Archive for February 11, 2010

11 Feb 2010
Advertising • Buying Behavior

Life Changing Opportunities

In December 2009, Deliver Magazine did a summary of statistics about new parents that they extracted from TheBump.com.

  • 69% of new and expecting moms use the samples received in pregnancy and parenting gift packs
  • $3,342.00 is the average amount spent during the first year of pregnancy
  • 85% of new parents set up a college savings plan
  • 82% of new parents create a will/living trust/estate plan
  • 67% of new parents book a vacation
  • 51% of new parents purchase or lease a new or pre-owned car
  • 32% of new parents purchase a home for primary residence.

These facts remind us that life changing events prompt changes in buying behavior. Other life changing moments:

  • Getting a driver’s license
  • Going to college
  • Entering the work force
  • Getting married
  • Empty nest
  • Retirement

I think you get the idea. I know that my friends are looking forward to children going away to college so they can finally fix up their houses. Can we help you reach a key group as they go through new experiences that lead to new needs and wants? Using a well defined list helps you speak directly to people who need and want what you have to offer.

| 6 comments | Tags: , ,
10 Feb 2010
Direct Mail • List

List selection strategies

The list could be the most significant factor in the success or failure of a direct mail campaign. Regardless of how strong the creative and message may be, if the message isn’t communicated to the right audience, the impact will be compromised.

Surprisingly, few marketers spend the time and energy to accurately identify their audience. In an effort to make sure everyone knows about the promotion, they often communicate with people on the fringes, thus lowering the overall performance and value of the campaign.

One option is to build customer “profiles” for your products or services. If you can determine conversion as a percentage of desirable market segments, you can make an educated decision regarding which segment will produce a positive return on investment. Marketing only to those people with the highest propensity to purchase from you inevitably increases your campaign’s success, performance and value.

| No comments | Tags: ,
09 Feb 2010
Buying Behavior • Design • Direct Mail

The Power of Touch

Real Simple Magazine printed an extract of research results from The University of Wisconsin-Madison that found that 30 seconds is all you need to feel attached to an item after touching it. Research says you are 39 percent more likely to buy an item you touch as opposed to one you never handle.

Retailers, is there anything you can do to encourage your customers to touch things?

What about mail? Can you get a sample or a representation into the hands of your next customers?

University of Wisconsin-Madison Associate Professor of Marketing Joann Peck and Jennifer Wiggins of Kent State University found that the simple addition of a fuzzy dot glued to the cover of a mailing piece encouraged readers to spend more time with the mailer and increased response.

Talk to us about other ways to include something to touch with your direct mail.

| 2 comments | Tags: , ,
08 Feb 2010
Advertising • Direct Mail

Television Ad Spending

Forrester Research released an excerpt of a study on TV Ad Spending and predicts that TV ad spending will grow by 1% to $69.5 billion in 2010. Forrester Research also released an excerpt of a study on Media Measurement stating that marketers can’t see value in multichannel marketing until they can measure it. TV spending is still the biggest expense for large companies, even as Internet usage increases and mass media audiences fragment. “65% of marketing leaders think Internet measurement is more useful than TV measurement.” Measurement of TV advertising and other media will become more like that of interactive marketing, and branding advertising and activities will be held to the stricter accountability of direct marketing.

Direct marketing’s measurability is the desired standard.

| No comments | Tags: , ,
05 Feb 2010
Advertising

A Tribute to Advertising

As we look forward to one of the occasions when we as a nation love to talk about advertising. What about these Super Bowl statistics courtesy of Moneywatch.com.

  • Cost of a 30-second advertisement during Super Bowl XLIV: $3 million
  • Increase in traffic to Super Bowl advertiser CareerBuilder on the day after 2009 game: 25%
  • Amount the Census Bureau is spending to air one 30-second 2010 Super Bowl ad: $2.5 million
  • Amount the Census Bureau has spent on Super Bowl advertising before 2010: $0
  • Per-person price of the three-day Tail-Great Super Bowl Package at the Trump Miami, including accommodation and one Super Bowl ticket: $4,500 per person
  • Estimated cost to South Florida of hosting Super Bowl XLIV, including increased police presence, clean-up, etc.: $8 million
  • Estimated benefit to South Florida, as measured by additional revenue to hotels, restaurants, and other spending: $353 million
  • Appreciation in ticket price since the first Super Bowl, in 1967: 22,225%
  • Compound annualized growth rate of ticket price: 13.4%
  • Appreciation in average U.S. home sale prices between 1967 and 2009, according to Census data: 999%
  • Compound annualized growth rate of home prices: 5.9%
| One comment | Tags: , ,
04 Feb 2010
Business

Opportunity to Wow with Service

According to Harvard Business Publishing and Accenture, only 40% of consumers say companies frequently or always meet their service expectations, according to Accenture’s survey of more than 5,000 people in 12 countries. That’s down from 45% in 2008 and 53% in 2007, the consulting firm says.

Is this the time to put together a direct mail piece describing your customer service?

| No comments | Tags: ,
03 Feb 2010
Direct Mail

Success

How would you describe success? I know that a mailing campaign that results in new customers and increased revenue is positively a great thing.

In thinking about a broader meaning of success it is a joy to think how many of us define success in individual ways. Sometimes outer signs and rewards are delayed, but the great feeling inside that the process was done well is still very real.

Do any of these words explain what success means to you: achievement, feeling good, living out your priorities, health, satisfaction, hard work, happiness, excitement, helping others, reaching goals, balance, passion, freedom, focus, …?

| No comments | Tags:
02 Feb 2010
Economic News

Is This The Upturn?

According to an extract by Harvard Business Publishing of a snapshot of Economic Conditions, by McKinsey Global, 69% of a global panel of executives surveyed during the second week of December 2009 said they expected their national economies to be at least moderately better by the end of the first half of 2010. In fact, 24% said that an upturn has already begun.

A majority of executives expect consumer demand for their goods to rise in the near term. Respondents offer relatively positive views of the economy and say they can now make longer-term strategic plans. Just over half of executives continue to say economic conditions are now better than they were in September 2008.

| No comments | Tags: , ,
01 Feb 2010
Direct Mail • Saving Money

Ideas to Stretch Your Mailing Dollars

Creating and producing direct mail advertising can get very expensive. But that does not mean you have to spend a fortune. You just need to know how to make the most of your dollars.

Mail to your best prospects or customers first.

Don’t drop huge quantities all at once. If you are mailing 50 letters to sell more to your best customers, 250 cards to convert first-time buyers to repeat buyers, or thousands of pieces to find qualified prospects, it’s all direct mail, it is measurable and accountable.

Maximize your return. Whenever you invest in postage to communicate with your customers, increase your yield on that investment by also asking for referrals, offering an incentive for new product ideas, direct them to a special page on your website or give them a “Yes or No” option to respond (Yes, I’m ready to buy now … No, I’m not ready now but I do want to stay informed about new products and services).

“Pass-along”. Increase your total exposure without increasing your costs. Ask the recipient to give your mail piece to an interested friend or co-worker. Make sure to provide some kind of a “thank you” for doing it and create a way to track this response too.

Make the postage stand out. Use a different looking stamp or indicia to gain reader interest and attention.

Stretch your budget. Use a more expensive printed mailing piece to your best customers or prospects and less expensive postcards to your secondary targets.

Effective direct mail does not have to cost a fortune.

| 4 comments | Tags: , , , ,
  Recent Entries »