Marketing For Hypnotists

Hypnosis Marketing Tip Of The Week
By Craig Eubanks

Q: I know that it's not all that expensive, but I don't know what the
average return from something like that is. I do know that my
return on newspaper advertising has been a little disappointing.

Say there are 10000 households within 20 miles of the office. There
are no other hypnotists or hypnotherapists around. Would a direct
mail piece be a good investment?


A: Direct mail works very well when done correctly. It has been one of the most consistent tools in marketing for over 60 years.

That said, if you do not take the time to properly do your research on your market, AND craft your message properly, you will waste your money.

This is true for any media used, be it advertising, Yellow Pages, or a web site.

One of the most common mistakes new businesses make, is starting with choice of media as the way to get their marketing started, instead of figuring out just who their market is, and what would be the best message for that market to really learn what it is you have to offer.

This is especially important for hypnosis. Most people have no idea what hypnosis is really all about and how it can benefit them.

If you were a dentist you could get away with sending out a postcard to every household and business within a 5 mile radius announcing your office with an new patient special offer to get them to respond.

If a hypnotist did the same thing they would likely get little or no response since people do not translate "hypnotist" into an outcome they'll get that helps them or makes their life better. Instead they think of clucking like a chicken or Manchurian Candidate mind control.

So you would need to offer the outcome to them as a way to get their attention, then explain how they would get that outcome through the process of hypnosis with you.

Example:



Then explain how they would get that result through a series of visits with you. Make sure you include at least one testimonial.

Notice there is a call to action that gets a response you can measure (call for free consultation). Also notice that this is for them a no risk step, you are telling them they can spend time with you, getting more information, at no cost. This is important. I will talk about Risk Reversal in a future tips article.

Note: This assumes your market is smokers and you know that your postcard will in fact reach smokers. You can have the best crafted message in the world, send it out using a top notch direct mail service, and have it go to the completely wrong audience.


Some Key Things To Know About Direct Mail

• ALWAYS MEASURE YOUR RESULTS in terms of ROI (return on investment). Simply put, how many dollars of business come in for each dollar you spent. If it isn't at least 1.5:1 (you made $1.50 for each dollar you spent on the mailing), then you need to retool. Ideally you want 3:1 or great ratio. Then you know you have a marketing tool you can count on whenever you need new business (remember the article I wrote about Building A System, this would be one of the pillars of your system)
  


• you can rent lists and do it yourself or pay a direct mail service to do it for you.


• If you pay a service, tell them you want to do small batch testing before you roll out any large mailings.


• If you use a service, they will charge you in addition to postage, costs such as printing, assembly, material costs, etc. For postcards the total may end up being around .50 to .80 cents or more per piece depending on how much you have them do for you.
  


• You should do "split testing" which means send out at least two different pieces at the same time to a test market and see which one gets you the best response BEFORE you send out an expensive mailing campaign. The best thing to test is different headlines, but you can also test different copy, different offers etc.
  


• ask them about their results and to speak with some of their clients as to how well the mailings have done for them. Some direct mail houses charge a lot for sending out graphics heavy mailings with absolutely no way to track results. Avoid them.
  


• Go with a local direct mail business if you have one. They will not only know your market area and have current lists, they will be more small business friendly.


• You can get amazingly detailed lists, however the more detail the more they cost. Example: you could get a list for females between 25-45 with an income of at least 40k that live within 5 miles of your office. This is a good market for hypnosis clients, since most hypnotists report about 80% of their clients are women.
  


• If it works once, it will work again. One of the most common direct mail mistakes is not using a successful mailing again. Even to the same addresses. Research has shown that overall response rate improves with each mailing, and that often the best results come on the 3rd mailing. People are busy, mail gets lost, they forget once they put it down, any number of reasons why this happens. Continue to use successful mailings until the ROI gets to 1:1 or below. Then craft a new one.
  

Where To Get Inexpensive Lists

• If you want to just "blanket mail" your area, you can get address cd's from InfoUSA. Often these are available at your local Office Depot, or you can order them from www.infousa.com.
  


• Infousa also has some list and mailing services. Order their free catalog and familiarize yourself with mailing lists. Infousa has been around 30 years so they are a reputable firm with lots of experience.
  


• Another source is a service online you can pay for by the month is GoLeads.com. They offer residential and business listings for 9.95/month. You can choose your criteria (called "selects" in direct mail lingo) such as age range, zip code, etc. and they generate a downloadable list for you. They claim the lists are 93% accurate, meaning they keep them up to date.
  

To all your success!

Craig Eubanks
Marketing & Publicity for Hypnotherapists -- HypnosisMarketingTips.com