June 12, 2001
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MarketingtoWebMarketers From MarketingSherpa.com
======================= June 12, 2001 - Vol. II, Issue 21
* Subscribe FREE at http://www.marketingtowebmarketers.com *
PRACTICAL NEWS:
- High Tech Ad Firm Gains Clients by Declining Retainer Fees
- WebAwards Call for Entries: Deadline July 30th
- Peranet Seeks Partnerships with Agencies and DM firms
CASE STUDY:
Babcock & Jenkins Tests Direct Mail With Heavy Graphics vs. No
Graphics to Drive B-to-B Marketers to a Web Site
(Note: includes links to 3 marketing info sites you can
contribute articles to.)
Sponsored by: Bethesda List Center
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Snail Mail List of the Week:
Adweek Magazine's Technology Marketing: 19,330 Names
High-tech marketers from established (profitable) companies are
very likely to spend money in online marketing. Selects include
title, job function and niche industry.
For complete data card contact djames@bethesda-list.com
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
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PRACTICAL NEWS
==============
* High Tech Ad Firm Gains Clients by Declining Retainer Fees
"A lot of people's eyebrows go up when we say that we don't
charge retainers, " says Protean Marketing Account Director
Cassandra Farrington. The Austin TX and UK-based agency which
specializes in the electronics assembly and semiconductor
industries has rarely asked for client retainers in the past,
instead charging on a per item basis.
This unusual philosophy may be one of the reasons why Protean has
landed four new clients in the last 45 days alone ... while many
other small high tech agencies have lost clients (or even gone
under.) Farrington thinks in this age of careful cost-
accounting, clients like to know they pay for exactly the
services they get, "and not just some bill for $2k, $5k or $10k a
month." On the other side, the Protean team are sure they'll
get paid for all of their efforts, including time in meetings and
travel time.
Farrington suggests a la carte agency charges may be the wave of
the future, "Clients have to get out of that retainer box and
make sure they know what they're paying for."
http://www.proteanmarketing.com
* WebAwards Call for Entries: Deadline July 30th
Bill Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association, asked us
to alert all Web design shops and agencies that you have until
July 30th to submit sites for entry in the 2001 WebAwards
competition. The 75 corporate site categories run the gamut from
advertising to vortals. Entries are $150 a pop ($75 for non-
profits.)
To check out the entry form go to:
http://www.webaward.org/entryform.asp
To enquire about becoming a judge, go to:
http://www.webaward.org/judges.html
... just don't go to the WebAwards' home page unless you really
like meaningless Flash intros with pounding electronic music.
(When we twitted Rice about it, he replied, " Maybe I will submit
our site to the judges for evaluation this year as well.")
* Peranet Seeks Partnerships with Agencies, Consultancies and DM
Firms
Laura Sellers, VP Marketing Peranet a direct response online
marketing services and technology provider, told us she's looking
for marketing partners in any of the following three categories:
"1) direct response or direct mail service providers that have
not yet developed interactive/email marketing services in house
and are looking to supplement their business by offering
interactive marketing solutions to their customers.
2) email marketing service providers that would like to integrate
physical incentives, such as promotional products and gifts into
their marketing campaigns, but do not have product fulfillment
capabilities. We can source and fulfill promotional products and
ship them out to individuals.
3) consultancies that provide strategic advice/planning on
interactive/email marketing campaigns but need additional
technology resources -- we would act as an outsourced technology
service."
Interested partners should Sellers at lauras@peranet.com. If
you'd also like to place a free note here in
MarketingtoWebMarketers for marketing partnerships (not sales),
send details to editor@marketingtowebmarketers.com
http://www.peranet.com
===========
CASE STUDY: Babcock & Jenkins Tests Direct Mail With Heavy
Graphics vs. No Graphics to Drive B-to-B Marketers to a Web Site
===========
CHALLENGE
Denise Barnes, COO of Oregon-based B-to-B direct
marketing agency, Babcock & Jenkins, was frustrated. She says,
"A third of our staff are programmers. We're a direct marketing
agency focused on closing the sales cycle. Our tech solutions
that support that make us unusual." But it's not always easy to
explain this unusual offering to sales prospects, "Unfortunately,
if we say we do 'direct marketing' people pigeonhole us."
The agency had already had some success explaining its
methodology by launching an educational Web site -- iROI.com --
previously. That site simply focused on the agency's own
methodology. Barnes wondered if she could show-off her firm's
tech prowess by eating their own dog food -- by creating a
database-driven site that would gather sales leads for the firm,
educate them, keep them warm through the cycle ... and perhaps
even produce new clients.
So January 2, 2001 Babcock & Jenkins launched a new educational
site for B-to-B marketers, i-Marq.com. Now all they had to do was
drive traffic to it. Unfortunately there were already dozens of
established sites targeting the same market (including
MarketingtoWebMarketer's sister site B-to-B MarketingBiz.) What's an
agency to do?
CAMPAIGN
Surprise! Like many other marketing firms trying to
reach tech-savvy marketing professionals, Babcock & Jenkins opted
for a direct mail campaign. One reason Barnes cited was the lack
of targeted selection in email lists currently available on the
market.
The site's Executive Producer, Kimberly Wuepper gave us the
details of their two, completely different test direct mail
packages:
#1 -- "Voodoo Doll"
You couldn't miss this large self-mailer in your in-box. The
front cover was dominated by a photo of an alarmed-looking, red,
voodoo doll with pins stuck into it (kinda reminded us of "Oh No
Mr. Bill!") The headline ran, "Marketing pains? Tell us where
it hurts." The 6" x 8 1/2" self-mailer folded out to 24" x 8
1/2" with panels featuring more copy, photos of people, a free
offer for Seth Godin's Idea Virus book for the first 25 site
visitors, and repeated mentions of i-Marq.com's URL.
#1 -- "Limp Shrimp"
This package was a traditional B-to-B direct mail approach, with a
twist. The plain white #10 (business size) envelope was laser
addressed and had no return address. Inside recipients found a
single sheet of folded white paper, bearing a short, personalized
message centered exactly in the middle:
Michael --
I’m not going anymore.
No more conference hotel rooms.
No cheap cocktails. No limp shrimp.
Found a better way--you’ve got to see it.
Best source of marketing information. All
the luminaries hang there.
Free. 24x7. Personalized.
www.i-marqadvantage.com
Here’s your PIN #: A3N2R393
((hand-signed: Kimberly))
info@i-Marq.com
RESULTS
"Limp Shrimp" won hands down. 9.7% of this deceptively
simple package's recipients registered as members to i-Marq.com's
site using the PIN # they had been given. Less than 1.2% of the
Voodoo Doll recipients went online to register.
Guess that means it's not always a good idea to let your graphic
designer go crazy on house marketing campaigns....
http://www.i-Marq.com
http://www.BNJ.com (Babcock & Jenkins - owners of i-Marq.com)
http://www.iROI.com (methodology behind i-Marq.com)
CONTRIBUTOR NOTES: Want to plant a story on the iMarq site for
fun and glory? 100% of their content comes from purely
volunteer-contributors so they are always looking for good stuff.
All contributors get their photo, logo and link included ... but
first your article has to get past "Scott the Value Checker."
So, make sure your item actually includes value (vs. being a
sales pitch) before you submit it. Also, if you use the online
submission form -- yes you have to register as a member to get
there -- be sure to include EVERYTHING needed such as bio, photo,
logo and link, or your publication date will be delayed.
While Barnes says you can submit longer items, even 15 page
reports, she warns that shorter "punchier" articles can be more
effective. Yes, you can submit articles that have run elsewhere
as long as you still own copyright.
BTW: Babcock & Jenkins are not the only agency targeting B-to-B
marketers with an educational site featuring content from outside
contributors. Here are our two favorites in the field:
1. East Coast agency Schubert Communications, Inc. sponsor and
operate B-to-B Talk.org, which includes how-to articles, message
boards and (more happily from the user-standpoint) doesn't
require membership registration to get in.
http://www.b2btalk.org
2. Austin Agency M2K (who co-sponsored the B-to-B BQ.com event this
Spring) also run a B-to-B marketer's education site called "The
Click." It's distinguishable by being the hippest of the three
sites in terms of topics and design.
http://www.m2k.com/theclick/
NEXT WEEK: You'll get a Case Study about a direct response agency
who cleverly repurposed their previously-written email newsletter
articles to reach more potential clients. If you're not already
a subscriber, sign up for free at http://www.marketingsherpa.com
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