AMiable Solution #43: Tips for a Happy New Year: Remember Your Customers

How many times did you cringe this year after reading a marketing survey or study that identified trends or strategies that were not on your department's radar? Or worse, they conflicted with activities or strategies your organization had spent the year supporting?

In 2009, Direct Marketing News reported on a study, conducted by Borrell Associates, predicting that direct mail marketing spending would decrease by 39% between 2008 and the end of 2013.

However, just this month, Print in the Mix, a publication of the Rochester Institute of Technology, reported that marketing firm Epsilon Targeting determined, through its latest annual Consumer Channel Preference Study, that consumers prefer to receive marketing through direct mail over all other marketing channels.

Did something change? Who's right, and who's wrong?

It depends on who you ask. The survey takers clearly have a stronger opinion than the survey readers, but that doesn't necessarily make their conclusions or decisions your conclusions or decisions. Studies are great for giving you a general sense of an industry or community, but that doesn't necessarily mean what's good for them is good for you. The marketing industry in general may be spending less money on direct mail, but that might not be the best strategy for you.

No one knows your clients, members, or donors better than you (at least they better not). If you know, through historical data and reports, that your clients respond better to direct mail than email, keep mailing! Not only will you continue to communicate in a way that's most likely to appeal to your clients and generate response, but you may also find you have increased visibility as more and more other companies--including your competitors--listen to the studies and follow general trends instead of customer preferences.

Do you have a better suggestion to offer or a challenge you'd like help with? Say it here. Your comments are always welcome.

AMiable Solution #42: Ways to Save in 2013, Part 2

Direct mail marketers should not rely on integrated direct mail/electronic strategies alone, or so the USPS seems to say with the inclusion of three mail-focused promotions on its 2013 schedule.

Hoping to encourage customer replies by mail, the USPS is offering an "Earned Value Reply Mail" promotion. Marketers who register (beginning January 1, 2013) and include a first-class Business Reply Mail (BRM) or a Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM) envelope in their mailings will receive a postage credit every time a customer uses the envelope to respond.

The USPS is also offering a "credit" of sorts to mailers incorporating Picture Permits into their first-class and standard-mail letter and card mailings. Picture Permits, which allow marketers to incorporate a corporate logo, brand image, or trademark into the permit imprint indicia, typically carry a one-cent-per-mailpiece fee. However, with the USPS's "Picture Permits" promotion, that fee will be waived for all mailers who register, beginning June 15, 2013. Picture Permits can be used with pre-approval only, so interested mailers must be sure to allow themselves time to complete the registration and application process prior to the promotion's scheduled run time, August 1, 2013, through September 30, 2013.

Finally, running August 1, 2013, through September 30, 2013, as well is the USPS's "Product Samples" promotion. The promotion seeks to encourage the inclusion of product samples in direct mail pieces by offering qualified mailers a 5% upfront postage discount. The promotion also draws attention to the USPS's proposed "Simple Samples" pricing for standard mail, which will go into effect January 27, 2013. Registration begins May 1, 2013.

As was the case with the mail/mobile technology promotions discussed in the last blog, complete details for these promotions are still forthcoming, but the potential benefits of each promotion to your organization should be analyzed and added to your calendars now.

Do you have a better suggestion to offer or a challenge you'd like help with? Say it here. Your comments are always welcome.