TWO TIPS

1) PERSONALIZATION+INVOLVEMENT

Personalization nearly always pays for itself. So do good involvement devices.
But if you want to really hit a home run, try a twist on both of them…like
the Canadian Food for the Hungry International did.

Someone – the sponsor of three children in Uganda – sent me CFHI's latest
package. I’m impressed by it.

It contains three Christmas cards, each featuring the Ugandan words for
“Merry Christmas.” But they didn’t stop there; they personalized the front
of each card with the actual name of the child being sponsored!

Then, inside, the cards have room for you to write a message and sign your
name – a brilliant twist on the popular hospital fundraising involvement
device of writing a message on a Christmas ornament for patients and sending
it back with a donation.


2) DON’T OVERTARGET

Targeting a narrow market is fine. But sometimes you don’t have to spend the
money on it. For example...

I was surprised to receive an unaddressed self-mailer promoting the
Accu-Chek blood glucose monitor for diabetics.

At first I thought it was a waste of money to fill mailboxes with a message
that wouldn’t appeal to most people. Then I recalled some stats about the
prevalence of the disease. Something like 10% of people aged 20-60 have it,
and over 20% of people older than that have diabetes.

So the manufacturer of the Accu-Chek wisely said to themselves, “We can
reach 10-20% of our target market with a cheap, unaddressed self-mailer.
Why pay for segmenting?” Then, to extend its appeal further, the headline reads,
“If anyone you know has diabetes…” Now they’re reaching 30%, 40% or more
of the interested population!

The next time you’re looking at putting out a targeted mailing, ask yourself
if your market is really so small that you need to spend the money on a
highly segmented list. You might be surprised. Like Accu-Chek and…

Dr. Bob
symbiomarketing@telus.net