aggregation. The more sources for a list, the more complete and valid it is likely to be.

Check on How Frequently the List Is Updated

The third criteria you should use to evaluate a list is how often the data is validated or updated. How do they know their contacts are good? The more (and most recent) validation points, the better. Some lists don’t validate. Others use phone only. Others, like Netprospex, use phone, email, and social media to validate contacts. In our experience, the more validation points, the better the list will be. You should also ask how frequently they validate. Some list owners do so once per year. Others validate every 30 to 90 days. The more recent, the better quality the list will be.

Make Sure the List Has Your Targets

The fifth criteria for evaluating a list is whether they have your target market available in their database. If you’re marketing financial or IT products, you want to make sure they have contacts that are decision makers for those products. List owners profile product “interest” two ways: The first way is by profiling a target account by the technology they use. Some lists can tell you what financial or IT products are installed at a corporation. The other way is to profile by their product interest or purchase authority. This is typically done when a target fills out a qualification form to receive a free industry publication, or publishers will compile data on which white papers or webinars a target requests.

Find out Whether the List Owner Is Making Contacts Available for Single or Multi-Use

Lastly, find out if the contacts you purchase are for single or multi-use. This will affect your pricing, and your ability to email that contact only once or multiple times. Some list owners will only make the contact postal/phone numbers available to you, and for CAN SPAM compliance purposes, will send an email out on your behalf. This is most helpful in countries with email spam laws, such as the U.S., Canada and Germany. Some list vendors offer a service to continually update and clean records in your CRM. This is especially helpful, since Discover.org reports the following statistics about company data*:

• 40% of email users change their email address at least once every two years
• 20% of postal addresses change every year
• 18% of phone numbers change every year
• 60% of people change job functions within their organization every year

With that kind of movement, we highly recommend you clean your in-house data at least quarterly or best case continuously, using a list owner that offers that data cleansing service.

Seek Lists That Offer the Most Completeness and Validation…and Then Test Them!

Our experience in sourcing lists has told us that seeking the most complete, most updated, and most segmented lists will perform the best. Your best bet is to compare list options and pricing. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions of the list owner. Some list vendors are proud of how they maintain their records and some try to hide that information. Then test. Order 10,000 records from your two or three finalists and do a test campaign. The ultimate proof of the quality of a prospect list will be in how many leads or orders you get through using it.

If you want help comparing or ordering B2B lists, feel free to contact Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. at www.BeasleyDirect.com

*Discover.org, “The High Cost of Bad Data,” 2014.

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This blog was authored by Laurie B. Beasley, co-founder and president of Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc. Beasley Direct is a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California www.DMAnc.org. She manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern Californiawww.NorCalBMA.org. She is also an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

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Direct Mail Marketers: is Direct Mail Is Dead? NOT on Your Life.

Do you think direct mail is outdated and ineffective? Nothing could be further from the truth—in fact, direct mail continues to enjoy a higher conversion rate than any other medium. At Beasley Direct Marketing, we have two decades of experience with direct mail services, and we have some tips for you on how to use direct mail as an essential component in an integrated marketing campaign.

 Number 1: Don’t be scared off by the so-called higher cost of direct mail. The cost of printing might seem too high. But the statistics say you will make that investment back with interest. The ultimate cost per order or cost per lead is what really counts, and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reports that acquisition costs for direct mail are in line with pay-per-click, and are considerably lower than telemarketing.

 Number 2: Leverage your electronic marketing to get more mileage with direct mail. If you already have a landing page for email campaigns or pay-per-click, why not use it for direct mail as well? If you use personalized URLs tailored to each recipient, they will help attract attention from the prospect, and they also make tracking easier.

 Number 3: Test postcards. The U.S. Postal Service reports that postcard formats are the most likely to be read. Possibly this is because they are a quick read for someone in a hurry. Of course, your offer must be gripping and quickly comprehended. Bonus point: postcards are cheaper to print and mail.

 Number 4: Make the most of high-quality prospecting lists for direct mail. Rental direct mail lists tend to be better than rental email lists in terms of quality data and selectability. There is no SPAM regulation for direct mail, so opt-in isn’t an issue. Don’t neglect your house list, which is likely to outperform any rental list by a factor of many-to-one.

 Number 5: Use first impressions to make it from the mailbox into the house. People are getting fewer direct mail pieces than in the past, thanks to email marketing, and total mail volume is down as well. This is good news for the direct mail marketer, because it means your mail piece will gain proportionately more attention (assuming it is well designed with a compelling offer). Make that first impression a memorable one.

Number 6: Use the “stage management” of direct mail to increase your impact. When an email arrives or the reader reaches a web page, the tendency is to scan quickly and move on. But direct mail offers many opportunities for involvement, including the envelope front and back and the visual and written elements inside.

Number 7: Get personal. Don’t just address the recipient by name. For example, Beasley Direct once marketed test measurement equipment to execs at cellular companies, using different hot buttons and issues, keyed to the cell company where the individual exec worked.

Number 8: Be timely. Traditional direct mail campaigns used to take weeks to execute, but in today’s digitally printed, just-in-time world, you can take advantage of the time factor. For instance, American Signature Furniture sends a self-mailer the same day that prospects visit a showroom but do not buy—and have reaped impressive results. Consider seasonality, and calendar your strongest seasons for your direct mail campaigns.

Number 9: Go dimensional. 3D mailings can be as simple as a lumpy envelope with a pen enclosed, or as elaborate as a specially designed and die cut box. Because 3D mailings tend to be more expensive, reserve them for high-value prospects, particularly when you need to get your message past a corporate gatekeeper. The DMA has found that dimensional outperforms standard formats by 250%.

Number 10: Test, test, test. And then analyze the results. Direct mail is highly measurable because every lead can be traced back to a source code or 800 number. Don’t get so involved in the creative and messaging that you forget to properly plan source codes. Make sure that the people responsible for collecting data are well trained and have the time to secure solid, reliable data.

This podcast was brought to you by Beasley Direct Marketing. If you enjoyed our podcast and would like more detail on these ideas, please download our free whitepaper, “10 Ways To Optimize Your Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns.” In addition to providing specific action items, we also provide some case studies to bring these ideas to life. The whitepaper can be found on the homepage at www.beasleydirect.com…that’s spelled BEASLEYDIRECT.com. Thank you!

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By John Thyfault, Vice President of Search & Social Strategy, Beasley Direct Marketing

Client:        A law firm specializing in family practice.

Issue:        The client wanted to reduce cost per lead, which was more than $220.

Solution:    Segmented marketplace to reveal which segments were most productive; refined keywords used in online advertising; reworded ads; analyzed lead history to optimize ad placement.

Results:     Within six months, reduced cost per lead by about 50%; increased conversion rate by about 15%.

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A law firm specializing in family practice in New Jersey asked Beasley Direct Marketing to reduce its cost per lead and acquisition. The practice handled a broad range of issues, including divorce, marriage, child custody, naturalization, immigration and pre-nuptial agreements. When we started with the firm, cost per lead was more than $220. The law firm advertised both online and in print in local publications.

Our first step was to determine if the client wanted to target all types of business that it handled, or only specific segments. We discovered that, historically, the types of clients providing the most revenue at the lowest cost per acquisition were divorce, child custody arrangements and pre-nuptial agreements. Further analysis showed that the quality of pre-nuptial leads was poor (lots of people were voyeuristically searching for celebrity “pre-nups”), and this was dropped from the ad program. In the case of divorce and child custody, we were able to identify clients, segment by male versus female, and target those who were in the process or just thinking about it.

The overall quality of the leads coming in from the firm’s advertising program was poor. Quality scores tend to vary by market; similar click-through rates in two different markets may yield very different levels of quality. We did geographical targeting, aiming at commuters in the bridges and tunnels in the tri-state area, and we also developed localized ads to support the firm’s different offices, getting the ads in front of people who worked or lived in proximity to those offices. So instead of bidding on “New Jersey family law firm,” we bid on specific towns and regions. This was especially effective on the New Jersey turnpike corridor, where towns tend to run into one another. (Geographical targeting alone yielded a 10% decrease in cost per lead.)

We analyzed the language of the online ads and refined them with cleaner, less cluttered language (keeping in mind at all times the restrictions on lawyer advertising by the New Jersey Bar Association). We also looked at the list of keywords to identify those that had historically converted well, winnowing out the less-productive ones. We continue to do this on an ongoing basis.

We also looked at timing considerations. When we first started with the firm, it was running all the ads at the same price 24 hours a day and seven days a week, all year long. Examining their Google Analytics data, we were able to identify where they derived their most leads by time of day, week and year. For example, Sunday evenings from 10 pm to 1 am were highly productive times; apparently, the end of the weekend is a time when many people begin considering divorce. Another spike occurred just after lunch during weekdays. We also noticed that suppertime on any day and mid-morning and mid-afternoon during weekdays were not productive. This allowed us to pare about 30% off the cost of acquisition, simply by running ads only during the times of greatest productivity. The remaining cost reductions came about through keyword expansion and refinement and constant ad testing, which allowed us to drop losing ads and retain or develop ads that were proven winners.

The client wanted to try remarketing—the practice of identifying a searcher’s interests and targeting ads that follow that individual around the web. We were not in favor of this because the client sells services with many privacy concerns. For example, if a man has been searching for divorce lawyers and his wife uses the same computer, she may be able to discern from the ads she sees that her husband is contemplating divorce—information that, if true, should come from her husband, not the Internet. But we did a limited test, and actually saw a decrease in click-throughs and conversions, so the downside was greater than even we had anticipated.

In addition to abiding by the advertising regulations of the New Jersey Bar Association, the client also wanted to stay within the bounds of good taste and a genuine concern for clients’ privacy and wellbeing. This concern extended to which keywords we selected, as well as the wording of ads. Despite these restrictions, we were able to slash cost per lead by about 50%, while increasing ad productivity by about 15%.

Of course, this kind of process is never “done.” We continue to keep track of keyword productivity, ad scheduling and other data to assure the client’s promotional program is cost-effective and productive.

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This post was authored by John Thyfault, Vice President of Search & Social Strategy, of Beasley Direct Marketing. Contact John at jthyfault@beasleydirect.com.

John has more than 18 years of marketing, sales and product development experience, and he brings a proven track record of successful campaign, program and product development expertise. His knowledge of search engine optimization and marketing, combined with an in-depth understanding of customer identification, market analysis and segmentation, allows him to deliver high returns on our client’s marketing investment for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business markets.

Prior to working with Beasley Direct, John was Senior Client Services Project Director at ThirdAge.com, a first wave baby boomer lifestyle and community website. At ThirdAge he successfully led major client sponsorships for Fortune 100 companies in healthcare (Tylenol), financial services (American Century), technology (Intel & IBM) and consumer products areas (Revlon & Viactive). He was responsible for strategic and tactical goal setting, project management, new product creation and web site production. John previously worked in Channel Marketing and National Account Sales for IDG Books Worldwide, the publishers of the immensely popular “…For Dummies” book series. Additionally, he managed the wholesale distributor sales channel for Tor/Forge Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

 John is active in local marketing associations, including the Direct Marketing Association, the Business Marketing Association and is currently serving on the board of directors for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association.

John has taught search engine marketing fundamentals extensively. He has led workshops for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association, Northern California Direct Marketing Association (DMAnc) and the Business Marketing Association. He also teaches Search Engine Marketing at UCSC Extension (Silicon Valley).

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Many people view search engine optimization (SEO) as existing in a vacuum, unaffected by what happens via other channels. But tweaking SEO without gathering input from other marketing channels is sort of like treating one body part in isolation from the rest of the body. It’s all part of a continuum, which means you can derive actionable SEO data from other marketing initiatives, such as using PPC testing.

As an SEO manager you have a great opportunity to determine what kind of language and keywords potential customers are using to search for your category of products or services. You can also determine which keywords translate more effectively to your website by using PPC testing without setting up new content on your site and waiting for Google to crawl it. You can use low-cost pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to better understand your customer, and what language works most effectively to get site visitors to convert once they get to your site.

For example, let’s suppose I sell motorcycle accessories online. I have a list of keywords that all seem pretty good:

• Motorcycle helmet
• Men’s motorcycle helmet
• Womens’ motorcycle helmet
• Ladies motorcycle helmet

…and so forth. They are all fairly similar, so how can I tell which phrase my audience will use most frequently? PPC can test large sets of keywords in an organized and systematic way—in near-real-time. Using something like Google AdWords, I can set up test campaigns for a very small investment to run for two or three weeks. Each campaign uses a different set of keywords. Then, using Google Analytics or something similar, I can see which PPC ads enjoyed the highest click-through rate and drove the most traffic to my site. I can also see which ones successfully converted the most customers. This can be done much more quickly than waiting for Google to crawl my site and rank it.

In addition, I can take a look at the Keywords Detail Report within AdWords and understand the nature of actual searches driving the click-throughs, versus just the keywords I happened to be using. For example, if I am bidding on the phrase “women’s motorcycle boots,” I could go into Google AdWords and see that perhaps the phrase most people used was “red motorcycle boots.” (That would also give me useful information about customer needs.)

AdWords can also be used to drive inbound traffic to different landing pages to determine which page will be the most effective in gaining conversion. This allows me to shorten my keyword and content development timeline.

Last but not least, this data can tell you a great deal about the value of different searches from a competitive standpoint. By looking at the cost per click for the different terms you want to use, you can see which keywords and phrases are the most valuable, as the cost is determined by how highly they are valued by the marketplace (your competition). The higher the cost per click, the more value that click will have when a prospect gets to your website, based on the fact that your competition won’t spend money for clicks they can’t convert.

So don’t “silo” your SEO efforts. PPC testing is a quick, easy way to obtain valuable data to boost SEO effectiveness.

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John Thyfault, VP Search and Social Marketing, Beasley Direct Marketing

This post was authored by John Thyfault, Vice President of Search & Social Strategy, of Beasley Direct Marketing. Contact John at jthyfault@beasleydirect.com.

John has more than 18 years of marketing, sales and product development experience, and he brings a proven track record of successful campaign, program and product development expertise. His knowledge of search engine optimization and marketing, combined with an in-depth understanding of customer identification, market analysis and segmentation, allows him to deliver high returns on our client’s marketing investment for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business markets.

Prior to working with Beasley Direct, John was Senior Client Services Project Director at ThirdAge.com, a first wave baby boomer lifestyle and community website. At ThirdAge he successfully led major client sponsorships for Fortune 100 companies in healthcare (Tylenol), financial services (American Century), technology (Intel & IBM) and consumer products areas (Revlon & Viactive). He was responsible for strategic and tactical goal setting, project management, new product creation and web site production. John previously worked in Channel Marketing and National Account Sales for IDG Books Worldwide, the publishers of the immensely popular “…For Dummies” book series. Additionally, he managed the wholesale distributor sales channel for Tor/Forge Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

John is active in local marketing associations, including the Direct Marketing Association, the Business Marketing Association and is currently serving on the board of directors for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association.

John has taught search engine marketing fundamentals extensively. He has led workshops for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association, Northern California Direct Marketing Association (DMAnc.org) and the Business Marketing Association. He also teaches Search Engine Marketing at UCSC Extension (Silicon Valley).

The post Boost SEO Effectiveness through PPC Testing appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Drive Ecommerce and In-Store Sales Using Local Search and Mobile Search Marketing

John Thyfault, Vice President of Search & Social Media Marketing for Beasley Direct Marketing, delivered the following presentation at the CohereOne Executive Summit in San Francisco earlier this month. John covers the reach of local mobile marketing and local search online and best practices for mobile organic search and pay-per-click (PPC). He also discusses how businesses can deploy local search marketing to drive traffic to brick-and-mortar stores.

To view the presentation, please click the following link: Mobile Local eCommerce CohereOne 090414

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John Thyfault, VP Search and Social Marketing, Beasley Direct Marketing

This post was authored by John Thyfault, Vice President of Search & Social Strategy, of Beasley Direct Marketing. Contact John at jthyfault@beasleydirect.com.

John has more than 18 years of marketing, sales and product development experience, and he brings a proven track record of successful campaign, program and product development expertise. His knowledge of search engine optimization and marketing, combined with an in-depth understanding of customer identification, market analysis and segmentation, allows him to deliver high returns on our client’s marketing investment for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business markets.

Prior to working with Beasley Direct, John was Senior Client Services Project Director at ThirdAge.com, a first wave baby boomer lifestyle and community website. At ThirdAge he successfully led major client sponsorships for Fortune 100 companies in healthcare (Tylenol), financial services (American Century), technology (Intel & IBM) and consumer products areas (Revlon & Viactive). He was responsible for strategic and tactical goal setting, project management, new product creation and web site production. John previously worked in Channel Marketing and National Account Sales for IDG Books Worldwide, the publishers of the immensely popular “…For Dummies” book series. Additionally, he managed the wholesale distributor sales channel for Tor/Forge Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

John is active in local marketing associations, including the Direct Marketing Association, the Business Marketing Association and is currently serving on the board of directors for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association.

John has taught search engine marketing fundamentals extensively. He has led workshops for the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association, Northern California Direct Marketing Association (DMAnc.org) and the Business Marketing Association. He also teaches Search Engine Marketing at (UCSC Extension, Silicon Valley).

The post Using Local Search Marketing & Mobile Search Marketing To Drive Ecommerce & In-Store Sales appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Poster of the Mars Curiosity Rover created by Beasley Direct Marketing for Anritsu’s VectorStar Campaign

by Laurie B. Beasley, president, Beasley Direct Marketing

Here is a successful multi-channel B2B direct marketing campaign case study that followed many of the guidelines we’ve been talking about, including an appeal to emotions, multiple touches, and a carefully designed offer. The audience was engineers—always a tough sell because of their skepticism—and we sought to persuade them to consider replacing a tried-and-true instrument with something they may not even have heard of. We did this not by leading with product features but with a pull on the heartstrings—reliving a recent event in which engineers were heroes because of the quality of their instruments and their work.

Background

Anritsu’s VectorStar Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) is used to measure microwave and mm-wave frequencies in design, testing and manufacture of electronic components where extreme accuracy is required. A new model leapfrogged the competition in features and performance, providing the opportunity to generate sales leads through a multi-channel marketing campaign. The primary audience for this campaign is electrical engineers (EEs). They think in a methodical way and demand proof of product claims. They require detailed specs and technical information to make a buying decision. They are not at all impressed by marketing copy and claims unsubstantiated by statistics.

The Challenge:

Anritsu’s predecessor company, Wiltron, invented the modern VNA tester in the late 1950s. While Anritsu continued to improve VNA high-performance technology, several well-funded companies have entered the market and developed similar versions of Anritsu’s products, taking the lead in sheer sales order volume. We needed to get Anritsu back on our buyer’s “short list”. Electrical engineers are process-oriented. If they are comfortable with a tool and that tool satisfies their requirements, it’s difficult to get them to switch. VNA testers start at $100K and have a long sales cycle because they are considered a capital equipment investment.

The B2B Direct Marketing Campaign Objective

Our goal with the campaign was to bring Anritsu to the table with new customers that the sales force had not yet penetrated, creating awareness of the Anritsu VectorStar solution and ultimately generating face-to-face consultation meetings with qualified firms. A consultation requester who met key budget, purchase authority, need and timeframe-to-purchase criteria was considered an “A” category sales lead. In addition, the “B”-rated leads are prospect contacts with proven interest that opted in to future communications, but were not yet qualified.

Creative and Multi Channel Direct Marketing Strategy

The creative focused on the Mars Curiosity Rover, which had made a spectacularly successful landing on Mars about the time this project began. Engineers are inherently interested in the accomplishments of other engineers and how they solved tough problems. The Mars Curiosity Rover landing was one of the toughest, with thousands of measurements and calculations that had to be coded into the landing and could not be altered during the “seven minutes of terror” during which the Curiosity Rover descended to the planet’s surface. To quote from our letter to prospects:

“As it descended through the atmosphere of Mars, the spacecraft carrying the Curiosity Rover fired its rockets 79 times, went through five configuration changes, and slowed from 13,000 mph to a standstill. In the final operation, a “sky crane” was used to gently deposit the Curiosity on the surface since retro rockets would stir up too much dust.”

We pointed out the extreme precision this required, and then made the transition to the reader: we think of the NASA and JPL engineers as heroes, but you are required to make equally exacting measurements every day. That’s why you deserve an instrument like the VectorStar.

Letter to prospects linking the precision of the Mars Curiosity Rover with the precision of engineers’ every-day problem-solving.

The centerpiece of the multi channel direct marketing campaign was a direct mailing in a transparent tube containing a poster with an artist’s rendering of the Curiosity Rover’s descent sequence on one side (NASA has done renderings but the client did not want to violate any potential copyrights so we commissioned our own) with Anritsu product specs at the bottom. Our hopes were that engineers would mount these in their cubicles, thus providing a constant reminder of the VectorStar, complete with a call-to-action. We followed this up with an email on the same theme, and then began the telemarketing campaign.

Twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the email delivery, the calling team began to engage email and direct mail recipients. This multi-touch process had the effect of increasing the number of contact presentations and shortening the lead generation cycle. Most contacts recalled receiving the direct mail piece or email. Many were familiar with the offering and willing to engage. Program metrics are indicative of the effectiveness of this process with the high volume of completed call scripts as partial evidence.

The call-to-action was a free gift when a prospect completed a VectorStar sales presentation. We tested two offers: an Anritsu-branded backpack (appealing because our target likes to carry lots of gadgets around) versus a VNA technical manual valued at $50. Because of concerns about accepting gifts, government and government contractors were offered only the book.

Additionally, all prospects that registered their contact information were immediately provided a free download link for a relevant white paper.

Because the price of the VectorStar VNA is $51,000 and up, we knew that repeated contacts—and often multiple contacts—within the same company would be necessary to close the sale. The goal of the multi-touch approach was to start the process by gathering as much information as possible while gaining initial commitment to enter the lead pipeline.

Results

Overall, the campaign was highly successful. Based on the sales CRM reports, the program generated over $2.8 million dollars in the sales pipeline during the three-month campaign window, and many high sales potential leads are still being nurtured.

The campaign had a specific goal of developing 69 “A” leads that were considered opportunities in the CRM system. Through direct response and follow-up calling we developed 115 leads, which put us at 167% of the goal. In addition, the Calling Team gathered 426 opt-in contacts for continued nurturing and development.

The VectorStar campaign shows best practices for an effective multi-part B-to-B nurturing campaign: start with a memorable contact sequence, then follow up with multiple touches that develop the prospect into a sales-ready lead. Because so many recipients remembered and engaged with the mailing and follow-up email, it was easier to get them on the phone and easier to complete an initial sales conversation. Because of this effective warm-up approach, calls were completed faster, allowing more contacts to be made within the allotted time and budget. The result: more leads and sales opportunities.

Appendix

A brief look at benchmarked targets versus actual productivity metrics in several key areas clarifies why the program was so successful:

The most telling metric from this group is Total Scripts per Hour, because it quantifies the calling team’s ability to engage prospects with the Anritsu VectorStar offering. This ability to engage prospects and their receptivity to Anritsu’s offer of a technical consultation was the basis for the substantial number of lead conversions.

Over the life of the initiative, 2,094 scripts were completed during 540 calling hours. This number exceeded program goal by 260%. To look at it from another perspective, when the program launched, the expectation was set that 810 Anritsu VectorStar dialogues would take place. In fact, 2,094 Anritsu VectorStar dialogues occurred. The additional 1,284 Anritsu VectorStar dialogues over the course of the campaign celebrate its success.

For more information on this topic and other, request our free Case Studies.

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Laurie Beasley, President, Beasley Direct Marketing

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president Beasley Direct Marketing, Inc., a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, direct mail, and demand generation campaigns for over a hundred companies. Ms. Beasley serves as president of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California. She manages the Online Roundtable for the BMA Northern California www.NorCalBMA.org. She is an instructor of online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches in the Level 2 Certification program for the Online Marketing Institute. She frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the Online Marketing Summit, Interactive Marketing Week, DMA Annual Conference, and the Marketing Executive Networking Group.

The post Case Study: B2B Direct Marketing Multichannel Campaign appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.