Hi Richard,

Welcome to another edition of Get Your Message Across, the email newsletter
that helps you do just that.

In this issue:

- Bored with your marketing? Don't be tempted to try to "fix things that
ain't broke" ­ instead, try recycling.

* * * * * * * * * *

Save on your marketing ­ recycle. Maybe this will become a catch-phrase,
although somehow I doubt it.

Certainly the past behaviour of many business people indicates they're not
into getting more for less from what they already have. It seems many just
want to keep on paying more for new stuff.

Experimenting with the new, and making change for change's sake, costs
businesses dearly in diversion of time, effort and budget, while strategies
which were working successfully either get dropped or don't receive the
continued attention they deserve.

You may be bored with the "same old, same old"  strategies which have built
your business ­ but prospective customers and clients making their first
contact see you in much the same light as your first customer.

So why try to "fix things that ain't broke"?

Here's some of the things I've seen done out of boredom or a need to try
something new:

. Needless re-branding ­ A new name, new livery, and re-launch, but offering
the same products to the same customers from the same premises. Sales
increased temporarily at the time of the re-launch. This could have been
achieved with increased marketing activity without the re-branding.
.
. Discounting relationships - This business depends on long-term
relationships with customers who typically have an intermittent for
reasonably high-value products and services. A decision is made to hold a
weekend sale and advertise almost the entire stock. This draws insufficient
customers to even pay the sales staff wages for the weekend. They would have
generated more sales by expanding communication with existing customers.
.
. Forgetting to keep in touch - A professional service firm puts a lot of
partner time into developing a corporate profile document. This may be
useful supporting marketing collateral, but it is not the key to the firm
getting new business (30 per cent comes from referrals). The same time
invested in maintaining relationships with clients would generate even more
referrals.
.
Instead of looking for a new strategy or technique to apply, why not
consider this approach: Look back at what worked well in the past. Find
something where you can prove the results ­ you can count responses,
conversion to customer or client, or total the average new customer value
over a period.

Is there any reason why the old successful approach should not work as well
if it was repeated?

If it is not appropriate to repeat the exercise exactly, can you take the
essential elements (the offer, the communication channel, and the strategy)
and do a little lateral thinking?

If you find an example which worked particularly well, spend some time
analysing the reasons for its success. Those factors are the key criteria
for a similar-but-different campaign.

You are most likely to develop a marketing template you can apply
successfully from within your own business, as opposed to someone else's.
Other people may have good examples, but they may also have different
markets, different customers or clients, and be affected by different
factors.

One of the basic principles of direct marketing is that an offer made to a
random sample of a list will result in a response rate which can be
replicated (within the bounds of statistical probability) for the rest of
the list. That's unless you change one or more of the key factors which
determine success (offer, medium, creative, or the list itself).

The same applies to marketing generally. If the key success factors remain
unchanged, you should be able to repeat previous successes without
"reinventing the wheel".

* * * * * * * * * *

You have received this newsletter as a client of Shattock Communications &
Research Ltd; because you asked to be put on the list; or through a special
offer you responded to.

If you no longer want to receive it (even if you did once) just click Reply
and tell me so. You will receive an acknowledgement, then we won't send you
anything further.

On the other hand, if you like the content, I'd love to hear your comments.
Ditto for questions and suggestions.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. Better still, send
them to www.shattock.net.nz so they can register to receive their own copy.

You can assure your friends they won¹t ever receive email from a total
stranger as a result of receiving Get Your Message Across. Our subscriber
list is never sold, loaned or provided to anyone.

Best wishes,

John Shattock
Shattock Communications & Research Ltd
+64-9-426 6664
PO Box 590, Orewa, Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand, 1461
www.shattock.net