Thursday, January 24, 2013

Marketers Plan to Spend More on Data This Year

With every marketing forum talking about "big data," it's no surprise that seven in 10 marketers plan to increase their data-related spending in 2013. That's according to a survey conducted by Infogroup Targeting Solutions and Yesmail Interactive at the DMA2012 Annual Conference and Forrester Research’s e-Business Forum. Of marketers questioned, 20% said they plan to greatly boost spending, and 48% plan to slightly increase data-related marketing expenditures in 2013. Only 3% said they will cut data-related dollars this year. Data analysis was cited as the top priority for improvement, supporting results from a recent Direct Marketing Association survey in which marketers said they saw analysis as big data's primary challenge. For more on the survey, see the report at http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/topics/measurement-analytics/7-in-10-marketers-plan-increased-data-related-spending-26408/

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Why Wrong Color Choices Can Sap Mail Response

The print colors of your direct mail message are not just a matter of taste, they're a measurable part of response. The old 60-30-10 rule of direct mail response rightfully puts list testing and offer as top priorities, but creative choices can boost or sink their impact. Since small response increments can translate into significant dollars, it's worth thinking hard about the colors as well as the content of your call to action. There are many studies of direct-mail response to color and typography to help your decision-making, as we were reminded in a recent article by award-winning creative expert Carol Worthington-Levy. One basic, she notes, is that contrast rules. So black type on a white background will work better for getting customers to read and understand your message. As you reduce the contrast between type color and background, you reduce legibility and comprehension -- and response. But watch out: Testing finds that a reversed high contrast (white type on black) only works for a few words before people actually stop reading! For suggestions on where to find out more, see the full article at http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/direct-marketing-best-practices-direct-mail-design-typography/1