14 Statements that Raise Expert Direct Marketers' Blood Pressure
Some readers will take issue with my list arguing that it contains
elements of truth. But in my view, these comments generally reflect a
misdirected strategic sense or preconceived ideas about the role of
advertising and direct marketing that are based on poorly founded
assumptions. At their best, some of these statements reflect ignorance and
at their worst, closed mindedness. But you be the judge. Perhaps you could
add to this list or elaborate on those listed.
1. Any marketing experience you have that is over 10 years old is
useless.
2. Any strategy that has an ROI attached to it is no longer a strategy,
but a tactic.
3. Direct marketing operates below the line because it supports
awareness advertising.
4. We tried direct mail (or any other medium named that was used a
couple of times) and it doesn't work.
5. Traditional media is dead because every one now uses and buys
products exclusively as a result of the overwhelming influence of the
Internet.
6. We want a CMO with hands on expertise in online technology, not
someone who has just led such programs.
7. Don't worry about the strategy. Just do it.
8. When we are spending on advertising to build the brand, we don't
worry about trying to calculate ROI because nothing is more important
than our brand.
9. We know that successful BtoB lead generation used to rely heavily on
traditional media like outbound telemarketing. But today, business people
use the Internet. So we have to dump the old, proven approaches for pure,
Internet lead generation.
10. We don't want to put a coupon in our print advertisements because
the design does not fit our brand image.
11. We don't want to make an offer or other call to action because that
gets in the way of our image.
12. That direct mail package is ugly and doesn't retain the look and
feel of all of our advertising.
13. We can handle any volume of leads you generate. So don't worry about
limiting weekly lead flow volumes.
14. We want only tight leads where the prospect is ready to buy today.
Otherwise we just waste our sales people's time.
What other statements tend to get you going?