As a marketer, you’ve probably already heard plenty about the latest in marketing technology, QR (Quick Response) codes, those barcode-like black-and-white images popping up in catalogs, in stores, and even on fast-food beverage cups. Viewed by scanning them with a QR reader app-enabled mobile phone, they take consumers directly and instantly to a link or text message from your organization.
Are you using QR codes? If so, are you making the most of them? If not, should you?
Although QR codes provide a quick and convenient way for you to connect with customers and prospects, and QR codes eliminate the need for them to be at a computer or to write down and enter a URL, they do pose some challenges. For example, not everyone has a smart phone. For that matter, not everyone who has a smart phone scans QR codes. According to the USA Today article, “What’s a QR Code and Why Should You Care?,” by Jefferson Graham, only six percent of mobile phone consumers use QR codes. And, according to Rimma Kats’ Mobile Marketer article, “Are Marketers Killing Consumer Enthusiasm for QR Codes?,” not all marketers are using the technology well.
So why should you dedicate valuable and limited resources to a technology that, on the surface, sounds like a dud? Because, if executed well, you could not only attract new customers, donors, or members, but you could also build a loyalty that your other marketing efforts haven’t.
To make the most of your QR code promotions, keep the following tips in mind:
• Remember that your readers will be looking at your web page on a mobile device, not a computer. Keep the layout simple, don’t overcrowd the page, and make the font size readable.
• Include a specific call to action, like adding their email address to your database, ordering a product, or submitting a pre-filled in email request to opt-in to promotions.
• On your website, education consumers about QR codes and how to use them.
• Update your page regularly. The QR code doesn’t have to change, but your content should.
• Place QR codes only in locations where consumers can safely scan them.
If you do engage in a QR code program, be sure to give yourself and your market time to get used to the technology. Once you get your program up and running, the only thing using a code costs you is time and space. Like any other marketing channel or strategy, be sure to give it a fair test before you pull the plug.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The Final Piece of Your Offer: Customer Service
You've analyzed your market and identified a problem your products or services can remedy. You've painstakingly penned a direct mail letter that sells your solution so persuasively that you can already hear the clicks, chirps, and slurps of eager buyers and donors completing transactions online, over the phone, and through the mail. And, you've created, printed, and mailed your campaign on time and within budget. Now you can relax and wait for the responses to roll in.
Or can you?
While you've completed all the critical steps from a marketing perspective, you're only half of the equation: you still need the support and follow-through of customer service.
Remember our friend, discussed in this month's enewsletter, who received an amazing direct mail offer from her car dealership? Despite initially having doubts, her husband called the dealership and then she went in to discuss a trade-in, hoping for a generous offer on their current vehicle--as alluded to in the letter--and expecting a hard sell from the sales staff. She got neither. The salesman offered a trade-in value far lower than Blue Book value, handed her his business card, and told her to call him if they decided to pursue a new car. The in-person experience lacked all the urgency, exclusivity, and hype of the letter and left our friend feeling insulted and a little resentful.
For your offer to succeed and, more importantly, for your clients to feel satisfied and confident in your company, marketing and customer service must pursue the sale with the same enthusiasm and information.
Keeping customer service and marketing in sync doesn't have to be a time-consuming task, and it doesn't have to mean a big meeting for every campaign. It can be as simple as appointing one customer service representative as your go-to contact and including that person in your campaign planning, particularly for new products, special promotions, or complex offers. Doing so not only allows customer service to understand the product/service/promotion before the mailpiece goes out, but it also provides you with an opportunity to see your campaign through customer service's eyes and spot any potential hiccups.
When you're planning "special" campaigns, keep in mind the impact they'll have on customer service. Too many special-needs or time-sensitive campaigns, especially too many at one time, could leave your the department overwhelmed and stressed out. The result could be a grumpy salesperson with little interest in making a sale.
Or can you?
While you've completed all the critical steps from a marketing perspective, you're only half of the equation: you still need the support and follow-through of customer service.
Remember our friend, discussed in this month's enewsletter, who received an amazing direct mail offer from her car dealership? Despite initially having doubts, her husband called the dealership and then she went in to discuss a trade-in, hoping for a generous offer on their current vehicle--as alluded to in the letter--and expecting a hard sell from the sales staff. She got neither. The salesman offered a trade-in value far lower than Blue Book value, handed her his business card, and told her to call him if they decided to pursue a new car. The in-person experience lacked all the urgency, exclusivity, and hype of the letter and left our friend feeling insulted and a little resentful.
For your offer to succeed and, more importantly, for your clients to feel satisfied and confident in your company, marketing and customer service must pursue the sale with the same enthusiasm and information.
Keeping customer service and marketing in sync doesn't have to be a time-consuming task, and it doesn't have to mean a big meeting for every campaign. It can be as simple as appointing one customer service representative as your go-to contact and including that person in your campaign planning, particularly for new products, special promotions, or complex offers. Doing so not only allows customer service to understand the product/service/promotion before the mailpiece goes out, but it also provides you with an opportunity to see your campaign through customer service's eyes and spot any potential hiccups.
When you're planning "special" campaigns, keep in mind the impact they'll have on customer service. Too many special-needs or time-sensitive campaigns, especially too many at one time, could leave your the department overwhelmed and stressed out. The result could be a grumpy salesperson with little interest in making a sale.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
What You Can Do to Save the Postal Service
The Postal Service's financial struggles have been making the news for years. Mail volume has declined by 36 billion pieces since the record-high 213 billion pieces mailed in 2006, which has grossly impacted the Postal Service's postage-driven bottom line and outdated, government-mandated pre-fund retirement health-benefit expenses.
The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, which claims that the Postal Service could shut down next summer unless drastic changes take place, is urging Congress to pass bold reforms that will not only allow the Postal Service to "maintain solvency" in the short-term, but also to "reorganize itself into a modern and profitable business in the long-term." Specifically, the Coalition is looking for Congress to
• Relieve the unfair financial obligations imposed on USPS
• Streamline and modernize the USPS's infrastructure, systems, and workforce
• Update the postal collective bargaining process
• Innovate, including partnering with businesses on nonpostal services
You can help save the Postal Service.
First, contact your elected officials and tell them to save our postal service! Not sure who your local officials are or how to contact them? The Coalition provides a fast and interactive search form on its website, www.savethemailsavejobs.org, that you can use to identify your federal, state, city, and county officials.
Not sure what to do once you know who to contact? The Coalition has you covered there, too. The website also has a feature that allows you to instantly create and e-mail a message to your desired officials.
Second, keep mailing! Continuing to execute your mailing program not only provides your organization with the exposure and response you've come to depend on, but it also provides the USPS with the demand needed to testify to its importance.
Many worthy businesses have stumbled but come back strong. Let's work together to make sure the Postal Service is America's next success story.
The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, which claims that the Postal Service could shut down next summer unless drastic changes take place, is urging Congress to pass bold reforms that will not only allow the Postal Service to "maintain solvency" in the short-term, but also to "reorganize itself into a modern and profitable business in the long-term." Specifically, the Coalition is looking for Congress to
• Relieve the unfair financial obligations imposed on USPS
• Streamline and modernize the USPS's infrastructure, systems, and workforce
• Update the postal collective bargaining process
• Innovate, including partnering with businesses on nonpostal services
You can help save the Postal Service.
First, contact your elected officials and tell them to save our postal service! Not sure who your local officials are or how to contact them? The Coalition provides a fast and interactive search form on its website, www.savethemailsavejobs.org, that you can use to identify your federal, state, city, and county officials.
Not sure what to do once you know who to contact? The Coalition has you covered there, too. The website also has a feature that allows you to instantly create and e-mail a message to your desired officials.
Second, keep mailing! Continuing to execute your mailing program not only provides your organization with the exposure and response you've come to depend on, but it also provides the USPS with the demand needed to testify to its importance.
Many worthy businesses have stumbled but come back strong. Let's work together to make sure the Postal Service is America's next success story.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Eight Ways to Spend Less Money at the Post Office
Whether you're mailing a big prospecting campaign, a series of house-focused mailings, or a catalog sent to a mix of the two, postage will likely be your biggest expense. While paying for postage is inevitable, paying too much is not. You can cut down on some of your postage costs if you follow the following tips:
1. Go deep. National Distribution Centers (formerly known as Bulk Mail Centers) feed Sectional Center Facilities, which feed Direct Delivery Units (your local post offices). The deeper in the delivery system you can insert your mailing, the larger the discount you can potentially receive. Certain conditions—including service areas and drop quantities—must be met, however.
2. Drop-Ship it. If your drop quantity is large enough (postal savings justifies the transportation costs), drop-shipping your mail to various postal hubs—National Distribution Centers or Sectional Center Facilities can both save you money and decrease the delivery time of your mail. You can drop all or part of the promotion this way, depending upon the concentration.
3. Find big partners. If you can't drop deep and the analysis performed for drop shipping isn't worthwhile, you may be able to co-pallet your mail. Your mailpiece will go from your provider's facility to a central processing facility, where the mail for each hub nationwide is combined with other mail going to those destinations. There is a cost associated with the option, but if the analysis projects a net savings, you'll also benefit, in most cases, by a better delivery time.
4. Find smaller partners. If your mail volume is too small to benefit from any of the above options and your drop-date isn't set in stone, comingling offers your smaller mail drop to become part of a larger one, which qualifies for postal discounts. Your mail is prepared as necessary and then taken to a comingle processing facility, where it is again combined with other mail going to the same locations and then shipped to the hubs.
5. Bind it right (or left). How you design your mailpiece impacts how much you pay at the post office. Improperly placed folds or tabs will make your piece non-machinable, which raises your rates. Always design your fold or binding below and parallel to your addressing, and keep tabs above and to the sides of your mailing panel.
6. Use your mailhouse's indicia. Don't pay the Post Office a big annual fee to maintain a postage permit, especially if you tend to use several mailhouses. Use your vendors' instead. Most mailhouses will let you print and use their postage permit on your direct mail piece for free when you mail through them. All you have to do is pay your mailhouse for the postage.
7. Know your weight limits. Especially if you're creating a catalog, make sure you don't exceed 3.3 ounces for automated flats. Otherwise, you'll pay a per piece charge and a per pound charge.
1. Go deep. National Distribution Centers (formerly known as Bulk Mail Centers) feed Sectional Center Facilities, which feed Direct Delivery Units (your local post offices). The deeper in the delivery system you can insert your mailing, the larger the discount you can potentially receive. Certain conditions—including service areas and drop quantities—must be met, however.
2. Drop-Ship it. If your drop quantity is large enough (postal savings justifies the transportation costs), drop-shipping your mail to various postal hubs—National Distribution Centers or Sectional Center Facilities can both save you money and decrease the delivery time of your mail. You can drop all or part of the promotion this way, depending upon the concentration.
3. Find big partners. If you can't drop deep and the analysis performed for drop shipping isn't worthwhile, you may be able to co-pallet your mail. Your mailpiece will go from your provider's facility to a central processing facility, where the mail for each hub nationwide is combined with other mail going to those destinations. There is a cost associated with the option, but if the analysis projects a net savings, you'll also benefit, in most cases, by a better delivery time.
4. Find smaller partners. If your mail volume is too small to benefit from any of the above options and your drop-date isn't set in stone, comingling offers your smaller mail drop to become part of a larger one, which qualifies for postal discounts. Your mail is prepared as necessary and then taken to a comingle processing facility, where it is again combined with other mail going to the same locations and then shipped to the hubs.
5. Bind it right (or left). How you design your mailpiece impacts how much you pay at the post office. Improperly placed folds or tabs will make your piece non-machinable, which raises your rates. Always design your fold or binding below and parallel to your addressing, and keep tabs above and to the sides of your mailing panel.
6. Use your mailhouse's indicia. Don't pay the Post Office a big annual fee to maintain a postage permit, especially if you tend to use several mailhouses. Use your vendors' instead. Most mailhouses will let you print and use their postage permit on your direct mail piece for free when you mail through them. All you have to do is pay your mailhouse for the postage.
7. Know your weight limits. Especially if you're creating a catalog, make sure you don't exceed 3.3 ounces for automated flats. Otherwise, you'll pay a per piece charge and a per pound charge.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Worst Mistakes You Can Make in Marketing
We all try hard not to make fools of ourselves or our organizations, but every now and then, something gets by us on a marketing piece. An extra period at the end of a sentence. An odd indentation. A minor typo.
It happens. No matter how good our proofing processes may be, tight deadlines, unexpected or last-minute changes, or the sheer chaos of a busy office sometimes distract us and cause us to create imperfect pieces. In most cases, prospects, customers, members, and donors can overlook these little gaffes.
But there are times they can't. Here are three of the worst mistakes you can make--and avoid, with the right preparation--in marketing:
1. Mail a good offer to the wrong audience. This is basic marketing, but it's also an easy thing to mess up. It requires researching prospect lists thoroughly--beyond what you see on the datacard--and knowing your house list. The more you can segment your lists and identify your recipients' habits and needs, the better match you'll make and the less likely you'll leave recipients wondering why they got your offer.
2. Fail to include a call to action. Announcing a new product or website or service may seem to imply a call to action, but unless you direct your recipients to call an 800 number for more information, visit a specific URL to receive a discount on the next order, or return a business reply card to receive a free estimate, your recipient may not respond. Identify what you want your prospects to do, and give them a little incentive to do it.
3. Personalize your marketing piece with incorrect or outdated information. Recent renewals don't count here. Most people realize that marketing takes time, and a request for a membership renewal, new edition update, or annual drive may arrive shortly after they've already completed their renewal. We're talking about, "Garbage in, garbage out." To effectively use personalization, you must have a clean, current database. Nothing says "this company is clueless" like a mailing addressed to a deceased individual or an offer made to an someone with no prior interest--even remotely--in a given area.
It happens. No matter how good our proofing processes may be, tight deadlines, unexpected or last-minute changes, or the sheer chaos of a busy office sometimes distract us and cause us to create imperfect pieces. In most cases, prospects, customers, members, and donors can overlook these little gaffes.
But there are times they can't. Here are three of the worst mistakes you can make--and avoid, with the right preparation--in marketing:
1. Mail a good offer to the wrong audience. This is basic marketing, but it's also an easy thing to mess up. It requires researching prospect lists thoroughly--beyond what you see on the datacard--and knowing your house list. The more you can segment your lists and identify your recipients' habits and needs, the better match you'll make and the less likely you'll leave recipients wondering why they got your offer.
2. Fail to include a call to action. Announcing a new product or website or service may seem to imply a call to action, but unless you direct your recipients to call an 800 number for more information, visit a specific URL to receive a discount on the next order, or return a business reply card to receive a free estimate, your recipient may not respond. Identify what you want your prospects to do, and give them a little incentive to do it.
3. Personalize your marketing piece with incorrect or outdated information. Recent renewals don't count here. Most people realize that marketing takes time, and a request for a membership renewal, new edition update, or annual drive may arrive shortly after they've already completed their renewal. We're talking about, "Garbage in, garbage out." To effectively use personalization, you must have a clean, current database. Nothing says "this company is clueless" like a mailing addressed to a deceased individual or an offer made to an someone with no prior interest--even remotely--in a given area.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Messenger: Surviving a Vacation
The Messenger: Surviving a Vacation: "If you haven't said it yourself, you probably know someone who has: 'I need a vacation from my vacation.' Going back to work after taking a..."
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Surviving a Vacation
If you haven't said it yourself, you probably know someone who has: "I need a vacation from my vacation." Going back to work after taking any amount of personal time off can sometimes be overwhelming, but you can take a few steps to make the transition back to your professional life a little easier. Before you take off for your next vacation, keep the following tips in mind:
1. Anticipate. At least a week before you set your out-of-office email, check your schedule and deadlines and make sure you tie up as many projects and loose ends as possible before you go. Going in early and staying late to get tasks done before you leave will not only make life easier for those you're leaving behind, but it will also make life easier on you when you return.
2. Delegate. Sometimes, no matter how many extra hours you put in, you just can't pre-fix everything. Before you leave, make a list of potential issues that may arise, projects or tasks that are currently underway, and invoices or correspondence you expect to receive (and need to act on) while you're away. Then, make your colleagues aware of your concerns and needs and identify who will take care of what while you're gone.
3. Communicate. If you don't mind accepting work calls while you're on vacation, let your key contacts know, but also let them know what types of calls you're willing to take and when.
4. Procrastinate. Mondays are hard enough. Don't make your return to work harder than it needs to be. Plan to make your first day back a Thursday or Friday. You'll get your feet wet and get a two-day breather before facing a full week.
5. Isolate. If possible, designate yourself unavailable for a period of time your first morning back. Whether you simply shut your door or book a conference room for yourself, give yourself a chance to work through your emails or inbox without interruption. Not possible? Get to the office an hour before everyone else does. While that may sound like a painful way to re-enter the "real world," you'll be glad you did when your colleagues start stopping by, wanting to discuss your time out of the office and the things that you missed.
1. Anticipate. At least a week before you set your out-of-office email, check your schedule and deadlines and make sure you tie up as many projects and loose ends as possible before you go. Going in early and staying late to get tasks done before you leave will not only make life easier for those you're leaving behind, but it will also make life easier on you when you return.
2. Delegate. Sometimes, no matter how many extra hours you put in, you just can't pre-fix everything. Before you leave, make a list of potential issues that may arise, projects or tasks that are currently underway, and invoices or correspondence you expect to receive (and need to act on) while you're away. Then, make your colleagues aware of your concerns and needs and identify who will take care of what while you're gone.
3. Communicate. If you don't mind accepting work calls while you're on vacation, let your key contacts know, but also let them know what types of calls you're willing to take and when.
4. Procrastinate. Mondays are hard enough. Don't make your return to work harder than it needs to be. Plan to make your first day back a Thursday or Friday. You'll get your feet wet and get a two-day breather before facing a full week.
5. Isolate. If possible, designate yourself unavailable for a period of time your first morning back. Whether you simply shut your door or book a conference room for yourself, give yourself a chance to work through your emails or inbox without interruption. Not possible? Get to the office an hour before everyone else does. While that may sound like a painful way to re-enter the "real world," you'll be glad you did when your colleagues start stopping by, wanting to discuss your time out of the office and the things that you missed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)