Last year, numerous recognizable logos underwent a transformation: Seattle's Best Coffee, Yellow Pages, Wikipedia. But none garnered the attention quite like Gap, the specialty clothing retailer. Fans revolted. News media buzzed. Criticism flew.
Your logo represents your organization's identity. It symbolizes what you offer, where you're headed, who your audience is, and who you are. Changing your logo, even a little, can alter the way people perceive your organization. And not necessarily in a good way.
So when, if ever, is it a good idea to redesign your logo? Although the most effective redesigns are the ones you probably don't notice—they maintain the general look and emotion of the original but with an update—redesigns are likely needed when you find your organization in one of the following situations:
• you need to rebrand your company and reposition it to better suit an existing or new market
• your business objectives change
• your organization merges with another and changes your mission or operations
• your logo doesn't convey the right message or includes irrelevant language or images
Redesigning, however, not only involves risk, but it also involves expense. Think of all the places your logo currently appears: letterhead and envelopes, packing material, marketing material, trade show displays, business cards, etc. Generating new material with an updated logo costs money, so make sure your reasoning and projected benefits justify the change. Don't mess with your logo just because your organization's leadership changes or because "all the corporations are doing it."
If you do redesign, Ellen Hamilton, graphic designer and owner of Yellow Dot Designs in Alexandria, Virginia, says the biggest decision you can make regarding your redesign is your designer. She recommends choosing someone trained in logo design who will sit down with you to discuss your goals, your services, your business plans—everything—to create a logo that's both visually and technically sound.
"A good designer delves into the vision of your organization," Hamilton says. "A good designer also knows how things get printed and how colors work. In the end, your logo has to work in one color, in various sizes, on a website and on a fax, and it has to be printable in a variety of formats."
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Start Each Job Right: Keys to Submitting Great Quote Requests
Most of the time, a marketing project goes as planned. However, every now and then a print job runs into problems, a mail piece drops late, or an invoice doesn't reflect the quote.
You can avoid many delays , conflicts, and complications if you get a good start, and that means the quote. The more your vendor knows about a potential, upcoming job, the more accurately your vendor can provide a quote and the better the company can prepare. Omitting nitty-gritty details now --the type of file you're submitting, for example--may seem unnecessary, but they could end up derailing your schedule, increasing your costs, or sidelining your direct mail piece altogether if you catch your vendor unaware.
What should you include in a quote request? As much information as possible. For a printer, that means dates, data, delivery, and more:
· project name
· when you'd like the quote
· when you expect to submit the job
· when you'd like the job completed
· quantity
· file type/software used
· whether the job prints one side only or two
· platform used: Mac or PC
· how the artwork will be provided: hard copy, tiff, jpeg, PDF
· type of proofs required: bluelines, color proofs, or electronic proofs
· size: both flat and folded, including final size
· page count
· requested stock
· color(s): one, two, three, or 4-color process
· whether or not a cover coating is needed
· bleeds
· folding or binding
· how you want the final piece packaged: in cartons, on skids, polybagged, shrinkwrapped, etc.
· where the final products should be delivered and how
For a mail service provider, it means many of the same specifications, plus:
· size and weight
· format: flat, letter
· class: first class, presorted, non-profit
· postage payment method/type
· binding or inserting required
· number of lists, formats, and sources
· where the materials are coming from and when
· special work, including merge/purging, level of merge/purging, and approval process
· keycoding, if needed
· laser personalization: simplex or duplex, black only or spot color/four-color process
· sorting
· what to do with overage: return, store, or recycle
Allow enough time in your bidding and your production to enable your sales rep to provide you with a thorough and thoughtful quote, and be realistic in your projected schedule. Plan ahead, and save your "rush" jobs for true, last-minute campaign additions.
You can avoid many delays , conflicts, and complications if you get a good start, and that means the quote. The more your vendor knows about a potential, upcoming job, the more accurately your vendor can provide a quote and the better the company can prepare. Omitting nitty-gritty details now --the type of file you're submitting, for example--may seem unnecessary, but they could end up derailing your schedule, increasing your costs, or sidelining your direct mail piece altogether if you catch your vendor unaware.
What should you include in a quote request? As much information as possible. For a printer, that means dates, data, delivery, and more:
· project name
· when you'd like the quote
· when you expect to submit the job
· when you'd like the job completed
· quantity
· file type/software used
· whether the job prints one side only or two
· platform used: Mac or PC
· how the artwork will be provided: hard copy, tiff, jpeg, PDF
· type of proofs required: bluelines, color proofs, or electronic proofs
· size: both flat and folded, including final size
· page count
· requested stock
· color(s): one, two, three, or 4-color process
· whether or not a cover coating is needed
· bleeds
· folding or binding
· how you want the final piece packaged: in cartons, on skids, polybagged, shrinkwrapped, etc.
· where the final products should be delivered and how
For a mail service provider, it means many of the same specifications, plus:
· size and weight
· format: flat, letter
· class: first class, presorted, non-profit
· postage payment method/type
· binding or inserting required
· number of lists, formats, and sources
· where the materials are coming from and when
· special work, including merge/purging, level of merge/purging, and approval process
· keycoding, if needed
· laser personalization: simplex or duplex, black only or spot color/four-color process
· sorting
· what to do with overage: return, store, or recycle
Allow enough time in your bidding and your production to enable your sales rep to provide you with a thorough and thoughtful quote, and be realistic in your projected schedule. Plan ahead, and save your "rush" jobs for true, last-minute campaign additions.
Monday, January 31, 2011
What Your Mailbox Can Teach You
Mailboxes. You fill them from your office and you empty them at home, but have you ever thought about them as more than just a means to an end?
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has a number of standards governing the look, use, and installation of residential mailboxes, offering a few more lessons for those of us in the marketing world. Take a look.
The policy: "You should install the mailbox with the bottom of the box at a vertical height of between 41-45 inches from the road surface, unless you have a road or curb condition that prevents this."
The lesson: The more work you do to make the USPS's work easier, the greater your reward. Developed a standard-shaped mailpiece? Great! The USPS can run it through the machine for quicker processing. Barcoded and CASS-certified your mailing? Perfect! The USPS will discount your postage.
The policy: "Advertising on a mailbox or its supporting post is prohibited."
The lesson: Take ownership of the entire direct mail process. Look at every detail--no matter how odd or obscure it may seem--to ensure the message you're sending is the message you're intending.
The policy: "Your postmaster will approve custom-made mailboxes on a one-time basis as long as they generally meet USPS standards."
The lesson: Designing uniquely shaped mailpieces may create more interest from your audience, but they may also create unanticipated costs or problems with the post office. Before you venture too far into the sea of creativity, speak with your mailhouse representative to make sure your idea not only floats, but mails.
The policy: "You can attach a receptacle for newspaper delivery by a private company to the post of a curbside mailbox used by the Postal Service as long as it doesn't extend beyond the front of the mailbox when the box door is closed."
The lesson: Adding other channels of marketing to your campaign may help you run in all of your target audience's circles, but postal mail still leads the pack. In fact, according to "Print in the Mix," marketers will spend 5.8% more on direct mail this year than last, proving, at the cost of $47.8 billion, that direct mail is not dead.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has a number of standards governing the look, use, and installation of residential mailboxes, offering a few more lessons for those of us in the marketing world. Take a look.
The policy: "You should install the mailbox with the bottom of the box at a vertical height of between 41-45 inches from the road surface, unless you have a road or curb condition that prevents this."
The lesson: The more work you do to make the USPS's work easier, the greater your reward. Developed a standard-shaped mailpiece? Great! The USPS can run it through the machine for quicker processing. Barcoded and CASS-certified your mailing? Perfect! The USPS will discount your postage.
The policy: "Advertising on a mailbox or its supporting post is prohibited."
The lesson: Take ownership of the entire direct mail process. Look at every detail--no matter how odd or obscure it may seem--to ensure the message you're sending is the message you're intending.
The policy: "Your postmaster will approve custom-made mailboxes on a one-time basis as long as they generally meet USPS standards."
The lesson: Designing uniquely shaped mailpieces may create more interest from your audience, but they may also create unanticipated costs or problems with the post office. Before you venture too far into the sea of creativity, speak with your mailhouse representative to make sure your idea not only floats, but mails.
The policy: "You can attach a receptacle for newspaper delivery by a private company to the post of a curbside mailbox used by the Postal Service as long as it doesn't extend beyond the front of the mailbox when the box door is closed."
The lesson: Adding other channels of marketing to your campaign may help you run in all of your target audience's circles, but postal mail still leads the pack. In fact, according to "Print in the Mix," marketers will spend 5.8% more on direct mail this year than last, proving, at the cost of $47.8 billion, that direct mail is not dead.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
How to Mentor Effectively: Ten Tips for Success
Mentoring another employee, discussed in this month's enewsletter, benefits the mentor, the mentee, and the organization. But how do you mentor effectively? Whether you establish a formal, structured mentoring program or opt for an informal, friendship-based relationship, keeping these tips in mind will help maximize your chances for success.
1. Make sure your protégé's goals match your own. Having similar motivations will make you more compatible in the relationship and will make you more effective as an example.
2. Identify expectations up front. Discuss what you both hope to gain from the relationship and determine how often you will meet.
3. Give the relationship the time it deserves and needs. Consider spending time with your mentee among your top things to do.
4. Correct in private. If a mentee acts inappropriately or messes up, correct him or her in private. Public criticism doesn't do anyone any good.
5. Challenge your protégé. Provide your mentee with of a project or situation he/she wouldn't normally experience and supervise the process. Be sure to praise publically for a job well done.
6. Challenge yourself. Continue to push yourself and to develop yourself professionally. You didn't get the experience you have sitting back and watching others.
7. Practice active listening. Your mentee wants to hear what you have to teach, but he/she also needs you to listen, too.
8. Maintain a positive attitude. Attitudes, like colds, spread with contact. Encourage your mentee regularly and exude confidence and content in your work.
9. Don't be afraid to say you don't know. Just because you have experience doesn't mean you know everything. And that's okay. Your protégé will trust you more if you admit you don't know something than if you stumble your way through an answer.
10. Admit when the relationship isn't working. Not every successful business person makes a great mentor. If one or both of you isn't satisfied with the relationship, discuss it and end it, if necessary.
1. Make sure your protégé's goals match your own. Having similar motivations will make you more compatible in the relationship and will make you more effective as an example.
2. Identify expectations up front. Discuss what you both hope to gain from the relationship and determine how often you will meet.
3. Give the relationship the time it deserves and needs. Consider spending time with your mentee among your top things to do.
4. Correct in private. If a mentee acts inappropriately or messes up, correct him or her in private. Public criticism doesn't do anyone any good.
5. Challenge your protégé. Provide your mentee with of a project or situation he/she wouldn't normally experience and supervise the process. Be sure to praise publically for a job well done.
6. Challenge yourself. Continue to push yourself and to develop yourself professionally. You didn't get the experience you have sitting back and watching others.
7. Practice active listening. Your mentee wants to hear what you have to teach, but he/she also needs you to listen, too.
8. Maintain a positive attitude. Attitudes, like colds, spread with contact. Encourage your mentee regularly and exude confidence and content in your work.
9. Don't be afraid to say you don't know. Just because you have experience doesn't mean you know everything. And that's okay. Your protégé will trust you more if you admit you don't know something than if you stumble your way through an answer.
10. Admit when the relationship isn't working. Not every successful business person makes a great mentor. If one or both of you isn't satisfied with the relationship, discuss it and end it, if necessary.
Friday, November 19, 2010
End-of-Year Marketing Tasks to Complete Now
With the end of 2010 just around the bend, performing these end-of-year tasks will not only maximize your efforts for this year but will also give you a good start into 2011.
Clean out your overage. Do you have extra flyers stored in your warehouse or at the mail shop? Blow off the dust and take inventory of your overage. You may have a quick and relatively inexpensive (the printing is already paid for, after all) mailing on hand. If you have large quantities of pieces that did well--and the pieces don't include any dated references or discounts--you may want to re-mail them to a portion of your house list or to a rental list. Even if you didn't budget for an additional mailing in November, there's always room for a mailing that can pay for itself.
Go back to the beginning. You may have already created your marketing plan for next year, but the most effective marketing schedules aren't set in stone. Update and review the response rate for every campaign you mailed or emailed this year, even those you consider inactive. Were you surprised by any of the results? Did your marketing generate the response you expected? Would the response rate improve if you adjusted your timing a bit?
Survey your best clients. You know who they are: the customers who order often or order big, or the contributors who have supported your organization for years. Assemble a list of your top clients and call them up. Did your customer service perform satisfactorily? Were all products received on time? How about the marketing: did your clients receive notices about new products and services when they needed them? Take this time to find out how their businesses faired this year, too, and what your organization could possibly due to help them in the year ahead.
Say thanks to your supporters. Most people like to know that the organizations or the companies they support appreciate their interest and their income. Whether you choose to mail a holiday card, email a "thank you" letter with a discount or special offer, or post a sincere note on your website, take the time to recognize the folks who chose you this year.
Clean out your overage. Do you have extra flyers stored in your warehouse or at the mail shop? Blow off the dust and take inventory of your overage. You may have a quick and relatively inexpensive (the printing is already paid for, after all) mailing on hand. If you have large quantities of pieces that did well--and the pieces don't include any dated references or discounts--you may want to re-mail them to a portion of your house list or to a rental list. Even if you didn't budget for an additional mailing in November, there's always room for a mailing that can pay for itself.
Go back to the beginning. You may have already created your marketing plan for next year, but the most effective marketing schedules aren't set in stone. Update and review the response rate for every campaign you mailed or emailed this year, even those you consider inactive. Were you surprised by any of the results? Did your marketing generate the response you expected? Would the response rate improve if you adjusted your timing a bit?
Survey your best clients. You know who they are: the customers who order often or order big, or the contributors who have supported your organization for years. Assemble a list of your top clients and call them up. Did your customer service perform satisfactorily? Were all products received on time? How about the marketing: did your clients receive notices about new products and services when they needed them? Take this time to find out how their businesses faired this year, too, and what your organization could possibly due to help them in the year ahead.
Say thanks to your supporters. Most people like to know that the organizations or the companies they support appreciate their interest and their income. Whether you choose to mail a holiday card, email a "thank you" letter with a discount or special offer, or post a sincere note on your website, take the time to recognize the folks who chose you this year.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Three Questions That Will Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Next List Rental
When you commit valuable resources to renting a mailing list, you want to make sure you're maximizing your ROI and odds of success. How do you do that? List selects.
Although datacards by nature provide key information about a list—quantity available, description, cost per thousand names, source, last update, etc.—sometimes you have to read between the lines to find out the quality of the names you're getting. The next time you review a datacard for a mailing, ask your list broker the following:
1. What selects are available?
According to David James, President of Bethesda List Center, a good list broker can help you rent a list of names, using selects, that looks like your best customers. Start by choosing a type of list--response or compiled--and your trading area--business or consumer. Then, look at the job title and function selects. But don't over select, he warns. "You're always looking on the outskirts of your target customers, to the ones that are 85% qualified," James says. "That's where you'll frequently find new customers."
2. How complete are the selects?
When you look at all of the counts for a given select category, do they total the number of names available? For example, do the state counts, when combined, equal the total names available for that list? If they don't, ask your list broker why. In the case of a membership list, for example, the gaps could be from lack of member input. It may, however, be a housekeeping issue, in which case you may want to keep looking at other available lists.
3. Can you run a list merging two selects?
This is a biggie. For a seminar company, what's better than renting a list of human resources professionals? Renting a list of human resources professionals (job title select) who have made a purchase in the past six months (recency select). For some list owners or brokers, running a list of contacts who meet two criteria is simply a matter of programming. For others, it's not, but you won't lose anything by asking. The more you can fine-tune your rental, the more likely you are to hit your target audience.
Although datacards by nature provide key information about a list—quantity available, description, cost per thousand names, source, last update, etc.—sometimes you have to read between the lines to find out the quality of the names you're getting. The next time you review a datacard for a mailing, ask your list broker the following:
1. What selects are available?
According to David James, President of Bethesda List Center, a good list broker can help you rent a list of names, using selects, that looks like your best customers. Start by choosing a type of list--response or compiled--and your trading area--business or consumer. Then, look at the job title and function selects. But don't over select, he warns. "You're always looking on the outskirts of your target customers, to the ones that are 85% qualified," James says. "That's where you'll frequently find new customers."
2. How complete are the selects?
When you look at all of the counts for a given select category, do they total the number of names available? For example, do the state counts, when combined, equal the total names available for that list? If they don't, ask your list broker why. In the case of a membership list, for example, the gaps could be from lack of member input. It may, however, be a housekeeping issue, in which case you may want to keep looking at other available lists.
3. Can you run a list merging two selects?
This is a biggie. For a seminar company, what's better than renting a list of human resources professionals? Renting a list of human resources professionals (job title select) who have made a purchase in the past six months (recency select). For some list owners or brokers, running a list of contacts who meet two criteria is simply a matter of programming. For others, it's not, but you won't lose anything by asking. The more you can fine-tune your rental, the more likely you are to hit your target audience.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sending customers or prospects to your home page or a pre-existing page on your website could do more harm than good.
Don’t believe me? Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes: you most likely already have. You get an intriguing offer either through the mail or online. You think you just may have found the solution to your current challenge. You go, as directed by the marketing piece, to the organization’s website, and voila…
Nothing. It’s as if the marketing person and the web person didn’t communicate, and you don’t have the time or the patience to sort through the page or the site to find what you were looking for.
To fully take advantage of a multi-channel marketing campaign, you need to put as much effort into the landing page as you do the marketing that directs customers there. To maximize your chances of receiving the outcome you desire, employ these must-have elements into every landing page you create:
Simplicity. Focus on your offer and the benefits thereof. Don’t clutter up the page with peripheral offers or products. Simplify your layout and remove unnecessary distractions.
Repetition. Whatever key words you used in your message, use them again. And again. Make it easy for people to confirm they’re going to find what they’re looking for on that page and make it easy for search engines to find your page.
Convenience. You’ve asked someone to visit your landing page for a reason: to sign up for a newsletter, to request information, to buy a product. Your landing page should make it easy for your visitor to follow-through on your request. Ask for only the information you need.
Commitment. Once you’ve received a response, follow-up whether you’ve made a sale or not. E-mail or mail a thank you, send out the requested product or information, and then follow-up again.
Nothing. It’s as if the marketing person and the web person didn’t communicate, and you don’t have the time or the patience to sort through the page or the site to find what you were looking for.
To fully take advantage of a multi-channel marketing campaign, you need to put as much effort into the landing page as you do the marketing that directs customers there. To maximize your chances of receiving the outcome you desire, employ these must-have elements into every landing page you create:
Simplicity. Focus on your offer and the benefits thereof. Don’t clutter up the page with peripheral offers or products. Simplify your layout and remove unnecessary distractions.
Repetition. Whatever key words you used in your message, use them again. And again. Make it easy for people to confirm they’re going to find what they’re looking for on that page and make it easy for search engines to find your page.
Convenience. You’ve asked someone to visit your landing page for a reason: to sign up for a newsletter, to request information, to buy a product. Your landing page should make it easy for your visitor to follow-through on your request. Ask for only the information you need.
Commitment. Once you’ve received a response, follow-up whether you’ve made a sale or not. E-mail or mail a thank you, send out the requested product or information, and then follow-up again.
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