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.
Monday, May 16, 2011
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.
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.
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