A few days ago I spoke with a pest control operator who explained that he had recently done a direct mail campaign (postcard) and got very little response.
He wanted to know if I could tell him why.
And so we talked about “The 3 M’s of Marketing”.
They are:
- Message – You must have a compelling message that generates a buying response in people and causes them to pick up the phone and call you.
- Market – You must make sure you are sending your message to the proper market…i.e. people who are likely candidates to purchase your product or service.
- Media – You must select the proper media (internet, radio, TV, direct mail, newspaper, magazine, door-to-door, etc.) to deliver your message to your chosen market.
If you get two of the M’s right, but make a bad choice with the third one, you probably won’t be very successful with your campaign.
Example: Let’s say you are in the pest control business and you sent out a direct mail postcard offering a great discount on a termite protection system. As a matter of fact, your offer is almost too good to pass up.
But…if you send it to a zip code that includes mostly apartment dwellers and low-income rental housing, you are not going to get any response.
Why?
Because renters don’t buy termite treatments.
Another example: If you send a postcard to a nice, upper middle class neighborhood where people are in the habit of spending money on termite protection…but your postcard contains nothing compelling…no dynamic, irresistible message…no effective buying response triggers…then you probably won’t get much of a response.
Successful marketing is like a 3-legged stool. If one of the 3 M’s is missing, it just won’t stand up.
Make sense?
I hope so.
Thanks again for reading my letters, and please feel free to call on me anytime if I can ever help you in any way…even if you just have a question. (I love to drink coffee and talk marketing and selling!)
Hal
PS. Find FREE Pest Control Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.PestControlMarketer.com
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Or feel FREE to call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com
PPS. To find out more about my pest control marketing coaching, visit http://www.PestControlMarketer.com
