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In this issue:
Marketing Article: Retain Your Customers: Transactions to the Rescue!
Marketing Article: Trade shows, here you come: Getting ready to connect

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Discover nine great opportunities to cross-sell, up-sell and promote your products to your current customers.

What is transactional messaging?

Transactional messaging—that is, any messaging you send to customers as a direct result of a customer transaction—is widely being heralded as the next wave of e-mail marketing. Here's why:

Messages that result from customer transactions are excluded from the CAN-SPAM opt-out and explicit opt-in requirements. They are considered a permission-based e-mail follow-up.

According to recent studies, transactional e-mails are viewed very positively by customers.

Better yet, transactional messages have an astounding average open rate of over 70 percent, and click rates above 50 percent, when the message includes a redeemable discount offer. That's compared to typical opt-in promotional e-mail open rates of 36 percent, and click rates in the single digits. Wow!

Opportunities for Transactional Messaging
Order receipts
Periodic account status updates
Warranty information
Product recall notifications
Safety or security information for purchased products
Change notifications
Subscription or membership information
Employment or benefit plan information
Product update or upgrade information

*Remember: according to CAN-SPAM, the primary purpose of your e-mail must be to complete or facilitate the original customer transaction with the sender.

Reward your Customers with Transactional Offers

Here are 9 great ideas for offers and promotions to include within your transactional messages:
An order receipt containing recommended products
A print-at-home coupon as an incentive to purchase and repurchase
Special rewards for “best customers” or loyalty club members
Special information or promotional offers in return for registering
A free product offer for completing a satisfaction survey
A secured gift certificate or ticket fulfillment
Birthday offers
“Refer a Friend” offers for additional incentives
Embedded polls for audience profiling and market research

E-mail continues to be the “killer app” for online direct marketing—but ordinary bulk e-mail messages are no longer enough. Transactional messaging gives you a great opportunity to enrich your current relationship and your marketing ROI, all at once. Happy marketing.

The business or consumer list you use when launching a direct mail will determine your success. We provide accurate, up-to-date data, targeted by thorough analysis of your target market, offer, and objective. If your marketing strategy involves a direct marketing campaign, you need precision targeting and creative strategies to ensure maximum response rates. Click here for more information (http://www.marketingsource.com/businesslists/)

This just in: marketing agency George P. Johnson Co. released a study last week reporting that face-to-face events continue to deliver a better return on investment than other marketing tools, including advertising. Quite a coincidence, since most of the marketers we know are just gearing up for trade show season, where they're hoping to make as many contacts as they can.

With that in mind, here's a great list of tips to keep in mind as you plan your trade show strategy.

1. Expand your goals from simple brand awareness toward partner education. What can you do to let contacts know more not just about your company, but your industry? Your products and services?

2. Play the numbers game when you're setting other goals. How many contacts constitute a success?

3. Find your inner librarian— in other words, do your research. Make sure the show or shows you've chosen are going to connect to your ideal audience. Contact the organizers to find out everything you can about the event's history and audience.

4. Location, location, location. When you plan your booth, make sure you know where it is on the floor, who your neighbors are, whether electrical outlets are available, and the general building environment.

5. Good visuals can take you far: consider display boards hung at eye-level, fabric cloths on tables and counters, and of course, several signs with your company name and logo are a must.

6. Then again, don't overdo it. Catch your contacts' eye with a big, bold logo, but remember: your display isn't there to sell your company. You are.

7. Display racks look much better than flat stacks when it comes to displaying flyers, offers and brochures.

8. Let there be light. Setting up little spotlights on your company logo sign is a great way to make your booth stand out in a fluorescent-lit showroom.

9. Does your staff have t-shirts or button-downs bearing the company logo? It's a nice way to present yourselves as a unified team and reinforce your brand.

10. Never underestimate the power of snacks— the yummier, the better. They'll get people to hang around and chat a while.

11. Other great ways to rope ‘em in: computer games, good old-fashioned trivia teasers or contests of every sort. Think of your challenge at the trade show in terms of making small talk at an awkward cocktail party. It's all about starting a conversation, making people smile and putting them at ease.

12. Giveaways, including business cards, brochures, pens, magnets or special discounts, work even better when you make people earn them. Make it fun: “Step right up, sir, and answer a funny work-related question or share your best advice in order to win this fabulous notepad!” Again, think of making conversation as your No. 1 goal. If people just grab the goodies from your table without stopping to make eye contact, what have you accomplished?

13. Speaking of business cards, don't forget to bring a big stack. As old-fashioned as they may seem, those little pieces of card stock are still a great, collectible way for people to find you when they need you.

14. Discounts and coupons for 10 to 20 percent off your services are a great way to collect new customers.

15. Become a friend of the media. Find the press booth for your industry magazines and make contacts there. Trade show publications can spread the word about your company, and industry reporters can be an invaluable resource. They'll listen to your brilliant story ideas, share what and who they know, and maybe even teach you the basics of how to write a great press release.