Top 5 Trends in Direct Marketing

1. Hyper-local and hyper-targeted marketing The use of Smartphones and Tablets has redefined direct marketing. Now you can target ads to the consumers most likely to respond to the offer based on their age and proximity to your location. Not only does SMS (short messaging service, or text messaging) offer hyper-targeting, it also enables you to create time-sensitive offers and announcements – giving you the best possible response and ROI.

2. Direct mail Old school tools re-emerge with better direct marking applications. With the price of digital printing rapidly declining, postal drops return as an inexpensive way to reach customers and encourage them to interact with your brand. Using a tie in to your website or Facebook page can energize your campaign and engage both potential and existing customers. Putting something in someone’s hands can be extremely powerful, and the use of clever creative coupled with dimensional mailers are still powerful tools.

3. Targeted digital couponing As with hyper-local and hyper-targeted marketing, brands are able to target coupons directly to consumers most likely to redeem them – as quickly as real time. Direct marketers are able to target shoppers with new products in the store, offers over and above shelf tag discounts, or when they are at the point of purchase to encourage them to spend more.

4. Big Data It seems to be on every direct marketing professional’s lips – Big Data, and when you think big, you should think FAST, too. With all the hyper-personalization of information being received, the direct marketing trend is to make sense of it quickly and segment it into groups. With information being collected from online and brick and mortar transactions, social media, and mobile devices, providers are in a hurry to package the data and get it to direct marketers to use it ASAP.

5. Retargeted Ads What better way to hit your target than to advertise to someone who has already visited your site? With retargeted ads, when someone visits your site and then leaves, they get a retargeted ad the next time they surf the web. By using retargeted ads, your message can be a subtle, “hey, come back and see us sometime” to a hard-hitting, “act today and you’ll get the best deal available”. Either way it encourages others to interact with your brand and revisit your site!

Hey! Where’s Direct Mail in This Survey List?

By Heidi Tolliver-Walker on July 13th, 2013

I was browsing email subject lines and one about Millennials using print caught my eye. Every now and then, you see data showing that direct mail and other print media carry weight — and influence — among this coveted and digital-media-heavy demographic.
I clicked through, and the data from was Experian (Digital Marketing Report 2013).  It did show Millennials using print, but it was newspapers and magazines. In a seven-day span (“seven-day platform reach”), the chart indicated, approximately 70% of 18-24-year olds were reading newspapers and magazines.  Nice to know, but . . .

Television, mobile phone, radio, newspaper, home computer, magazine, work computer, game console, MP3 player, tablet, e-Reader. Those were the categories included, leaving magazines and newspapers the print representatives.

Where was direct mail? Despite the power that print continues to show in influencing consumer decisions and as part of consumers’ preferences, somehow it was not included in the media mix being studied.  How did direct mail get overlooked?

Yes, postal volumes are dropping, but direct mail is still a powerhouse in terms of marketing influence. Every time media influences are studied, direct mail shows tremendous power influencing buyer decisions. Response rates to personalized mail are consistently high. Studies show that especially for certain products (high-end, financial, health, and other categories deemed to be more personal) consumers overwhelmingly prefer marketing by print rather than email. The list goes on. So how did direct mail get overlooked here? If it was intentional, it was a really unfortunate (and inaccurate) message to send.

Hey researchers, let’s not forget about one of the most powerful tools marketers have!

Interactive Storefront Let's You Redefine Window Shopping

Window shopping has just been redefined by Adidas with the rollout of its new interactive storefront window. The window is a fully functional touchscreen that lets you drag life-size products directly to your smartphone, which acts as a shopping cart. With the security of a one-time PIN, each shopping session is linked in real time to the display window. As with most online shopping carts, you can save products for later, edit product details, and even share your purchase with friends over social media or email.

This isn't the first time Adidas has looked to virtual wall technology for shoppers, but this interactive storefront also lets you play dress-up with a life-size mannequin, complete with product details and action poses. But before you run out to your local Adidas store to play Barbie with its virtual mannequins, note that this service is currently only available in the City of Hamburg, Germany as a six-week pilot test.

Trade Show Planning:  Plan B

It’s likely that we all agree that trade shows are extremely visual events. They are unique events, where hundreds—even thousands—of brand representatives cram into a convention center, hotel lobby, or expo hall to compete for the attention of new potential buyers or clients. As we outlined in past posts, it’s essential that you differentiate yourself at these events and deliver a message that is persuasive, memorable, and consistent. But you already know this, you’re a polished professional, and you’ve meticulously prepared your material and created the perfect trade show display. That’s fantastic, and you’re an inspiration to us all—but what happens when something goes wrong?

When the unexpected occurs at your trade show, you need to implement “plan b.” Hopefully you’ve got one. It’s critical to have a contingency plan for any of the unexpected pitfalls that can occur at your event. Of course there are several things that can derail your plans, here are just a few:

• Your spiffy display wasn’t delivered to the venue or assembled
• Your technology isn’t working properly or you’re missing essential components
• You have less room than you expected
• Your partner unexpectedly ditches you
• You forgot to bring the sales guy basics

There’s no doubt that events like these things can make your life difficult. But don’t despair, because you’ve planned ahead.

Arriving to the venue and finding out that the crazy awesome display that you requested your team to send hasn’t shipped is disheartening to say the least. In fact, that situation might cause an emotional breakdown for lesser professionals, but not you. That’s right, you’re okay because you planned ahead and brought along your pop-up banner stand. Oh yeah, you also have the extra banners that you packed in your carry-on bag — just in case. What’s more, you have that spare table drape with your company logo printed on it packed in your bag at the hotel.

Getting midway through display set-up in Cleveland and realizing that the thumb-drive containing your amazing presentation is sitting on your desk back in St. Paul might cause an acute anxiety attack in many people. But again, you’re more prepared than most because you planned ahead and uploaded your game-changing presentation to the cloud. And for good measure, you also packed printed collateral and product catalogs (just in case Murphy and his dreaded law decided to make an appearance).

Here’s the point, it’s important to plan for worst-case scenarios. Bringing extra materials such as banners, display stands, and product literature is a great way to make certain that you can market yourself, maintain a professional appearance, and maintain a positive attitude.

A few weeks before the show, take some time and create a checklist. Analyze, identify, and develop a back-up plan for potential areas where things could go wrong. Then put together a resource kit and include things like pens, notebooks, table drapes, banners, cell phone chargers, USB cords, power strips, and printed collateral. Make sure to save copies of any presentations in multiple locations, or better yet make them accessible to people using mobile devices like cell phones and tablets. This ensures that even if your planned technology fails, you can share your message through different platforms.

 

SMARTER DIRECT MAIL:
ADVANCES IN PRINT BOOST ROI

There are many sources of pressure to reduce or minimize the cost of postage in hardcopy mailings with commensurate hurdles at every turn. Over the years, postage has been mitigated with workshare discounts that depend on mailing list density, file hygiene, currency of the mailing list and mailpiece shape and design. As the USPS attempts to remove unnecessary costs and employ automation to the max, mailing requirements increase—such as heavier more expensive paper, more tabs or glue, and other creative and preparation demands that can increase costs.

Another pressure is to mail only to those that return an adequate return on the cost of the mailing among existing customers, while at the same time allowing for the prospecting of potential new customers. Add to this the alternate media channels that may be employed in each campaign and the pressure on hardcopy mail increases as does the difficulty in meeting minimum requirements for postage discounts. Nevertheless, direct mail remains an important and viable part of virtually any brand's multichannel mix.

So where is the next realm of postal efficiency and savings going to come from?  There are current solutions out there that have been developed to meet precisely this challenge; commingling, co-mailing, co-palletization to name a few. All of these combine pre-existing mailpieces at some level to achieve better penetration and lower postage rates. They are useful for many marketers - but they may not be applicable for all.

Some brands recognize a more urgent need to communicate in a targeted way that drives improved results; (still) qualify for maximum postal discounts; and, importantly, increase speed to market.

For these marketers, achieving higher returns from direct mail may lay in the capabilities of the latest digital print technology. New high-speed digital color presses increase customization, maximize operating and postal savings, and automate the marketing process while allowing customers to craft personalized offers and messages quickly and easily.

I've been seeing more brands incorporating digital print - also known as print on demand - in their communication and marketing mix. Here's why:

• Increased customization with 100% variable content delivered at full press speed and quality - customers (and prospects) can receive differentiated images, text and offers based on available intelligence derived from data about those customers.


• Time and cost savings because of less waste and spoilage, and there is no needed plate changes and no preprinted stock inventory to be stored. Production processes are far more efficient, and overages are absent.


• Deeper postal discounts thanks to electronic, automated mail piece commingling that is done prior to printing.


• Decreased time to market via a complete high-speed digital production process that starts with white paper and ends with fully customized mail - in line and without job stops and starts. In some vertical markets - retail, real estate, financial services, for example - speed in communication matters, depending on the purpose of the communication. Having such speed in hardcopy communication can elevate customer engagement and response.

With this latest advancement in personalized direct mail variable data print, direct mail makes a serious impact. For example, the HP T230 Inkjet Digital Press, HP pigment and inks and HP print heads produce sharp text, images, graphics and 100 percent variable content in high-quality, four-color (CMYK) production print. (Other manufacturers have similar offerings as well.) That's not something printers could do 10 years ago.

Today's digital presses can create offers that are unique and relevant for each individual, print short runs at no extra expense, receive maximum postal discounts with up-front commingling, print personalized URLs and QR Codes for a multichannel strategy, require no plates and no film—it's all digital—and what used to take days can be done in hours. They save money by reducing on-hand inventory storage and get pieces into the mail stream faster with end-to-end processing.

With single card or simple folded self-mailers, these presses also allow multiple versions to be imaged with complete piece-to-piece personalization effectively commingling the mailing on press. This retains list density that allows for better postage discounts and drop ship entry discounts.

Nearly all brand executions with digital print interact with content management systems, where both creative assets are stored and the analytics-driven business rules and triggers that tap these assets. Such centralization and intelligence enables many benefits: corporate marketing control, the ability to leverage and time multiple contact across channels, trigger campaign capabilities, cloud-based technology for API interface with scalable assets, and individual customer/prospect mapping for location, messages, images and offers. Also, imaging digital interfaces, such as a QR Code, on a personal basis is no challenge at all.  These gains are going to have a profound effect on the future of direct mail, and they are already making a huge difference in what's in consumer mailboxes.

The bottom line is that the latest digital presses allow rapid-response, highly targeted, personalized mail campaigns without the penalty of higher postage.

Source:  Charley Howard, Harte Hanks

4 DesignTips for Mobile Email Marketing

The mobile inbox is a powerful tool if used the right way. We know that smart phone penetration in the US has reached 55% and mobile email open rates are over 40%. Almost half of your database is opening email via their mobile phone. Are you designing your emails to display correctly?

You could be leaving money on the table by not designing effective mobile email. Actually, you ARE leaving money on the table. Here are four design tips to help you design for the mobile inbox. Need more tips?

1. Design for Your Audience

Know your audience—it’s the most basic of all marketing principles. If your brand’s mobile audience is at or above 10%, it’s time to start optimizing for mobile. Weigh the effort required against your content and production timeline, then choose an approach that makes sense for your brand— as it pertains to mobile aware design, responsive design, or a combination of the two.

2. Design for Touch

Do not focus solely on click-based interaction—instead, try to think in terms of swipes and taps? As with any good design, grid-based layouts ensure content is easy to read and digest. Your finger isn’t as precise as a cursor, so elements like buttons and text links need to be a large enough that the user doesn’t accidentally tap the wrong link—or miss entirely. To design a button that’s easy to press, shoot for a height of at least 0.33” (44px or more).

3. Design for Legibility

Consider these factors to ensure your message is legible:

§  Contrast: As we age, less light enters the eye, making it more difficult to see color contrast. Computers and mobile devices also allow users to alter contrast settings, so carefully consider your color choices to ensure the text and images stand out properly against the background. Avoid reversing out small text on a dark background.

§  Text size: We recommend using text of at least 13px for body copy. In order to avoid having to zoom in, try starting at 15-16px (depending on the actual font) and preview it on your mobile device. Be generous with margins and whitespace to ensure text is readable. When it comes to copy, remember that less is more.

§  Imagery: Bold, beautiful imagery is slowly taking over our inboxes, as we take cues from Pinterest and social hubs like Facebook and Twitter. Images help tell your brand’s story, so consider taking the time to choose artful shots that complement your message. For B2B emails, think outside the realm of traditional stock photography to make your messages are unique.

§  Layout: A one-column layout works best in both aware and responsive design. If you have a multi-column layout, carefully plan how elements shift or stack, using a grid to ensure the technical aspect is possible

4. Design for Reality

Circumstances affect accessibility and attention span, so your message may be viewed on a small screen out of consumer preference or sheer convenience. It could be competing with distractions of all kinds, like a small data plan, a business meeting, spotty Wi-Fi connections, or a long line at the grocery store. Tailor your messages accordingly:

§     Keep it simple with direct content.

§ Be incredibly clear the steps for a the call-to-action.

            §     Be brutal with your editing.  Keep the message short and concise.

Source:  Kyle Lacey

Marketing:  It does not have to be complicated.

I love the new AT&T television campaign with the cute guy talking to the group of first graders. If you've been living under a rock and missed them, the guy poses a simple question to the kids like, "What's better? Doing two things at once or just one?"

The kids pause for a moment, consider their options, and then all shout out "TWO! TWO!" with some thrusting two fingers into his face. "You sure?" he asks innocently to one little girl. "I am absolutely positive," she states decisively, flattening her hands on the table for emphasis.

Finally one little boy says "I can do two things ... I can wave my head ..." while he starts waggling it from side to side, "and wave my arm ..." It makes me dizzy just to watch him.

I always laugh out loud at these spots because it reminds me of so many of the focus groups I've witnessed over the years, and the commercial's message, "It doesn't have to be complicated," could be the lesson for many marketers these days.

There are plenty of large, complex brands out there that require lots of intricate strategies and tactics against many different audiences. But many smaller brands have yet to heed the old KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) message that we learned in marketing class many moons ago.

I recently received a direct mail package that directed me to a URL to download a whitepaper. Since I was interested in the topic, I visited the URL. But when I arrived, I couldn't find any mention of the whitepaper, even though I scoured the home page.

Yesterday I clicked on a link in an email to download another whitepaper and it took me to a dedicated registration page that asked four or five simple questions before I could download. So far, so good.

But after completing the form, I ended up on another, differently designed page, asking for most of the same information before I could complete the download. Huh?

Last week I got a phone call from a sales rep telling me he was following up on the package he sent me. When I told him I had no memory of receiving it, he mumbled something that sounded like "damn marketing people" and then said he'd have to call me back. Wha—?

As AT&T states, "It's not complicated"—so why are so many marketing efforts such a chocolate mess?

Here are the 2 marketing rules I always try to live by:

• Make It Easy: Think about your target and what you want them to do. Then make it easy for them to do it. That includes forms (I once challenged an insurance client on the # of questions required on an app for a quote and was able to reduce it from 26 to 6).
• Demand Quality: Always proof (don't get me started) and impose a rigid QC process. For example, test blast your emails and check all the links before you launch the program to your customer/prospect base. If I get one more email addressed to "Dear (Client)" or "Dear Marc," I'm going to scream.

If you make sure you incorporate those principles into your marketing workflow, you might be surprised at the difference it can make.