How to Put Some Teeth in Your Marketing

Marketing for Dummies Total Nitwits

In case you have been checking Yak Herder Central on a daily basis, you may have noticed that it has been exactly two years since my last post.  The Swami might have deigned to post sooner, but there did not seem to be a ground-swell of swell grounds for him doing so. At one point several months ago Swami did consider entering the Republican primary (it was at a point when it appeared that perhaps everyone but the Swami might enter the race). It was also at a point when it seemed that even Zak the Yak might be more qualified than several of the entrants; this could still be the case

 

However, today's post was necessitated by an example of direct mail marketing that cried out for help. Today, class, we will study an example of what you might want to avoid when you launch your next, or first, marketing campaign.  Recently my older son received a post card from his dentist reminding him to call for an appointment. I often appreciate such a reminder since my teeth date from a time before there was fluoride in the water.  Actually, they may date to a time only shortly after the invention of water.

 

There were a couple of quite minor errors in the mailing to my son.  First, it came to our home address.  Pshaw, you say: a minor mistake.  True, he did live at this address until a mere 23 years ago,  before he moved to Los Angeles for five years.  There was another little quirk to the mailing: it had been about 18 years since his last visit to this particular dental practice ( I'm sorry but I'm still one of those people who find it a bit off-putting having my medical needs handled by someone who is just "practicing."

 

Finally, what added the "nit" to whatever wit the dentist's marketing person had: the dentist was in Sherman Oaks California and the addressee was located over 2,100 miles away in Ohio.  And please, don't blame this on the computer system; the address was handwritten!