You know that nothing happens immediately, but still it’s hard to send out your first marketing e-blast, write a bunch of blog entires, or tweet your first tweet and then wait for your inbox to be flooded with inquiries.
Here’s a little wisdom from a guide called Successful Advertising written by Thomas Smith in….wait for it….1885. In it, Mr. Smith says:
The first time people look at any given ad, they don’t even see it.
The second time, they don’t notice it.
The third time, they are aware that it is there.
The fourth time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it somewhere before.
The fifth time, they actually read the ad.
The sixth time they thumb their nose at it.
The seventh time, they start to get a little irritated with it.
The eighth time, they start to think, “Here’s that confounded ad again.”
The ninth time, they start to wonder if they’re missing out on something.
The tenth time, they ask their friends and neighbors if they’ve tried it.
The eleventh time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads.
The twelfth time, they start to think that it must be a good product.
The thirteenth time, they start to feel the product has value.
The fourteenth time, they start to remember wanting a product exactly like this for a long time.
The fifteenth time, they start to yearn for it because they can’t afford to buy it.
The sixteenth time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
The seventeenth time, they make a note to buy the product.
The eighteenth time, they curse their poverty for not allowing them to buy this terrific product.
The nineteenth time, they count their money very carefully.
The twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what is offering.
Will you need 20 attempts before prospective clients knock on your door? Hopefully not. Using e-blasts as an example, we like to counsel clients on a series of 6 to 12 monthly blasts before they evaluate their effectiveness. One thing we can say with certainty, whatever mix of marketing strategies you decide upon, you’ll need more than one!
> If you need help with e-blasts, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
Lazzaro Designs has been creating a series of appeal letters for North Shore-LIJ’s philanthropic arm, the North Shore-LIJ Health System Foundation. Each direct mail piece has been followed up with an e-blast within the month that is similar in tone both visually and editorially, ensuring a second chance for donors and potential donors to give to this worthy nonprofit health system. As shown here, a recently released appeal letter and e-blast for The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the research arm of the health system.
> If you need help with direct appeals or e-blasts, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
There are lots of topics to communicate to your staff beyond those that can be covered in a regular employee newsletter. Several of our clients have turned to us to produce cogent, attractive and easy-to-read handbooks on a variety of things, such as ethic codes (as shown here for a health insurance company), or the ins and outs of big facilities (holidays, payment procedures, cafeteria hours). Instead of Human Resources issuing a slew of photocopied loose sheets that get easily lost, an employee handbook can be a cost-effective way to make sure your staff knows what’s what. In one case, we produced a manual that was contained in a pocket-size, three-ring binder for hospital House Staff (resident physicians). The often updated information was easily replaced page by page. In another case, a bound book with a back pocket for updates served the employees of an extended-care facility. If an organization has the ability to use a digital system that all employees can access, even better; guides can be created in digital form.
> If you need help creating a handbook or guide, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
It’s a delicate thing asking for money. A direct appeal letter needs to quickly capture the readers’ attention, answer why they should support this institution, ask just the right amount of times, and ask clearly in a call to action, all the while being engaging, warm and straightforward.
Recently, we created a direct appeal letter for Cohen Children’s Medical Center, a renowned stand-alone pediatric hospital on Long Island, New York. What was unusual about the letter was that it was highly designed, as well as carefully written. Through content and visuals, the letter accomplishes a lot—it alerts the reader to the national standing of the hospital and features an innovative neurodevelopmental division. It also provides some history to this extraordinary facility and provides an attached reply device. Design-wise, it further echoes a larger advertising campaign, featuring some of the tag lines and photos from that marketing campaign without merely mimicking the ads themselves.
> If you need help creating a direct appeal, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
