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How to Leverage Your Direct Marketing Campaigns

We've received numerous requests on "how can I leverage my direct marketing campaign" and we would like to share some valuable information with you from Jay Levinson, guru of Guerrilla Marketing.

A Good Offer Is Key to Closing the Sale: How to properly position what you're selling.

Once you have the rapt attention of your prospects, and we all know that's not easy, you're only part of the way to your destination.

You must now make these good people desire what you have and recognize that it will make their lives better in some way, that it is worth any money that you ask for it, and that the ideal time for them to own what you are selling is this very instant.

Three winning elements
A guerrilla offer is so tempting that it is clear to them they are best off if they accept it. How can you make this kind of offer? It must have three elements if it's to be a true guerrilla offer that's easy to accept:

It must be clear, for regardless of the other details, if they don't fully understand it, they're not likely to accept it. Many offers are clear only to the marketer making the offer and not to the prospects.

It must be obviously beneficial to the prospects in terms of bettering their existence, whether their personal or business lives. They will be attracted to your features but their hearts will be won by your benefits.

It must appear as a solid value to them. Many prospects are not necessarily interested in a low price or even the best price, but all of them want a great value. And many of them love low numbers, so partial payments will appeal to them.

Free trials are tempting
Some of the best offers are those that offer free trials, because they eliminate any perceived risk in buying. If you have enough faith in your offering, it's worth an effort to test this tactic. Offers that expire within a brief time also are more likely to be accepted, especially if the price is clearly a bargain.

Offers that carry the promise of a free gift when the offer is accepted fare better than the same offer without the gift. First-time offers are better than stale offers, but it is true that many marketers have learned that their offer must be made more than once.

One marketer, a non-profit organization, learned that the response to their second mailing, identical to the first, generated nearly the same response rate as their first mailing. They also learned that a third mailing was a financial disaster.

Know the market
It's important to know when to quit, but all markets aren't the same -- so you'll have to experiment to learn your own limits.

The first company to make the offer you're making stands the best chance of having that offer accepted. The insight possessed by the guerrilla is that you must connect your offer with something that already exists in your prospect's mind. The closer the connection, the more likely the sale.

That's the key to a guerrilla offer. It relates to something the prospect is thinking even before they make the offer. No wonder guerrillas become experts on the minds of their prospects. No wonder their offers are so readily accepted.

Jay Conrad Levinson is the originator and author of the best selling series of marketing books that continues with Mastering Guerrilla Marketing: 100 Profit-Producing Insights That You Can Take to the Bank.