Why Choose Direct Mail With Your Marketing Dollars?

Direct mail has been a popular part of the marketing mix for decades.   Why?  When executed correctly, direct mail pieces can yield a much higher response rate than other forms of marketing.   Direct mail isn’t just limited to letters or postcards.   For example, membership cards, brochures and promotional items can also be mailed.
If you are considering direct mail in your business, here are 4 reasons that direct mail should be a part of your marketing strategy.

1) Targeted Audience
Use your own mailing list or purchase one of ours – sending mail to a specific audience will get you the results you desire.   Lists can be explicit by not only geographical data, but also by options such as gender, ethnicity, income and buying interests.   Increase response rates and improve ROI by using direct mail to target only those prospects that you want to do business with or who have already indicated an interest in your service or product.

2) Personalization
Use personalization to speak directly to an individual, not to an entire mailing list. With digital printing, each mailing can be unique to the recipient.  These personalized messages can include references to past purchases, certain product or service preferences, personal interests, and even personalized promotional offers.  This kind of relevance drives increased response rates.

3) Brand Awareness
Direct mail can be used to effectively build brands.  Utilizing a series of mail pieces with your logo and colors will put your business’ messages right into the homes of your audience.

4) Measurable results
By coding your mailings, you can track results easily.  Tracking methods include, but are not limited to:  offer numbers, coupons, bar codes, phone numbers and even personal URLs.  Tracking can capture those that display an interest in your product, first time purchasers and subsequent orders.

Generate Better Returns with Custom Direct Mail

When Macy’s Inc. was established as a national brand in 2004, its leadership insisted that each store stay connected to its local community. The resulting “My Macy’s” localization initiative gives stores the latitude to be good corporate citizens in their communities while selecting merchandise according to local tastes, preferences and seasons.

The company took this “stay close to your customer” strategy to a new level in November 2010, when it personalized its direct mail marketing strategy to target regional preferences and individual shopper habits, too.

Customers who made credit card purchases received catalogs that reflected their specific shopping histories. For example, a shopper who purchased mostly clothing, cosmetics and jewelry received a catalog with more pages featuring those products and fewer pages with items they didn’t normally buy.

Macy’s produced more than 30,000 catalog versions with page counts that varied from 32 to 76. It was more expensive than a traditional one-size-fits-all catalog — the company’s marketers had to create content showcasing four times as many products and match customer data with product options — but the new approach paid off.

“We mailed a traditional catalog to 10 percent of the list and saw enough of a lift in sales from the customized version in comparison that we knew we needed to continue this and get some traction behind it,” says Martine Reardon, Macy’s executive vice president of Marketing & Advertising. The company is doing eight more similar mailings in 2011.

The lesson, according to one-to-one marketing specialist Mark Klein, is that because these mailings generate so much more in sales, the results pay for any extra cost.

“When you individualize the mailings, response rate goes up enormously,” says Klein, CEO of Loyalty Builders LLC in Portsmouth, N.H. Individualization, he notes, involves using predictive analytics to offer different products or discounts to individuals. See how personalized mail helps build customer loyalty.

Creating Custom Mailers on Any Budget

Klein offers the following tips for individualizing direct mail to generate Macy’s results without a Macy’s budget:

  • Collect data. Recognize that your customer transaction data is a “gold mine.” If you aren’t collecting that data, start doing so.
  • Analyze transactions. “Even if that’s just rudimentary RFM — recency, frequency and monetary value — it’s better than doing nothing, and it’s easy to do,” he says.
  • Interpret the results. Use that analysis to understand who is most likely to buy, and mail your offer to them.
  • Determine what to offer and when. “If I get an oil change today, don’t send me a coupon for another one next week,” he says. If you don’t have the capability for this in-house, find a vendor that does.
  • Use postcards. Klein’s company sends digitally printed individualized postcards to customers of businesses as varied as a regional chain of tire service centers to a medical supply company. The cost? Less than 50 cents per card. The payoff? Klein’s clients generate enough sales in three to six months to cover the entire year’s postcard mailing budget.

“In the past, this process was so expensive that only companies the size of Macy’s could afford it, but automation has changed that,” Klein says.

Take it from Macy’s: “If we didn’t think it was a good idea, we would have stopped,” says Reardon.

5 Direct Mail Tips

Direct mail campaigns are a powerful resource for any business. Not only are they highly targeted, measurable and flexible, they are also easy to personalize and cost effective. The tips below will help you get your direct mail campaign on the right track for a great return on your investment.

1. Research Your Target Market – Knowing who you are selling to is one of the most critical steps in direct mail advertising. Since your research shapes the rest of your decisions, it’s important to understand your target market from the start. Research tools such as data lists are useful at helping you make better decision.

2. Remember Important Components – Every direct marketing message needs to have three basic elements: an offer, reduced risk, and a clear call to action. If you aren’t offering something, the likelihood that people will respond to your piece is very low. Another important component of a successful direct mail piece is offering reduced risk to recipients. Whether that means a money-back guarantee, a free trial or reduced cost, reducing the risk will increase conversions. The last component is a direct call to action. Your direct mail piece should offer a clear call to action and provide multiple ways for recipients to respond to your offer.

3. Use Your Printing Company’s Mailing Service – This will help you to save time and money because your advertisements will go from the press to the mail. Printers also utilize bulk mail rates, which will cut your mailing costs.

4. Test your Advertisements – Use a short run first and keep track of how many people contact you and actually make a purchase. If you’re not getting the results you expected study your direct mail piece for possible weaknesses and make changes as needed. This will save you a lot of money in the long run so remember to keep testing as your campaign can always be made stronger.

5. Remember to Follow Up – An appropriate follow up with an important customer can be the extra little nudge they need to choose your company over a competitor. Use a phone call or personal note to help sway their decisions.

Originally posted on blog.oneims.com

Best Direct Mail Formats, Benchmarks and Personalization for Acquiring New Donors

New blood. Fundraisers are busy trying out non-direct mail channels (email, mobile, social media) in varying efforts to retain their current donor bases. But regardless of how successful these channels are for any nonprofit, you can only go back to the well so often.

In other words, the donor stock must be restocked for a nonprofit to survive today, and by far the best way to acquire new donors remains direct mail. That was the topic of the recent DirectMarketingIQ webinar, “Acquiring New Donors through Direct Mail: Best practices and case studies from leading fundraisers.”

Besides speaking during the webinar, Bob Merrigan—President of Merrigan & Co., a Kansas-City based firm specializing in strategy and messaging for non-profits—took time to answer many questions from attendees.

Here were a few highly relevant questions and answers:

Question: What is the best delivery for your direct mail piece? #10 envelope? Taped flier? Color? Plain?

Merrigan: Ask yourself, “How can I get attention in a way that sets the stage for for my ask, but doesn’t give the prospect an opportunity to say ‘no’ before being asked?”

There’s no single solution. I tend to prefer having the organization clearly identified; we all want open relationships … why would you start out as a mystery. I tend to prefer printing design/copy rather than leaving the envelope blank. That’s valuable real estate; you only have a few seconds to get attention and you need to use it. I like to invite (tease?) the reader into the package.

There are economic realities to deal with, too. Most acquisition efforts won’t support a closed-face, hand-addressed envelope, but that may work well with higher dollar donors. We’ve tested four color vs. two color. Four color typically gives a lift in response, but it really depends on your mail quantities and production capabilities. If I were starting out (not much reference in terms of return to expect) I would probably go with 2 color.

Similarly with self-mailers … I would start with a letter and flyer in an envelope and establish some benchmark patterns. Then I’d try to test in a self-mailer to see if the expected drop in response is more than offset by the cost savings.

Question: Can you provide “best benchmarks” on average cost to acquire a new donor, average cost to retain an existing donor, and average cost to convert (2nd year) across your NP clients? And you mentioned that the first gift amount is really important in the long term investment return. What did you mean?

Merrigan: First gift tends to be indicative of future gifts. It’s much harder to take a $5 donor to a $25 gift level than vice versa. The first gift tends to be indicative of the donor’s giving tendencies—not always, of course, but indicative.

Lifetime value is always going to be determined by average gift size x frequency x longevity. An effective fundraiser is going to establish benchmarks in each of those areas and constantly look for strategies to implement that could bump up those numbers.

Question: In your experience, is there a major difference if the letter is written in first person by the organization’s client, instead of written by the President/CEO?

Merrigan: I’m a huge fan of personalizing the organization … through its clients, through other supporters, through volunteers, through key employees. I would encourage you to collect and tell those stories in as many ways as you can.

That said, I’d ask myself before putting your cover letter over that signature, “Is this the most natural/comfortable way to make this ask?” It may be that the ED can tell the story of a client … or set the stage, include the client’s story, and then make the ask. It might be that the story is on a buckslip.

The key question is this: What is the “voice” that is most likely to elicit a response? The fact is, sometimes the president/CEO is not able to balance the need to maintain their personal voice and also be the voice of the organization.

Another consideration is how many appeals you are making. Do they all need to come from the same person? If your prospect is receiving multiple asks, it may make sense to try having some of them come from different people.

Ethan Boldt is the chief content officer of DirectMarketingIQ, the research division of the Target Marketing Group and publisher of special reports, how-to guides and books for the direct marketing industry

Originally posted on targetmarketingmag.com

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Four steps to follow when choosing a list

You can only go to the well so many times. Even the greatest campaign for the best product, with the most attractive offer and creative collateral, will fall flat if you’re not reaching high quality, new business prospects. If you’re seeing a decrease in response and an increase in opt-outs, your lists are probably oversaturated. You know you need fresh ammunition. What should you do?

1. Identify suitable brokers. Find brokers who manage files that match your desired target audience in terms of company size, industry, geography, desired type of contact, job title, function and purchasing authority of influence. Obtain counts from your identified brokers to determine if their counts support the mass volume your b-to-b marketing program requires. Match rental options, including email, direct mail and phone, to your go-to-market strategy. Determine how the brokers’ lists are collected.

2. Test their lists. Tell the data list manager upfront that you intend to run competitive tests before agreeing to a long-term purchase agreement. Agree to terms, and then select three lists that match your criteria. Provide the broker with a list of the types of people you do not want in your target audience.

3. Measure results. Remember that even respondents who aren’t interested are valuable. If your list does contain the right people, you may just need to reach them in a different way or with a different business offer.

4. Select your vendor. Once you’ve aggregated the data, you’ll have a solid foundation for making your selection. Monitor your ongoing response rates to gauge how effectively the list company invests in continuously cleaning its files. If you see diminishing returns from your list purchase, I recommend 
repeating tests and your selection process annually.

From the June 01, 2011 Issue of Direct Marketing News

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My Truth about EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)

The postal service is pushing a “not so new” but improved feature called EDDM Every Door Direct Mail.

A simple explanation is that you can mail a “Flat” (determined by size) mail piece, saturating an area to as many full carrier routes as you like (up to 5000 pcs per day) without having specific addresses and without buying a postal permit.

Saturation mail has been around for a long time but they have made it easier to use. This should be a good thing.

*** 10 Observations about EDDM ***

1. The postage price was not reduced for this new program, but the process was made easier for the customer. Is that enough to grab their attention? Time will tell.

2. It is limited to flats. In my opinion if the USPS was serious, they would have opened this to standard mail also.

3. My customers are reluctant to jump on board because of the extra printing costs involved in printing flats.

4. In tough economic times, my customers are looking for the cheapest possible way to mail, period! EDDM is not the cheapest, it is just the easiest.

5. This was a huge blow to the list broker business. Before customers had to purchase a list, now the post office is offering this mailing with no addresses at all.

6. In my opinion the USPS should do national television advertising. Get the word out far and wide. Having their employees try to sell this to small business, is just not efficient.

7. They have limited the number of EDDM (retail) pieces to 5000 per day. That seems counter productive. Wouldn’t it be better to pave the way for customers to bring in as much mail in one day as possible?

8. This program is not open to non-profits. This doesn’t make sense to me. Since they didn’t reduce postage costs, why exclude non-profit?

9. You have to apply for a mailer ID to take advantage of this program. Although it’s not that difficult, it is mandatory.

10. The mail must be presented to the post office serving the area you are mailing to. So that may mean driving or shipping your mail to one or several out of area post offices.

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Originally Posted by: Donna Flanagin on Valpolife.com

Mailing lists are crucial to contracting print marketing initiatives

When consumers receive a direct mail package, they often look at the design of the materials or the value of the offer. This leads many companies to spend a lot of time developing the creative aspects of their print marketing initiatives.

However, as Contracting Business recently suggested, it’s just as vital for companies to consider mailing lists as well. Relevant lists can help get products and services in front of the right people. For example, an apartment owner in New York City won’t buy lawn care products even if the sender is offering a great discount and has an eye-catching package.

“If you know the demographic and the psychographic of your customer, you can order a mailing list of very specific people to whom you should send your marketing materials,” explains the source.

Conversely, if a company is just trying to develop a broader awareness, they could use the saturation mailing service that the United States Postal Services offers. Whether it’s catalogs, brochures or other print materials, saturation mailing can help businesses reach as many as 90 percent of residential areas within a single ZIP code.

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Originally posted on overnightprints.com by Mark Haslan

Greening Your Mailing List

Can direct mail be green? It can be and the best place to start is by greening your mailing list.

Every year, U.S. businesses send billions of pieces of mail that are undeliverable as addressed (UAA). We help our customers maintain a cleaner list by using ZIP Code correction, address standardization, change-of-address services (NCOA) and duplication removal. Here are some steps you can take to fine-tune your lists:

  • Merge/purge mailing lists often to remove duplicate names/addresses.
  • Use clean lists (address standardization and NCOA) to prevent mailing to ”bad” addresses (UAA).
  • Provide frequent, clear opportunities for customers to opt-in and opt-out of your mailings.
  • Allow customers to specify their preferred method of contact.
  • Target mail efficiently using segmentation and modeling to select recipients.
  • Personalize your message to increase relevance and reduce waste.

This is only the first step in greening your direct mail – but it is a very important one. Following the first few steps will save you money (less printing and postage) and the last two can reduce waste (once your mail arrives at its destination it won’t be considered “junk”).

So get started with greening your list – and if you need assistance with preventing UAA mail, give us a call!

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Originally posted on EcoPrintMail.wordpress.com

Using Direct Mail Marketing

You might think that direct mail marketing is an old approach to marketing. Back in the day, you would buy a list of names and street addresses based on ZIP Code and you would mail out thousands of cards to those recipients. Back in those days if you got a two percent response rate you were lucky. Are you still using direct mail the old way? Is using direct mail cost effective? Are you looking for a better way of connecting with potential customers?

The secret to success with direct mail is starting with a good mailing list. What exactly is a good mailing list? How do you get one? What are your options?

Today there are so many options. You can dial in your mailing list to target specific potential customers. If you know the demographic and the psychographic of your customer, you can order a mailing list of very specific people to whom you should send your marketing materials. Your psychographic is most likely “homeowners.” The demographic says they have incomes above $50,000 and they’re more than likely 25 years old or older.

Did you know the big companies that keep mailing lists also maintain about 100 or more points of additional demographic information? If you knew that the majority of your customers drove BMW or Mercedes Benz cars, or if you knew the majority of your customers were married and had children, you could filter your mailing list with that information. If you knew that 80 percent of your customers came from high tech industries, you could filter your mailing list with that information. On the other hand, if you knew that 70 percent of your customers that bought a geothermal unit from you also replaced a propane furnace, you get a more useful mailing list if you selected people that have houses heated with propane furnaces.

Data Brokers  can help you access such detailed lists. If you don’t want to get too in-depth with your data sets you select your mailing list data  from points such as:

• Adult Age (2-year Increments)
• Estimated Income – Narrow Ranges
• Gender
• Marital Status
• Presence of Children
• Homeowner/Renter
• Dwelling Unit Size
• Length of Residence
• Home Market Value
• Mail Order Buyer
• Credit Card Users
• InfoBased Networth Indicator
• Mail Order Donor
• Mail Responders
• Children Age Ranges
• Head of Household Education
• Software Buyer
• Real Property Real Estate Buyer

You can purchase a mailing list for a one-time use or you can purchase the list to use multiple times during the year. If you plan to do multiple mailings, and I would counsel you to do so, it pays to purchase the use of your list for the year. If you are the do-it-yourself type, this could be a good fit for you.

However, while the mailing list is very important, having an eye-catching marketing piece is also critical. In addition to including your branding and messaging, a good direct mail piece will also include some type of hook, a free gift or cash back offer. A cash offer is preferable to a discount because it’s easier for the customer to relate to a cash offer.

You need a strong call-to-action. Have you ever received an advertisement that was nice but it didn’t tell you what to do? It may have said things about the company and it may have even had a phone number or website listed but just stopped short of telling you what to do next. That’s where the call-to-action comes in, it tells the reader to do something next. As an example there is the old tired and worn out phrase, “Don’t delay call us today!” You could say something like, “To receive $50 off you next service call, call us today to register your discount.” The point is you need a strong call-to-action or you are just wasting your money.

Never miss an opportunity to test your message. If you’re mailing 30,000 postcards, divide them into three groups and create three different but similar cards in order to determine which one produces the best results. As you tally the results, keep notes on what worked and what didn’t. If one produces a great response, send it out to the remaining 20,000 addresses to get even better response from your mailing. Testing makes direct mail marketers very successful.

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Originally posted on ContractingBusiness.com

Targeted mailing list 'the key to direct mail success'

Even with the rise of social media marketing, more conventional techniques like direct mail are unlikely to go away, but B2B data and business mailing lists could be vital to campaign success.

Speaking to Marketing Week, Annabel Venner, marketing director at niche business insurer Hiscox, described the varied mix of media the firm uses in its promotional activity.

When asked whether modern elements such as social marketing would ever replace traditional techniques like direct mail, Ms Venner argued that a variety of media was necessary.

“I cannot see direct mail going away, but you need to make sure that you are targeting the right people. This means data is massively important,” she told the journal.

Firms marketing their products and services to other companies may therefore be encouraged to use business mailing lists to ensure they are reaching the right prospects.

Earlier this week, Phil Kingsland, site director at knowthenet.org.uk, suggested that smaller firms do not need to become entirely digital to benefit from the internet.

He said that on and offline operations can coexist and support one another, perhaps through a mix of B2B email marketing and direct mail strategies.

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Originally posted on ThomasLocal.com