Designing Marketing Collateral Material for the Real Decision Maker

Do you know who really makes the final decision to purchase your products or services?  It is often not the person that you are led to believe is the buyer.  Many sales people are even told by the buyer that it is their decision, but like a banker, they have buying limitations or must always get ‘final’ approval.

Generally, most ‘real’ Decision Makers (DM) almost never meet with sales people and is typically more mature than the people who do the leg work in purchasing.  They have worked up the ladder and can be 40 or 50+.  And, it is because of these ‘more mature’ DM’s that your efforts will more than pay for itself in increased response when designing marketing and collateral material targeted to that group.

Generation Y may be captivated by mobile marketing but those who control their purse strings remain responsive to traditional direct marketing channels including TV, radio, print, direct mail and print collateral material.

And when designing other than traditional direct marketing, keep in mind that 80% of these same DM’s do use search engines and visit websites to research companies and products.  Almost 90% of senior DM’s watch TV almost every day, a higher percentage than any other age group.  Only 5% use IM and 87% prefer e-mail as their primary means of communication online (source: DM News, 10/27/08).

DM’s also blog and regularly visit networking sites like LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.  They are not likely however to have an account or visit Facebook like Gen Y.  The DM’s in this group typically read, listen, and respond to traditional marketing programs.  Here are 5 points to consider in your markeing plan...

1.     Identify what irritates (problem) your DM market segment, empathize and bond on an emotional level (solution) with your DM prospect.

2.     Financial marketing material, i.e. investing in your product or service, aimed at this DM should offer a less than average risk / reward ratio.

3.     You also have this DM’s attention when you highlight money savings and special offers.

4.     From one DM to another; when you promote through a sales letter, the person who signs it should be a DM or higher.

5.     Don’t rely on the strength of your brand to make the sale; offer DM’s facts, statistics, testimonials, etc. that prove your benefits.

The design and layout itself should maximize the contrast between the font and the background, because it makes it easier to distinguish an image.  This is especially true for the contrast in color between text and paper.  Use a serif type font, avoiding font sizes <11 or elaborate type style and the overuse of italics.  The use of proper sentence structure, shorter lines of type, and more paragraphs also enhance readability for this DM.

Your salesperson may be a Gen X, Y or Z, and that’s okay, but if your marketing efforts are designed and targeted to that group, you won’t have the eye and ear of the ‘real’ DM when you need it.