Direct marketing strategy and creative.

 

Welcome. Bugburst Marketing Services is one person, and that's me, Michael Gray. I help companies translate their ideas into direct marketing campaigns that generate real, honest-to-goodness bottom-line results.

 

Simply put, I help people sell stuff to other people.

 

I don't do branding or general advertising. There are lots of advertising folks out there who are way more creative than me, and they have plenty of experience taking your money for clever concepts and expensive media.

 

But if you want some words and graphics that will make people pick up the phone , click on a button or open their checkbooks, I'm your guy.

 

I've been creating direct response marketing campaigns in one form or another for more than 25 years.

 

Direct mail. Web sites. Email. Landing pages. Catalogs.

 

That's the stuff.

 

My approach is based on real-world results and hands-on experience with more than a thousand different tests that have taught me some valuable lessons:

 

• A great offer beats clever creative every single time.
  
  

• There's a difference between features and benefits (and guess which one you should talk about if you want people to respond).
  
  

• Targeting, segmentation and circulation planning should receive more attention than pretty pictures or fancy folds.
  
  
• Graphic design matters — but not the way most designers think it matters.
  
  
• Every dollar you spend on agency overhead is a dollar that doesn't improve your ROI.
  
  
• Marketing tests don't happen in a laboratory, so sometimes we're gonna have to be flexible.
  
  
• Genuinely personal me-talking-to-you copy always beats third-person corporate-speak.
  
  
• Your customer base is absolutely full of hidden treasure.
  
  
• Plus about a thousand other things, useful and not.

 

Some of these lessons came easy,  others we're a bit harder to discover. Regardless of how I came by them, you can bet I'll put them to work on your project.

 

If you need strategy, copywriting or graphic design for just about any direct response marketing program, call me. That includes:

 

• Direct mail (yes, mail still works)
• Email
• Web sites
• Landing pages
• Catalogs
• Sales collateral
• Fund-raising & membership campaigns
• Digital media

 

Basically anything where you want someone to pick up the phone, visit a web site, click a button, buy a product, write a check . . . you know . . . actually do something that's going to look good on your next quarterly report.

 

Just contact me,  tell me what your up to, and I'll let you know if I can help.

 

Sincerely,

​

Michael Gray

Direct Marketing Pro

 

 

P.S.  I'm flexible. I work by the hour or by the project. Either way,  the first phone call is free. You can reach me at 360-286-3583. If I don't pick up, don't worry, just leave a message and I promise to get right back to you.