Howard_recommendation_report_marketing

Lori Stoner, CPA
Capital World Advisors, LLC
219 Somonauk Street
Sycamore, Illinois 60178
Paula Howard
Department of English
Northern Illinois University
April 28, 2013

Introduction........................................................................................................1
Research Methods..............................................................................................2
Task 1. Acquire an understanding of best practices for direct mail design and implementation.............................2
Task 2: Research some of the literature on direct mail design and implementation. ..............................................2
Task 3: Research how a small business owner communicates with customers. ......................................................2
Task 4: Research attitudes of local small business owners on communication and outsourcing.............................3
Task 5. Research how competing accounting firms present their businesses in advertising. ..................................3
Results................................................................................................................4
Task 1. Acquire an understanding of best practices for direct mail design and implementation.............................4
Task 2: Research some of the literature on direct mail design and implementation. ..............................................5
Task 3: Research how a small business owner communicates with customers. ......................................................6
Task 4: Research attitudes of local small business owners on communication and outsourcing.............................6
Task 5. Research how competing accounting firms present their businesses in advertising. ................................11
Conclusions.......................................................................................................19
Recommendation .............................................................................................21
Works Cited......................................................................................................22
Appendix A: Transcript of interview with Mary Pritchard, Associate Director of
the Northern Fund, Northern Illinois University, April 1, 2014 ..........................23
Appendix B: Transcript of interview with Dan Doty, Owner of 3-D Auto Repair,
Cortland IL, April 14, 2014.................................................................................25
Appendix C: Survey results of small business owners on Survey Monkey..........28
Appendix D: Bookkeeping and Payroll Services.................................................38
Appendix E: Direct Mail Postcard......................................................................41

..................................................... 8
.............................................. 9
......................... 10
............................................ 11
....................................................................... 13
................................................................................... 14
.................................................................................. 15
.............................................................. 16
......................................................................... 12
.............................................................................................. 17
............................................................................. 17

Howard Recommendation Report 1
Lori Stoner, a CPA employed by Capital World Advisors LLC, requested that I research how
to design a direct mailing for Capital World Advisors LLC that would attract new clients.
The mailing would be a large postcard, 6 inches by 11 inches and would be sent to small
business owners in the DeKalb/Sycamore area. Capital World Advisors LLC (CWA) is a
financial services firm that also offers payroll and tax services to small business owners.
Although the owner, Jason Hulst, has worked in the area for many years, CWA is new to the
DeKalb/Sycamore area. As a new company, CWA would like to increase its client base by
attracting new customers.
The ideal client profile is very specific: small businesses with 20 or fewer employees
looking to outsource their payroll and bookkeeping services, and possibly their tax
preparation as well. Bookkeeping services include cash flow statements and general ledger
accounting. Payroll services offered are weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly. Also
available are QuickBooks consulting and training.
I understand that although Capital World Advisors LLC has done some advertising in small
circulation, local print publications, it has never used direct mail. Although print ads can be
useful, as is having a website, direct mail would allow Capital World Advisors LLC to
precisely target its ideal prospective clients. The question I wanted to answer in my
research was how to design a direct mail piece that would attract new bookkeeping and
payroll customers to CWA. My research methods included interviews, reviewing some of
the literature on direct mail, and evaluating websites of other firms in the area.
Ideally, direct mail would be just one component in a multifaceted marketing strategy to
attract new customers for its bookkeeping and payroll services. My recommendation is that
Capital World Advisors send out a direct mail postcard to a target audience of small business
owners. CWA’s overall marketing strategy should also include other forms of advertising, such
the internet, social media like Facebook and Twitter, emails, and print ads. Before the mailing,
CWA’s website should be ready to analyze traffic and to interact with potential customers (such
as on the contact form).

In order to better understand the business climate in which CWA operates and best
practices for direct mail design, I identified five research tasks:
Task 1. Acquire and understanding of best practices for direct mail design and
implementation.
Task 2. Research some of the literature on direct mail design and implementation.
Task 3. Research how a small business owner communicates with customers.
Task 4. Research attitudes of local small business owners on communication and
outsourcing.
Task 5. Research how competing accounting firms present their businesses in
advertising.
My research methods included interviews, reviewing some of the literature on direct mail,
and evaluating websites of other firms in the area. A description of the research tasks
follows.
In order to better understand direct mail principles and design, I interviewed Mary
Pritchard, Associate Director of the Northern Fund at Northern Illinois University, who
coordinates direct mail campaigns for the Northern Fund. Specifically, I asked about best
practices in designing direct mail postcards, improving response rate, and incorporating
direct mail as part of a larger public awareness effort. The transcript of my interview with Ms.
Pritchard can be found in Appendix A.
I reviewed several sources regarding direct mail: David Shelton’s article, "Better Business:
When You Should Consider Using Direct Marketing"; an article in the online edition of
Canadian Business titled “10 Ways to Boost Your Response Rate – Now”; and an article by Ira
Kalb in Business Insider titled “How to Do Direct Marketing That’s Not Annoying.”
I interviewed Dan Doty, owner of 3-D Auto Repair in Cortland, Illinois to better understand
two things:
 Why do small business owners outsource payroll and bookkeeping?
 How do small business owners attract and keep customers?
The transcript of my interview with Mr. Doty can be found in Appendix B.

In order to understand the communication and bookkeeping decisions facing small business
owners, I conducted a survey using Survey Monkey. Lori Stoner had provided me with a
directory of small businesses in the area with 20 or fewer employees. The directory did not
contain website or email information, so I performed Google searches on a sampling of small
business names to obtain that information. I then sent out 50 invitations to small business owners
to participate in the survey. Two of the business owners had already opted out of doing surveys
with Survey Monkey, leaving 48 viable respondents. In order to boost the response rate, I also
sent invitations via Facebook’s message feature to those businesses which had Facebook pages.
Of these, seven of the eleven business owners responded to the survey.
The survey contained the following ten questions:
1. When making decisions about your business, what is the most important source of
information?
2. What kind of communication do you rely on most to attract new customers?
3. Including yourself, how many people does your company employ (please include both
full and part-time)?
4. Does your company outsource its bookkeeping or payroll?
5. If you don’t outsource bookkeeping or payroll, why not?
6. If you do outsource bookkeeping and payroll, what was the most important factor in
your decision to outsource?
7. Whether or not you outsource bookkeeping and payroll, what factor would be the most
important to you in hiring someone to do this?
8. What kinds of advertising do you find most persuasive?
9. How long have you worked at your current job?
10. How did you like participating in this survey?
In order to obtain a better understanding of the competitive business climate, I reviewed
the advertising of other accounting firms with a similar client base in the DeKalb/Sycamore
area. For this report I then narrowed my focus to locally-owned rather than nationally-owned
firms, reasoning that these were the firms would be considered CWA’s closest competitors.
Because CWA is a relatively new firm, I focused my research on lower cost advertising
methods such as listings in the online Yellow Pages and proprietary websites. In examining
these websites, I looked at design elements such as keywords, slogans, images, and color
schemes.

In this section I present the results of my research. For each task I performed, I discuss the most
significant findings.
In order to better understand direct mail principles and design, I interviewed, Mary
Pritchard an Associate Director of the Northern Fund at Northern Illinois University, who
coordinates direct mail campaigns for the Northern Fund. Specifically, I asked about best
practices in designing direct mail postcards, improving response rate, and incorporating
direct mail as part of a larger public awareness effort. The transcript of my interview with
Ms. Pritchard can be found in Appendix A. In this section I summarize the main points of the
interview and offer a few quotes.
Before you design your direct mail piece, you need to decide why you are sending it and what
you want it to achieve. This sounds obvious, but this step is often forgotten.
Common elements in successful direct mail pieces are the same in any kind of visual design.
 Use the elements of contrast, proximity, alignment, and repetition.
 Keep it simple and clean. Less is more.
 Use only two fonts, and don’t be afraid to go large on the front of the postcard.
 Two-color printing offers the best value. Use the colors from your logo and website if
possible (repetition builds branding).
 Use text sparingly. Too many words require too much work from the reader.
 Be sure to include your logo, web address, a short catch phrase, and an action statement
specifying exactly what it is you want the reader to do.
 Use action words and make the message reader-centered.
The typical response rate for direct mail is 2%. However, there are several strategies you can use
to track and improve response.
 Make sure you know your audience and what they need.
 Make sure your website is ready before you send out the mailing.
 Having the capability to track hits to your website is extremely helpful.
 Offer your readers more than one point of entry to your website, such as the address of
your website and a QR code.
 Another way to track traffic on your website is with a coupon code or offer code that
readers can type in when they fill out a response form on your website.
 Use a live stamp, not metered mail.
What is the goal of this postcard? Is it meant to be read, with lots of text? Or is it meant to
be seen? Decide this first because it informs all your other decisions.
-Mary Pritchard

 Hand address postcards instead of printing labels.
 Personalize the message with the reader’s name if possible.
In addition to interviewing an expert in direct mail, I also reviewed some of the literature on the
subject. I reviewed the following articles: Ira Kalb’s article in Business Insider titled “How to Do
Direct Marketing That’s Not Annoying”; David Shelton’s "Better Business: When You Should
Consider Using Direct Marketing"; and an article in the online edition of Canadian Business
titled “10 Ways to Boost Your Response Rate – Now.”
Kalb states that direct mail is best used as part of an overall marketing strategy. Other facets of
successful direct mail campaigns include use of the internet, follow-up phone calls, and social
media such as Facebook and Twitter. Direct mail pieces should contain links to the company’s
website or QR codes to direct them there.
Shelton agrees with Kalb that direct mail should be just one part of the marketing plan. He
cautions that it is not very effective for raising public awareness or building a company’s image.
However, he does recommend using direct mail in the following instances:
 A business has changed ownership or management.
 A business is announcing a specific product or service
 A business is trying to elicit a specific response from customers, such as submitting an
order or making an appointment.
Shelton advises direct mail pieces should be short, clear, and direct, and they should make it very
clear what it is you want the customer to do next and why the information is relevant to them.
In “10 Ways to Boost Your Response Rates—Now,” the article summarizes some direct mail
advice from industry experts. Because some of these tips don’t apply to CWA, I have narrowed
them to seven.
1. Personalize direct mail using variable printing (putting each customer’s name in the
piece) and making it applicable to the customer.
2. Tell the customer how they will save money.
3. Give them multiple ways to respond.
4. Center the direct mailing around the customer and meeting their specific needs at a
specific time.
5. Make the design stand out from the “clutter” in the mailbox.
6. Retest the offer in emails to the customers.
7. Invite physical interaction with the piece.
Personalization – if you can get their name on there, do it. Then they feel special, like this
is not a mass mailing, this is for them.
-Mary Pritchard

I interviewed Dan Doty, owner of 3-D Auto Repair in Cortland, Illinois to better understand
two things:
 Why do small business owners outsource payroll and bookkeeping?
 How do small business owners attract and keep customers?
The transcript of my interview with Mr. Doty can be found in Appendix B. In this section I
summarize four main points from the interview and offer a few quotes. First, he outsources
bookkeeping and payroll services so that he can focus on his auto repair business.
Second, rather than relying on just one method, Mr. Doty uses a multifaceted strategy to
communicate with current and potential customers. Specifically, he relies on:
 Referrals, or word-of-mouth
 Print advertising
 Internet (website, social media)
Third, Mr. Doty has only used direct mail once, when he sent 10,000 postcards to area residents
to announce that he had left his former employer and opened up his own shop. Although he did
not track a response rate for the mailing, he does recall people mentioning the postcard and
believes it helped attract customers to his new business.
Fourth, in addition to having a website (http://www.dekalbalignment.com/), 3-D Auto Repair has
a page on Facebook. By maintaining a presence on social media and regularly updating his
website, Mr. Doty keeps his business in the public consciousness and builds on his relationships
with his current customers.
In order to understand the communication and bookkeeping decisions facing small business
owners, I designed and conducted a survey using the online service Survey Monkey. Lori Stoner
You can’t be an expert in everything. The amount of time that it would take me to do that
stuff I could make 3 times the amount of money fixing a car.
-Dan Doty
It’s much easier to keep the customer you have had than to get a new one.
-Dan Doty

had provided me with a directory of small businesses in the area with 20 or fewer employees.
The directory did not contain website or email information, so I performed Google searches on a
sampling of small business names to obtain that information. I then sent out 50 invitations to
small business owners to participate in the survey. Two of the business owners had already opted
out of doing surveys with Survey Monkey, leaving 48 viable respondents. In order to boost the
response rate, I also sent invitations via Facebook’s message feature to those businesses which
had Facebook pages. Of these, seven small business owners responded to the survey. I will focus
here on their responses to questions 2, 5, 6, and 8 (marked by an asterisk in the following list of
questions). The full survey and results appear in Appendix C.
The survey asked the following ten questions:
1. When making decisions about your business, what is the most important source of
information?
2. What kind of communication do you rely on most to attract new customers?
3. Including yourself, how many people does your company employ (please include both
full and part-time)?
4. Does your company outsource its bookkeeping or payroll?
5. If you don’t outsource bookkeeping or payroll, why not?
6. If you do outsource bookkeeping and payroll, what was the most important factor in
your decision to outsource?
7. Whether or not you outsource bookkeeping and payroll, what factor would be the most
important to you in hiring someone to do this?
8. What kinds of advertising do you find most persuasive?
9. How long have you worked at your current job?
10. How did you like participating in this survey?

The results of question 2, which asked what kind of communication small business owners rely
to attract new customers, are summarized in Figure 1. Participants were encouraged to mark all
answers that applied to them. All seven participants who responded to the survey answered this
question. The most popular choice was word of mouth, selected by six participants. Internet
advertising and use of a web site followed with two participants selecting each of them. One
participant selected membership in local groups like the Chamber of Commerce or professional
organizations. None of the participants selected direct mail, ads on TV, ads on radio, or print
advertising.
Although the sample is small, some useful patterns emerge from the data. First, small business
owners rely on a combination of types of communication to attract new customers. Second, the
value placed on word of mouth was very high in this sample. Third, the internet and websites
were cited more often than more expensive options such as radio and TV ads.
6
2
0
0
0
2
0
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Word of mouth
Web site
Ads on radio
Ads on TV
Print advertising (newspaper, newsletter,…
Internet advertising
Direct mail advertising
Membership in local groups like Chamber
Number of responses

Figure 2 summarizes the findings from question 5, which asked participants who did not
outsource bookkeeping and payroll why they chose not to do so. As in question 2, participants
were encouraged to select all options that applied to them. Four out of seven participants
answered this question. Two of them indicated that they already outsource those services. Two of
them indicated that they know how to do bookkeeping and payroll. One responded that
employees handle these responsibilities. One responded that they could not afford to outsource
these services. None of the participants indicated that they were uncomfortable with someone
else performing those services for them.
These data suggest some interesting themes. The first is that there is a demand for bookkeeping
and payroll services among area small business owners. The second is that not every business
owner who wants to outsource believes that it is an affordable option. The third is that, since
none of the participants mentioned concern about someone else performing these services, small
business owners would be open to the possibility of outsourcing.
2
0
1
2
1
0 1 2 3 4 5
Know how to do it myself
Not comfortable with someone else doing it
Can’t afford to outsource it
Already outsource bookkeeping and payroll
Staff does bookkeeping/ payroll
Number of responses

Figure 3 summarizes the responses to question 7, which asked participants what would be most
important factors in hiring someone to do bookkeeping and payroll. Five participants answered
the question and two skipped it. Personal attention was mentioned by three participants. Low
cost and professional credentials were each mentioned twice. Preference for a larger company
and working with someone who understood their business goals were each mentioned once.
Three factors received zero mentions: prefer a small company, locally owned, and nationally
owned.
The theme of personal attention emerges from the data. Of the five participants who answered
this question, three mentioned that factor as being important. Additionally, the response
“understanding my business goals” would seem to fit under the umbrella of personal attention.
Low cost and professional credentials were also highlighted, indicating that these participants
require value for the money they spend on outsourcing.
2
2
0
0
3
1
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Professional credentials
Low cost
Locally owned
Nationally owned
Personal attention
Understanding my business goals
Prefer a larger company
Prefer a small company

Figure 4 summarizes the results of question 8, which asked what kinds of advertising participants
find most effective. Six participants answered this question and one skipped it. The internet or
website was mentioned three times, followed by print advertising which was mentioned twice.
Phone calls, direct mail, television, and radio were each mentioned once.
Six of the participants answered this question with only one skipping it, which means that half of
the participants said they found advertising online to be persuasive. Each of the remaining
response categories were mentioned at least once, which would seem to indicate that a successful
marketing strategy employs several methods of outreach.
I did a Google search online for accounting services in the DeKalb/Sycamore area that offer
bookkeeping and payroll services. This led me to examine the online listings for such firms in
the Yellow Pages. In all I found 31 firms offering such services, eight of them nationally owned,
23 of them locally owned. Please note that Capital World Advisors LLC was not listed. For a full
list of the firms I found, please refer to Appendix D. Table1 summarizes these findings.
3
1
1
2
1
1
0 1 2 3 4 5
Internet or website
Radio
Television
Print
Direct mail
Phone calls
Number of responses

With online Yellow Pages listings With websites
Locally-owned services 23 5
Nationally-owned services 8 8
Total 31 13
For this report I then narrowed my focus to the locally owned firms, reasoning that these would
be considered CWA’s closest competitors. An online search revealed that five of the locally
owned firms have websites, although the last one, for Wolff & Jeske is not a functional website
and contains no live links. Because of this I excluded it from my analysis, leaving four firms
with websites.
 American Midwest Bank
 Krueger & Advisors
 Siepert and Company
 Walters Accounting Inc.
I examined the portion of the home page which appears above the fold (i.e., content the viewer
can see without scrolling) for each website, looking for keywords or phrases, color schemes, and
slogans used. Below are screen captures of the home page of each website. I have circled
elements like slogans and keywords. I summarize my findings on the pages following the screen
captures.

As shown in Figure 5, the URL for American Midwest Bank is
https://americanmidwestbank.com/index.html.The home page for American Midwest uses a
monochromatic color scheme in black and gray. Their slogan, “Taxes & payroll? Relax!” stands
out because of the larger typeface and red color. Keywords are committed, dedicated, and the
phrase time is money. The photograph features an undentified young woman in business attire.

As shown in Figure 6, the URL for Krueger Tax is http://www.kruegertax.com/. Their home
page color scheme uses shades of blue, gray, and white. Keywords include affordable, time, and
money. Key phrases are “our services help you save time and money,” and “our services – time
is money.” It isn’t clear what the company slogan or motto is. Two images above the fold feature
unidentified men in dress shirts and ties.

As shown in Figure 7, the URL for Siepert & Co. is http://www.siepert.com/. The color scheme
of the home page uses shades of blue, gray, and white. Keywords include qualified, friendly,
dedicated, professional, local, and global. Key phrases are “our central focus is always on our
clients,” and “We are experienced advisors providing the right advice to you,” which appears to
be their slogan. The image features three unidentified people, one woman and two men, one of
whom wears a shirt and tie.

As shown in Figure 8, the URL for Walters Accounting Inc. is http://www.walterstax.com/. The
color scheme of the website is gray, blue and white. Keywords used are expertise, dedicated,
personalized, affordable, flexible, friendly, listen, and the phrases “your first consultation is
always free,” “small firm service – big firm expertise,” and “We make it our business to know
your business,” which appears to be their slogan.
Table 2 lists the keywords and phrases from the home pages of these four websites in
alphabetical order and the frequency of their use across the four websites.

Affordable 2
Committed/Commitment 2
Competitive 1
Dedicated 1
First consultation free 1
Flexible 1
Friendly 2
Focus on client 2
Global 1
Intelligent 1
Listen 1
Local 1
Personalized 1
Professional 2
Qualified 1
Timely 1
Solutions 1
Superior 1
American Midwest Bank
https://americanmidwestbank.com/index.html Taxes & payroll? Relax!
Black,
gray,
white
Krueger and Advisors
http://www.kruegertax.com/ Time is money.
Blue, gray,
white
Siepert and Company
http://www.siepert.com/
We are experienced advisors
providing the right advice to you.
Blue, gray,
white
Walters Accounting Inc.
http://www.walterstax.com/
We make it our business to know
your business.
Blue, gray,
white
Table 3 summarizes elements of the home pages of these firms. Looking at the portion of the
home pages which appear above the fold, all of them use monochromatic color schemes, and
three of the four use blue, gray, and white. The URLs of all four firms include at least part of the
firm’s name. Three of the home pages feature stock photographs of unidentified people, but none
are of employees of the firm. Only one of them, Walters Accounting Inc., mentions that the first
consultation is free. None of the home pages invite the viewer to take action, such as call now or

contact us. The overall impression is that these are rather generic websites with little
personalization.

My original research question was how best to design a direct mailing postcard for Capital
World Advisors that would attract new customers to their bookkeeping and payroll services. My
research indicated that direct mail is not the best tool for every instance, but in the case of a
business that is new or offering new services it can be useful.
My interview with a direct mail expert, Mary Pritchard, yielded excellent advice about designing
direct mail and improving your response rate. Her major points about design were:
 Keep it simple; don’t overload it with text.
 Large fonts (sizes 55-72) on the front of the postcard grab a reader’s attention, as does
color. Include your logo, web address, and a short catch phrase.
 Tell the reader exactly what it is you want them to do.
 Make the message reader-centered. Explain clearly the benefit to them.
 Two-color printing is much more economical than four-color and still visually appealing.
Ms. Pritchard’s suggestions to increase response rate were echoed in the articles I read. The
strategies include:
 Make sure your website is ready before you send out the mailing.
 Offer your readers more than one point of entry to your website, such as the URL of your
website and a QR code.
 Track traffic on your website with a coupon code or offer code that readers can type in
when they fill out a response form on your website.
 Use a live stamp, not metered mail.
 Hand address postcards instead of printing labels.
 Personalize the message with the reader’s name if possible.
Direct mail is a useful tool in certain specific instances, especially when used as part of a larger,
multifaceted marketing strategy. In his article on direct mail, David Shelton stated that it is best
used when a company is under new management, is announcing a new product or service, or
when it is asking customers to take a specific action, such as making an appointment.
Dan Doty, owner of 3-D Auto Repair, used direct mail when he left his employer and opened his
own shop. However, he does not rely on direct mail to attract customers. Instead, he considers
referrals, or word-of-mouth advertising, to be the most valuable method of attracting new
customers. He doesn’t rely solely on that, however, and understands the importance of the
internet to his continued success. He has a website and a Facebook page for his shop, and he is
mindful of adding new content on Facebook at regular intervals to attract visitors to the page.
My findings from Survey Monkey indicate that other business owners agree with Mr. Doty on
the importance of word-of-mouth advertising and the internet. When it came to which method of
communication they find most persuasive, no single method emerged as most popular. Instead,
all of the methods offered in the survey were selected: internet, radio and TV, print, emails, and
even phone calls.
My research on the websites of competing firms in the area yielded some interesting findings.
Although I was able to find listings in the online Yellow Pages for 23 locally-owned companies,

only four of them had functioning websites: American Midwest Bank, Krueger & Advisors,
Siepert and Company, and Walters Accounting Inc. The home pages were monochromatic, and
three of them used gray, blue, and white. The URLs for each website contained some form of the
firm’s name. There were five keywords or phrases that were mentioned twice in the home pages:
affordable, committed/commitment, friendly, focus on client, and professional.
The themes evoked by these keywords also appeared in the survey results. When asked what
factors would be most important when deciding to outsource their bookkeeping and payroll,
three participants mentioned personal attention, two mentioned low cost, and two mentioned
professional credentials. These same themes suggest a strategy for Capital World Advisors in
attracting new customers.

My recommendation is that Capital World Advisors send out a direct mail postcard to a target
audience of small business owners. This mailing should be part of an overall marketing strategy
that also uses other forms of advertising, such the internet, social media like Facebook and
Twitter, emails, and print ads. Before the mailing, CWA’s website should be ready to analyze
traffic and to interact with potential customers (such as on the contact form).
The postcard design should contain the following:
 CWA’s logo
 CWA’s URL
 a QR code linking customers with smart phones to CWA’s website
 a discount offer
 a compelling reason to act now, such as limiting the discount offer to one month
 customer-focused language about how CWA can meet their needs, and
 two-color layout (one color from CWA’s logo).
To improve the response rate, I recommend using several tactics:
 If the budget allows, use variable printing, which allows for the recipient’s name to be
printed on the postcard.
 Hand address the postcards to separate them from junk mail.
 Use stamps instead of a postage meter (for the same reason as above).
 Follow up the mailing with emails or phone calls.
Using CWA’s logo and a consistent color scheme across all marketing methods is important in
creating a consistent, professional look.
In Appendix E I have included a sample postcard design utilizing the color scheme on CWA’s
website and some of the design elements discussed above, including two points of internet access
for recipients, a URL and a QR code.

"10 Ways to Boost Your Response Rates -- Now." Canadian Business 2009: 11-13. Web.
<http://www.ulib.niu.edu:4513/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=37184040&site=ehost-
live>.
Doty, Dan. Direct Mail and Small Business Owners Paula Howard. 14 April 2014.
Howard, Paula. "Communication and Small Businesses." Survey Monkey. April 2014. Web.
Kalb, Ira. "How to Do Direct Marketing That's Not Annoying." Business Insider 12 November 2013. Web.
<http://www.businessinsider.com/the-exploding-importance-of-direct-marketing-2013-11>.
Pritchard, Mary. Best Practices for Direct Mail Paula Howard. 1 April 2014.
Shelton, David. "Better Business: When You Should Consider Using Direct Marketing." Money Marketing
(Online edition) 16 April 2014: 43. Web.
<http://www.ulib.niu.edu:4513/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=95453362&site=ehost-
live>.

Q: What are some common elements in successful direct mail design?
A: The same things that make any design successful. Making them have alignment, proximity,
all those same things. Make it easy for them to do whatever it is you’re asking. Appealing to
ethos, logos, pathos. Focusing on the benefit to the reader. In terms of language -- the most
important thing is making it about the reader. They want to know how what you are asking of
them benefits them.
Q: What’s the best way to grab the reader’s attention?
A: What is the goal of this postcard? Is it meant to be read, with lots of text? Or is it meant to be
seen? Decide this first because it informs all your other decisions. What are they getting out of
it? Ethos, pathos, logos. Obviously, making a design visually appealing plays into this, but
making the messaging something that benefits THEM and speaks to THEIR needs, not yours. Is
this a postcard or a letter? If it’s a letter, you could use teaser copy on envelope. If it’s a postcard,
the front needs to POP with big, bold, eye catching design. Use variable text, have the reader’s
name in the message—dear so and so, not just dear friend. Simple big bold letters on front, more
info on back (5 x 10) – 72 font.
Q: What should be avoided in the design?
A: Avoid being too complex – be simple and clean. Avoid excessive colors, multiple fonts,
complicated design. Two colors work fine, look clean and simple. Stick to simple, clean design.
Follow design principles we’ve learned already. Avoid too much text! Especially if this is a
postcard. Use as few words as possible to get the idea across. If possible just have a photo on the
front, logo, web address, short catch phrase or action message on back. Lead them to more info
on the web. I would stay away from blocks of text. I would have some sort of design on the
front, and on the back, a message, and action: website, QR code, visit us now to get a discount,
etc.
Q: Are there buzz words I should use? If so, what are they?
A: Make it you-focused and use action verbs. Visit the website, act now. Make the language
YOU-focused, reader-centric, etc. The subject should be you.
Q: What typefaces would you recommend?
A: I’d follow the same rules of design we’ve learned in class. Sans serif for headings/attention
grabbing things, serif for blocks of text. Don’t use more than 2 fonts in a design! Stick within
font families if you can, have lots of contrast. Sans serif is default for postcard headings; same
font families; size 72 on front, or 55-60; don’t be afraid to go big and bold. Text size can go
small like 11 point. Most importantly, see if there are approved fonts/font families for the
organization that you need to use. Same with colors!

Q: Are some colors better to use than others?
Does the organization have standard colors? Stick with these if at all possible. Use colors that are
part of your brand or logo or website. Use consistency. Black and white printing is the cheapest.
Two color (black, white plus one other color) is good. This also includes all shades of black, and
all shades of that one color you chose, so it’s quite versatile. Use two color if you’re just creating
a design. It will be the most cohesive and visually appealing, as well as the most cost-effective.
Q: What is the typical response rate for direct mail?
A: The response rate average is 2%. It can be hard to tell because you’re not asking them to mail
a reply. If you’re asking them to go to the website, you can judge increase in web traffic. If the
card is mailed on Monday, then measure traffic from Wednesday through the following
Wednesday.
Q: Are there strategies to optimize the success of a direct mail campaign?
A: The best way to get ROI (return on investment) is to know your audience. Who will best
respond to this mailing? Which demographic? Which zip code? Which salary bracket? What
kind of data do you have on your audience that you can use to segment out the best mailing list
possible? It is far better to mail to 4,000 people who have a greater likelihood of responding than
to mail to 10,000 people that are less likely to respond and will decrease your ROI.
QR codes are good; there are lots of QR generators online. This takes reader directly to your
website when they scan with smart phone – it’s another point of access; depending the analytics
on your website, it may be possible to track how many of them visited site. Two points of access
are good: a QR and your web address. Coupon codes are also helpful with tracking (ex: April
2014).
Other ways of increasing your response rate are using a live stamp (not metered!). It makes it
real mail, not junk mail. And hand addressing postcards; again real not junk mail.
Personalization – if you can get their name on there, do it. Then they feel special, like this is not
a mass mailing, this is for them.

Q: Including yourself, how many people are employed here?
A: Two
Q: How long have you been in business?
A: Three years
Q: When you’re makings decisions about your business, what’s the most important source
of information?
A: Depends on the decision.
Q: If you’re making a decision about a professional service, like hiring an attorney, or
accountant?
A: Referral.
Q: Referral from a friend, or…?
A: Yeah, from somebody I know.
Q: What kinds of communication do you rely on most to attract new customers?
A: I do some print advertising, very heavily internet advertising, word of mouth.
Q: Why did you decide to outsource your bookkeeping and payroll?
A: You can’t be an expert in everything. The amount of time that it would take me to do that
stuff I could make 3 times the amount of money fixing a car.
Q: So when you looked to outsource that, what qualities did you look for in an accounting
service?
A: I was already using that service for another business that I had a partner in who was friends
with the accountant I use now.
Q: If you had to go about finding another account for some reason, how would you go
about doing that?
A: I would probably talk to some people in the area that I know and see who they’re using.
Q: What kinds of advertising do you find most persuasive? What works best on you?
A: Not much.

Q: Why?
A: Most of anything that I buy is just basically through referral. Not a lot of anything advertising
wise really drives me to buy a television or anything of that nature. If I was going to buy a new
television I’d talk to five people I know that just bought one and see what they have and why.
Q: So that’s how you get your information?
A: Basically, yeah, I’m just lazy. And I have other friends that are all into the latest, greatest
thing and do all that research. So I just say, hey, what’d you do, why’d you do that? Saves me a
lot of time.
Q: Do you do any research on the internet?
A: Some
Q: Do you use the Yellow Pages?
A: No. Anybody that’s advertising in the yellow pages is a decade behind. I just have the free
listing.
Q: You do have a website?
A: I have several. Actually I have 15 web addresses.
Q: When it comes to promoting your business, what kinds of communication, not just
advertising but communication, do you use to promote your business?
A: We use email or social media, we do lots of stuff on Facebook. 3-D has its own Facebook
page and we post like cars we’re working on or different things that we’ve done.
We don’t do any, like, hey we’re having a special today. We just more of like if we had a classic
car in here or something odd, we throw that up there to keep people seeing us but not
bombarding them.
Q: And do you do that yourself?
A: I do it myself.
Q: And that works pretty well for you?
A: I’m pretty happy with it. I’m sure there’s a way to get more out of it but there’s only so much
time in the day. I don’t know that it’s worth paying someone to do it. I had some guys come in
and they wanted to do something [with the website], and I’m like, I already got something. They
actually came back and said your page is actually really nice for somebody that’s doing it on
their own. They’re like, you got just enough updates to keep it on the main screen but not so
you’re overflowing. Too much is too much. I get email newsletters all the time from dealerships
and half the time I don’t look at them, I just delete them.
Q: So of all the ways you use to communicate with new customers, what do you think is the
single most effective way for you?

A: Actually just the referral. I do something as simple as this [holds up coupon for car wash] you
get over $100 worth of work done, you get a free car wash at Ralph’s. That generates a lot of
buzz. That’s something that they like and they talk about. I’ve had other people say, oh that was
cool that so-and-so got a car wash.
Q: So you work a lot on maintaining good relationships with your current customers and
that helps you get new customers?
A: It’s much easier to keep the customer you have had than to get a new one.
Q: Have you ever tried direct mail?
A: I did do it once. Right when I first opened I did a 10,000 piece mailer. I did get some stuff out
there, I did it more… I worked at another shop for 18 years, so it was more to get out that I was
on my own.
Q: What was it? A letter, a postcard?
A: Postcard.
Q: And you did get some response?
A: Not a ton of people were mentioning that they saw that. They were just kind of coming in or
calling and saying, hey… I need to be better about asking new customers where they’re finding
us at. A lot of it really is off the internet.

This list was compiled from a search of online Yellow Pages listings for bookkeeping and payroll
services in the DeKalb/Sycamore area.
Locally-owned
Alan Accounting
564 Katherine Cir, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 517-0640
Allen, Tim, CPA
513 DeKalb Ave, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 895-2132 and
502 E Main St, Genoa, IL 60135(815) 784-2609
American Midwest Bank https://americanmidwestbank.com/business/index.html
1985 DeKalb Ave, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 756-1444
Boone & Johnson CPA
128 N 3rd St, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 756-2737
Brown Patricia L CPA
223 Palmer Ct, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 758-0906
Chilton J Scott CPA
1013 N 1st St, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 758-8141
Cooper Grant CPA
309 Fairmont Dr, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 756-4444
Economy Tax Service
67 E North Ave, Cortland, IL 60112(815) 756-5537
Gregory Accounting
2600 DeKalb Ave Ste H, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 758-0101
Hiatt & Moen PC
605 Plaza Dr # 2, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 899-4051
Jacobson & Snow Limited
650 N Peace Rd Ste F, DeKalb, IL 60115(815) 756-9386
Jm Accounting
906 S Chamberlain Rd, Esmond, IL 60129(815) 981-8433
Keeler, Robert, CPA
2380 Bethany Rd, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 787-7657

Neil Kepner CPA
901 N 1st St, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 754-5588
Kerman, Mark D, CPA
2380 Bethany Rd, Sycamore, IL 60178 (815) 787-7657
Krueger & Associates Tax and Business Advisory Inc http://www.kruegertax.com/
185 S State St, Hampshire, IL 60140(847) 683-2500
Lalley Accounting
231 S 2nd St Ste 1, DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 748-0370
Siepert and Company, LLC http://www.siepert.com/
2380 Bethany Rd, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 787-1999
Parker Steve CPA
1600 E Lincoln Hwy, DeKalb, IL 60115(815) 758-1634
Usoy Inc
752 Kensington Blvd, DeKalb, IL 60115(815) 748-0424
Walters Accounting Inc http://www.walterstax.com/
236 May Mart Dr, Rochelle, IL 61068(815) 561-8979
Weaver, Katharine
311 S 3rd St, Kirkland, IL 60146(815) 522-3554
Wolff & Jeske http://www.wolffjeske.com/
502 E Main St, Genoa, IL 60135(815) 784-6547 and
513 DeKalb Ave, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 895-2132
Nationally-owned
American National Tax & Payroll Services
DeKalb, IL 60115(815) 787-5709 and
124 S Main St, Sycamore, IL 60178(815) 787-5709
Colins and Associates CPA
Serving the DeKalb Area. (844) 862-9287
H & R Block
Multiple listings
Intuit
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service
1260 Oakwood Ave, DeKalb, IL 60115(815) 756-8299

Linda's Payroll Processing Service
Serving the DeKalb Area (866) 286-9191
Paychex
Smart Payroll
Serving the DeKalb Area (888) 748-6875

Howard_recommendation_report_marketing

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Howard_recommendation_report_marketing

Similar to Howard_recommendation_report_marketing (20)

Howard_recommendation_report_marketing