Direct Marketing | Gianfagna Strategic Marketing

March 7, 2011

Creative CRM Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

How Great Direct Mail Helps a Retailer Win Back Customers

Direct mail is often used to reactivate lapsed customers, but few direct marketers do it well. Instead of a powerful, personalized appeal that rekindles the relationship, they turn the customer off with a generic message, irrelevant content, and a “so what?” offer. But when a direct marketer gets it right, with a highly personalized, data-driven message, a compelling offer, and a warm invitation to re-engage, it’s a thing of marketing beauty. Here’s how a major women’s retailer – Chico’s – nailed it with their customer win-back direct mail campaign, and...

by jeangianfagna

March 1, 2011

B2B Marketing Creative Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Social Media Uncategorized

40 Questions for a Smarter Marketing Strategy

Are you getting a good return on your investment in marketing? Could it be better? One way to find out is to conduct a top-to-bottom review of your entire marketing plan to determine what’s working and what isn’t. This process is sometimes called a marketing audit. I’m often asked to guide audits as an independent marketing consultant and I recently shared advice on how to do an audit effectively. What specific factors should you assess in a marketing audit? Here are 40 questions I recommend for evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing and...

by jeangianfagna

February 15, 2011

Advertising B2B Marketing CRM Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

The 7 Most Important Things to Do with a Sales Lead

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers often use such tactics as direct marketing, e-marketing, advertising, trade shows, and web marketing to generate sales leads. But a smart lead generation marketing strategy goes well beyond the creation of the marketing campaign. If your goal is to build a relationship with a business prospect, increase your sales conversion rate, and maximize the value of your sales resources, you need a careful plan for what happens after the lead comes in. Here are the seven steps you should take with a marketing-generated sales lead to achieve success....

by jeangianfagna

January 12, 2011

B2B Marketing Creative Direct Marketing Marketing Strategy Social Media Uncategorized

10 Lessons for Blogging Success: Year 1 as a B2B Blogger

Blogging is a powerful marketing tool and an increasingly popular tactic in a smart marketing strategy, especially for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. I know, because I launched this blog to promote my Cleveland-based marketing consulting business exactly a year ago. Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned in my first year as a B2B blogger and three ways blogging has boosted my business. ...

by jeangianfagna

November 22, 2010

B2B Marketing Creative Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

Success in a Box: The Power of Dimensional Direct Mail in B2B Marketing

What if you got a real mailbox – a full-size, metal mailbox – sent to you at your office? Would you open it? You bet you would. MSP, a direct marketing services company in Pittsburgh, has been sending real mailboxes to its best prospects for nearly 10 years. I still remember my reaction -- “Wow!” -- when I opened the mailbox I received from MSP in 2004. Six years later, MSP’s mailbox remains the single best example of effective B2B lead generation dimensional mail I’ve ever received. Here’s how MSP deploys dimensional...

by jeangianfagna

October 20, 2010

Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Social Media Uncategorized

What’s Driving Social Media Success? Traditional Marketing

Social media is all the rage in marketing, and with good reason. Just look at the numbers. Can you think of any other communications platform with more than half a billion users like Facebook? Or another forum where more than 90 million messages are posted every day, like Twitter? As people have flocked to social media, so have marketers. But new research by DDB Worldwide and Opinionway Research published in eMarketer reveals a surprising fact: The driving force behind social media success is outreach by brand marketers via campaigns...

by jeangianfagna

September 27, 2010

Creative CRM Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

How Bad Direct Mail Can Sink a Customer Win-Back Strategy

Verizon says they want me back. But based on the direct mail package they just sent me, I don’t think they mean it. Reactivating lapsed customers is an important marketing strategy for every business. It’s easier to reengage a former customer than create a new one. If you’re using direct marketing to win former customers back, however, you’d better do it right. Here’s how a major marketer blew a customer win-back opportunity with poor direct mail, and five lessons for more effective win-back direct marketing. ...

by jeangianfagna

September 9, 2010

B2B Marketing Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Campaigns Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

Secrets of the Mailroom Trash Can: 3 Lessons for B2B Marketing

There’s a giant trash can in the mailroom of my office building in Cleveland, Ohio. Every day, it fills up with discarded business mail. Sometimes I peek in the can to see what my fellow tenants have thrown out, and it’s quite revealing. Here’s what I’ve observed as a casual mailroom trash inspector, and three valuable lessons from this experience for business-to-business marketers who want to develop a smart marketing strategy....

by jeangianfagna

August 18, 2010

CRM Direct Marketing Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

How a Sloppy List Can Sabotage Your Email Marketing

Savvy direct marketers know that the list is the most important factor in the success of a direct marketing campaign. That’s why so much time and effort goes into keeping mailing list data current and complete. But too many direct marketers fail to pay this same kind of attention to the cleanliness of their email lists. Case in point: The Wall Street Journal. Here's how a major marketer's poor email list hygiene ruined their promotion, and five lessons you can apply to a smart marketing strategy....

by jeangianfagna

July 29, 2010

Direct Mail Marketing Direct Marketing Marketing Strategy Uncategorized

A Direct Mail List Mistake Lives On Forever

Ms. Jean Gianfagna is tired of getting Mr. Gean Gianfagna’s mail. When I started a marketing consulting business in Cleveland in the early 1990s, someone who was compiling a direct mail list of small businesses made a typo in my name. I became Gean Gianfagna on this list and the compiler assumed that I was a man. It’s hard to believe, but nearly 20 years later, I still get direct mail addressed to Mr. Gean Gianfagna. This address has been so wrong for so long that I instantly discard any...

by jeangianfagna

Direct Marketing Tag

How Great Direct Mail Helps a Retailer Win Back Customers

The 7 Most Important Things to Do with a Sales Lead

Success in a Box: The Power of Dimensional Direct Mail in B2B Marketing

How Bad Direct Mail Can Sink a Customer Win-Back Strategy

Secrets of the Mailroom Trash Can: 3 Lessons for B2B Marketing

How a Sloppy List Can Sabotage Your Email Marketing

A Direct Mail List Mistake Lives On Forever

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