What is the best way to reach your audience and create a relationship with them?

 

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Leads are a necessity for all business marketers, yet they're treated differently sometimes indifferently at many companies. Only 9 percent of the companies sent out a personalized letter with sales literature. Some leads generated by specific advertising may be high quality prospects ready for the sales staff. Most, however, need to be qualified. The quality of leads is the biggest bone of contention between sales and advertising departments in B2B firms of all sizes.

On your reply card, ask specific questions about job titles and responsibilities, and perhaps how recently readers purchased their last product similar to yours. This way prospects qualify themselves.

 

If focus groups sound too expensive, try similar testing methods, some using the telephone. To test copy, offers, or other aspects of your advertising informally, select individuals who are members of your target market and ask them questions. Have them give you their opinions of your offer over the phone. If you have a direct mail package that didn't get the kind of results you expected, ask people in person to look through the mailer. Have them read your response coupon and tell you whether they know what they are supposed to do.

 

 

 

 

Company buyers tend to be more practical and less prone to impulse buying than consumers are. Educational opportunities, periodicals, travel amenities, and even personal computer software are among the things people might not buy for themselves, but would not hesitate to buy with company money.

 

Direct mail CPMs are often higher in business mailing. A cost of $1,000 to $4,000/M or higher would be ex-pensive for a mass consumer mailing, but for a short business list, in which one order might yield thousands of dollars in profit, the CP/M is not unrealistic. The psychology of B-T-B direct-response advertising is slightly different too. You must take into consideration that the person who reads your ad or direct mail may be neither the ultimate user of your product nor the final authority on whether the company can spend the money.

 

Before you spend your time compiling a universe of potential customers, explore the commercial lists available in your field, particularly those on CD-ROM. Compilers offer lists of executives by title and type of company. Lists are available covering most of the 10 or 11 million companies in the United States. Selections for compiled company lists include: top executives by name, number of employees, number of locations, sales, geography, creditworthiness, and type of business as indicated by Standard Industrial Code (SIC). Many lists include company phone numbers.

Technology has not merely speeded up the research process. Advances in computerized 3-D modeling make it easy to simulate retail stores on computer screens. Virtual shopping is inexpensive to create when compared to the cost of setting up an actual store. Consumers can make product selections as they scroll through the computer image.

 

You can change brand assortment or features in minutes.

 

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