Customer Motivations Are What Drive the Purchasing Process

POSITIONING/OFFER

Positioning - is the act of designing a marketing mix for a particular product or service to create an image in the minds of the target market members that is consistent with the needs those members are trying to satisfy.

Customer motivations are what drive the purchasing process.

A motive is a state of tension or disequalibrium within the individual that activates or moves his or her behavior toward an objective or goal.

Abraham H. Maslow - a psychologist- developed a theory of motivation to help explain human behavior. And, he ranked them in order. Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs

1. Physiological survival. The need for food, water, sleep

2. Safety. The need for security, protection, order

3. Belongingness and love. Wanting acceptance by others

4. Esteem and status. The desire for reputation

5. Self - actualization. The desire to know and understand

A person must first satisfy basic needs before progressing up the ladder from physiological concerns to an interest in status symbols, friendship or self-fulfillment.

There are often multiple motives involved in making a purchase.

Once a direct marketer has isolated the combination of motives influencing a target market, the next task is to develop a product or service positioning offer around those motives.

Products and services are positioned in terms of the benefits that satisfy particular needs or perceived needs.

Process of developing a Positioning Strategy

1. Identify the competition

2. Determine how competitors are perceived

3. Determine the competitors positioning

4. Analyze the target market

5. Select target market

6. Develop alternative positioning strategy from the competition

7. Implement

Offer - what you will give the customer in return for them taking the action your communication asks him or her to take.

Examples: Free gift

Discount

Sale

Samples

Time limit

Offer considerations in Direct Response

1 )Price - Price Skimming - price at the highest level

Price Penetration - price very low so almost everyone who wants can have

2) Commitment - free trial

3) Terms of Payment - delayed or partial

4) Risk - reduction mechanisms such as guarantees

Creative Strategy is coming up with the message/the main selling concept or key benefit to be directed to a target market. It’s how you present the product or service in a way that promises the most benefit to the greatest number of prospective customers.

Utilitarian Benefits - offer rational benefits

Emotional Benefits - offer social or psychological benefits

Continuity selling - sometimes club offers are continued on a regular basis - buy as a series of small purchases.

Cross selling - new products are sold to existing customers

Upselling - promote more expensive products than customer originally bought.

Advantages of Direct Mail

Selectivity

Personalization

Flexibility - the nature and size of any effort is determined by the mailer, not the medium.

Isolation - no editorial environment - the commercial message is not read incidentally as with an advertisement.

Response Rates - obtains higher response rates due to ability to be personal, selective, and free from competing advertisments.

Direct Mail Package

1. Outer envelope

2. Letter

3. Brochure

4. Response Device

5. Other Inserts

The Direct Mail Letter

The heart and soul of the direct mail package. It must retain attributes of personal correspondence, yet function as a highly efficient selling machine.

THE OUTSIDE ENVELOPE aka “The Outer”

The first job of a direct mail designer is to get the outer envelope opened. You’ve got seven seconds - the time it takes the average person to look at and open or discard your package.

Sequence in which the average person digest the copy and graphics

1. First they look at their name in the address area

2. They look at any teaser copy, graphics

3. They look at the return address area

4. They look at the postage area

5. They turn the enelope over to look at the other graphics or copy

The Response Device or YES, Please rush me…

Response devices are anything a responder uses to mail back, fax back, phone back or e-mail back. They include mail order forms, reply cards, pledge envelopes and a myriad of other formats.

The response device is the decision pivot point, think of it as the “closer” in the sales process.

Brochures

In consumer mailings, the brochure embodies the emotional concept of the copy -- it shows the readers projected into the new world they’ll have once they buy the product or service…how they’ll be happier…how they’ll be admired…the lovely projects they’ll make.

In business to business it can “explain” with photos, drawings, diagrams, charts, tables and graphs.

Inserts

Inserts are an “extra” element in the direct mail package whose sole purpose is to increase response. Though there’s really no limit to how many inserts a package can have, you rarely see more than three in addition to the basic letter, response device, brochure and outer envelope - It costs money to add an element.

Types of Inserts

Lift Letters - Note in subscription solicitations with copy like “Read this only if you decided not to subscribe” It comes in almost any format: note, memo, telegram, news release.

Buckslips - are usually designed as a single sheet of paper approximately the size of the envelope. Direct mail lore says they got their name because they’re often the size of a dollar bill - a buck - and they’re slipped in at the last minute.

Freemiums - a free gift included in the envelope - like a bookmark, a bumber sticker, a booklet, a fold out 3-D item or a poster. You get it just for opening the envelope.

Post - it notes - they are used to carry a headline or a “last minute” selling thought.