Archive for Direct Mail

01 Jun 2010
Direct Mail

88% Response Rates

The U.S. Census is still advertising, urging people to complete and mail back census forms. The Harvard Business Review’s Daily Stat forwarded some information from the Pew Research Center anticipating that 12% of Americans would not fill out the form.

What does that mean? A form mailed to Americans generated an 88% response rate. 88% is a very big number! The information published by the Pew Center goes into more depth with characteristics and found that the likely non-respondents were younger and had less education.

Many so called gurus and experts are not suggesting that businesses use mail right now, they aren’t promoting mail as a fabulous tool to let people know that you and your products are great. The problem is that most of what businesses are doing to market themselves and create revenue right now, search optimization, pay per click, e-mail and many other of the “latest, greatest marketing methods” are not working.

The Internet is a great and wonderful universe. It has taken the place of phone books, reference books, and perhaps some newspapers in our lives and businesses. What do you do as you decide how to market your products and services? You need to be found. If people are looking for solutions to problems and you can solve them, be there at the top of the search results with your solution. If you are trying to stimulate curiosity, interest, excitement, demand and revenue, you might need to look at other ways to create that for your products, services and brand.

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28 May 2010
Direct Mail

Tips for Compelling Mail

Use your own list

Your own list of customers and prospects who know you and have previously responded to your advertisements will generate a much greater response. Update your list frequently with changed addresses.

What is in it for the reader

What excites you may not be what resonates with your audience. What’s most important to your reader isn’t your product or service; it’s how that product or service improves their life. Talk in terms of their interests to generate a higher response rate.

Personalize your message

Past customers won’t need the same message as potential clients who have never dealt with your company. The more relevant the message is for your intended audience, the better your response rate.

Get past the recycle bin

To get your direct mail piece past the shredder and into the right hands:

  • Address to a specific person, not just a job title or occupant.
  • For business mail, use a standard size envelope and make it look like personal correspondence as much as possible.
  • Also for business mail, try using language like “Requested Information Enclosed” so it looks like the addressee is expecting it.
  • Using a stamp usually increases response.

Make it easy for the recipient to respond

Many mail pieces have gone out without complete contact information. Make sure to include your phone number, website address, email address and any other way your want to interact. And if people contact you, make sure you get back to them right away.

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14 May 2010
Buying Behavior • Direct Mail

Seventy Six

Seventy six is a pretty big number. That is the percentage of internet users who were directly influenced to buy an item or service thanks to direct mail. This fact appeared in the March 2010 issue of Deliver Magazine and they stated the source as a Channel Preference Study from Exact Target.

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12 May 2010
Direct Mail • Marketing Strategy

Tips to Make Direct Mail Work Smarter

Direct mail remains a vital component of marketers’ programs. Direct mail is becoming more sophisticated and is capable of delivering higher results. Late last year Randy Spurrier shared his thoughts about ways to improve mail’s results in a post on IMedia Connection. Some direct marketers are transitioning away from “blast” campaigns and are moving toward highly integrated, direct mail-meets-online formats that combine relevant mailers, personal URLs (PURLs), triggered and targeted follow up communication, variable content, and more.

Creating a relevant dialogue with customers is becoming crucial today. Response rates for relevant mailers, are typically 2-4 times higher than non-relevant ones. When customized direct mail is combined with interactive elements such as PURLs, triggered follow-up, and additional relevant communications timed at just the right intervals, response rates can climb up to 10 times.

It’s fairly easy to transition from an un-targeted direct mail program to a next-generation, relevance-based one. Most marketers have all the data they need to create fully automated, relevant direct mail-meets-online programs today. The way to leverage this data painlessly is to implement technology. Solutions allow marketers to set up, run, and optimize marketing programs automatically.

Here are a few strategies to get you started.

Automate from the get-go. One-to-one marketing programs, of course, would be out of reach from a cost and time perspective if you had to manually change messaging and set delivery parameters for each individual person. To get started with there are ways to harness technology to send customized print mailers (each with a link to a PURL with relevant offers and recommendations), and then, depending on the customer’s actions, automatically send timely follow-ups all throughout the purchase process.

Get the message right. The segmentation modeling used to determine whom to mail to does not determine what to say to those people. How do you know what they want to hear? Implement rules and technology to leverage your data to guide a relevant message and individualized offer for each prospect. Use propensity-to-buy modeling and purchase analysis to identify topics of interest that will form the basis of your relevant messaging. This will be used to deliver relevant and personalized messages.

Maintain the dialogue. Guiding your customer through the purchase process at every step is key to boosting conversions, especially when it comes to considered purchases. Communicate at timed intervals with automated touches, PURLs with engaging advice and recommendations, and even outbound sales calls. Keep your marketing engine rule-based, allowing you to deliver data-driven messages and automatically “trigger” new touches based on customers’ interactive feedback.

For example, your marketing technology and rules should be able to trigger timely touches based on customer responses, inquiries, or purchases. Say you send a customized mailer with a link to a PURL to a prospect. If they don’t visit the PURL after one week, you could send a follow-up mailing. If they visit the PURL or phone the call-center but don’t close within five days, the engine would send a second follow-up print touch offering an alternative video recommendation or a more compelling promotion. The PURL could be updated to reflect the new offer or product recommendation communicated in each follow-up touch.

If you send your prospects relevant and fully-customized mailers — integrating technology — they’ll not only keep your mailer out of the recycling bin, they’ll reward your efforts by making more purchases.

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11 May 2010
Direct Mail

More Evidence that Paper and Print Feel Better

Deliver Magazine reported on a survey conducted by Harris Interactive that found that 64 percent of employed US adults say print media is easier to read than the digital equivalent. 68 percent say that they feel more comfortable reading something on paper than on screen, suggesting that we associate things we can touch and feel as being more “real”.

How can we help you put something “real” in your customers and prospects hands so they feel more comfortable and find your communication easier to read? Direct mail is a great idea!

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07 May 2010
Direct Mail • Marketing Strategy

Timing

DMNews ran a great article titled “When marketing, travel through the four dimensions of time” by Paul Mandeville. They say “timing is everything”, it may not be everything but it sure can play a big part in the success of marketing efforts.

Mr. Mandeville suggests that in a marketing campaign timing has four facets:

Timing  (Recency)– the nearness of a message to a customer event that triggers that message, for example, sending a coupon for related accessories within 3 days of purchase.

Frequency – the number of times you choose to send a similarly themed messages before you stop further attempts, for example customers should receive three messages from you within the first month of purchase and at least one message every three months for the first year or two after that trigger purchase.

Pacing – the amount of time between messages of a similar theme, for example sent the first message within 72 hours, and if no reply, send message #2 seven days after purchase, and if still no reply, send final message #3 ten days after purchase.

Sequencing – the act of coordinated, separate but related content.

The article stated that financial services and retail firms have been able to achieve a double digit lift in response, without increasing their discount offers, simply by using timing to their advantage. You can do the same. Direct mail is a great way to implement this strategy or include it as a part of your marketing that speaks directly to your customer when they want to hear from you.

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05 May 2010
Advertising • Direct Mail

Writing About Intangibles

To help you create messages that sell more of what can’t be seen, we are sharing an article by Pat Friesen that appeared in Target Marketing Magazine. Whether you sell insurance, toilet tune-ups, home loans, teleconferencing, investment services or other intangibles, we hope these tips help.

  • Call to action. This is basic, but often overlooked and undervalued. Tell people what you want them to do and why they should do it. What action do you want your customer to take as a result of receiving your message? What can you do to motivate your customer to call, click or complete an application?
  • Humanize benefits. Show people enjoying the end benefit of what you sell. For example, most parents want their children to get an education. So, if you market loans or insurance, show a smiling graduate in cap and gown with a benefit caption below it.
  • “You can’t say that.” The next time your attorney or compliance officer utters these words after reading your copy, respond with, “OK, what can I say?” It may mean changing just one or two words, and may make your copy even stronger.
  • Engage them with something unusual. Providing toilet tune-ups is more attention-grabbing than saying you check for leaks and rusted parts.
  • Focus on customer benefits, not company history. Nobody really cares that you are headquartered in Omaha, Neb., and have been in business for more than a hundred years unless you tell them why it’s important. Such as, you have a hundred-year history of paying claims promptly, and customer service calls are all taken in the heart of America, not offshore.
  • Create an offer with value that supports what you sell. Instead of giving away pricey tangibles such as iPods or free dinners, provide an easy-to-use calculator or a free checklist. Consumers value information that educates and empowers.
  • Keep it simple. Intangibles are often perceived as being difficult to understand. Confusion slows down decision making and results in avoidance. Your marketing mission is to make your product simple and understandable.
  • Never use the words “applying is easy” … unless it’s true. When was the last time you completed your company’s application? Give it to five people who fit your customer profile but don’t work for your company, and ask them to fill it out. Watch them do it. Simple-to-complete applications/forms combine the right words with good design, simple organization and readable typefaces.
  • Write in plain English. Yes, insurance and financial services do have regulatory content that must be included. However, don’t pepper your marketing copy with killer words like “undersigned” and “the party of the first part”. Instead, use plain English that’s easily understood.
  • Have your creative team work as a team. No matter which media you use, you get the best, most effective end product when you have your writer, designer, programmer and others involved in the creative process work together. Don’t isolate them.
  • Cross-sell. Cross-sell to both customers and prospects.
  • Reactivate. Policy holders lapse and account owners close their accounts, but this doesn’t mean they don’t want to do business with you again. Did you know that customers that previously had a relationship with you are more likely to buy than cold prospects? However, they need reassurance that you still love them. And they need to be asked. This applies across all industries, all products and services, tangible and intangible. In economic times like these, reactivation is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate new business.

How can we help you deliver a message about the intangible benefits that you bring to your customers?

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07 Apr 2010
Advertising • Direct Mail

Media Choices

The multitude of media choices available to target and deliver  messages is amazing. And there are more options headed our way. This means that readers are strapped for time and bombarded with marketing communications, great writing alone probably won’t get your messages opened and read. Pat Friesen offered some understanding of how to deliver the message at the right time and in the right place in Target Marketing Magazine.

Tips for delivering maximum impact from a direct marketing writer.

• Don’t be overwhelmed by choices. Remember what’s worked in the past, and test new options that make strategic sense for reaching your audience and meeting your business objectives.

• Apply common sense and basic direct marketing principles. Measure and evaluate results, including initial response, closure rates, average order size (dollars and units), abandon/cancellation rates, lifetime value, etc. Remember, direct marketers track and measure the level of response.

• Cheaper on the front end isn’t necessarily more cost-effective on the back end. Track, measure and compare results.

• Not all media is direct response media … but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it. Public relations, special events, and social media are marketing tools with the power to influence buying decisions. Use them accordingly.

• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Even with a successful 15 percent to 20 percent e-mail open rate, you still are not reaching 80 percent to 85 percent of your highly qualified buyers. Common sense dictates using both e-mail and postal mail to maximize results.

• Just because you know your offer is on your Web site or featured in your organization’s magazine, that doesn’t mean your customer knows it. A targeted phone call, e-mail, letter or even a postcard may be appropriate to communicate your offer.

• Not all messages are appropriate for all media. A letter still looks more personal, more valuable and more confidential than e-mail. It’s also less easily “trashed” by mistake or intentionally. If you offer financial services or other products of personal importance (e.g., legal, medical, upscale travel), don’t forgo postal mail for e-mail without testing.

• Put your message with a measurable call to action on your shipping box or packing materials. Create a product insert (not package) that encourages a second purchase. Be creative, be inventive and put your message in multiple places where your customer will see it.

• Some market segments respond better to specific types of media than others. For example, mature audiences 75-plus years old remain more comfortable with postal mail even if they have e-mail addresses.

• Test. Studies, case histories and anecdotal reports confirm that marketers who are most successful across the board using all types of media follow the direct marketer’s mantra of test, test, test.

• Don’t take a message written for one medium and plop it into another without careful review. Be aware that e-newsletters are different than ink-on-paper newsletters. Web ads are read differently than space ads. Readers’ expectations after opening an e-mail are different than after pulling a letter out of an envelope.

• All messages (no matter which type of media delivers them) have hot spots. Know where they are, and use them to your advantage.

• Consider the appropriateness of your media. The media you use for prospecting may not be the same as you use for communicating with your customers.

• Use different media to communicate with different customer segments. Just because you send a personal First Class letter with a 44-cent stamp to the top 20 percent of your customers who generate 80 percent of your sales doesn’t mean you have to mail First Class letters to all your customers.

• Save money; prospect within your own database. Cross-sell, upgrade, reactivate. They are very cost-effective ways to generate new business.

• If you limit yourself to using only one medium, you limit your opportunity for success. The more places consumers see you and the more ways they hear from you, the better they know you, the more they like you and the better they trust you.

• When your contact strategy includes a series of messages, have a strategy for your mix of media. Do what is appropriate for your message, audience and business objective. It could be an initial phone call, followed by a personal letter, then e-mail communications.

• No matter how cheap it is, media isn’t a good investment if it doesn’t generate the cost-effective results you need. Weigh the pros and cons of any media choice including cost, open rates, security concerns, deliverability rates, recipients’ perceptions of the medium, how it supports your brand, etc.

• Timing is as important as the media and message. Factor in time of delivery, holidays, how soon is too soon and how often is too often.

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31 Mar 2010
Design • Direct Mail

For Designers

As you work on putting together your direct mail piece, one designer shares his rules. Some of them may be valid for you, others maybe not. We just want to get you started.

From: Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual by Timothy Samara

  1. Have a concept
  2. Communicate don’t decorate
  3. Speak with one visual voice
  4. Use two typefaces maximum
  5. Show one thing first
  6. Pick colors on purpose
  7. If you can do more with less, do it.
  8. Negative space is magical
  9. Treat type as image
  10. Keep type friendly
  11. Be universal, it’s not about you
  12. Squish and separate: create rhythms in density and openness
  13. Firecrackers and rising sun: distribute light and dark
  14. Be decisive
  15. Measure with your eyes
  16. Make what you need; don’t scavenge
  17. Ignore fashion
  18. Move it! Static equals dull
  19. Look to history, but don’t repeat it
  20. Symmetry is not good
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30 Mar 2010
Advertising • Design • Direct Mail

Postcard Design Idea Sparks

We found some ideas about postcard design at this site from Chuck Green on Ideabook.com.

What is the purpose of a post card?

“Greetings from” and rotating racks decorated with pictures of places great and small—those are the type of messages associated with post cards. The marketing potential of a simple card is unbounded. You can show something such as a photograph of a new product, a remodeled showroom or the impressive gear you use to provide your service. You can double your advertising impact by sending cards to your mailing list with a reprint of your magazine ad. Send a reminder of an upcoming event. Ask for an appointment and follow up with a phone call. Step one? Establish a clear mission for your card.

Why is it done the way it’s done

Why are post cards designed the way they are? For reasons of cost and contact. First, since private postal cards were authorized by Congress in the late 1800’s, they have been the among the least expensive way to put a printed piece in the hands of your prospect. And because a standard post card can’t be smaller than 3 1/2 by 5 inches or larger than 4 1/4 by 6 inches it is easy to handle, sort, and deliver. Plus, the design improves your odds of making contact. A post card message is out in the open, eliminating the real possibility your prospect might toss a sealed envelope.

If cost is less important than impact, you may spend a few cents more to mail a card up to 6 1/8 by 11 1/2 inches—a size that demands more attention.

How can You do it most effectively?

With your mission and a strategy established, the challenge is to execute effectively. Let’s say you have a list of a few hundred prospects with whom you hope to establish a relationship. You could use the shotgun approach and run a series of ads in a local publication that you hope they might see. Or you could pinpoint your prospects by printing a half dozen series of post cards, each featuring a different advantage of doing business with you, and mail them, one each month for the next six months. Which would be more effective?

Start with these post card ideas and create your own variations, see more information about postcards.

  1. Bust the size barrier. Once you exceed the 4 1/4 by 6 inch maximum for a standard-sized card, you may as well take advantage of the 6 1/8 by 11 1/2 inch maximum. You’ll pay extra to mail it, but this super-sized format allows more dramatic graphics and a more detailed message.
  2. Request a response. Every good marketing piece has a specific call to action. Why not ask your prospect to respond on the spot? This post card has two missions—first, to request some survey information. The “How’d we do?” half is detached and returned to the sender by business reply mail. The second half, labeled “Keep this card by your phone,” is a way to keep the company’s name in front of the customer. The postage for this 2-card format may be higher, but the added value can be well worth it.
  3. Work the cliche. The old-fashioned picture post card is a theme you can use to your advantage. This design plays on what you expect a post card to be. But what looks like a souvenir from a museum is actually an announcement from a restaurant. A painting by the Impressionist Monet graces one side, the message, set in elegant type is opposite.
  4. Make contact. The reason direct mail is all dressed up with fonts and graphics is because it wasn’t long ago letters and cards were mostly handwritten—fancy type and pictures were something different. Today, the opposite true? Don’t you pay special attention to a handwritten message? The idea here is to print a supply of post cards on which you can jot down messages that keep you in the front of your customer’s mind.
  5. Create a ticket. When you use a post card as a discount coupon or a ticket to an event, you raise the possibility of a response. The message here is obvious—bring the card in and get a discount.
  6. Publish a mystery. You may have seen this technique used on billboards—pieces are added one at a time until, one day, you drive by and discover the total message. The same type of mystery message can be posted and solved in a series of post cards. You simply divide the finished message into puzzle pieces and sent them in sequence. In most cases, the cost of printing cards drops substantially when you print several different designs at the same time—you may be surprised to find how practical this possibility is.
  7. Make news. Post cards are great for spreading the news. Next time a new captain takes the wheel, you move to a new location, announce a product, or add a new service—publish the news by post card.
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