Ensure the messaging fits the medium.

The next step in the process marries quantifiable objectives with your specific messaging objectives. At this stage, a range of communication vehicles should be considered in developing the strongest contact strategy for each program.

Certain levels of messaging have proven to be more appropriate for certain mediums. E-mail is stronger at providing top-level information and driving respondents to a landing page to learn more, while direct mail is a better choice to tell the whole story in a single communication.

To illustrate this point, below are some practical examples covering two distinctly different scenarios. Each scenario briefly covers how a diverse range of mediums worked in conjunction to drive response.

Scenario one

Program goal:

Increase market share of a risk management training program.

Medium and purpose

• Direct mail
  This medium works to tell the whole story and provide enough content to make an informed decision.
  In this scenario the direct mail highlighted pressing risks by utilizing a newsletter format to establish the necessity for training throughout the operation. To strengthen this rallying point and help close the loop, the direct mail drove prospects online to take a complimentary interactive risk assessment.


• E-mail
  This medium works to provide a scannable “quick read” that drives prospects to a landing page for more information.
  In this scenario the email reinforced the risks and drove prospects online to take the interactive risk assessment.


• Online banner advertising
  This medium works to tease the reader into action with an extremely limited amount of text.
  In this scenario the banner ads leveraged the overarching consequences of risk to the prospect’s business. As a result, the banner ads convinced prospects to reevaluate their current risk prevention practices by taking an online risk assessment.


• Online landing pages
  This medium works to allow the reader to self-select what is most important to them.
  In this scenario the landing page contained the interactive risk assessment and a downloadable copy of the newsletter from the direct mail. By developing a timely landing page that provided a highly valuable and practical user experience, the business was able to capture prospect data, provide prospects with actionable recommendations regarding risk prevention, and drive them to the business’s Website.


• Website
  This medium works to provide more complete and detailed information or drive prospects directly into action or ordering.
  In this scenario the Website offered training solutions tailored to meet the prospect’s needs. This provided true closure from the initial messaging which established the risk, through the online assessment which defined the risk, to the Website which provided proven training solutions to minimize the risk.

Scenario two

Program goal:

Increase registration and readership of an online e-Newsletter, despite having no prospect e-mail addresses.

Medium and purpose

• Direct mail
  In this scenario the direct mail was used to entice prospects with a portion of a targeted e-Newsletter article. Prospects were able to read the opening of a news story that centered on a “hot button” industry topic. This arresting article was continued online on a customized landing page. The direct mail also spotlighted the compelling features of the e-Newsletter that the article was taken from, to further entice prospects to sign up for this monthly communication.


• Online landing pages
  In this scenario the landing page was developed to capture prospect data before allowing these prospects to complete the e-Newsletter article that they began reading in the direct mail. In order to finish the article, the prospect must first register on the landing page, and this action subsequently registered them for future editions of the free e-Newsletter. The landing page also encouraged prospects to sign up others who would find the e-Newsletter valuable. This would dramatically increase the business’s database.


• E-Newsletters
  This medium works to create an ongoing dialogue utilizing newsworthy content to engage readers.
  In this scenario the e-Newsletter was sent monthly to the new subscribers, promoting the sender in a nonpartisan manner and providing a steady stream of contact with these prospects.

As the scenarios above demonstrate, you can build stronger customer relationships with each segment. The key is to ensure that every customer touch point works together to drive home your point.