Alberta Business Marketing

In January, the CMA’s Direct Marketing Council presented an updated definition of Direct Marketing here. We received a lot of excellent feedback from leaders in the marketing and direct marketing communities across Canada and a comment or two from the USA. We used this input to refine the definition so it is an even better reflection of the discipline.

The comments clearly demonstrate that Direct Marketers are still very passionate about what we do. We are more focused than ever on generating business results using both relevant messaging and offers to targeted audiences.

There were also many reminders about the importance of measurement. Goodwin Gibson summed it up very well saying, “It is really direct marketing’s measurement DNA (including analytics) that separates it from other marketing disciplines.”

As direct marketing evolves, many of our esteemed colleagues pointed out that leveraging the insights from the data is becoming more and more important for success.

Finally, we wanted to make sure the definition would be meaningful to the neophyte or sophisticated marketer who needs to explain what Direct Marketing is all about.

Here is the new definition based on the contribution of our many colleagues:

Direct Marketing generates profitable business results by using targeted communications to engage specific audiences through a combination of relevant messaging and offers that can be tracked, measured, analyzed, stored and leveraged to drive future marketing initiatives.

The DM Council is planning to communicate this revised definition as broadly as possible in the coming months. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to describe Direct Marketing, please use this definition. Please also forward to your colleagues and associates. Our goal is for this to be the accepted definition in Canada and beyond.

Rosalie McGovern, Chair of CMA’s Direct Marketing Council

Tags: Direct Marketing
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

LinkedIn is a wonderful resource to meet new people and keep up to date with what is happening out there.  While surfing through LInked, I ran across this awesome article in Robert Cohen’s Trusted Business Advisor LinkedIn Group. After reading some of the points in the group I felt  obliged to jump into the conversation on using email as a form of cold calling.  I haven’t had a tremendous amount of success with this practice and after reading the feedback in the group…I know why!

I would love to hear from you if you are using email to cold call people and if you are actually having success with it.  If you are having success, what are you doing?  What is working?

My friend Tibor Shanto wrote recently in a great blogpost on Email as a form of cold calling that you must check out.  It got me thinking about all the marketing folks out there who preach about the fact that Cold Calling is dead.  I don’t completely agree with the statement that you never have to cold call again.  However when your marketing efforts are firing on all cylinders you may have the opportunity to reduce the amount of cold calling you need to do.  Or even better, your strong marketing efforts will allow your business cold calling to be highly effective.  Why?  Because people have heard of you, they know about your business and now a cold call become lukewarm.

I heard a statement a few weeks ago about the difference between marketing and sales that really opened my eyes.  Effective marketing gets people to call you, sales has you calling people.  In Tibor’s article I guess we are not completely speaking about marketing and now we are focused on more sales related activities.  The two activities are always working in a successful business.  They can never stop or even slow down.  Plus, all members of your team must be engaged.

Tibor offers some great examples of how to use email effectively to create an opportunity for a meeting.  Where I believe I made my mistake using email to solicit opportunities is I forget the cardinal rule of the call or email…it is just to get a meeting, not to sell.  Thanks Tibor for the reminder.

Tags: Business, Business Success, cold calling, Direct Marketing, LinkedIn Ltd, robert cohen, sales, trusted business advisor
Posted in Marketing | | Comments Off

As a leader of direct and digital marketing professionals, I have come to the realization that there is a rapid convergence of these two worlds resulting in a new face among direct marketing professionals.

Today’s strategic marketing plans necessitate cross-channel integration that go beyond the traditional channels. Our marketing plans include digital marketing tactics like SEM and social network marketing to help us achieve the end goals of consumer brand awareness, consideration, purchase, retention and loyalty.

The traditional skill sets of a direct marketer, while highly data driven and analytical, is no longer sufficient. Similarly, web marketers need to leverage the highly valuable skills and discipline that direct marketers bring to the table in order to ensure marketing plans are trackable, measurable and ultimately accountable to the program’s end goals and objectives.
This often makes recruitment exercises challenging whereby I find myself seeking marketing candidates who not only have a firm grasp on the ‘science’ of direct marketing (not an easy find) but can contextualize their application to emerging digital marketing technologies and platforms (an even harder find).

Would love to hear others’ views on the changing face of the direct marketer.

Martha Turner, AVP Marketing Services and Campaign Management, Aviva Canada & member of CMA’s Direct Marketing Council

Tags: Direct Marketing
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

In January, the CMA’s Direct Marketing Council presented an updated definition of Direct Marketing here. We received a lot of excellent feedback from leaders in the marketing and direct marketing communities across Canada and a comment or two from the USA. We used this input to refine the definition so it is an even better reflection of the discipline.

The comments clearly demonstrate that Direct Marketers are still very passionate about what we do. We are more focused than ever on generating business results using both relevant messaging and offers to targeted audiences.

There were also many reminders about the importance of measurement. Goodwin Gibson summed it up very well saying, “It is really direct marketing’s measurement DNA (including analytics) that separates it from other marketing disciplines.”

As direct marketing evolves, many of our esteemed colleagues pointed out that leveraging the insights from the data is becoming more and more important for success.

Finally, we wanted to make sure the definition would be meaningful to the neophyte or sophisticated marketer who needs to explain what Direct Marketing is all about.

Here is the new definition based on the contribution of our many colleagues:

Direct Marketing generates profitable business results by engaging targeted audiences through a combination of relevant messaging and offers that can be tracked, measured, analyzed, stored and leveraged to drive future marketing initiatives.

The DM Council is planning to communicate this revised definition as broadly as possible in the coming months. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to describe Direct Marketing, please use this definition. Please also forward to your colleagues and associates. Our goal is for this to be the accepted definition in Canada and beyond.

Rosalie McGovern, Chair of CMA’s Direct Marketing Council

Tags: Direct Marketing
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Imagine opening the mailbox and every piece of direct mail looked identical, the card stock was the same size, shape and colour—the only thing separating the two was content. Now imagine the same situation except the complete opposite—where every piece of mail had a different shape, size, and colour, but not a lick of content. So what is more important: content or design?

The beautiful thing about direct mail is that it is (without a doubt) the most measureable form of advertising available. It is not overly expensive; a company can directly tailor messaging to their target audience—current clients or potential new customers that match the demo/psych/geo of your audience profile. When conducting a direct mail campaign, one must ask: do I hire a graphic artist or a copywriter? Well, in my opinion, it all depends on how recognizable your brand is to your target audience. Large companies such as: McDonalds, Blockbuster, Rogers and Bell, contain a high level of brand recognition. The golden arches of McDonalds restaurant can be spotted a mile away on a foggy day by a 5 year old. So what does this mean in terms of a direct mail campaign?

People are much more likely to take interest in a mailing piece that they recognize. If they received a white piece of paper in the mail that read, “McDonalds, two can dine”, they would think of the offer as a prank. This is where design is vital in a campaign. Smaller companies may not encompass brand recognition as well as larger companies—this is where I feel content plays a more important role while still complementing design. A company cannot measure the success of their campaign if the mailing piece is just a design to build brand awareness. There needs to be an offer, a call to action, and more importantly, persuasive content.

Content will drive people to the product/location and word of mouth will build the brand. It can be argued that content is design—typography is a brilliant branding strategy that many organizations use. I asked a marketing professional, Lindsey Fair, what her take on the subject is, her response included, “Without sitting on the fence (because that’s a copout), I would have to say the design. If it doesn’t catch my attention to begin with I will never even read the content. But, content can make it or break it, the content is what can make me throw it out.” I would be very curious to read what other marketing professionals feel about this debate.

What do you think is more important in a direct marketing campaign—content or design?

By Eli Nicholson, a student at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, ON

Tags: Direct Marketing
Posted in Advertising | | Comments Off