AMiable Solution #82: The Hits Keep on Coming

Long before people LOLed or IMed one another, mail was the standard way to correspond.  While those days may be in the past, mail is still a viable and important tradition for businesses and organizations.

What it is: Direct mail

How it got started: The first U.S. pamphlet was reportedly published by William Penn in 1681.  Aaron Montgomery Ward started his catalog business nearly 200 years later, in 1872.  It was in 1835, however, that the first direct mail campaign, according to the National Postal Museum, was created.  Devised by the American Anti-Slavery Society, the campaign contained anti-slavery newspapers and printed materials and was targeted to southern religious and civic leaders, whose names were selected from newspapers, city directories, and other publically-available lists.

Why it still works: The advantages of mailing someone a printed letter, catalog, brochure, or package are just as relevant--if not more so--today as they were in the 1800s. Despite our growing and evolving technology, just about everyone has a permanent address, a place they call home.  You can’t say the same about landline phones or mobile phones or internet access or television sets.

Furthermore, direct mail offers some of the most trackable testing.  It can be targeted and personalized.  It can change its appearance and size and shape to offer a variety of looks and achieve a variety a goals, a flexibility that other forms of marketing don’t have.  Direct mail is also the most effective way to reach existing customers.

And although direct mail has earned the unflattering nickname “junk mail,” it is still perceived as being less intrusive than our next subject…telemarketing. 

AMiable Solution #81: The Magic of Air

Some traditions just can’t be overlooked, no matter how much technology tries to overshadow them.  Walking around the block offers health benefits that driving around the block doesn’t.  Painting a portrait by hand creates a personal, unique image that an automated computer program can’t match.

And good, old-fashioned broadcast marketing--advertising on the air--still reaches a broad, responsive market, despite the popularity of mobile and Internet marketing.

What it is: Radio and television commercials.

How it got started: The first radio commercial aired in 1922 on a radio station owned by AT&T.  AT&T thought of radio as a sort of public phone booth: anyone could pay for air time.  On that August day, a paid commercial for Hawthorne Court Apartments in Jackson Heights, New York, hit the air.

The first television ad followed suite nearly 20 years later, in 1941, with a 10-second spot by watch maker Bulova before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.  The ad cost $9.

Why it still works: Despite all of our technology, television and radio still have large audiences.  According to Nielsen--the company that tracks what consumers watch, listen to, and buy--243 million Americans listen to the radio each week, and the average American spends 34 hours a week watching television and another three to six hours watching DVRed programs.

The market for both mediums is wide open.  Neilsen reports that all generations have radio listener bases of more than 85%, and weekly viewership among 2- through 24-year olds is relatively steady but nearly doubles in terms of hours-per-week for people age 65 and over.

Despite their success, however, television and radio are not financially feasible options for all organizations.  Next week’s focus, however, is.  Check back to see what it is and how you can take advantage of it.

AMiable Solution #80: The Math of Ads

With the holiday seasons approaching, now seems like the perfect time to examine something we all experience in our personal and professional lives: traditions.

When it comes to marketing traditions, historically there have been four: print ads, broadcast ads, direct mail, and telephone solicitations.  But are marketing traditions still effective, or are they ornamental, like last year’s fruit cake?  Let’s look at print ads. 

What they are: Ads placed in newspapers, magazines, telephone books, and other distributed, printed publications in exchange for a fee. 

How they got started: According to Ad Age, the first newspaper advertisement appeared in the Boston News-Letter in 1704.  The first American magazine ads appeared 38 years later, in 1742, when Benjamin Franklin printed them in his publication, General Magazine.  It would be more than 100 years later before advertising makers established industry footholds (the first ad agency didn’t open until 1843).

Why they still work:  Although more and more people use the Internet to get their news, view their publications of choice, and look up phone numbers, print advertising still has a place in today’s marketing plans. Print advertising is still a big business, generating nearly $30 billion in ad revenue every year.

For starters, print ads provide physical, retainable exposure to a targeted audience.  The demographics for most publications are clearly defined. 

In addition, marketers can not only target their audience with print ads, but they can also target the placement of their ads within the publication, maximizing their ad’s exposure.