CFL Direct Marketing Best Practice

2011

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CFL MARKETINGDirect Marketing Best Practice

Contents

Strategy

Best Practice – Data

Data Collection Method

Best Practice – SMS

Best Practice – Email

Best Practice – DM

Hierarchy of Messaging

Strategy

Data Design

Offer

If any of the sides of this square are missing or ineffective, the activity will fail

Timing

Success

Strategy

DataDoes the activity profile match your customer base?

What age are you targeting?

Where do they live?

Male/female even split?

Areas to avoid?

Birthday or general data

If business data – what’s the profile?

DesignHave you picked the right media – Email/SMS/DM

Have you picked the right format – postcard/letter?

Will the design appeal to your profile?

Is the artwork impactful enough?

Can you see what the key message/offer is

Can you tell where the communication has come from?

Keep it simple!

OfferIs your offer a strong enough incentive to stimulate action?

Is it easy to redeem the offer?

Is it relevant to your mailing profile?

Can I get a better offer elsewhere - even in the unit?

Are you recording who redeems the offer?

TimingWhat kind of promo is it - birthdays take less time to arrange than hen/stag

Send it too early and people will forget about it.

Send it too late people will have arranged something else

Seasonal promo’s need to be timed - no point sending Easter offers in December

Strategy

Direct Mail - Seasonal promo’s & birthdays

Email - Newsletter, monthly

SMS - tactical offers, weekly (where appropriate)

Strategic

Tactical

Frequency

Best Practice - Data

Your data is the foundation upon which any activity will be based so, the building of an effective database of

warm records should be priority number 1

If you data is not up to scratch your activity will fail – FACT

Data collection can be tough, but an effective database will always be the easiest way to drive business through

your door

Data collection is an ongoing process, you will always get people who become inactive – either by moving

away or unsubscribing – they will need to be replaced by new customers


People are now much more aware of the value of their data than they used to be

It is very rare for someone to hand over their details without receiving something in return

Thus all data collection initiatives should be incentivised

Ideally whenever we are giving something to the customer in the form of an offer we should be asking for

their details in return

E.g. in newspaper ads – cut out and bring with you etc...

On all printed promotional material, leaflets, postcards etc


Ideally you want to be collecting as much information as possible on your customers

If you ask for everything (name, address, DOB, email, phone) people can fill in the parts they want

and leave those they don’t

Don’t fall into the trap of just collecting email & phone on the assumption people won’t complete

the rest

See over for eg data capture form

Voucher Insert Data Capture

Data Collection Methods

Feedback forms – are an ideal way of collecting data, but they MUST be incentivised to maximise the response

Biz card fishbowl – great way of collecting business data. Place an empty fishbowl on the bar, ‘put your biz card in

here to enter our monthly draw’ and give away a monthly prize – make it a decent prize and word will

soon get round!

Newspaper ads – piggyback any press ads with a data form to turn an awareness mechanic into a response

mechanic

Privilege/Locals cards – sign up for a card and get cardholder only deals

Best Practice - SMS

SMS is a enables you to contact your customers immediately, and is a great way to get tactical offers out

quickly

The older generation can find SMS quite invasive, so it needs to be used appropriately

Ideal for a younger, town centre, wet-led business to get offers into the hands of their customers as and when

they want

e.g. On a Friday at 6pm just as people are getting home from work and are deciding to go out – ‘Don’t forget it’s

Karaoke night at the Crown, 4 pint pitchers only £10, show this text before 8pm and get a free shot’

Best Practice - SMS

SMS is virtually immediate so it can also be used as a competitor defence mechanic

If the venue next door has a good offer they’ve just started to promote you can counter almost immediately

with an offer of your own to you customers

In terms of timing, SMS works best if you time the message to be delivered as close to the point of decision

making as possible

e.g. to drive business for the weekend, ideal time would be Thursday or Friday afternoon

Best Practice - Email

Email is the most cost effective way to communicate with your customers on a regular basis

A monthly newsletter should be enough to keep your customers up to date with what’s on and also give you

an opportunity to drive any offers you have on

Don’t fall into the trap of bombarding people with emails every day/week as they are relatively cheap, people will

just get bored and unsubscribe

Get a good HTML template put together with a balance of offers and information, and deliver it at the same time

every month

This is important as you are trying to condition people into expecting your newsletter


A good subject line is critical – Don’t just say ‘August Newsletter’ tell people what is in it

e.g. ‘This Sept at the Crown – Quiz night every Wed and we’ve got the Big Fight Live on the 12th’

People will make the decision to open the newsletter based on the subject so your best content should be

highlighted here

You need to be aware that some words are flagged and will increase your SPAM score if inserted into the subject,

the word FREE being the most obvious offender – CFL can advise on this


In terms of timing the delivery there are a few things to remember

A high proportion of people read their emails at work, even if it’s in their lunch break, so sending in work hours

will get a better response

Avoid Monday mornings and Friday afternoons as people are still either warming up or warming down

The advent of smartphones means that more and more people are able to read email on the move, so timing is not as critical as it used to be, but you will increase your

response by following the above

Best practice - DM

Obviously you have to factor in the extra cost of the postage, so DM is too expensive for your day to day

communication

However, DM is still the best contact method where you either need to make a good impression or when it is a

special occasion

When it comes to birthdays or Xmas an email will never generate the same impact as a fully personalised printed

card

DM is also still the best contact method for business communication

Best practice - DM

With DM, as the communication is a physical card it is much more tactile, therefore the critical

elements here are design & format

In order for the design to be impactful, we need to get the hierarchy or messaging right (see slide 15)


What are the key messages you want to communicate?

These then need to be prioritised

What is vital to success?

What can be sacrificed to ensure the best communication?

Less is very often more!


1: Who’s it from

2: What’s the offer

3: What’s the sub offer

4: Response mechanic

5: Support copy

You have a very short length of time to get from message 1 to 4 before the decision is made to respond

(or not) to the mailing

Window of opportunity

About Us

Having been around since 1984, there isn't much we don't know about direct marketing and to the leisure industry in particular. We've seen the industry go through some major changes in our time.

CFL have provided unique, effective and relevant direct marketing solutions to our customers, using a product portfolio covering all aspects of direct marketing - from Direct Mail to Digital Marketing.

We have developed an extensive client portfolio by adapting our marketing solutions for industries as varied as Recruitment Consultants, Charities and Retail Chains - consistently providing outstanding response.

Possessing that rare combination of operational experience, marketing flair and industry knowledge, our dedicated client services team will custom build a solution to fit any given brief or requirement.

Clients - Pub/bar Chains

Clients - Nightclubs

Clients - Independent Venues

Clients - Leisure

Clients - Enterprise Brands

Clients - SME’s/Charities

Web: www.cflmarketing.co.ukEmail: [email protected]: +0044 (0)1225 705582

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CFL Direct Marketing Best Practice