Though businesses now have more communication channels to reach consumers than ever before, marketing expert David Jackson recently argued on Promotion World that direct mail marketing is still an effective way to generate sales.

Jackson asserts that a properly executed direct mail campaign still provides a "solid return on investment." Citing a recent study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, he says that direct mail marketing expenditures are expected to increase by more than $1 billion during 2010.

Consumers are also eagerly welcoming the influx of mailers. Referring to the same study, Jackson claims 79 percent of U.S. households either completely read or skim through direct mail messages sent to their homes. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by postal automation firm Pitney Bowes found that consumers still prefer physical mail over digital communication channels, relays the source.

Consumers are especially accepting of postal messages containing confidential statements or new product announcements. Jackson writes that

• 73 percent of respondents prefer direct mail to receive information about new items,
• while 86 percent would rather receive private communications through postal mail.
• In both cases, consumers reveal a strong preference for postal messages over digital mail.

Pitney Bowes’ survey also indicates that

• 31 percent of mail recipients tend not to throw away unopened postal messages, ranging from brochures to envelopes,
• whereas 53 percent are likely to delete unopened email messages.

Additionally, many consumers find direct mail to be less intrusive than unsolicited emails and phone calls.

• Nearly half of respondents (43.2 percent) said direct mail was more convenient,
• while 30.2 percent indicated the sales environment was less high pressured.
• This translated into greater responses overall, with 12 percent claiming direct mail was more persuasive.

"If you haven’t considered trying direct mail, maybe you should. A properly executed direct mail campaign combined with online marketing methods could be an unbeatable combination," Jackson wrote.

The effectiveness of direct mail marketing has caused many businesses to adopt the channel. According to a recent report from the Global Insight Analysts, direct mail expenditures are expected to hit $25.45 billion globally by 2015. The firm cites direct mail’s physical presence as its biggest selling point, especially in comparison to digital channels.

One way to increase the ROI of a direct mail marketing campaign is to include a promotional offer, exclusive to recipients of the mailing.

For example, a restaurant that wants to send out postcards to recruit new customers and retain existing ones should feature

• high-quality and attention-grabbing graphics of the decor and food
• a sample of menu items
• contact details
• and even a small map showing customers how to find the restaurant.

Yet in addition to all of these features, the restaurant should offer some kind of discount or promotion to the postcard recipients, such as a free appetizer or dessert, or a two-for-one meal.

Though some businesses may get the impression that doing so makes them look less professional or classy, the realities of the recession have overridden any potential negative connotations with coupons and discounts.

In fact, a recent survey from Nielsen found that affluent consumers are actually among the most frequent coupon users – 39 percent of consumers who earn more than $70,000 are classified as "super heavy" coupon users, while 42 percent fall into the category of "coupon enthusiasts."

Therefore, even high-end businesses should not shy away from using coupons in their direct mailings, as any incentive or discount will likely boost sales.

This is especially the case now that competition can be fierce  – and coupons may make the difference for a customer choosing between one business and another.

A study released this week regarding online retail coupons captured the make-or-break nature of promotions in today’s economic environment, showing that 30 percent of online adults will not make a purchase at an online store if they cannot find a coupon for that store – marking a 3 percent increase from 2008 – while 22 percent of online adults will go to a different store to make that purchase.

One way to measure the effectiveness of a coupon-focused direct mailing campaign is to require that the recipient brings the coupon into the store or business in order to receive the discount. Doing so can allow the business to compare the number of people who received the mailing with the number that brought the coupon in for use, guiding any changes to the campaign such as the mailing list or the offer itself.

Wall Street Journal, 12 January 2010

Looking to cut costs amid the recession, Alicia Settle initially thought it would be a good idea to eliminate her company’s annual direct mailing.

Spending about $20,000 on the personally signed letters, which offered customers a discount on early orders, seemed indulgent for Per Annum Inc., which sells city diaries, albums, and planners in the struggling corporate gift market. But after swapping snail mail for email last year, Ms. Settle saw a 25% drop in early orders compared with the same period the previous year.

"We realized we had made a huge mistake," says Ms. Settle, president of the New York firm.

The affordability of e-marketing, along with the explosion of social media and the desire to trim costs in the recession, has prompted many small companies like Per Annum to slash traditional direct-mail budgets. U.S. consumers received about 5.2 billion pieces of direct mail in the third quarter of 2009, a 27% decline compared with 7.1 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to Mintel Comperemedia, a research firm that tracks direct-mail marketing.

However, some entrepreneurs who were quick to write off direct mail as too pricey or passé are finding it’s not so easy to dismiss.

Ms. Settle says that at first she blamed the economy for the dropoff, until she "started hearing from customers that they never got their ‘reminder’ in the mail." Ms. Settle quickly sent a postcard mailing in June, which recouped the 25% loss, she says.

Costs are still taken into account. Many entrepreneurs find that the boiler-plate methods of the past—such as purchasing mailing lists and sending fliers or coupons to a mass audience—often aren’t cost-effective. Instead, business owners are creating personalized mailings, which may include special offers or other valuable information, and sending them to a hand-picked list of current and prospective customers.

The idea is to send something that’s more appealing than "junk" mail and potentially more noticeable than an email message, says Eric Anderson, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. That allows business owners "to offer a personal touch the larger firms may not be able to have," he says.

To save money, Peter Taffae, founder of ExecutivePerils, a Los Angeles wholesale insurance broker, stopped his small firm’s humorous postcard mailings last year. The colorful marketing pieces showcase the insurance broker’s offerings through satirical movie themes, such as "Full Metal Policy," a parody of "Full Metal Jacket" and "Singin’ in the Renewal," from the classic film "Singin’ in the Rain." About 2,000 current and potential clients received the postcards, which cost the company $4,000 to send out every four to six weeks.

Customers complained when ExecutivePerils dropped its humorous postcards.

"We would visit some clients and notice they were hanging the postcards on the wall, collecting them," says Mr. Taffae, who says he secured $270,000 from a new client who chose to do business with the firm in late 2008 after receiving the postcards.

"After two or three months [of no postcards], we got a lot of emails and phone calls asking us, ‘Did you take me off your list?’ I figured if even 1% complained, then a much larger percentage were thinking about it," says Mr. Taffae, who restarted the postcard mailings in November.

William Kapas, president of J.C. Kapas Real Estate Co. in Rochelle Park, N.J., says he has secured clients as a result of his high-gloss, four-color monthly mailings that list who has bought or sold restaurant properties though the firm.

"Our clients look forward to knowing, and it’s a little bit of gossip, too," says Mr. Kapas, who exclusively uses traditional mail to reach clients. "I think it’s easier to delete the electronic junk mail without taking a second look."

Mr. Kapas spends about $1 a piece for the monthly mailings, sent to about 2,200 current and prospective customers.

Prof. Anderson says other business owners are trying to figure out how to integrate Web marketing—such as email campaigns, banner ads and social-networking sites—with direct mail. "The introduction of new media has forced [business owners] to go back and revisit the whole playbook on what’s the best way to communicate with customers," Mr. Anderson says.

Ms. Settle, for instance, plans to use e-marketing to complement the hand-signed direct-mail piece, not replace it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Taffae is starting to take his satirical marketing approach to YouTube; he’s created a parody of F Troop, the 1960s sitcom, to promote his firm online.

http://news.cq.co.nz/news/adding-mobile/

In a nutshell CQ can generate and place a QR Code on your posters, business cards, flyers or WHATEVER, and anyone can read it using their mobile phone to record your contact details or go to a relevant page on your website.

In the promotional posters for Tim Burton’s new animated movie “9” one of the posters features a QR Code. Try it now and see the exclusive video on your mobile phone!

I’ve pointed out previously that while you might spend days, even weeks, crafting a direct mail message, recipients will spend just seconds deciding whether it’s worth their attention.

Here’s a video from Pitney Bowes illustrating this simple idea.

Let me first say that I disagree with the comment that a plain envelope is “boring.” The fact is, a plain envelope, especially one that looks personal, is a great way to get people to actually open the envelope and look at what’s inside.

Most of the other comments are worthy of consideration. For example, you have to get the recipient name and address right. Nothing will kill a mailer faster than addressing it to the wrong person. You must clean your list before you mail. And please remember to make sure you’re sending just one mailer to a home address unless you intend otherwise. I’ve been seeing a lot of waste recently with the same mailing arriving for various spellings of my name and my wife’s name.

Above is an excerpt from the DirectCreative Blog

Note this particular vendor video also show us how much more advanced mailers are in the US market. More innovative personalisation plus a trans-promotional mailer (the credit card bill), that we don’t see down here.

Note that most of the items shown in this video would not comply with the local NZ Post layout guidelines, allowing you to obtain the discounted postal rate. Call us if you want to try these more innovative ‘high response’ techniques in your next direct marketing campaign or billing mailout.

Step back and consider some alternatives. For example, underwear merchant Bare Necessities in the US recently tested coordinating a postcard campaign with email to a segment of its customer file and saw a significant increase in revenue from those who received both marketing messages.

According to David Wauters, director of marketing for Bare Necessities, the company saw a 15% lift in revenue (note that’s SALES, not just a response rate boost) from customers who received the direct mail postcard and the email, compared to the control group who received only the email.

Wauters has apparently stumbled on something that a lot of marketers talk about, but seldom do. A relative few marketers truly coordinate their email and print efforts, according to Jane Kaiser, president of online marketing consultancy Eclipse Direct Marketing. She said her clients consistently see lifts of between 15% and 25% when they send coordinated print and email campaigns.

But wait there’s more!

If you’re satisfied with a 15-25% improvement then a simple combined email and direct mail postcard is a no-brainer. After all, who wouldn’t be delighted with amazing results like this?

However sales improvements of 50% or more are now possible using PURLs.  Here we take the above a step further. We simply add a unique webpage link to both the email and postcard.  A great Video by small business marketing expert, David Frey, outlines this very exciting, simple concept.

Here at CQ, we’ve the expertise to build your own personalised landing page and direct mail piece to complement your own email campaign, or provide a complete purl webpage, email and variable print turnkey package. Note our PURL package has special features beyond that outlined in the video.

Best of all? It’s all remarkably easy, affordable and just perfect for any corporate, small business or community group – You heard it here first!

However it’s not just the compact  format. The design, content and offer play a big part too. A card that engages people, sending them back to your company website to buy, for more information or enter competitions is the real secret.

There’s one particular postcard campaign in the US that’s consistently popular and super-successful, breaking sales records year after year through a simple technique. Response rates are over ten times the industry average. Watch the video below, courtesy of Small Business marketer, David Frey.

Now you’ve seen how easy it is, let us turn that concept, into reality.

We’re experts in affordable variable data printing, web-to-print and purl marketing technologies. Talk to us about our new super-effective personalisation options and the amazing business results that come with postcard mailings. Phone Dean on 03 963 8899 or email dean@cq.co.nz

Increase your business results with Postcards

If you’ve a slim advertising budget, Postcard mailers are an effective way to professionally market your products, business services or website. And by ordering them online, you’ll save yourself weeks of effort and heaps of money.

DIY Saves – No more frustrating delays or unnecessary costs working with all those graphic designers, specialist printers or mail houses! And no need to spend hours with labels, or stuffing envelopes.

Now you can design the card yourself, using our smart MS Word templates, adding images from your digital camera then addresses using Word’s mail merge tools. When you’re done, simply ‘print’ them to CQ’s internet print queue and we’ll do the rest – What once took weeks can now be done in a few hours.

CQ’s Postcard mailers are the perfect low cost, super-effective marketing tool for the realty, motoring, home services, hospitality and travel sectors – In fact for anyone organising a special business, community or family event.

It sounds simple but inviting your customers to do business  with you is an effective strategy for significantly improving  current sales. Take it from Max Grassfield, owner of  Grassfield’s an upscale men’s clothing store. Max founded the store 35 years ago, and is still running the business.

Max has become so skilled at inviting his customers to do  business that he developed a trademarked system called,  “Invitational MarketingTM.” Max issues personal invitations to  his store to a carefully selected group of individuals in the  Denver area. His method works.

Several years ago, Max Grassfield asked himself, “What can we do to make Grassfield’s unique (which is a question all  small business owners need to ask themselves).” The answer, which he evolved after much study, research, and effort was to develop methods to know his customers “better than the other stores know their customer.”

Know your customer!

For the last ten years, Grassfield’s has been collecting a database of information on its customers, who voluntarily  provide it. Originally, the data included name, address, telephone numbers, sizes, birthdays, and the wife’s name.  (He discovered that wives are often heavily involved in their husband’s clothing purchases.)

He regularly writes customers on a one-to-one basis that use the customer’s first name or nickname (as the customer  prefers), their sizes, wife’s name, product preferences, and references to what they bought in the previous season.

Most communications are programmed to include messages designed only for the particular customer addressed: “I’ve been keeping my eyes on the 44 long suits…” Every letter is  personally signed by the customer’s salesman who he met while visiting the store.

Recently, he sent a wave of three different oversized postcards in one month intervals, to 4,100 regular customers. Each card greeted the customer by name, and was signed by his  salesman.

The Business Results?

There were 117 respondents (a 2.85% response rate) with an average sale of $451. It was an outstanding success. The final cost per piece mailed was just 48 cents including postage. For a $1,986 investment, he brought in $52,767 in sales. (Compare that with the cost of full page ads!)

A couple of months later, Max selected eight suit sizes that  were overstocked. Using the database, he drafted a special  note to each customer whose size fit one of these eight groups.

The incentive was $100 off any suit in that inventory, and $200 off the high-end Hickey Freeman suites. He mailed 1,164 invitations at a cost of $558 and sold 56 suits in 39  transactions. The average sale was $1,110 with a total volume  of $43,307!

This case study is a great example of the power of marketing to your current customer base. Max knows who his good customers are and he takes advantage of that by personally  inviting them to do business with him, again and again. It also  demonstrates the power and importance of collecting information about your customer and how it can be used to make you a lot of money.

( Click here to read more from the original article)

Here at CQ we offer a range of direct mailing options, enticing your customers into your store as Max did.

From smart machinery that will automatically insert your letters into envelopes (right) to tips to accelerate printing, eliminating delays. We’re also aware of the latest NZ Post requirements too, to ensure faster, more reliable delivery.

Colour Sells – Ever wanted to include colour photos of people or product shots into your MS Word Documents? – Words make the sale, but images catch the eye – Most of us know that images in office documents can cause a printing meltdown, especially for a mail merge, where hundreds of pages are generated!

But by utilising our smart MS Word templates, CQ internet print queue (web to print) and our production-grade variable printing technology, this is all done in minutes, not hours or days. Let us show you how, in a risk-free trial…

We also offer a complete design, print and mailing service. The real key to success is in the format, copy and offer. As Max and other organisations worldwide have discovered, the humble Postcard format is often the most cost-effective, saving heaps of time and needless expense. Ask for some free samples.