Newsletter

August 2009

MindFireInc Spotlight is a monthly newsletter prepared and edited by Ted Raymond of Allegra.

MindFireInc Fast Fact

According to expert sales trainer, Tom Hopkins, in his book “Sales Prospecting for Dummies” your closing ratio for referral leads will be as high as 60%.

Sales Tip / Process

In the scope of cross media marketing, using a defined sales process will help close contracts faster, but how can you generate more business after the sale? These four simple steps will help you leverage your current clients to generate more cross media dollars.

Ask for referrals. This sounds simple, however, many sales professionals forget to ask. If you follow the process for selling cross media, you will conduct a campaign debrief. During the debrief you will review results and key findings of a campaign. The campaign debrief will often result in the client being excited about the insight they have gained. This is a perfect opportunity to ask your client if they know of anyone else who could benefit from cross media marketing.

Create a case study. One of the most powerful selling tools is a case study written about one of your campaigns. Ask your client if you can profile their campaign to include in your case study library. Create a short marketing piece that outlines the client, the challenge, the solution, and the results achieved by cross media marketing. This type of collateral can be a very powerful tool to help build credibility with new clients and shorten the sales cycle.

Ask for a video testimonial. Everyone knows about the power of client testimonials, but have you ever considered a video testimonial? One strategy is to purchase a digital video camera like the FlipCam. Provide this camera to a key client and tell them if they record a video testimonial about the results of their cross media campaign that they can keep the camera. This video testimonial can then be uploaded to your website, or syndicated on the web through websites like YouTube. This will help you be found on the web when potential clients are searching for a new provider. In addition, this video link can also be given to prospects for them to view.

Host a webinar featuring your client. After you have completed a successful campaign, consider hosting a webinar for key prospects. Let your clients tell your prospects about the campaign. Have them outline the process that you used. Be sure that they talk about the specific business challenge you addressed, and what the outcome of the campaign was.

More than PURLS

The LookWho’sClicking (LWC) system is more than Personalized URLs: it is a business intelligence tool. Many MindFireInc Solution Partners have leveraged the technology to provide valuable marketing insight by helping clients test and measure different marketing messages.

Because the LWC system has the ability to measure so many variables, it is an excellent tool for testing. Many clients will develop multiple versions of a direct mail piece. These versions may change the headlines, offers, or the overall creative. Marketing providers will then send out a limited number of pieces to test which version works best. This process creates a virtual test market. They then have the ability to scale the campaign and have confidence that the results will meet the client’s expectations.

The MindFireInc system also has the ability to measure results from certain types of mass media as well. For example, if a client is publishing a print ad in multiple magazines, they may wish to see which publication is generating the best response. By publishing a unique URL for each magazine and deploying unique pages in the LWC system, marketers will be able to clearly see which publications are generating the greatest ROI.

The MindFireInc Click Capture campaign is also an outstanding way to measure results for online banner ads. By integrating a Click Capture campaign you can clearly indentify which banner ads are producing the best results. This will help marketers make decisions in which online properties to invest advertising dollars with.

One key to success is to leverage the value of the client dashboard. By positing this dashboard as a marketing intelligence tool, your client will see a greater value in the cross media solution. As you capture response data for your client you will be able to elevate the level of conversation you have. By talking about the impact marketing has on the overall organization, you will become a marketing provider rather than a vendor.

 Tech Tip

At no time in human history has technology advanced as fast as it has in the last several years. Dramatic advances have happened in medicine, telecommunications, transportation, and perhaps most notably computer technology. MindFireInc has bent the curve of advancement with their latest technology development: MarketFire.

Due to be announced at Print 09, the MindFireInc’s MarketFire solution is considered a “Game Changer” in marketing intelligence. According to company founder and EVP of Client Services, Dave Rosendahl, “our new technology will revolutionize how marketers deploy cross media campaigns. This new architecture will allow marketers to gain even more powerful insight about individuals that they are targeting.”

To unveil this exciting new generation of technology, MindFireInc will be exhibiting at Print 09 in Chicago from September 11 – 16. On September 14th, MindFireInc will be hosting an exclusive cocktail party in the MindFireInc exhibit booth (#7351) at 4:00 pm to celebrate the release of this exciting new next generation product. Please RSVP to join MindFireInc staff, clients and prospects to celebrate this highly anticipated announcement by visiting www.crossmedia09.com.

For existing clients not attending Print 09, MindFireInc will be hosting an exclusive “partners only” webinar in early September to introduce the new product in advance of the public roll out. Details on this webinar will be communicated with MindFireInc partners at a later date.

Case Study

With the reality of a tight economy, client referrals are critically important. Recently a MindFireInc Solution Partner deployed a campaign that leveraged the power of the “Refer a Friend” button to almost double response rates.

The Partner specializes in high end kitchen design. Design and remodel projects can run as much as $150,000 per kitchen; in the consumer market, this high ticket transaction has made new business development difficult. As part of their 2009 marketing strategy, this Partner decided to create a campaign that specifically focused on client referrals.

A direct mail piece was developed targeting clients that had remodels within the last 36 months. Each piece thanked the client for their business and offered respondents the chance to get a “Handyman for a Day.”

When respondents logged on to the site, they were notified they would receive a complimentary Starbucks cards just for logging on. They were also notified that if they clicked through the “Refer a Friend” button, and provided a lead they would be eligible to win a “Handyman for Day.”

The results proved to be very interesting. This highly targeted list returned 91 responses to the campaign. This represented just over a 3% response rate. However, the true value in the campaign came from the fact that 70 of the 91 respondents provided a referral. These 70 leads represent one of the greatest lead sources of any campaign in the company history.

By creating an offer that encourages respondents to refer someone they know, the client was able to generate leads with the endorsement of a highly satisfied customer.