Are You Realizing Personalization's Full Potential?

With direct marketing today striving for goals such as"hyper-personalization" and "personalization at scale," Barry Feldman of Feldman Creative recently put together an infographic for MarketingProfs to illustrate the potential of personalized marketing for those who still think “Dear FirstName” is enough. As data brokers and data services providers, AccuList is especially interested because personalized marketing relies on up-to-date, enhanced, accurate data to deliver on the promise—the right message, to the right person, at the right time—whether for customers or prospects. Customer outreach and the customer-based analytics for targeting prospects require collecting data from as many sources as possible: CRM, web activity, e-mail, direct mail, mobile apps, second- and third-party demographics, social media, and multichannel advertising. And then that data must be combined and maintained in a regularly hygiened customer data platform. Haven’t gotten there yet? You’re not alone. Only 5% of marketers have attained a single customer-data view that allows launching personalization across channels, per the infographic. So why worry about an edge gained by just 5% of competitors? When 78% of Internet users say personally relevant content increases their purchase intent, and 81% of consumers say they want brands to know them better and to know when (and when not) to approach them, any brand that is ignoring that demand for personalization is ignoring the bulk of their potential market. What do customers and prospects want? Feldman’s infographic breaks it down into “four R’s.” People expect to be recognized by name and to have their preferences remembered so that brands can make suitable recommendations and send relevant offers. Studies find that such personalization can cut acquisition costs by up to 50%, lift revenues by 5%-15%, and increase the efficiency of the marketing spend by 10% to 30%, per the infographic’s sources. Plus, in a competitive market, personalization will woo the 60% of shoppers who prefer to do business with brands that provide personalized, real-time offers and promotions. While discussions often focus on digital efforts, traditional direct mail also has benefited from technology trends, such as variable data printing, PURLs and QR codes, to enable greater personalization. For more on how direct mail can realize personalization's potential, see https://www.acculist.com/is-your-direct-marketing-realizing-personalizations-potential/

Smart Direct Mailers Embrace These Tech Trends

Direct mail marketers looking for success in 2018 should check out a blog post by Postalytics, a direct mail automation tool, which recently mined expert sources for the most influential direct mail trends of 2018, including key technologies. Unsurprisingly, automation purveyor Postalytics puts mail automation software at the top of the list, but they get plenty of industry support. Automation allows marketers to quickly generate high-quality, personalized and trackable letters and postcards by leveraging templates, digital cues and automated workflows, cutting direct mail production cycles from 4-6 weeks down to 1 week. Automation also allows marketers to maximize response by integrating triggered direct mail into any step in the buyer's journey, online or offline, so that mail delivery taps into the appropriate timing, content and call-to-action. Then interactive, mobile-scanned Augmented Reality apps and QR codes, as well as personal urls (PURLs) linked to targeted content-specific landing pages, allow direct mailers to connect offline marketing's printed paper with online marketing's digital pages, images, animations and videos for greater overall campaign response and ROI. But it takes quality, enhanced data to match the right message to the right people at the right time. Good mailing list data allows for targeting based on shopping habits and needs, retargeting and cross-selling, recapturing and reactivating of lost prospects and customers, leveraging of trigger events and personal preferences, and more--provided there is a commitment to database hygiene and processing. Good mailing data also allows for the sophisticated content personalization that has become a basic expectation of customers including personalized coupon codes. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/these-tech-trends-likely-to-drive-2018-direct-mail-success/

Making the Direct Mail Case in Multi-channel Plans

As multi-channel marketers polish their 2018 plans, it's a good time to remind them of the continued value of direct mail in this digital era. A recent infographic from direct marketing agency US Presort puts together data from The Data & Marketing Association (DMA), Social Media Examiner, Epsilon, Experian and Marketing Sherpa to make the case for a direct mail commitment in multi-channel plans. The majority of marketers (71%) say they believe in an integrated multi-channel approach. After all, a smart multi-channel strategy can combine the pervasive impact of digital (96% of consumers say they were influenced online in making a purchase decision) with the effectiveness of direct mail (digital can't beat mail's 80% open rate or its consumer trust rating of 76% compared with 61% for Google search, 43% for social and 39% for online ads). So why are so few marketers (just 29%) actually implementing those integrated multi-channel campaigns? One misconception, as the infographic points out, that causes hesitation over integrating direct mail with digital is mail's high perceived cost. Yet while direct mail costs more to produce and distribute, its response rates are also much higher than other channels, so its ROI remains competitive. For example, per the DMA's 2016 data, direct mail response rates averaged 5.3% for house lists and 2.9% for prospect lists, compared with online display ads at 0.9%, e-mail at 0.6% for house files and 0.3% for prospects, social media with 0.6%, and paid search at 0.5%. As a result, median ROI for direct mail, while behind e-mail, is on par with social media at 29% and 30%, respectively, and ahead of other digital channels. Others assume difficulties in digitally connecting and tracking paper promotions. But technology and U.S. Postal Service discounts are making mail easier and cheaper to integrate with digital via mobile device-scanned coupon links, QR codes, PURLs, and landing pages. Plus, direct mail can now be tracked in real time thanks to the U.S. Postal Service Intelligent Mail Barcode. To successfully leverage the power of direct mail in a multi-channel strategy consider a few key steps: Include the USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode on all mail to track delivery and coordinate with other channels; gather measurable response from multiple channels via tactics such as reply cards, 800-number call tracking, as well as mobile-scanned QR codes and PURLs; create campaign-specific landing pages and make sure they are mobile-friendly; integrate e-mail and direct mail messaging and lists, and coordinate e-mail blasts with mail delivery; create Facebook ad campaigns to target the same audience as your direct mail lists; consider IP Direct Mail or Web Direct Mail to target the same mail audience on Google with coordinated ad banners. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/making-the-case-for-direct-mail-power-in-multi-channel-marketing/

Digital Giving Now Key to Fundraising Mail Success

Here are some key facts for marketers planning fundraising direct mail: 1) 35% of all donors say they like to respond to direct mail by giving online (with 50% of Millennials and Gen Xers saying they prefer online response); 2) 51% of website visits are made via mobile device, and 3) mobile devices are now used by the majority to read e-mail (54% of opens) and access social networks (80% of social time spent). Bottom line, if you want to get the most from your nonprofit direct mail (still the best channel for capturing donor dollars), a multi-channel, mobile-optimized approach is essential. On that point, MobileCause has developed a powerful infographic laying out the case for a nonprofit direct mail-digital marriage. Unfortunately, many fundraisers fail to make an easy connection between direct mail and online response, and are discouraging donations as a result. As the infographic points out, 84% of donation pages are not mobile-friendly, 73% of nonprofits do not offer social sharing, and 65% of nonprofits require three or more digital clicks to donate. At the same time, the infographic data highlight ways to correct that digital lacuna in fundraising direct mail. First, commit to making direct mail part of a multi-channel campaign--because donors are 50% more likely to give when they receive multiple reinforcing messages via multiple channels. Fundraisers can even optimize response by catering to generational preferences: Millennials like text reminders, Gen Xers like e-mail reminders and Boomers like call reminders. But for goodness sake, mobile-optimize e-mails, landing pages and donation pages! Then maximize donations by promoting QR codes, shortlinks and texting keywords across channels (and let the U.S. Postal Service reward that mailer QR code with a discount). For more tips, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/use-digital-donation-to-turbocharge-fundraising-direct-mail/

How Direct Mail Can Boost Digital Marketing Power

Direct mail is becoming a key player in the digital marketing world, as Christopher Karpenko, executive director of brand marketing at the U.S. Postal Service, recently argued in an article for the Association of National Advertisers. His points are worth summarizing and support our own belief in the response power of combining direct mail with digital marketing channels, such as opt-in e-mail and social media, as we do in our Digital2Direct program. Karpenko points out that direct mail has evolved and now achieves even greater response power via technologies such as Augmented reality (AR), near-field communication (NFC), and quick response (QR) codes. These technologies bridge the physical and digital gap by launching a website, a video or an interactive experience right from a paper mailing piece. "These can be powerful ways of sparking product discovery and drawing consumers into the digital ecosystem of a particular brand," he writes. Technology is also removing the "snail" from "snail mail," with real-time delivery scan notifications already sent within a few minutes and now an "Informed Delivery" service on the horizon from the USPS. Informed Delivery will allow consumers to check their e-mail inbox, social media and mobile apps to actually see the front of most mail pieces coming to their physical mailbox before they arrive. To read our complete blog post, including how direct mail can leverage social media engagement, go to our website's full-length version, which also includes a link to Karpenko's article, with an interesting Chick-fil-A case study: http://www.acculistusa.com/how-direct-mail-boosts-digital-marketing-power/

USPS 2016 Programs Incentivize Innovative Mailers

The U.S. Postal Service is luring direct mailers toward creative and technology innovations that promise to punch up response this year. It's a siren song hard to resist in an election year of intensified mailbox competition. Target Marketing magazine recently outlined five key USPS promotional programs incentivizing 2016 mailers, especially those embracing print technology. For example, from March 1 to Aug. 31, an "Emerging and Advanced Technology/Video in Print Promotion" gives a 2% postage discount on First Class, Standard and Nonprofit letters, cards or flats using interactive technology: standard NFC, Video in print (ViP), beacon technology or "enhanced" augmented reality. During the same period, the "Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mail Piece Engagement Promotion" offers a 2% postage discount on Standard and Nonprofit letters or flats offering special visual, sound, scent, or texture/tactile effects, as well as interactive dimensional features such as pop-ups. Another 2% postage discount can be earned for First Class Mail with the "Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion," starting July 1, just by adding a color sales message to a statement or invoice. Also starting in July, the "Mobile Shopping Promotion" gives a 2% postage discount to Standard and Nonprofit letters or flats using a mobile bar code or other print-to-mobile technology. Plus, the spring "Earned Value Promotion" rewards each piece of returned First Class Business Reply and First Class Courtesy Reply mail with a $0.02-$0.03 credit. For links to details, go to http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/5-usps-direct-mail-promotion-programs-2016/

Tips on How Mailers Can Optimize QR Code Use

Direct mail QR codes, mobile-device-scannable code storing an online url, have been both touted and declared "dead" by various marketing pundits in the last few years. For mailers pondering QR code inclusion, a recent Target Marketing magazine post by Summer Gould, president of Eye/Comm Inc., provides a useful discussion of the whys and hows of QR code use. Before marketers include a QR code in a mail piece, they need to decide what they hope to achieve with it, Gould points out. QR codes can drive online engagement, facilitate a phone call, provide a coupon, provide access to additional information, or allow order placement. If a QR code isn't doing any of those things, there is no benefit to the recipient (or the mailer), so it's not a useful response device. But once the direct mailer has a clear goal for the QR, the next step is to design the code for maximum results. Gould provides six key design guidelines: include instructions for mail recipients on how and why to scan; keep a 1/16-inch buffer of white space around the code; keep the code between a half inch and 1.5 inches in size for easy placement and scanning; use a url shortener to keep scanning time short; and make sure the user is taken to mobile-friendly online pages. Finally, of course, test the code with different devices and lighting conditions to make sure it works before mailing! For more QR code optimization tips, read http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/qr-code-qr-code/

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/

Is USPS Planning New Mail Technology Discounts?

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) may be considering more discounts for direct mailers who use emerging mail technologies -- at least that's the implication of a "Mail Innovations" report just released by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The report details and encourages use of 10 types of innovations, hinting that these may also come up for promotional discounting. Three tools listed under "Connected Mail," meaning mail that incorporates digital via Internet-enabled devices, already get discounts from the USPS: QR Codes, Augmented Reality (AR) and Near-Field Communication (NFC). The OIG report adds Webkeys, which can be plugged into USBs to launch web pages, to the Connected Mail category for potential promotion. The OIG report also discusses three technologies in an "Electronic Mail" category, meaning direct mail with an embedded electronic component: video in print, which creates a screen on paper that can play up to five videos; mobile in print with call or text buttons connecting directly to the marketer; and conductive ink mail that can link to an electricity source such as a battery or processing chip to do things like light a bulb or create a noise. Finally, the OIG report looks at "Dimensional Mail" innovations, such as "interesting links" that allow consumers to interact with mail by making colors appear or disappear; customized MarketMail that uses shape, size and texture, often without an envelope; and 3D mail that folds or pops into a message, similar to a pop-up book. For more on the new USPS OIG report and emerging mail technologies, see the Target Marketing magazine post at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/usps-new-direct-mail-discounts-innovators/1

How to Use Direct Mail to Rev Trade Show Marketing

With direct mail accounting for 30% of trade show attendees' ad spending, snail mail is still essential to show marketing even in this increasingly digital world, points out Charles Dugan in a recent Trade Show News Network post. Based on his experience as owner of a trade show display firm, Dugan offers some good tips on direct mail tactics. Starting with the basics, he advises planning at least two campaigns: an early awareness mailing to get planners to put the show on their calendars and then a follow-up mailing closer to the show with exciting materials and attendance incentives. Then cut costs and boost response with targeting, both geographic and demographic. Use available mailing list data to personalize, ranging from gender all the way to ethnicity or specific hobbies. Offer incentives for attendance, with the inclusion of complementary tickets for example. Take advantage of direct mail's unique physicality to make a dimensional package that's fun and enticing, boosting open rates and response. And integrate snail mail with digital, via QR codes for example. QR codes can be used to promote access to exciting website materials, including videos, or something as simple as an online RSVP. For more, see the article at http://www.tsnn.com/news-blogs/why-direct-mail-should-still-be-your-trade-show-marketing-plans