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June 20, 2011

QR Codes Can Make Anything More Fun

Category: Creativity, Marketing, Print — Tags: , , , , — dave @ 11:32 am

QR code covered cow statueLet’s pretend you’re the big boss of a company. (Unless you already are the big boss of a company, in which case, just continue being you.) And let’s also say you have to hire someone. You’re looking for someone creative with some fresh ideas to spice things up in your office.

And let’s say you receive this resume

This dude’s hired, right?

This brilliant idea superstar came up with a really cool way to use a QR code to make a boring piece of paper like a resume come alive.

Get Their Phones Dancing

Since a QR code can bring someone’s phone just about anywhere, there are a ton of ways you can use them in marketing. And something like this guy did is fantastic because it uses creativity to take the hipness of QR codes to new levels.

If you want your marketing collateral to stand out as much as Victor Petit’s resume, we’d be happy to show you other ways to use QR codes to make it happen. We went over a few ideas in a previous entry, but to be honest, the sky’s the limit. If you want to use a QR code and a YouTube video turn your printed postcard into a movie, we can make that happen. If you want to bring each recipient of your direct mail to a PURL, we’re on it. If you want a coupon to pop up on your targets’ phones when they scan a QR code, no problem.Or if you want something totally out of left field, you got it.

But please imPress Printing know if you want to give your marketing materials a QR code makeover.

After all, if QR codes can make a resume fun, they can bring the fiesta to just about anything.

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June 6, 2011

Get intimate

Category: Marketing — Tags: , , , — dave @ 6:45 am

Plopped right on your desk is today’s mail. Bills, magazines, direct mail.

The competition for your attention is in full swing…and it’s survival of the fittest. Getting to the top of the pile has always been a challenge for direct marketers, no more so than now when time is at such a premium.

No, direct mail is not dead. Far from it. One client of ours drops over 4 million pieces of mail each year and generates a very healthy ROI, thank you very much.

There are a number of tactics you can use to improve the response of your direct mail program. Lead among them is the use of variable print data. Enabled by technology, personalized messages can be created on each piece by pulling information from your database.

Research shows that mail with your name on it, along with a relevant message, generates a significantly higher response rate than those without it. The additional costs of variable printing can be highly justified by the higher returns generated.

PURLs of wisdom

Personalizing mail is hardly where the technology stops. A PURL (personalized URL) allows you to create a customized experience on the web for your target audience. You can combine PURLs with your direct mail or email marketing tactics to “tag team” your clients and surround them with a personal message.

By speaking to your audience in a direct and personalized way, you will be able to convert more of your campaign recipients into valuable clients.

The benefits of PURLs include:

  • Higher response rates
  • Gathering and updating information about your clients
  • Accurately measuring the success of marketing campaigns
  • Educating clients about your company

Interested? Talk to us about personalization technologies.

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August 23, 2010

Success With Direct Mail – The Target List

Category: Marketing — Tags: , , , — Sarah @ 8:22 am

How well do you really know your targets?

In truth, probably not all that well. After all, if these people are just potential customers, you may not even have laid eyes on them yet. So you probably know them about as well as you know…say…your coworker’s mother-in-law, the lady who rented your apartment before you did, Justin Bieber, or someone else you’ve heard of but never actually met.

But to put together a great marketing campaign using VDP and PURLs, it’s essential to have specific details about the clients you’re looking to attract.

Luckily, you can fake it.

Big Brother Makes A List

When you buy mailing lists for your direct mail campaigns, you can get more than just names and addresses. There are lists available with more specific details about each person on the list. Do you need to know makes and models of their cars? Their shopping habits? Chances are, there’s a sneaky list maker on the prowl right now compiling the information you need. And through effective list buying, you can obtain this information easily and use it to improve the effectiveness of your campaign.

You’ve Got The Details…What Now?

After you’ve got a magic list with lots of specific details about your targets, there are lots of ways you can put this information to work. One way we recommend is putting together a marketing campaign involving VDP coupled with PURLs.

Picture this. Your target, who we’ll call Sammy, is sorting through his mail when he comes across a postcard that says “SAMMY. We Know How Much You Love Your Labradoodle. Our Pet Supply Store Has A Special Deal Just For You.” Sammy’s intrigued, not to mention happy and chill because he’s thinking about his beloved labradoodle.

As he continues reading the postcard, he discovers that it invites him to visit his own personal webpage – www.yourpetstorenamehere.com/SAMMY – where he can download coupons just for him. He’s intrigued. He’s never been invited to his own personal website for a pet store before. He hangs onto the card. He goes to the site. He takes a survey there that gives you even MORE information about him and his darling labradoodle. He gets his coupons, visits your store, and becomes a lifetime customer. And all thanks to a little V to the DP and a little P to the URLs.

Specific Details & VDP & PURLs Come Together to Rule the World

Or, at least to help you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to direct mail campaigns. Campaigns that use specific details about targets do really well, and campaigns that use VDP do really well, and campaigns that use PURLs do really well, so putting them all to work can get you the results you’re looking for.

And the best chance at turning your co-worker’s mother-in-law, the former renter of your apartment, and Justin Bieber from people you’ve heard of into your clients.

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August 16, 2010

PURLs – What They Are and How They Deliver

Category: Marketing — Tags: , , — Sarah @ 7:18 am

Put yourself back in school for a moment. Fourth grade would be super.

Let’s say your teacher is giving a boring lecture on a warm September afternoon. If you’re anything like us, you find yourself in a daze, focusing on everything but the lesson. Then suddenly, out of the blue, the teacher calls on you. And, BAM. You’re back in the zone.

That’s what personalization does. In school, little Johnny pays much more attention to Mrs. Stuffenburger when she is addressing him directly than when she is talking to the whole class. And in marketing, people are much more likely to respond to a campaign when it seems to be reaching out to them personally than when the message is less personal.

Valuable PURLs

In previous posts we’ve shared our enthusiasm for variable data printing and talked about how awesome it can be for your direct mail campaign response rate. But that’s not the only personalized marketing solution out there. We’ve got more fun tricks – like PURLs.

PURLs are “personalized uniform resource locators” – we prefer to think of them as “personalized URLs” so they don’t sound so scary. (In case you’re not sure, a URL is just a web address – the terms “URL” and “web address” work interchangeably.)

That’s right. Personalized web addresses – meaning that there’s a special web page designed for Johnny that’s different from the ones that have been designed for each of his classmates and different from the one that has been made for Mrs. Stuffenburger.

You Can Do That?

Totally. And we find that when our clients use PURLs, they end up with websites that yield more sales.

Yes, indeedy. We love to personalize things, and we love the results personalizing things gets for our clients. Whether you’re looking to personalize URLs, mailers, or clown fish squeeze toys, we’re up for the job.

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