If your response rates from your print marketing campaign are not where you would like them, it may be time to shake things up a bit. People tire of the same old ads, delivered in the same boring manner. Trying a different and novel approach could see a dramatic increase in your sales from your print marketing campaign.

Are you still sending your letters in tired plain envelopes? Are your postcards dismally sad? Instead of using plain envelopes to send our sales letters, try extra large ones, which are certain to grab the recipient’s attention. The use of bright colors and large typeface can also enhance the chances of your mailers being read, and not tossed in the shredder.

What do people like to get in the mail? Besides free samples of some male enhancement pill, the answer is packages. Use a box or tube to mail your next promotional letter in. You can put all sorts of print on a box, and the customer will feel like it is their birthday. You are almost certain to make it past the receptionist with a package, since it seems important.

When you mail your sales letter, why not throw in a key chain, pen, can cooler, or other freebie? Embossed with your company’s logo of course. People love getting free stuff. Especially items that they can put to good use. This can be rather costly though, so make sure you have the budget for it before you begin.

Keeping all promotional mailers consistent with your brand is crucial. You want people to remember you by the color scheme and logo that you have created uniquely for your company. Be sure to put your return address on the box or tube, as bomb scares are rampant these days. Bombs are generally not considered good business practice. That creates quite a quandary for people who make explosive devices like dynamite however. I am sure they have their own strategies. I mean it’s not as if they can send clients a little fake dynamite stick in the mail, saying, “I’m just exploding for your business!” Anyway, that is not your problem. Unless you are an explosives salesperson, and if that is the case, you might want to find another avenue to pursue in marketing your product.

Don’t forget about the follow up call after the package has been received. Your call will probably be much appreciated, since you have already pre sold your product. If you are an explosives maker, you may find suits knocking at your door. Please don’t send out free samples of your product if this is the case.

Although using dimensional mailers to send to prospective clients can be quite costly, the returns on the number of customers you can get from them are worth it. Make yourself memorable, and people are more likely to buy from you.

Keeping a business afloat in the best of times is no easy task, but when the economy is on hard times, this job requires a somewhat different approach to keep your business thriving.

• Don’t allow yourself to be sucked in to the hype about how bad everything is, and how much worse it is bound to get. No one knows what tomorrow can bring, and even in a bad economy, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your sales will be affected. Instead of worrying, stay positive, and keep what you have envisioned for your business in the front of your mind. Stay away from people who have nothing to offer but negativity.

• Use your time wisely- Instead of spending your every waking moment calling business all over the place at random, devise a list of companies that would be most suited to your products or services. Thinking about the customers you have now, will give you a better idea of the types of companies you should be pursuing.

• Just like people who are desperate for work, saying that you will work for any amount is ludicrous. The same can be said for businesses when they tell themselves that they will do business with anyone. Having too many prospects can cause you to lose focus. You cannot possibly keep up with 100 clients at once, and meet their needs effectively. In order to keep the clients you do have, keep your client list short.

• When going into sales meetings, don’t bore your clients with a history of your company. All they really want to hear is what you can do for their company now, and how you will be able to meet their needs. When talking to potential customers, the same holds true. Tell them what you can do for them, not what you have done for others in the past. Make it sound convincing, and they are sure to bite, if you are the best at giving them what they want and need.

• Get as close to your customers as you can. Not too close though, they may confuse you with a stalker. Make sure that all of their needs are being met, and find ways in which to effectively solve problems they may have quickly. Make them feel special, and give them no reason to want to find another company. Offer them incentives to stay with your company. Make them as happy as they can be with your business.

• Don’t think that hiding from the world and waiting for the recession to be over is an effective strategy. It never is. Make yourself seen and heard, you don’t want your customers to forget about you, even if they cannot afford your services now, that doesn’t mean they will not in the future. Network your butt off, and stay in the limelight. Make sure that everyone remembers you and your business.

Keeping your business where you want it to be in a slow economy is not a walk in the park, but with focus and determination, and a little tender loving care for your customers, you can make it through the recession a success. Thousands of other businesses do it, and so can yours.

If your potential customers don’t like you, they won’t buy from you.  And if they don’t feel a connection with you, they aren’t likely to buy again.

Over 80% of all buying decisions are based on emotional factors.  That means anytime you approach your potential customer – whether it is an e-mail blast, your web site, a direct mail campaign, or even your business cards, you must consider the emotional impact your message brings.

It’s all about Relationships

You might think you don’t want a relationship with your customer – just his credit card number.  Review the last several pieces your clients read.  Was it filled with cold-hard facts or did it speak as a friend offering a solution to a problem?  Does your computer offer a gazillion megabytes of RAM, or does it work so efficiently that you can spend more time your family?  Customers appreciate the personal touch because it makes it seem like you care about them and they will reward you by becoming loyal members of your customer base.

Change Your Life

That’s every salesperson’s job – to prove that their product or service will change someone’s life (or business) for the better.  Whether your new pill will help them lose weight and find the man of their dreams or streamline production and thus save a few bucks – push benefits over features.  Talk to them as you would to a friend.

Appeal to Five Senses

Which would you rather do – spend a week at the Bahamas or take a walk on moonlight beaches, sunbathe on sun-kissed sand, and sample local cuisine by candlelight while gazing in your lover’s eyes?  Even if you’re selling notebooks or hair gel, you can write copy that will engage the reader. You must romance their emotions, heighten their anticipation, elevate their desire, and then make them an irresistible offer they simply cannot refuse.

Can We Be Friends?

While you may have case studies or clinical trials up the wazoo to prove your case, reciting stats will bore your reader.  Instead, every time you communicate with a client, approach the content as if your close friend were going to read it.

Read this example from a recent e-mail blast from a successful internet businessman.  “I want to help you make more money. A lot more money. More money than the GNP of small countries. (Why think small?)  I’m going to give you all I have… nothing held back.”  It’s conversational, light-hearted and it even sounds as though he has my best interests at heart.

Exclusivity

Remember the old gag line, “I wouldn’t want to be a part of any club that would have me as a member?”  There is something appealing about being a part of something with limited access that not everyone has.  That’s why country clubs exist.  You can create the same image with your product or services the way this advertising writer did.  “Because I write every word of my clients’ advertising (I never farm out work to other copywriters), I can only accept a limited number of projects each month. When my schedule is full, that’s it for the month!”

Prioritize

For web copy, it is more important that your writing creates an emotional connection with the reader than blind SEO.  Just throwing out keyword rich content does not convert to sales.  Spend the extra time and attention to making sure that your copy is crisp, engaging and makes you appear likable and trustworthy.

Evaluate Your Customers

We build trust and connection only by knowing our target audience.  Get in your potential customer’s head.  Ask questions.  Listen to what potential clients need and want.  Do online surveys and offer a give-away to generate a response.  Evaluate the answers carefully.

Think of one specific customer and put yourself in his or her shoes.  What does he or she need?  What business problems are affecting cash flow? If you not understand and respond to the emotional pulse of your everyday customer, the rest of your efforts will be wasted energy.

Start Strong

Very few people sit around twiddling their thumbs, wishing they had more stuff to read, and additional items on their to-do list.  Nobody has time to waste.  Assume your client is busy.  That’s why -whether you’re creating an ad, newsletter or website home page, you must lead with your strongest point.  The most immediate obstacle to getting your copy read is to seize and capture the reader’s attention.

Push Benefits

Emotional appeal is important, but you also need to address logical concerns clearly.  When your potential client comes across your materials, she needs to be able to clearly identify several potential benefits for your products or services, including these examples:

• It’s affordable.
• You get quick results.
• You cut costs by 25%.

Give examples

Two companies send a sales letter.  One sends a business card and crosses his finger.  The other adds a press release that quotes a client who said his businesses increased by 25%.  Who gets the sale?

Once you’ve listed the benefits, back it up the way this Internet marketing guru did.   “My personal wakeup call came when I met Aaron, who raked in over $600,000 a year, yet had plenty of time to pursue his real passion-racing motorcycles. After meeting Aaron, I visited his website and set my eyes on one of the ugliest web pages I’d ever seen. It was mostly text and ran on for miles. But I forced myself to read it-after all, the guy must have been doing something right to be pulling down the big bucks. Imagine my surprise when, halfway through that page, I started reaching for my wallet! I didn’t need what he was selling, but I wanted to buy it anyway!”

Honesty

“I can increase your online sales by 45% in a month.”  Half-truths, lies, exaggerations – they are the same thing – a sure-fire way to make sure you never have a repeat customer.  Do you think they won’t notice if your service doesn’t deliver?  Even if you do well and increase sales by 40%, you won’t have kept your word and you’ve proven you can’t be trusted.

It is commonplace for businesses to design their collateral (brochures, magazines, postcards) on the fly, or whenever they require it. Rarely is it ever less expensive and time consuming to plan and organize this way.

You can save money on printing brochures by assessing your businesses needs. Will you be using brochures and envelopes on a daily basis, or only when the trade fairs and convention shows come to town? By taking a look into your needs over the next several months, you can estimate exactly how many you need to print.

Secondly, you´ll want to control your press runs. Many companies work with graphic design agencies and firms that work together to produce design materials, such as letterhead and brochures, that could be printed at the same time. The printing of these materials could benefit from using the same colors and paper stock in one press run, saving time and resources. In the printing industry, its well-known that the bigger the order, the less each piece will cost. Printing in batches of 500 5 times a year is less cost effective than printing 1 batch of 3000. Additionally, you want to reuse material from previous orders at the printing press, making planning ahead even more important.

Finally, another thing is to consider is whether to use digital or offset printing. Both are effective methods with their own pros and cons. Digital printing in small quantities is cost effective, even in full color ranges printing no more than 500. Plus, its on-demand and can be personalized easier. If you are not certain about quantity, digital printing allows for an initial printing without breaking the bank.

All in all, planning ahead and deciding between digital printing for smaller quantities or offset printing for larger quantities keeps your costs down.

During a recession, the economy doesn’t abide by any kind of norms or rules. Consumers tend to hold on to their money tightly, and become more value oriented. The consumers markets stumble and see downturn.

Smart marketers turn this misfortune into opportunity. With a wisely devised plan, your brand can beat the recession and attract more customers. First and foremost, do not panic and DO NOT cut down on the marketing spend. Customers need more cajoling to open their wallet. Marketing budget is not a luxury; it is the one of the foundation stones of a successful business. How do you expect the customer to know that you have something that they need? A robust marketing can pull you through the recession and take your brand to newer heights.

Sell the benefits, not the brand: Marketing doesn’t bring any value to the organization unless it brings in sales. So, equip your sales team. While preparing the marketing material, concentrate on the benefits of your product/service. Recession makes people less brand conscious and more money conscious. Well designed and worded brochures and collaterals will persuade the prospective customer to see the value in the offer. You have to motivate them to buy your offer. Do not elaborate on the features. Translate the features into benefits that the customer can relate.

The business card: The business card is one of the most powerful medium of marketing your product. It doesn’t need to tell the entire story. But it should stand out to be noticed.

Grab the attention: The world is a busy place. No one has the time to read pages and pages of marketing blah blah. Make your marketing material visually attractive. Call out your core values. Make it look like the customer needs your product/service, not that they want it. Get professional help and present your best image. Getting the customer interested in your offer does half of the job. This is probably not the time to test waters. Focus on the tried and tested themes.

Face-to-face marketing: Participating in exhibitions and trade shows give you the opportunity to market directly to the customer. You can create aspirational buyers. Even if the sales don’t happen right away, you can distribute compelling flyers and brochures. With the image and usage of your product/service portrayed in the right earnest, you will be surprised to find that the customers haven’t ceased to spend when they are enticed into it.

With prudent strategies and an optimistic outlook, you will be able to sail through this recession. Focused marketing effort is your key to survival.

When it comes to promoting your business, making heavier marketing efforts isn’t always the answer. If you’re already doing your share of marketing and advertising for your company and still not seeing a positive ROI, then perhaps it’s time to pull back on the reigns before you go through your budget faster than a wino gets to the bottom of his bottle.

We’re not necessarily saying that less is more, but a more focused and concerted effort in your marketing will indeed serve to optimize it, which then calls for less marketing on the whole. It’s similar to the ultra concentrated clothing detergent that now requires half the amount it used to for the same load size!

A great place to start optimizing your marketing efforts is through the voice or tone you incorporate for your business. We’re not saying you have to be able to croon like Harry Connick Jr., but the tone of all of your marketing messages should be consistent. If a prospective client senses a changing voice throughout your material, then they’re going to be left wondering about your dependability. But if you maintain the same, nice soothing voice throughout your marketing material, you’ll bring their confidence to a level where they feel that they can trust your company.

Your marketing tone should be like a nice bedtime lullaby. You see, especially in today’s world of Web marketing where you may never meet a client, people just want to know that their needs will be taken care of by someone who actually cares. If your marketing expresses the same undertones and presents the same value points over time, you will build confidence and loyalty in your prospects and clients.

As part of maintaining a consistent tone in your marketing, you should always be striving to tie all of your marketing together.