Category: Design, Print — Tags: Design, direct mail, mailing lists — Sarah @ 6:16 am
One day Jimbo opened his mailbox and found something spectacular.
Well, spectacular as direct mail goes.
The mailer, which advertised dog food, was printed on nice card stock, was beautifully designed with well-chosen colors and graphics, and included generous coupons that were easily removed due to handy perforation.
The only thing that Jimbo found suspect about the mailer was that he is not a dog owner.
Still, the photos of the dog food made it look so appetizing that Jimbo found himself craving it. He briefly debated purchasing some for his own dinner, but came to his senses and ultimately gave the mailer to Pierre, a puppy-owning pal.
Wrong Recipient, Right Design
So let’s analyze this situation. Clearly, the dog food marketers forgot to do their homework and use a mailing list to ensure that the mailers ended up in the right hands. Not the best move, dog food people.
On the other hand, all’s well that ends well. Thanks to the mailer’s general awesomeness, Jimbo did what the company failed to do by passing the mailer on to someone who could use it. Pierre ended up becoming a lifelong customer of this dog food company, and it wouldn’t have happened if Jimbo wasn’t so impressed by this ad.
So while it’s really important to send your direct mail to the right people, it’s really REALLY important to have wonderfully designed direct mail.
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Category: Marketing — Tags: call to action, direct mail — dave @ 10:00 am
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make your efforts worthwhile. Your initial introduction to customers often takes the form of marketing materials, more specifically, direct mail. Sharp design and concise messaging are crucial to the success of your direct mail campaign, especially as a first introduction. Make them work together to generate action.
Create a persuasive message. Your marketing materials need to include a call to action (CTA) that clearly describes what you want your customer to do. CTAs have four elements: The action the customer should take; when the customer should act by; how the customer benefits from fulfilling the CTA, and; how easy it is to act. Consider the mindset of the audience and know what motivates them. Use this research when drafting your CTA.
Use design tricks to enhance your message. Most likely, your audience will “skim” the information for anything eye-catching. Make your CTA stand out through your design. Perhaps you send a post card with a tear-off CTA that people can take to their computers. Or maybe it’s a magnet they can stick to a filing cabinet or company refrigerator. In an email, try using different images, colors and fonts to highlight your CTA. If the messaging in your CTA is interesting enough, your design will help your audience quickly find it and engage in the action.
Rephrase your CTA at the end of your mailer. Hammer home your CTA at the end of your messaging. Rephrase and condense what you want the audience to do. Offer another incentive or benefit of following the CTA. Remind your audience of the action you’re requesting to increase conversion rates.
Design and messaging are complementary elements that produce effective direct mail campaigns. Using both creatively will capture immediate audience attention and propel them into a new phase of interaction. Creating a clear, repetitive message within a striking design is a surefire way to boost conversion rates throughout your sales process.
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Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: direct mail, Marketing, marketing materials, printed materials, QR Codes, smartphone — Sarah @ 7:58 am
People love scanner guns.
Watch any couple prancing around Bed, Bath, and Beyond as they create a wedding gift registry. About 35% of the joy they are experiencing is due to their overflowing love for one another, 25% can be attributed to anticipation of the super cool gravy boats and cheese graters they are soon going to receive, but at least a full 40% is the fact that they get to scan things with a special scanner gun.
When you incorporate QR codes into your direct mail marketing materials, you’re taking your marketing to the next level – by using the newest technology, by helping your targets to spend more time thinking about and interacting with your brand, and most importantly, by providing that special scanner gun experience.
And…What’s a QR Code?
We mentioned QR codes in a previous entry, but as a quick refresher, they’re those little square barcode-like deals that are starting to turn up here and there. The camera function of smartphones can scan them and apps can decode them and send the person who scanned them to a specific website. So at the end of the day, it’s a barcode that’s really a hyperlink.
These babies are useful for advertising purposes because you can use them to direct your targets to your website, or even a specific page of it if there’s a special promo going on or if you have a certain element of your business that you want to highlight.
The “Look What My Phone Can Do!” Factor
Now, smartphone users are well aware that their phones are cool. And most of these lucky folks aren’t afraid to explore all the funky things that their phones are capable of. So by including QR codes in your printed marketing pieces and letting smartphone users know that they can play “scanner gun” with their phones by zapping these codes, you’re more than likely to get a few takers.
This is especially true while QR codes are just starting to make their way into the marketing world. After all, not all smartphone users have had the opportunity to scan any QR codes yet, so your chances of getting your code scanned right now are pretty good. Even if they’re just scanning the QR code because it’s something new and fun to try, you’ll be getting people to spend time on your website who may never have made the trip otherwise.
So drive traffic to your website, show off how cutting edge your company is, and provide your targets with some of that “Nah-nah-I’ve-got-a-scanner-gun-and-you-don’t!” delight. Talk to your pals at imPress about how you can include QR codes in your printed materials.
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Category: Marketing — Tags: direct mail, Marketing — dave @ 10:00 am
It seems like everyone in business has an opinion on Direct Mail, and they don’t hesitate to let you know exactly what they think. Those with negative views on direct mail are probably bitter about a poor ROI, but neglect to tell you about all the bad advice they took that produced those results. So, what was that bad advice? Let’s take a look.
To start, they didn’t test their mailers. Direct mail has two components – design and message. The design was lackluster, and the message didn’t resonate with the recipient. Make sure the design and message are reflective of each other and include specific elements that are a direct reflection of your target market.
Secondly, they probably used hype. No offense to the used car salesmen out there, but your approach doesn’t work. Don’t claim your product or service will do more than it actually does. Instead, find your best features and emphasize them to avoid creating a “lemon” reputation.
After the mailers where shipped, the sender most likely neglected to follow-up with recipients. You must direct people to your website (or to call). This will allow you to collect addresses for email follow-up and drive customers into your sales funnel and market to them in the future.
Lastly, they probably went cheap on postage – that is to say, they didn’t invest in the proper amount of postage to ensure the mailer arrived in time. The calls to action were most likely out of date at that point.
When it comes to direct mail, don’t shoot from the hip. Have a plan, target the correct audience, and make the right offer. Create value in your direct mail campaign and prove naysayers wrong.
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Category: Marketing — Tags: direct mail, Marketing, QR Codes — dave @ 12:50 pm
QR codes are small images (similar to barcodes) that are captured by Smartphone cameras and processed through downloadable apps. They then direct people to websites or special landing pages. Think about incorporating QR codes into your printed materials (newsletters, direct mail, even business cards) to lead people to your website and find more information about you.
If you are marketing to people who are social networking savvy, add QR codes that lead to your Twitter, Facebook or blog feeds. Your audience can instantly choose to follow you, creating a larger sphere of influence beyond that one piece of direct mail or other marketing collateral. Conversion rates will increase because the call to action is no longer lost due to time. QR codes make everything instantaneous.
QR codes are a great innovation that should not be overlooked. Instead of simply telling people to “Follow me on Twitter,” you are actively engaging them from the first introduction of your company. Consider QR codes in your next direct mail campaign.
QR codes are small images (similar to barcodes) that are captured by Smartphone cameras and processed through downloadable apps. They then direct people to websites or special landing pages. Think about incorporating QR codes into your printed materials (newsletters, direct mail, even business cards) to lead people to your website and find more information about you.
If you are marketing to people who are social networking savvy, add QR codes that lead to your Twitter, Facebook or blog feeds. Your audience can instantly choose to follow you, creating a larger sphere of influence beyond that one piece of direct mail or other marketing collateral. Conversion rates will increase because the call to action is no longer lost due to time. QR codes make everything instantaneous.
QR codes are a great innovation that should not be overlooked. Instead of simply telling people to “Follow me on Twitter,” you are actively engaging them from the first introduction of your company. Consider QR codes in your next direct mail campaign.
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