Treasure Troves In Your Trash

Treasure Troves in Your Trash
by James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com

We all get junk mail every day. Most of us may take a cursory glance at this junk mail and then throw it away. But is a small treasure trove going out with the trash before we even get a chance to use it the right way? How can junk mail benefit your company?

First, we must realize why junk mail is sent and by whom it is sent. People who are sending us advertising in the mail are doing so to make money. If you receive offers from the same company over and over, their advertising MUST be making them money, right? If it isn’t, why would they keep sending out more offers? No one successful in the business world throws good money after bad, so we can safely agree their advertising dollars are effective. So, it would stand to reason that if you study the junk mail you receive and use similar tactics in your business, they will be effective, too!

The next time you receive junk mail, don’t throw it away, read it. Examine its’ structure. Learn why it is successful.

Amazing Anecdotes (and Alliterations) Astound and Astonish an Active Audience!
No one wants to read a drab and boring title. An effective advertisement or marketing piece is going to pique the reader’s interest right from the start. Make the reader want to learn more. Pull them into your story and you are on your way to making a sale.

The alliteration above is an example of an off-the-wall headline. It would be good for use in an ad, blog, marketing letter, or email. This is the type of header that you want. Remember, no one will read an ad that says, “Buy our Stuff” – even if that is really what you want them to do. When reading through your junk mail, certain headlines will catch your eye. Make a note of these and use them for your own advertising.

Features Suck. Benefits Sell.
Junk mail advertisements know this rule. Very few people want to hear you talk about yourself or your product. While you are extolling that your product is 99.9% pure gold and that it has the following properties that blah, blah, blah…”Oh, look – shiny object!” ... and the customer is off to someone else telling them how their product is benefiting them.

To be successful with your business, forego your “features” and turn them into “benefits”. Let the customer know what’s in it for them. Let them know why they want your product, not what your product can do.

Knowing that a new car has a new flow-controlled, electrum ACME carburetor means nothing to the consumer, but tell them the car saves money by getting 10 more miles to the gallon than their current vehicle gets their attention!

Benefits sell products, not features. Take a look at your advertising. Are you offering features or benefits? If it isn’t benefiting me, I don’t want it. Turn it into something the consumer wants and you’ll see an increase in sales.

People Go For the Sure Thing
One common factor in junk mail is the guarantee. People like to know that they have a safety net. They like to know that they can return the item if they are not happy. If ‘Company X’ offers a 30-day Guarantee and ‘Company Y’ offers a 1-year Guarantee, ‘Company Y’ will most likely be more successful and the best thing is, ‘Company Y’ will have less refunds because people will forget all about the guarantee the longer they are given to return an item. Stronger guarantees bring in more sales and offer less returns.

People Like To Be Told What To Do
This is sometimes referred to as a “Call to Action” or a “Closing of the Sale”. No matter what you call it, if you don’t direct a customer to do something, they simply won’t buy from you. While reading your junk mail, notice the number of ads that blatantly state, “CALL NOW!” or “ACT NOW, SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED”. Why do they do this? It is because they want you to make a purchase. Can you imagine going to a car dealership, speaking with the salesman for two hours, test driving a vehicle and then…nothing? Of course not! He doesn’t want you to leave that lot without the keys to a new car in your possession! You have to do the same in your advertising. Don’t let a customer go by without asking them to make a purchase. No one is going to buy from you unless you ask them to fork over their money.

So you see, junk mail does is not something that should be a burden to your garbage bag. In reality, it is a treasure trove that you can use in your own advertising, no matter what method of promotion you use. Junk mail can be small examples of advertising that can really kick start your business into making money. Junk mail is a bit of free marketing advice that you receive every day and can be used in your own business.

Turn that trash into treasure and start learning today!