What I love about marketing and specifically direct marketing is that one man’s old lead or prospect or past customer is another man’s shiny new lead. It’s like recycling. You didn’t know it but recycling is one of the most profitable niches in direct marketing. Why would I admit this? Well it’s simple. Marketers want to maximize lead value, plain and simple. When I speak with advertisers, agencies and list brokers, they always talk about getting more profit or justifying more profit from a deal. This is difficult as advertisers can only pay so much in order to meet their side of the win-win equation that is required for long term successful business.
That is where lead recycling comes in. This can take many forms, up selling, cross selling, card on file, confirmation code questions, free offers, etc… Some companies will simply sell their leads to a competitor and take a % of the profit they do. It really all comes down to the old saying:
“He who controls the lead, controls the business”
You know this intrinsically. It’s why they train mortgage brokers and real estate agents to ’steer’ prospective buyers to their preferred group of appraisers, attorneys/title, inspection, etc… Many businesses lack a big marketing campaign but are very good at recycling and referring leads to congruent businesses and as a result they reap referrals in return. Why am I saying this?
Well I’m really speaking to the ad agency or marketing campaign director that is looking to earn an extra % from this real time data they are creating. Imagine if you have an offer to help people quit smoking and you are doing well selling this product over the phone or internet. Now all of these product buyers are trying to quit smoking so what about all of the other services they may decide to purchase as a result.
The key to successful repurposing of leads is to make sure that you are putting the right congruent offer. So let’s think – what would go well with a person that is quitting smoking… perhaps a system to deodorize your car/home? How about a diet or eating plan geared towards the quitting smoker – how about a set of motivational books or inspirational stories… the list goes on. My point is that for every purchase, there are additional ways to enter the mentality of the buyer. Finding people in a moment is the key to successfully re-marketing them to another, parallel, business.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: cross sell, direct marketing, up sell
