Thanks to the power of the Internet, global commerce has become the name of the game. Local market targeting is slipping through the cracks in many small business marketing campaigns, partly because the Internet creates the option for something so much more than local commerce and partly because many businesses simply can’t get a handle on how to advertise to their community.
Welcome, my friend, to the land of direct mail marketing.
Let me ask you something (and feel free to add your thoughts and comments in the comment boxes below). In your opinion, what is it that local businesses are looking for? Are they looking for someone who’s going to give them a good price? Someone who’ll create a great product? Someone who knows what they’re talking about? The answer is…yes, yes and yes! More than any of that, however, is their genuine, undeniable desire to connect, network and build a lasting relationship with a business that’s going to treat them right.
Are you passing out the right marketing materials to reach your local business?
Look at it this way. If a business just wants a good deal on their products, they could go out on the web and get it. There are companies out there that operate in a strictly digital environment, which means their overhead is…well, next to nothing. How are you going to compete with that? You don’t. You build your business platform on something a lot more solid: Direct mailing materials that offer your clients the personal touch.
Back before the advent of the Internet, how do you think businesses introduced themselves to their neighbors? They went door to door. They spoke to the owners. They took them (and their families) out to dinner. By the time it was all said and done, all of the small businesses operating in a single community knew each other personally and not only did business together, but also willingly referred their customers back and forth to provide the highest quality of services and variety of products possible in their small town.
At the end of the day, everyone went home happy.
Now, unless you live in a town with a population of less than 200, you probably don’t have time to personally introduce yourself to every business owner in a ten mile radius. But you want them to know that you’re willing and able to bring that personal touch to each and every one of your B2B transactions. How do you do that? By creating direct mail marketing materials that say exactly what you want to say, exactly when you want to say it.
Tune in tomorrow to find out how to create B2B direct mail marketing materials designed to bring your clients the personal touch they’ve been waiting for.