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 Personalize your marketing piece with incorrect or outdated information.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.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Preparing for Personalization
The saying, "it's the thought that counts," may hold water when it comes to gift-giving, but as far as marketing advice goes, it's full of holes.
How many times have you discredited an organization because the "personalized" direct mail piece you received was inaccurate or off base? How many times have you hung up from a telemarketing call disgusted because the caller making the upgraded, "personal" offer had no idea what your current service or account status was?
Personalized marketing should be a part of every organization's strategy, but the strategy could cost you more than an expense line if you fail to use good data.
What makes data good?
Currency and accuracy. Beatriz Santin, in her March 1, 2011, Direct Mail News article, "When You Ditch Bad Data, Costs Decline and ROI Soars," suggests using point-of-capture verification tools. Santin claims the tools, which prompt customers and prospects for missing information and correct contact details, are the only way to make sure your database contains accurate and complete information.
Cleanliness. How often do you check your list for duplicates and bad addresses? How often do you update it? Your house list is your most profitable, but if you don't maintain it, you risk wasting money and alienating your buyers, members, or donors. Lists should be NCOAed, reviewed, and updated monthly or, at the least, before big mailings.
Complexity. These days, knowing a customer's, donor's, or member's name and address aren't enough. To truly target marketing and maximize your return, you need to collect and analyze as much information about your audience members as you can: spending habits, spending history--with you and other organizations--website activity, response to previous campaigns, interests, behavior, etc. Where do you get this information? Generally, it comes from one of two places: it's provided by the customer, or it's observed through the customer's activity.
Establishing a system or process for collecting and maintaining data that provides a detailed picture of each individual may seem cumbersome, but taking the steps--even taking one step--toward better data not only allows your organization to accurately match an offer with an individual's needs or interests, but it also opens up opportunities to integrate other channels and technologies: direct mail, e-mail, and personalized URLS.
How many times have you discredited an organization because the "personalized" direct mail piece you received was inaccurate or off base? How many times have you hung up from a telemarketing call disgusted because the caller making the upgraded, "personal" offer had no idea what your current service or account status was?
Personalized marketing should be a part of every organization's strategy, but the strategy could cost you more than an expense line if you fail to use good data.
What makes data good?
Currency and accuracy. Beatriz Santin, in her March 1, 2011, Direct Mail News article, "When You Ditch Bad Data, Costs Decline and ROI Soars," suggests using point-of-capture verification tools. Santin claims the tools, which prompt customers and prospects for missing information and correct contact details, are the only way to make sure your database contains accurate and complete information.
Cleanliness. How often do you check your list for duplicates and bad addresses? How often do you update it? Your house list is your most profitable, but if you don't maintain it, you risk wasting money and alienating your buyers, members, or donors. Lists should be NCOAed, reviewed, and updated monthly or, at the least, before big mailings.
Complexity. These days, knowing a customer's, donor's, or member's name and address aren't enough. To truly target marketing and maximize your return, you need to collect and analyze as much information about your audience members as you can: spending habits, spending history--with you and other organizations--website activity, response to previous campaigns, interests, behavior, etc. Where do you get this information? Generally, it comes from one of two places: it's provided by the customer, or it's observed through the customer's activity.
Establishing a system or process for collecting and maintaining data that provides a detailed picture of each individual may seem cumbersome, but taking the steps--even taking one step--toward better data not only allows your organization to accurately match an offer with an individual's needs or interests, but it also opens up opportunities to integrate other channels and technologies: direct mail, e-mail, and personalized URLS.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Are You a Marketing Snob?
When you get home at night, do you open your mailbox and groan when you find advertisements and unsolicited marketing, or do you look at them with a marketer's eye? Just as you can learn from analyzing the direct mail pieces that you get at work, you can learn a thing or two from analyzing the direct mail that you get at home. Although specific strategies for consumer, business, and non-profit campaigns differ, the vehicles that deliver them don't. Tonight when you get home, consider the following as you sort through your mail: List selection. Have you ever received a piece of direct mail from an organization that you've never done business with and wondered how you ended up on its mailing list? The answer isn't always obvious. Sometimes, in our quest to prospect, we step to the far reaches of our client demographics. Sometimes it works, but in most cases it doesn't. The more you know about your market, the narrower—and the more successful—your list selections will be. "Handwritten" addressing. Most of the time you know that a machine, not a human, addressed your envelope. Still...you're curious enough about who sent it to open it. A sneaky strategy? Maybe. A successful strategy? If you opened the envelope, you bet it was. "Handwritten" addresses, live stamps, and first-class postage give mail a personal feel that usually results in higher open rates. Freebies. You get them from time to time. Preprinted return address labels. Sample greeting cards. Sample newsletter issues. Have you ever given money to an organization that sent you an unsolicited gift? Could your organization benefit from sending out a relevant freebie to a targeted list? "Dear Resident" letters. As a marketer, you know that personalization dominates today's marketing environment. To increase your response rate, you personalize your envelopes, your letter content, even the URLs that you direct potential buyers, members, and donors to. Can a "catch all" campaign still survive? Absolutely. Despite their appearances, such mailings still employ targeted offers and targeted lists, which ensure greater success. No matter where you are—work, home, even the grocery store—you can always learn from the advertising around you. You just need to keep your eyes, and your mind, open to it.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
When—If Ever—You Should Redesign Your Logo
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."
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."
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.
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