Should You Eliminate Your Catalog Order From and Reply Envelope?

September 3, 2010 – 4:15 am

At once time, every catalog included an order form with attached reply envelope bound into the center of the book. Now, some argue, so many people order through the Internet that the order form and envelope have become an unnecessary expense. Is this really true?

Even if your customers don’t typically send you completed order forms through the mail, I’d encourage you to keep publishing one, for three reasons:

1. People look to the order form for information on shipping rates, guarantees, and other information that helps them order. An order form keeps this information together in a highly visible section of the catalog.

2. Many people use a printed order form as a tool to organize their thoughts before they call in an order.

3. Some merchants have found that the percentage of orders they receive through the mail has actually risen in the last couple years. The bad economy has made more people reluctant to use their credit cards, so phone and web orders have dipped and mail orders increased as a result.

I recently looked through several dozen 2010 gardening catalogs. About half still bind in an order form and reply envelope in the center of the catalog. Another 30% include an order form in the front, center or back of the book, but no reply envelope. And 20% have no order form at all.

While dispensing with a reply envelope may not seriously affect your sales, think twice before getting rid of your order form. It may have a more serious negative impact than you think.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Catalogs | Leave a Comment

Determining the Best Prospecting Media: Some Financial Considerations

September 1, 2010 – 4:15 am

When laying out a marketing strategy for a new client, I always ask what their average sale is, and what their profit margin is. A surprising number ask, “Why is that important?” Here’s why:

How much you can spend to acquire a new customer and still break even is determined by your average sale, your profit margin, and your marketing cost. After calculating your breakeven point, we can then judge whether any given marketing effort has a reasonable chance of succeeding financially. For instance:

Let’s say that you sell a widget for $25, and your gross profit margin – your sales price less cost of goods – is $15.

The widget is easy to describe, so a simple postcard should give you enough space to explain the features and benefits adequately.

So you decide to send a postcard to 10,000 prospects, at a price of $0.50 each. That’s $5,000 in marketing costs.

What’s your breakeven point? Divide your marketing costs ($5,000) by your gross profit margin ($15) and you have the number of widgets you need to sell to break even (333). You won’t make a cent profit until you sell more than that. Is that a reasonable expectation?

Divide those 333 widgets by the 10,000 postcards you’re mailing, and that tells you need a 3.33% response rate just to break even. Experience tells us that’s highly unlikely; you’re better off throwing that idea out the window and considering something else.

So, when I ask for your average sale and profit margin, I’m not being nosey. Those numbers are vital for determining which marketing strategy offers the best chance of succeeding.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Marketing, Marketing goals | Comments (2)

What’s the ROI on Social Media? A Panel of Experts Weighs In

August 30, 2010 – 10:51 am

The recent Mailorder Gardening Association conference included an informative panel of MGA members active in various types of social media. Not surprisingly, questions from the audience quickly focused on the ROI of Facebook, Twitter, discussion groups and the like. The panelists each had somewhat different takeaways on the point.

Dave Waterman of Ink-It Digital tells clients that social media is an invaluable opportunity to learn a) what are you doing right, and b) what are you doing wrong. Don’t be afraid of negative comments, he advises; they offer an important opportunity to protect your brand.

Frank DiPaolo of EarthBox reports that customer service calls dropped significantly since EarthBox added a discussion group to their website a few years ago. Answering questions in the discussion group helps multiple customers simultaneously, plus customers jump in and answer each other’s questions. EarthBox still monitors and participates in the discussions, but doing so is far more efficient than responding to phone calls one by one.

Shayna Lashway of Botanical Interests finds social media to be the world’s best focus group. There’s no better way to find out who your customers are, what they like, how they use your product, and what they think of it. If you’re active in social media and you want to know about what the market thinks of your product, your company, or a new product you’re considering — all you have to do is ask!

Susan Robbins of the National Gardening Association remarked that social media is like having children: You don’t have to talk to them 24/7. You do have to check in often and have a general idea of what they’re up to.

The consensus was that it’s unreasonable to expect participation in social media to result in an immediate, significant bump in sales. But for understanding your customer, getting feedback on your products and service, lowering customer service costs, building loyalty, and encouraging word of mouth advertising, social media is hard to beat.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Facebook, Social media | Leave a Comment

Techniques to Lead Your Reader’s Eye

August 27, 2010 – 4:15 am

Sunflower image - FreeFoto.com

In an excellent presentation on catalog design at last week’s Mailorder Gardening Association conference, Lisa Hodgson Balch of Sargeant House Design Studio explained how the concept of “gaze motion” is especially important in the gardening world.

In a nutshell, gaze motion means that if there are people on a printed page or website, the reader’s eye will tend to go wherever the people are looking. Consequently, you need to position people facing towards where you want the reader to look – not looking off the page.

Lisa quite rightly pointed out that flowers can have gaze motion, too, either because of the direction they lean, or because they have an obvious “front” like a sunflower. Always make sure that you place flowers, as well as people, facing in a direction that will keep your reader engaged with your content.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Advertising, Catalogs, Website design | Tagged | Leave a Comment

News From the MGA (Soon To be DGA) Conference

August 25, 2010 – 4:15 am

I’ve just returned from a week in Chicago, attending both the Mailorder Gardening Association (MGA) conference and the Independent Garden Center (IGC) Show.

It’s always helpful to compare notes with industry colleagues at the MGA conference, which we did both formally through State of the Industry and Social Media panels, and informally through Round Table sessions and networking. I moderated a round table on Best Practices for Reducing Email List Attrition; let me know if you’d like a copy of my handout.

Lisa Hodgson Balch of Sargeant House Design Studio provided insightful critiques and makeovers of several members’ catalogs. Kurt Peters, Editor of Internet Retailer Magazine shared his observations on what the future of online marketing holds. I’ll write more about what we all learned in upcoming posts.

Dozens of IGC exhibitors took time out of their setup schedule to attend an MGA member panel on How to Sell to Catalogers and Online Marketers. A summary of that program is in the works, and I’d be happy to send you a copy if you like.

Not only was I elected the new President of the MGA, but I was surprised and honored to receive a Distinguished Service Award for contributions to the organization. To top it all off, we have a new name, slated to take effect in January: the Direct Gardening Association. Many of us have long felt that “mailorder” is an outdated, unclear and/or misleading term, but it took years of discussion before we could reach a consensus on the change.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the group, visit www.DirectGardeningAssociation.com. And mark your calendar for the winter conference the week of January 23, 2011 in New Orleans. We’d love to see you there!

By Val Gosset | Posted in Events | Leave a Comment

More Ways Burpee is Growing a New Generation of Gardeners

August 23, 2010 – 4:15 am

Our last blog post discussed Burpee’s new campaign, Burpee Home Gardens, targeting Gen X and Gen Y newbie gardeners.

With their new I Can Grow campaign, Burpee is ensuring that younger generations will start gardening at a much earlier age. In conjunction with the National Gardening Association, they’re offering a free guide and other resources to teachers, youth group leaders and volunteers interested in starting and maintaining an edible garden for youth.

Once again, we applaud Burpee’s efforts to expand the gardening market, both now and for generations to come.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Marketing | Leave a Comment

Burpee’s Campaign to Entice a New Generation of Gardeners

August 20, 2010 – 4:15 am

Garden industry marketers typically face the same challenge: our primary audience is downsizing or eliminating their gardens, and the generations that follow did not grow up learning how to garden. Consequently, even if gardening is of interest, they’re overwhelmed and intimidated about getting started.

Burpee has done a magnificent job of addressing new gardeners through their Burpee Home Gardens campaign. Instead of a catalog, website and seed packets overflowing with information – much of it confusing jargon to the newcomer – Burpee has slimmed down their offerings and made them accessible for the novice gardener.

Have a look at the elegantly designed Burpee Home Gardens website and you’ll see what I mean. The clean, inviting site just oozes reassurance.

The home page invites readers in with an invitation to receive a free Garden Fresh vegetable gardening guide (all you have to do is answer three simple questions that will help Burpee in their future marketing efforts). Tomatoes: How to choose the right one? questions another prominent link. More information and reassurance is offered through the simple FAQ section, Facebook page, blog, and more. The distinguishing feature of the site is just how well information has been simplified.

Burpee Home Gardens is not an ecommerce site. Its purpose is rather to educate and support the retail distribution of a select line of branded Burpee plants available at garden centers.

Have a look, learn from what they’re doing and wish them well. I believe they’ll be attracting a great many new gardeners, and that’s a good thing for all of us.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Advertising, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing goals, Website design | Tagged , | Leave a Comment

An Easy Way to Harness Word of Mouth Advertising

August 18, 2010 – 4:15 am

Are there people on your email list who consistently forward your emails to other people? Here’s an idea to keep them engaged and take advantage of the free word-of-mouth advertising they’re providing:

Send extra emails with exclusive offers just to these influencers, and invite them to pass them along. No need to tell them they were selected because they’re “frequent forwarders” – simply tell them it’s a thank you for past business or their valued relationship with your company.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Email marketing | Leave a Comment

Is Your Site Search Losing You Sales?

August 16, 2010 – 4:15 am

One of the biggest — and perhaps most neglected – influences on online sales is the quality of a website’s search feature. If consumers don’t find what they’re looking for on the first try, they tend to be impatient. A study by Forrester Research indicates that 47% of searchers who didn’t find what they were looking for on the first attempt did not try a second time.

Filters are a huge aid in helping shoppers find what they’re looking for, especially with plant selection, which requires multiple variables. One of my pet peeves involves websites that only allow a searcher to use one filter at a time. I want to be able to search for plants that require part shade and grow in zone 6 and like acid soil and bloom in late summer – and not create four separate searches that I need to compare manually.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Website design | Tagged | Leave a Comment

Three Important Changes in Customer Reviews

August 13, 2010 – 4:15 am

Customer ratings and reviews have long been a part of the buying process for many consumers. Three recent changes indicate that their influence is growing considerably:

1. More Time Reading. According to a recent study by The E-Tailing Group, 64% of consumers take 10 minutes or more to read reviews, up 28% from three years ago.

2. Shared on Social Media. Companies that provide ratings and review software are now making it easy for reviewers to automatically post their reviews on Facebook in addition to the merchant’s website.

3. In Search Results. Customer ratings and reviews have started appearing in Google and Bing search results.

Clearly, rating and reviews are becoming more important every day. Between search results and social media, they’re reaching a much wider audience than ever before. If you don’t alreay have an active ratings and review system on your website, it’s time to get started.

By Val Gosset | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a Comment