I have been involved in the marketing industry for over 21 years. And, up until three years ago, I worked primarily in offline marketing, creating and implementing marketing plans that consisted primarily of print advertising and broadcast advertising for my clients.
Three years ago when the idea for 10stepmarketing was born, I jumped head-first into the world of Internet marketing. And, I have spent the past three years as a "sponge" soaking up everything I could learn about online marketing and applying and testing what I learn in my own online businesses.
This week, I am about to embark on yet another new form of marketing - Direct Response TV. For the past year I have been working with an infomercial production company to develop a long form infomercial (28:30 in length) to promote and sell my 10stepmarketing System nationwide. We'll be selling the newly updated CD version of this product.
After a full year of hard work and lots of patience, that infomercial begins testing in markets across the U.S. today. The test will run for two weeks and based on the results generated we will make a decision whether or not to roll-it out in full force.
I've learned a lot about the infomercial business over the past year. And, I've gotten over some of my initial reservations about using this sometimes controversial marketing avenue. I have realized that while this is not an avenue that I included in my original marketing plan, this is a wonderful opportunity reach and help many more people, much more quickly, than I could otherwise.
I've learned that there is a definite science to direct response television marketing. And, I am very glad I have a team of seasoned direct marketing professionals working on this project with me. This team involves direct response script writers, seasoned infomercial television producers, a call center staff, project managers, and of course my fulfillment company. This is definitely a project I could not do without this entire team!
For now, we are all crossing our fingers and hoping to achieve a MER (media efficiency ratio) of at least 1.8 so that we can proceed with a national roll-out. Our goal at roll-out is a 2.0 MER.
If we don't achieve a 1.8 (that means the infomercial generates at least $1.80 for each $1.00 spent on media airtime) we will either go back and make some adjustments to the show, or we'll abandon the project. As I said, there is a definite science behind direct response TV advertising.
Needless to say I am dreaming of 1.8's or higher!