As we've mentioned time and time again, one of the biggest pitfalls that any marketer faces is the daunting challenge to turn around the negative perception of fax promotions. Sadly, the reception to fax marketing attempts is akin to telemarketers interrupting dinner or receiving email spam for weird sorts of false promises.
No marketer worth their salt ever wants to be in this category. For all that, they've worked towards and for, and then, lumped into a sleazeball territory? As if!
What is to be done to avoid this disastrous moniker?
Never Degrade Your Products With Cheesy Promotions
Sure, everyone wants to lure in customers to buy their latest product, but certainly not at the expense of their reputation.
Incentives, sales, coupons or promotions do draw in customers, but not the type of customers you're seeking. The kind that fall for these quick-and-easy ploys will never be repeat customers. They'll cash in on some deal and then walk away.
There's a fine line between promoting your product properly and willingly degrading yourself. You already know how awesome your products are, so why do you need to stoop to such a low level?
This sort of tactic is akin to begging. "Please! Please! Please! Buy from us! We'll give you the shirt off our backs if that will make you happy!"
So, how do you avoid the cheesy promotion so common with fax marketing?
Be honest. Be straightforward. Be consistent.
If you have a coupon running already, copy it on your fax promotion. But, don't think for one second that glaring promotions will work. That, fundamentally, is the sole cause of the negative reputation of fax marketing.
Never, ever shout from the rooftops that you're practically giving away your products at a ridiculously low price or offering your first-born child in exchange for a sale.
Stick with integrity. It will never fail you, or lead you down the thorny path of cheesiness.
Lots of !!!!! Never Work
This tip also applies to CAPITAL LETTERS.
If you feel as though you need to resort to visual gimmicks to draw in your customers, then stop. Just, stop. This screams not only desperation but also that you're unprofessional and that you'll stoop to the lowest level in order to get a sale. Have you ever seen Google use those tricks? Never. Not in a million years. And, Google is one of the most successful companies ever.
More than demonstrating how unprofessional you are, using a million "!!!!" or all CAPS shows your customers that your products aren't worth a second glance.
To rise above the cheese, duplicate your other promotions. If you're running an email marketing campaign with a certain sale, then use it for your fax promotions.
The bottom line is always be overly professional and classy with everything you do regarding your faxes. To cut through the fax nonsense, you need to be not only 1 step above the cheese, but also 1,000.
Offer Incentives that Pay Out
For your fax marketing opt-ins, always provide some reason for signing up. Sure, it's easier for customers to receive email or SMS promotions, but, really, what makes your fax marketing different? What distinguishes this strategy from all the rest?
One of the best incentives to offer customers to sign up for your fax marketing promotions is the "give back."
People love the opportunity to gain a product while having their hard-earned dollars go to a great cause. For your fax marketing promotion, consider a classy incentive: a percentage of every sale of the featured product will go to a charity.
Knowing that the gigantic conglomerate isn't pocketing all of the revenue reassures customers that you're community-oriented and considerate of others.
As a great incentive, consider this: conduct a fax survey of all of your customers and ask them which charity they'd like to support the most. First, poll your employees and figure out the top 5 charities that they believe in. Then use that data for your survey.
You'll be surprised at the response.
And, certainly, this little practice will set your fax marketing campaign from the cheese.
