Another gigantic secret that a marketing company won’t tell you about, if they even know and or use this advertising technique, is the use of the goodnight voice messages. Let me explain what the opposite is first, so you have a better idea what I am talking about when I describe how to use multi-step marketing.
For example, single-step marketing could be defined as sending out a flyer in the neighborhood, telling people about a neighbor’s home that has just been sold by you … or as running a one-time ad in a local paper advertising an product offering you have … or as running an ad in the paper that says “Call me before you redecorate (or landscape)!” and so forth. In other words, anything where you do a single step in the hope that you will get responses.
Now, true – you may run the same ad more than one time in your paper over a period of a few months, and you may send out farming flyers or postcards to people over a period of time. But that is not what we are talking about here, because each of those particular efforts is really a single-step process. You send out the piece, and prospects are supposed to call. Now, while this seems easy and logical, it also has been proven over time to just not work. In fact, if any of this stuff did work, we wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be reading this program right now. The real secret to direct response marketing is to use little, bite-size chunks for people so that they are responding to what is easy and non-threatening … allowing them to take little steps, one at a time.
For example, let’s say you run an ad in a local paper that says:
“Tired Of Dirty Carpets?”
If so, call 1-800-XXX-XXXX, 24 hours, for a FREE recorded message to get a copy of an
amazing report that reveals the secrets of how to keep your carpets clean all the time.
Discover what carpet cleaners won’t tell you!”
When you run that ad in the paper, what is the purpose of that ad? Is the purpose of that ad to sell a product? Is the purpose of that ad to secure an appointment for a presentation? Many salespeople will make this mistake over and over. No – the purpose of that ad is one thing only – to get people to call your toll-free number and listen to the recorded message! In fact, we should take it back a step farther. The purpose of the headline on the ad is to get somebody’s attention and cause them to stop going through their publication. The purpose of the headline is not to sell or solve anything. The headline, then, has a single purpose. The headline’s function is to identify potential prospects and get those people to read the copy of your ad. The copy is, then, the next step, keeping people interested enough to follow through and call the toll-free number.
Now when prospects call the toll-free number and listen to the voice message, what’s the purpose there? Is the purpose of the message to make a sale or get a client? No – again, the purpose of the message is only to get people to leave their names and addresses. Once prospects leave their names and addresses, and we get their phone number through the Caller ID, what is the purpose of the follow-up that we do on the phone and the report? Is it to sell? Is it to get prospects to hire you? No – the purpose of the report going out is to get people familiar with you, and to get them familiar with what you have to offer, and to answer the questions they have. Once they’ve gotten the report, you move into the multi-step sequence and follow up.
See, the real secret of direct response marketing is, after you’ve gotten somebody’s interest, you must try not to make them do any more than they are comfortable with doing at any particular step. To make all the steps combined work up to the sale of products and services. But each individual step is small, and simple, and doesn’t ask people to do more than ease them into the next step. The purpose of each individual step is to do only what it is supposed to do. The purpose of the professional recorded phone message is not to make a sale; again, it is to get a prospect to leave his or her name and address.