This morning, I was handed a red envelope addressed to me and a bulk-mailed magazine renewal letter. As you can tell, I will be sharing a great example of an effective marketing campaign that was executed quite well. It’s OK, there’s pictures in this one, so it shouldn’t bore you that much as I explain why it was so effective. We’ll dissect each piece of the marketing campaign to see how it could fit into your business.
Last month, I attended a local networking event in the Phoenix-area known as the End of The Recession Party, or #RecessionRIP hashtag on Twiter. It was a great way to kick back, get a fresh look at the latest in marketing and advertising and even race Go-Karts inside, beating the Arizona heat in style.
Like most many sponsored events, you drop your business card in a fishbowl to enter to for prizes drawn at the conclusion of the event. It’s pretty simple, you know.
This morning, I received:
A real, human touch on a marketing follow-up. Red is a nice touch, too.
A Unique First Impression
Okay, so this sounds a bit pathetic of me, but hear me out. The team who planned and executed (sales and marketing team at F1, confirmed in the comments) the follow-up marketing knew well what would stand out among social media purists, marketing pros, advertising execs and growing businesses alike. Human touch. Not only was the envelope red (contrary to white), the address was penned real ink. I haven’t seen my name penned by a person addressed to me in a while. They also scored bonus points for spelling my name correctly, too.
Alright, I’m hooked, so I open the intriguing envelope to see this next piece of relevance strike me …
This is a fantastic follow-up piece from an event I attended.
Relevance!
Timing — So, this is cool, huh? This small insert is a superb example of following up with attendees at a live event. Mind you, this all went down during mid September this year, so it’s only about a month off. Timing was just right, where I remember the event well; yet, it was just beginning to slip from my mind.
Light-hearted — The line, “Enclosed below is your chance to be the holiday hero of your office,” was fun since it definitely hypes the messaging to be something of significance if I engage. Also, the clear offer that by scratching off a card like a Scratcher’s ticket, I could win a full company event was very attractive.
I continued with my interest dead-set on engaging.
Unobtrusive call-to-action, engagement as a form of fun!
Engagement!
Everyone Wins — So, I didn’t win the chance to host a company event free at F1 Race Factory. It was still enticing to chase the prey of a great prize. Even then, the prize I did win is still a good time to go down and check out the opportunity for a future event and a full, personalized “VIP” tour for presumably my manager and I and go for a track race for fun. Hey, that’s a $60 value according to F1’s site!
Personal Follow-up — The account manager who arranges corporate/group events has their business card and all the information I need to give them a call and setup the ideal time to check the place out and determine the suitability for 140 employees to go racing in Karts and promote a healthy, sanctioned corporate function.
ROI?
What’s the investment here? Two minutes for an envelope, 15 seconds to stuff, $0.44 in postage and about $60 in track usage. Considering corporate events probably attract thousands of dollars, this is a relatively low cost per lead and a wide range of revenue in return.
In contrast, I received a magazine renewal notice for a trade mag that I probably wouldn’t pay for or read for that matter. Mass-printed, bulk-mailed at a $0.33 postage fee. The relevance, personalization and lameness promptly made its way to my circular file.
It’s not money that’s the expenditure here; it’s the time and quality in investing it.
This is the second piece of hand-addressed postal mail I received in over two years here at Infusionsoft. This is important to point out, because it accentuates the importance and exotic presence of human involvement in marketing and the essence and spirit of follow-up. This is the purpose of marketing: to attract, educate, empower and engage – not to send bulk mail everywhere and waste people’s time and resources.
For the small business owner or entrepreneur who struggles to find the right offer or strategy on how to attract and send your prospects in frenzy to purchase your products or service, take note of this. It has worked on me, and I’m a staunch critic of flawed marketing and sales techniques when they are thrust upon me. Think twice before you broadcast that email to your entire list and think leaner and more targeted. Your customers will thank you for it.
What do you think?
[Photo by lowjumpingfrog on Flickr]
