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

B2B Survey: Online-Offline Mix Used to Corral Leads

As a B2B lead seeker, you may want to check out what's working for fellow marketers. According to a November survey by Eloqua, CMO.com and Software Advice consulting, B2B marketers are saying it takes a mix of tactics, digital and offline, to maximize lead capture. While nearly all B2B marketers in the survey reported maintaining e-mail lists and doing search engine optimization (SEO), most also reported experimenting with nearly every marketing tactic listed in the poll — from trade shows, to telemarketing, to social media ads, to behavioral re-targeting. Among the tactics best suited to high volumes, B2B marketers most frequently (34%) cited the work of third-party lead generators. Other trusted sources for maximizing lead generation included paid search advertising and e-mail marketing. But in-person marketing, such as trade shows and events, came in fourth, with 66% of B2B marketers saying such events brought in a high or medium quantity of leads. When it came to the quality of leads, in-house e-mail marketing and search engine optimization were favored, with 40% saying e-mail campaigns produced high-quality leads and 36% citing SEO as a high-quality lead source.  If you are disappointed in your social media marketing results, you are not alone. Only 10% in the survey reported getting a high quantity of leads through social media posting, and just 5% saw a high quantity of leads from social media ads. For more detail on the survey results, see the emarketer.com article athttp://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mix-of-Digital-Offline-Tactics-Yields-High-Quality-B2B-Leads/1009664