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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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April 12, 2010

Get Personal

Category: Print — Tags: , — Sarah @ 6:59 am

Just out of curiosity, do you have any friends, relatives, or acquaintances who refer to you as “Resident”?

We didn’t think so.

Use of “Resident” is even more impersonal than “Hey, you!”, but we see it all the time on direct mail address labels. When a company addresses a mail recipient as “Resident,” the implied message is, “Listen, we’re sending out this information, but we don’t give a rat’s booty about who reads it. It could be read by the owner of the property, the family dog, or a termite who resides under the front porch, for all we care. Any resident will do.”

And we’re pretty sure that’s not the idea you are hoping to get across with your advertising campaign.

VDP to the Rescue

Avoid the ridiculously impersonal “Resident” by using variable data printing (VDP) to customize the address label on each piece of direct mail you send. People’s names are very important to them, so you’ve got a better shot at getting off on the right foot if your postcards include the recipients’ names.

And While You’re At It…

Variable data printing can do much more than just get your direct mail off to a rocking start with personalized address labels. You can also use VDP to customize other parts of your direct mail pieces and make your message stand out.

If you run a car repair shop, for instance, you could send out one postcard telling a customer that it’s time for his Dodge Stratus to get an oil change and another postcard telling a different customer that he should consider bringing his Honda Civic in for a tune-up. You’ll find that your customers are more inclined to respond to relevant, personally specific reminders like that than they would be to a “one-size fits all” advertisement.

So, give it a go. Let variable data printing humanize your address list and revitalize your direct mail pieces.  Former “Residents” will thank you.

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February 1, 2010

Are You Leveraging Your Customers’ Important Events?

Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: , , — Sarah @ 7:34 am

Did you ever wish there was something easy you could do that would make your business stand out in your customers’ minds?

Good news!  There totally is!

A Tale of Two Delis

There are two Italian delis down the road.  Both establishments feature a similar array of mouthwatering delicacies covered in juicy fresh tomatoes and slathered with mozzarella cheese.  The walls of both places are adorned with an equal number of kitschy yet appealing Italian restaurant staples such as smiley cartoon tomatoes and mustached men sporting chef’s hats.  The restaurants’ prices are similar.  Their staff members are equally friendly.

Fotolia_pizza_chef_cartoon_ezr

Yet, we’ve found ourselves grabbing lunch at one deli much more often than at the other.

So what makes that particular deli the favorite?

VDP.

Ooh…VDP?  Tell Me More!

As you’ll recall from a previous entry, VDP is short for variable data printing.  The folks down at our now-favorite deli are using VDP to lure in customers with personalized gift certificates.

You see, one day, as we were paying for our paninis, the pleasant cashier at this deli handed us little index cards and asked us to fill in the dates of our birthdays and wedding anniversaries.  We obliged, paid, and left, and pretty much forgot about those index cards.

But as the year progressed and our birthdays and anniversaries rolled around, it was clear that the deli management hadn’t forgotten about us.  We started to receive personalized birthday and anniversary cards containing little gift certificates to the deli.

And wouldn’t you know?  We’re giving that deli tons of business because of that VDP job.  Now every time someone in the office has a birthday, the birthday boy or girl enjoys a sandwich on the house and brings four or five paying customers along for lunch.

VDP makes mailings like this a snap.  And when you acknowledge your clients’ special days, it makes their days a little brighter and brings your company name to their minds and gives them a reason to give you some business.

And then it’s a happy day for everyone.

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August 24, 2009

Let’s Focus on Me

Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: — Sarah @ 6:25 am

Hey, Michael, welcome to this week’s post.  What up, Anna?  How’s it going, Malik?

We’re guessing that if your parents didn’t opt to name you Michael, Anna, or Malik, you’re feeling a teeny bit left out right now, but those of you who do answer to those names are feeling happy and hooked in enough to wonder where we’re going with this.

Variable data printing gives you the chance to put a personal spin on documents you might need to print so that the recipient gets a finished product that is customized especially for him/her.  In its most basic form, it’s like a simple mail merge on any word processor, giving you the opportunity to set up “blanks” within your document that can be filled in with the names, addresses, and other pertinent info of the members of your client list.  So the Michaels and Maliks of the world can each open up a letter from you and see that it is addressed directly to him.

variable_data2

The fun doesn’t end there, though.  With variable data printing, you can not only personalize a document by incorporating basic data but also – and here’s the key – selectively including certain graphics, specific content, or a special layout.  This way, in addition to the fuzzy feeling your recipient will get from seeing his own name, he’ll also be seeing information that was designed to align with his unique needs as your client.

VDP_Chocolate_Samples

So if you know, for example, your client runs a dog grooming business, you can highlight services that you can provide that would be especially pertinent to the dog groomers of the world.  Heck, you could even put a random picture of a golden retriever in your brochure if you thought it would help you land the sale.  The point is, the dog groomer recipient would have different content and graphics from, say, the fried dough vendor to whom you are also sending a brochure. And both of them can see the aspects of your company that would best suit their own needs.

Isn’t that right, Phyllis?

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