Print Can Add Needed Punch to Marketing Plans

Printed material, including direct mail, keeps proving its worth to our clients in this digital marketing era. So our thanks to Jean Gianfagna of Gianfagna Strategic Marketing for a post summing up the reasons for print's continued marketing power. She cites six marketing advantages that make print a must-have for a smart marketing strategy: unlimited creative options, from formats to personalization to dimensional impact; effective branding via the unique impression created by physical materials; enhanced customer relationships from targeted, personalized loyalty, cross-sell and up-sell messaging; increased customer understanding with detailed product descriptions, comparisons and options that don't fit tight digital formats; durability, influencing decisions long after a tweet or e-mail has been discarded and forgotten; and engagement tapping multiple senses (visual and tactile, plus even scent and sound). That said, marketers can also squander budget on overdesigned, untargeted, ineffective print efforts. So Gianfagna adds some important advice on using print wisely: work closely with a printer before finalizing design to choose the most cost-effective materials and formats; be cautious with use of pricey print techniques, such as die-cuts, embossing and foil stamping; use quality data for targeted, correctly addressed direct mail; plus, when it comes to direct mail, keep USPS regulations in mind for lower postal rates. For more detail, go to http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2015/10/29/6-reasons-you-still-need-print-in-a-smart-marketing-strategy/

Mini Slim Offers Effective, Low-Cost Catalog Option

With postal rate hikes putting the squeeze on catalog mailers, some alternative print formats are worth a second look, suggests a recent Target Marketing magazine article. One option is the "mini slim" catalog. It uses USPS-approved spot tack closures with fugitive glue for easy opening without page tearing and avoids the expensive, hard-to-open wafer seals of "slim jim" catalogs. The mini slim is also less costly to produce because of reduced page count compared with full-size and even slim jim catalogs. Plus, mini slims offer significant postal savings. While a typical 10.5" x 8" catalog mails at standard "flat" rates, the mini slim catalogs are slim-jim size (10.5" x 5.875") and under 3 ounces with up to 10 pages, which qualifies for standard letter rates and reduces postage 10% to 20%. What about response and sales? The Target Marketing article quotes at least one catalog mailer as claiming to reap sales as good or better from a mini catalog as from a standard 84-page book, in addition to driving prospects to the website -- all for a cost close to that of producing and mailing a postcard. A caveat: The author is a direct mail printer, who acknowledges that mini catalogs are no replacement for a full-size effort. But his piece is a timely reminder that online isn't the only alternative to mail; there are cost-effective supplemental print ideas out there. For more, see the article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/a-catalog-strategy-offset-usps-rate-hike/1

Do You Follow the 3.33 Rule of Direct Mail?

Do you know the 3.33 rule for direct mail? Studies have shown that direct mailers have three minutes and 33 seconds to engage a potential customer: three seconds to catch a recipient's eye out of the stack in the mailbox, 30 seconds for the recipient to get the mail piece open, and then an additional three minutes for the potential customer to read and decide on response. We thank Pat Friesen of Direct Marketing IQ for reminding us of the challenge. The 3.33 rule applies more to solo pieces and self-mailers than catalogs, but the principles of making sure your message doesn't end up in the trash still apply. With the U.S. Postal Service requiring mail to be tabbed, wafer-sealed, spot or continuously glued for delivery, ease of opening is more than a printer, production and design issue;  effective marketers need to worry about those 30 critical seconds for openability. More important, marketing must focus on compelling creative and offer to make recipients want to spend even a few seconds of time and effort to engage with a piece before it's tossed. For Pat's apt comments, go to http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/3-tips-deal-with-sticky-business-direct-mail/1

Print marketing is alive and well in the digital age, according to a recent Pitney Bowes survey that found 76% of small businesses say their ideal marketing strategy encompasses a combination of both print and digital communication. Meanwhile, traditional direct mail still has a 43% share of total local retail advertising. A recent Marketing Profs article listed several reasons that printed marketing communications continue to thrive. For one thing, technology has expanded the power of print, from variable printing's ability to create complex personalization of text and images, to QR code and NFC (near-field communication) technology that make it possible, via mobile, for print media to directly connect customers to a website. And don't forget the omnipresent integration of social networking into printed pieces. With noisier digital spaces and less cluttered mailboxes, printed materials have a competitive advantage over digital; they have a better chance to stand out and receive more time and attention than their online brethren. Today's printed materials also go beyond flat pieces of printed paper to encompass dimensional direct mail and printed promotional items boasting lower average cost per impression than online ads, such as magnets, stickers, pens, or even apparel such as T-shirts. A 2010 Direct Marketing Association study found that $1.00 spent on print advertising can generate an average of $12.57 in sales, and print's high return ratio was found to be universal across all industries. No wonder small businesses, and big businesses, are keeping print marketing and direct mail in the mix! For more, see the article at http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/24084/print-marketing-will-thrive-in-2014-and-beyond

ATTN Mailers: USPS Mulls 2014 Postage With FSS Pricing

U.S. Postal Service support of its Flats Sequencing System (FSS) may lead to an overhaul of postal rates early next year to include “an FSS pricing structure” for the Standard and Periodicals classes (and perhaps First Class mail), according to an online Dead Tree Edition post. The story cites indications from postal officials that the plan will include significant incentives for mailers to create FSS-optimized bundles for ZIP codes served by the giant machines, while continuing to make traditional carrier-route and five-digit bundles for non-FSS areas. No details were released, but such a change would certainly impact catalogs, direct mail and printers, prompting Target Marketing magazine to pick up the story at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/aggregatedcontent/fss-postage-pricing-will-affect-catalogs-magazines-printers 

Will Direct Mail Embrace NFC Technology?

NFC, or near field communication, has the potential to re-energize direct mail, predicts Jacob Beckley in a recent MediaPost blog. NFC technology is similar to a printed QR code. Both use a mobile device to bridge the gap between a physical marketing piece and online messaging. QR use has already proliferated, but the latest NFC technology actually has some advantages that could make it even more popular, argues Beckley. NFC coding is easy to use and requires fewer steps to reach online content than a QR; all the user has to do is bring the mobile device close to the NFC coding to go directly to the online content. While NFC technology originally required an embedded chip or tag, now NFC-enabled papers and plastics are available. Plus proximity marketing apps could let merchants use an NFC to reach consumers within range of a product in real-time. NFC adaptation has been slowed by Apple, which preferred QR coding for its iPhone, but Google Wallet now uses NFC to transmit payment details for wireless transactions, and other mobile phone makers, like Samsung, have incorporated NFC in their devices. Those advances should appeal to direct mail marketers interested in leading the pack in the race for multi-channel customers. They can dump shortened URLs and multi-step QR delivery for NFC's instant mail-to-online linking. Any direct mail strategists intrigued by the idea of NFC can read http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/194421/nfc-poised-to-accelerate-direct-marketing.html#axzz2RxwwcX7h

Why Direct Mail Should Top 2013 B2B Resolutions

We hope business-to-business marketers will put "direct mail" high on their list of New Year's resolutions for 2013. Ken Pikulik, director of process and strategy at ResponsePoint, would agree. He recently reported that, in three recent campaigns for multiple clients, his firm saw a 12% lift in response rates by incorporating the use of letters and other mailers to supplement e-mail communications. "The trend speaks to the over-utilization of e-mail and the ease with which it can be discarded (i.e. ignored or deleted), as well as the strength of direct mail to capture users attention," he remarked in a recent article. But whipping out a 5" by 7" postcard is not enough to engage today's prospects and customers, he quickly added. Some of his tips include personalizing (smart use of variable printing and purls, for example); targeting (the right mailing lists); and attention-grabbing creative (dimensional mail, for example). For the full article, go to http://www.articlebroad.com/business/effectively-using-direct-mail-within-your-b2b-lead-generation-and-marketing-strategies.html