Thursday, March 12, 2015

Add Digital Power to Direct Mail to Rev Results

If your direct mail is plodding along its traditional response path, it may be time to give it a digital technology boost. A recent Direct Marketing News magazine article cited five tech trends for energizing mail strategy: triggered digital content, delivery-triggered campaigns, retargeting, enhanced personalization, and marketing automation/CRM. Trigger digital content with a scan, swipe or tap of a mobile device by enhancing physical mail with QR codes or other mobile bar codes, augmented reality (AR) video, and even near-field communication chips (NFC). Delivery triggering uses delivery tracking based on conventional or USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode data to automatically launch relevant multi-channel contacts, via mobile text, e-mail or app inbox, and can make use of location, time-of-day and other context-sensitive delivery data for extra impact. Retargeting will boost long-term mail results by going beyond immediate response and conversion to track pURL, QR, site visits, searches and other unique digital actions of non-buyers so that they can be modeled and retargeted for sales. Enhanced personalization means more than printed data fills today; pURLs or unique bar codes in the mail piece can lead to customized, personalized online content. A custom AR app can even be promoted digitally after the mail is sent. Finally, marketing automation and CRM systems can be leveraged to individualize messaging and sync channels around a direct mail campaign, including insight from social media analytics. For more detail, read http://www.dmnews.com/direct-mail-goes-digital/article/400201/

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Are You Optimizing LinkedIn's B2B Lead Power?

If you're a business-to-business marketer frustrated with results from LinkedIn, you're not alone. Using social media to generate qualified leads and measurable ROI is a challenge. So take a look at a recent online article for Advertising Age magazine by Sebastian Jespersen, president and CEO of Vertic Inc., a digital ad agency. Jespersen offers four tips for B2B marketers on how to optimize LinkedIn promotional investment, taking a cue from the lead-gen success of client firms like Microsoft, GE and Siemens. Tip No. 1: Measure the right part of the funnel. Understand that LinkedIn pours in fewer leads at the top but can have higher conversion rates than other channels at the bottom. Therefore, measure cost per lead or cost per conversion rather than cost per click or impression. Tip No. 2: To get conversion, create the right post-click experience. Don't send qualified traffic to a generic web page; build multiple customized pieces of content on-site and direct users to relevant messages. Tip No. 3 is a no-brainer: Use the data LinkedIn provides to target! Tip No. 4: Retarget. Successful LinkedIn campaigns get a 20% conversion rate, but that doesn't mean throwing away the other 80% of leads. Tap user behavior to retarget qualified responders on other relevant sites and get a second chance at conversion. For the complete article, go to http://adage.com/article/btob/b-b-marketers-improve-leads-linkedin/297386/