Use Radio to Generate Leads & Awareness
To generate leads, you run a print ad in an industry
You run a schedule of :30 ads on a talk radio show that
journal and a banner ad on the publication’s website and
reaches a broad base of businesspeople in your industry
in their monthly subscriber email.
or region.
The prospect calls to take advantage of your offer, or
As part of your package, you buy exclusive sponsorship
visits a unique landing page on your website and fills out
of the show. You receive special mentions throughout
a form.
the show, and you use the entire campaign to drive
traffic to a specific landing page on your website. The
A sales rep calls and sets up an in-person presentation.
page continues your message, captures the prospect’s
information or encourages a phone call.
Your telemarketing team qualifies leads and transfers hot
prospects to your sales team.
It’s important to treat these programs as longer-term investments because responses tend to come in gradually—they
aren’t as immediate or measurable as internet marketing, telemarketing or direct mail. Targeting may be an issue and
you may not be able to measure the branding impact of your campaign, but they’re solid vehicles when they’re in line
with your goals or used in a larger campaign.
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
You understand the strengths and
You run a sprinkling of traditional
You don’t evaluate your media
limitations of traditional media,
media campaigns and generally
buys very carefully. You don’t
and you use them effectively in
track the number of responses
have specific goals and thus can’t
campaigns to drive awareness and
that they generate. You know they
measure whether you’re successful
response.
work to some degree, but you
or not. You don’t really test your
can’t quantify the results. The ads
ads either—they offer a lot of
You test your campaigns to improve
themselves are mediocre, but you
information and you can’t really
them over time and you measure
rarely test them to improve.
say whether they work either for
the campaigns to the best of your
branding or direct response.
ability. While you don’t measure the
You know it’s important to be in the
value of your brand-building, you
vehicles you choose, and you stick
You’re wasting your budget and
do adjust your ROI calculations to
with the same tactics because your
time on programs that could be
incorporate an allowance for that
competitors are doing the same
vastly improved.
value.
thing.
How Traditional Media Aligns with Strategy
Campaigns using traditional media should support your positioning and brand strategy, contributing to the experience
that you wish to deliver and the mindshare that you wish to own.
Additionally, make sure that your traditional media campaign is aligned to the goals that you’ve established in your
campaign plan.
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Key Concepts & Steps
Develop a strong strategy
First, determine what you need to accomplish. For example, you may need to generate a specific number of leads, raise
your visibility in a certain industry or geography, or communicate a key message across different media. Set tangible
goals for your traditional media plan.
Each traditional media vehicle has benefits and drawbacks. When you’ve defined your goals, you can decide which
vehicle will work best. Make sure you plan how to measure your campaign as well.
Decide whether to buy media in-house or through an agency
Media buying can be a tricky and time-consuming process. If you have a lot of media to buy, you may want to hire
an agency. You’ll pay for their services, but they may also have more buying power to negotiate better deals and find
ways to reach your target market more cost-effectively.
Consider targeting when comparing costs
Media sales reps may quote you a flat rate for a particular ad or they may quote a cost per thousand (CPM) impressions.
You may pay a higher CPM for a more targeted media than a general one, but if you calculate your cost per targeted
impression instead, you can truly compare apples to apples.
Create a compel ing ad and cal -to-action
Your ad needs to grab the attention of your market—be creative, but keep your message simple and clear. Include a call-to-action—encourage prospects to call or visit a special landing page to learn more about a particular offer or program.
Continual y test, refine and improve
It’s wise to test any campaign before spending your entire budget. If you’re considering multiple publications for print
ads, run the same ad in two different ones to see which generates the best response. Or test different headlines and
offers. Your goal is to find the ads and publications that generate the best response, and then run them for the remain-der of your campaign.
Next Steps
As you design and manage campaigns using traditional media, evaluate the effectiveness of the tools used in the
campaign, measure your results, and focus on continuous improvement.
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Direct Mail
Strategy
ComPetitiVe PoSitioning
BranD Strategy
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
Seo & Sem
CuStomer retention
DIRECT MAIL
online aDVertiSing
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PuBliCity
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
For many years, direct mail has been an important marketing vehicle. Even though many companies have turned to
email and internet marketing, a targeted and well-produced mail campaign can still be highly effective.
Direct mail campaigns can generate leads, promote special offers, support other campaigns, communicate with customers and raise your visibility in your market. You can be very simple or wildly creative depending on your goals—for
example, you can use a:
› Handwritten note
› Simple but effective sales letter
› Postcard with a four-color image on one side and a printed message on the back
› Digitally-printed brochure with the prospect’s name printed in the headline and body copy
› Dimensional piece that you develop for a specific purpose
Direct mail can be an effective vehicle for a B2B company if you focus on strategic, targeted mailings instead of large
bulk mail campaigns, which draw very low response rates at much higher costs than online marketing. Instead, consider
using mail to:
› Invite current customers and top prospects to an event you’re holding at a trade show
› Send product literature with the prospect’s name and custom specifications printed into the brochure itself (via
digital printing)
› Announce a compelling sale
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Here are three sample mail campaigns:
Generate New Leads
Nurture Existing Leads
Cross-Sell Current Customers
Mail a personalized, hand-signed
Mail a quarterly “industry update”
Develop a piece that delivers a
letter to targeted prospects. Quickly
or case study with graphs and
compelling case for your current
introduce your value proposition;
reference info—more than you’d
customers to buy related products
invite prospects to call or visit your
be able to provide in an email
and services. Include a strong call-website to view a demo, download
newsletter. Focus the piece on a
to-action; encourage customers to
a special report, or request a quote.
typical objection prospects have
call or visit your website to learn
Follow up with a phone call a week
before they buy.
more and buy.
later.
If you’re B2B, it’s better to think about mail as an integral part of a larger campaign. Don’t just mail and wait for the
phone to ring. Instead, plan a campaign that starts with an introduction via mail, then perhaps a follow-up phone call
from a sales rep and a demo delivered via email or via social media.
When you use the right strategy and execution, direct mail can be a strong addition to your marketing arsenal.
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
You’re happy with the ROI on your
You’ve had some success with mail
You’ve used mail in the past but
mail campaigns.
campaigns. Sometimes they’re spur-felt that it was a waste of money.
of-the moment; you know that you
The list was expensive and didn’t
You design each piece to grab
could do a better job of planning
necessarily have the right contact
attention, convey a simple message
ahead and focusing your message.
names. The mail piece and postage
and move the prospect toward
You typically use mail in conjunction
were expensive and contained a lot
action.
with a phone call.
of information, yet it didn’t generate
the response you planned.
You test your mailings and tweak
You don’t really test your campaigns
the headlines, envelopes or offers
and try to improve results, but your
You had counted on it generating
to increase response, and you use
response rates are acceptable.
a lot of leads that you ended up
targeted and current lists.
having to find elsewhere.
How Direct Mail Aligns with Strategy
Campaigns using direct mail should support your positioning and brand strategy, contributing to the experience that
you wish to deliver and the mindshare that you wish to own.
Additionally, make sure that your direct mail campaign is tied to the goals you’ve established in your campaign plan.
Key Concepts & Steps
Define your goals
Tie your campaign to a specific objective—for example, the number of responses that you need or the number of
customers you want to generate. Then design your campaign to meet your specific goal.
Target your audience
Narrow your audience as much as you can—you’ll be able to speak more directly to your prospects with better results.
You’ll also save on postage and production.
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Focus on the offer
Don’t overwhelm your audience with every detail about your product and company. Focus on the offer itself—the
purpose for the mailing, the call-to-action. For example, if you’re promoting a software demo, explain what the demo
will help them learn and why they should request it now. Touch on the key benefits, but don’t muddy your message
by including every detail about the software and the history of your company.
Develop your content, then your creative
First determine how much copy you’ll need, what kind of graphics or photography you’ll include, how to promote the
offer, etc. Once you’ve defined the content you’ll need to achieve your goals, start the design process. If you’re working with a design and/or writing team, explain your requirements in a creative brief so you’re all on the same page.
Tackle the campaign logistics
Make sure that you plan how your piece will be folded, stuffed, addressed, stamped, mailed, etc. If you’re running large
campaigns, you may want to hire a vendor to handle this step.
Test, measure and continual y improve
Mail is a terrific media for testing—you can select a random set of records from your list, send your mailing, measure
your response, then tweak the mailing and send it to another subset. You can improve the list targeting, your offer,
the envelope design, the copy and the design itself. Commit to continuous improvement and use what you learn in all
future campaigns.
Next Steps
As you design and manage campaigns using direct mail, evaluate the effectiveness of the tools used in the campaign,
and focus on continually improving your tactical execution.
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Publicity
Strategy
ComPetitiVe PoSitioning
BranD Strategy
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
Seo & Sem
CuStomer retention
DireCt mail
online aDVertiSing
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PUBLICITY
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
Have you ever read a story about a company and then contacted them to learn more about their product or service?
Or listened to a CEO deliver a speech and found yourself researching the company later on?
Publicity in the media can be extremely valuable in building credibility and awareness for your company, product or
service. For example, a legitimate news story acts as an endorsement that can reach a wide audience for very little
cost beyond your own creativity and time. There are many forms of publicity including:
› News stories and interviews in trade journals, industry sites, newspapers, magazines, etc.
› “Expert” quotes in a story written by a journalist or blogger
› Self-authored stories published on websites or in industry publications
› Speaking engagements
Publicity is a cost-effective medium that can:
› Build awareness about your brand, products or services, expertise and people
› Drive prospects to your website
› Drive event attendance or participation in a promotion
› Educate the market about problems your company can solve
› Create an ongoing dialogue with the market
The key to success: create newsworthy stories. They should be interesting, relevant and timely. They should educate
and inform, and provide your prospects with insight into how to solve a problem.
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Even if you don’t think you have newsworthy content to share with the world, you can benefit by implementing small
newsworthy programs (such as charity work) that will raise your visibility. At the very least, you should include news
releases on your website; they help improve search engine rankings and enable prospects to see what you’ve been doing.
Publicity isn’t about luck—it’s about investing in a good PR program, and it can really pay off over time.
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
Your company is very well known in your
You use PR sporadically with
You don’t use any form of public
industry. When you launch a product or
mixed results—an occasional
relations. You may be a startup
release a newsworthy story, important
blurb in an industry journal, a
or an established company, but
publications write about you, and you’re
miscellaneous quote as an expert.
you’re not known by journalists
often quoted in industry articles.
in your industry. You see your
You put press releases on your
competitors featured in industry
You capitalize on the role the Internet
website and distribute them online,
publications even when your
plays in publicity—your press releases
knowing that they make your site
solution may be better; your
drive prospects and customers to your
more interesting to prospects, but
company doesn’t seem to have
website. You also use blogs or other
you’re not sure whether you’re
that level of credibility, and
online publicity techniques to create a
gaining the full benefit from your
you’re not sure how to get it.
strong presence on the Internet.
efforts.
How Publicity Aligns with Strategy
Campaigns using publicity should support your positioning and convey your brand’s personality.
Additionally, make sure that your publicity campaign is tied to the goals that you’ve established in your campaign plan.
Key Concepts & Steps
Create a publicity strategy
Don’t just “shotgun” press releases when you need to drum up some attention. Plan your publicity strategy as you
would any marketing campaign:
› Develop a calendar that ties story ideas to key events and spreads your content out over the year.
› list events that may offer good speaking opportunities.
› Identify publications, reporters and bloggers who cover subjects that are relevant for your company.
› Create traditional and online press materials to give reporters supporting and background information for their stories.
› Know the audience for each story and carefully target your media.
Develop newsworthy story ideas
Every day, journalists are bombarded with press releases touting new product launches, business alliances, research
discoveries, etc. But journalists don’t just make announcements—they need to tell compelling stories that their readers
will find interesting and useful. A trade journal may run a one-paragraph blurb about a new product, but to get headlines,
photos, interviews and full-page coverage, you need to develop real stories.
Like movies, good news stories are often about conflict. An endless stream of positive information is boring. Instead,
develop stories with substance: Good vs. Evil, Nature vs. Nurture, Race Against Time, Company A vs. Company B,
Employee Against the World, Company vs. the System.
In addition, good stories can “go viral” when you distribute them on the web.
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Market your stories and expertise
Journalists need stories. When you have a story, you have something to offer. With a quick, courteous phone call and
a simple pitch, you may find a journalist who says, “Yes, I’m interested in that story, send me your material.” That
three-minute phone call could make a substantial difference in your campaign success.
Reach out when you identify a potential speaking engagement or find a journalist or blogger who may want to quote
an expert from your company. Be sure to prepare a short pitch and support materials as well.
Use the Internet
Many PR experts say the traditional press release is dead. These days, a worthwhile PR strategy has to capitalize on
the Internet.
› Write a second version of your normal releases with rich keywords and a format that helps search engines easily