Okay, time out—a cardinal rule in marketing is that if you ask people for a code you make the code painfully obvious to find—maybe BIG print, maybe in red, maybe inside a box, maybe in multiple places; maybe on all three of the components of the mail piece or maybe some or all of the above.
But no, it was not there. I could not find it. So I decided to press “continue” on the website without entering the code, just to see what happened. Oh, one more observation. On the page asking me for a code was a prominent box saying that I could call a toll-free number to purchase now.
Purchase now?
Purchase what?
You have not even told me what the offer is. I don’t want to be sold something; I want information.
Pressing “continue” took me to a page with a form asking me for ALL my contact info, which I am invited to submit on the presumption that someone will call or email me.
But now I’m frustrated. I was told I could get more information by going to the website. Instead, I get the bait and switch.
And to make matters even worse, the requested code was patently unapparent in the mail piece.
After closing the browser tab without submitting any personal information, I took one more hard look at the letter. And, finally, there was the code, in small font, printed one time, and placed where my eyes were unlikely to look.
In the world of direct marketing, the “code” is key. It indicates the package that was mailed and the corresponding offer. Without it, the critical marketing information about what populations are responding to is lost.
Now, what has this company learned? Almost nothing. If other possible respondents cannot find the “code” they must enter, or are put off by the promise of information and get a contact form to receive a sales call instead, the conclusion might be that the offer failed.
But did it?
No.
The failure was much more basic.
Part 3 to follow.
Comments and discussion welcome–Dr. Bob
