Tag Archive for Consumer Buying Behavior

28 Sep 2010
Advertising

E-Mail Open Rates, Inboxes Cluttered

The Direct Marketing News reported that consumer e-mail open rates are holding steady, but inbox clutter is taking its toll as marketers increase e-mail volume. Open rates held at 22.1% during the second quarter of 2010. This number compares with 22% in the 4th Quarter of 2009.

The click through rate for e-mail messages was 5.3%, down from the same period of last year. We reported a click through rate of 5.9% for the 4th Quarter of 2009. Email volume increased 10.5%. More than six in 10 e-mails sent were marketing messages.

If email is your only way to stay in touch with your customers or attract new customers, we hope you consider this information and think about other ways to engage and connect with your customers. Direct mail is a great way to stay in touch and begin a desired conversation with your next customer.

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22 Sep 2010
Advertising • Buying Behavior • Direct Mail

Wow Numbers Mean Direct Mail Success

As a follow up to our post about “WOW” numbers:

According to the USPS Household Diary Study, 79% of all households read or scan the advertising mail sent to their home.

ATG’s Cross-Channel Commerce: The Consumer View report found that 78% of consumers are using multiple channels to research, shop, and ultimately complete purchases. Consumers browse and research online, then make the purchase in the store–39% went to the store to touch/feel the products; 36% visited the store to compare brands; 22% visited the store because they needed the product immediately

76% of Internet users said they were directly influenced by direct mail; 67% were influenced by TV; and 58% of email users were influenced according to Exact Target’s Channel Preference Study. Additionally, 75% of 25-34 year-olds have made a purchase as a result of direct mail and 62% of 18-24 year olds purchased due to direct mail.

R2integrated, an integrated marketing and technology company found that 65% of companies had not increased revenue or profited using social media.

Public Television stations have reversed their decline in acquiring new donors through direct mail campaigns. DMW Direct analyzed 700 campaigns representing 34 million pieces mailed and found that $295.32 was raised per thousand pieces mailed in 2009, up 16.3% from 2008 and the average gift was $42.10 up from $41.64.

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07 Sep 2010
Advertising • Direct Mail

Tips for Using Direct Mail to Boost Website Traffic

Marketing Profs published a great article about generation more online traffic using direct mail.

Online and offline media work well together. An integrated approach can work wonders.

We told you about how 76 % of internet users were directly influenced to buy an item or service thanks to direct mail Better still, direct mail remains the one medium that gives you direct and reliable access to nearly everyone in your target market.

Tips to drive Web traffic with direct mail

  • Make a compelling offer. Give people a powerful reason to visit your site—a compelling and valuable offer, such as a free trial, seminar, white paper, savings coupons, or sample. It must be something they want, not just something you want them to see.
  • Use an easy-to-type address. Unlike email, where you can include a clickable link to your landing page, in direct mail you can only print a URL. Your prospect must type it into a browser. The shorter and easier it is to spell, then, the easier it will be for people to visit your page. If you create a separate domain for the promotion, try for a short easy URL.
  • Build a special landing page. Generally, it’s not a good idea to drive traffic to your homepage. There are too many choices on those pages and too many ways for prospects to get lost. By creating a unique landing page and driving people to that page, you can control the message, track response, and collect information for follow-up and future direct marketing efforts.
  • Consider a personalized URL (pURL). A pURL gets extra attention and creates curiosity. They are easy to type and allow for tight integration of the direct mail piece and landing page for tracking.
  • Personalized copy. Just as a pURL gets attention, personalized teasers, headlines, subheads, and body copy attract attention and encourage reading. Use personalization with restraint—to avoid the appearance of an over-the-top sweepstakes mailing.
  • Issue a clear call-to-action. People are more likely to respond when you specifically tell them what to do.
  • Push response with a deadline. As in most direct marketing situations, people are more apt to respond immediately when they know they have a limited time for doing so. With whatever offer you make, state a deadline near the call-to-action.
  • Test various formats. Because of printing and postage costs, many people use postcards to drive Web traffic. But you can also test self-mailers, flyers, and envelope packages. The amount of pre-sell required should dictate the format. The simpler and more valuable your offer, the less pre-sell you need. Only testing can show you for sure.
  • Capture contact information. A one-time visit offers limited value. Good direct marketing practice dictates that you use a first visit to begin a dialog. And to do that, you must at least ask for the visitor’s email address and maybe first name (to personalize future communications). Depending on the value of the offer, you might also be able to get full name, mailing address, and other information to build your own database.
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02 Sep 2010
Buying Behavior • Direct Mail

Integrating Campaigns Boosts Response

Marketing Experiments published an article with this headline, “How one company combined offline and online marketing to increase subscriptions by 124%”. The article told of the great success of using the same images and visuals in a mailing campaign and in the associated online content to increase new subscriptions.

The conclusion was that the offline direct mail marketing campaign led recipients to all areas of the online content. The two weeks that the mailing campaign was active drove significant sales activity throughout the company.

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16 Aug 2010
Advertising • Buying Behavior

Advertising is Still Important

The graphic from the previous post about Word of Mouth showed that advertising, including direct mail, is the most important factor of consumer purchasing decisions during the “initial consideration” phase of the purchase decision making process.

Consumers “pull” information to them later in the purchase decision process.

How can we help you use direct mail to help you build your brand or stimulate demand?

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13 Aug 2010
Advertising • Buying Behavior

Word of Mouth Matters

Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.

The power of word of mouth is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when products are relatively expensive, these factors tend to make people conduct more research, seek more trusted opinions, and take longer to think about purchases.

The Harvard Business Review summarized research from the McKinsey Quarterly that indicates that in developed markets, word of mouth has its biggest impact when consumers decide which products to consider and when they’re actively evaluating products.

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06 Aug 2010
Buying Behavior • Direct Mail

Bombardment Can Hurt Consumer Loyalty Too

DMNews posted an article about how customer loyalty practices can build brands. American businesses that have the strongest bottom lines right now are those that enjoy the strongest brand loyalty. More and more organizations are searching ways to gain visibility for and engagement with their brands. Marketers have always known the value of brand building. Once consumers begin to trust a brand, their loyalty to it grows – and loyal customers have far higher long-term value than opportunistic customers.

Consumers have shown that they will defect from brands that bombard them with impersonal and irrelevant information. However, they are more likely to make a purchase after a personalized interaction with a brand.

First impressions can’t be taken back, so it’s important to interact with interested consumers effectively – not damage your brand for future customers.

Direct mail has been shown to be a great brand building tool. The piece can be touched and felt and it is not considered to be an intrusive interruption – it is desired communication.

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02 Aug 2010
Advertising • Saving Money

Study: Most e-mail recipients delete message within seconds

Wow what a headline! The article was posted by BtoB. The study found that more than 50% of e-mail recipients delete messages within two seconds of opening them, according to Salted Services.

Do you want to reach a majority of the people on your list or do you just want to your message to be seen by a small percentage because the delivery method is so cheap?

We have seen some studies that found that using direct mail that leads to relevant information posted on the Internet has increased response rates dramatically. We can help you put together an integrated campaign.

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27 Jul 2010
Buying Behavior

Happiness Depends on Age

The New York Times reported on a Gallup Poll that found that people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, apparently, life begins to get challenging. They feel worse and worse until they hit 50. At that point, there is a sharp reversal, and people keep getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18.

We hope you see opportunities and optimism with this information. Not only do you know that life will continue to get better, but you now have great information as you craft your marketing messages. Understanding some of the emotions of your target audience will help you as you write compelling appeals. This is a great complement to marketing to people during life changing events.

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23 Jul 2010
Advertising • Buying Behavior • Direct Mail

Interruption Response Depends on Age

Chart of interruption preferences

Interruption Preferences

Retrovo, a seller of consumer electronics, publishes a report titled, “The Retrevo Gadgetology Report”. They found that almost half (49%) of those under 25 years old did not mind being interrupted during a meal with a text or electronic message, but only 27% of those over 25 felt that way. That means that 73% of those over 25 don’t want to be interrupted during a meal. In general only 33% of those under 25 agree with the statement “I don’t like interruptions” while 62% of those over 25 do.

Clearly, we need to really think about who we are trying to reach as we craft marketing messages and choose communication channels. Direct mail is desired communication, even among younger adults.

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