We recently hosted our quarterly Lunch & Learn, and as always, the speakers and topics provided a cornucopia of marketing morsels.  Titled True Confessions – Real Life Stories of Marketers in the Digital Age, it actually turned out to be more of a something old, something new, something borrowed & something blue- type event.

All in attendance seemed to be in agreement that marketing communications – the art of telling a story, promoting a product – is certainly an activity that is borrowed.  It’s nothing new really.  It’s just that now, there are so many more techniques available that allow us to be more effective in how we do it.

Brian Bush of Stephens Inc. opened the presentations with the discussion of something old.  And no, it had nothing to do with Brian himself.  Brian told the story of how Direct Mail, that dinosaur of direct marketing, is leading to success with his target market.  Here are some of the nuggets he shared:

• Because of its strong brand awareness, Stephens has never really felt the need for a direct marketing campaign.  So this direct mail approach was certainly a new endeavor.
• Along these same lines, because of the Stephens brand and image, Brian said that many investors believed that they did not possess the wealth necessary to be worthy of being a Stephens’ client.  Takeaway point: There is often a disconnect between how you perceive your brand, and how prospects perceive your brand.
• Brian also shared that the first approach to the carefully selected database was a direct mail campaign that drive respondents to landing pages (pURL campaign).  While it did have some success, more respondents preferred to contact Brian via phone or email, rather than online. Takeaway point: Know your audience and learn how they prefer to communicate.  Today’s marketing tools allow you to do that quite effectively.
• Because of the lack of response to the actual PURL campaign, that particular response mechanism was eliminated in future mailings.  Takeaway point: Measure your results, not only to repeat methods that are successful, but to eliminate those that are not.
• Finally, Brian touched briefly on the design aspect of the marketing pieces.  While a flashy, engaging, even humorous approach was briefly considered, it was decided to use a more corporate conservative approach.  In today’s volatile stock market environment, an even-keeled, serious tone is more effective.

Or, to put it another way, Greg Henderson (@jgreghenderson), summarized this takeaway point best with a tweet:  Old rich guys do not like color on their mail.

So while some may consider direct mail to be a dinosaur of available marketing channels, for Brian Bush and Stephens Inc., it still is causing folks to take notice, and react.  And that is what good marketing does.

Up next in our True Confession series, we will learn how Jason Brown (@jbrown935) of The Communications Group used something new to attract attendees to its client’s trade show booth.

Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

The financial struggles of the US Postal Service have been well documented, and the news for this year hasn’t seemed to improve any.  In spite of its marketing success, direct mail volumes have continued to decline. And yet, we see this as good news!

How is this good news?  The dire situation of the USPS is bringing about a new way of thinking within some areas of its operation.  The Postal Service is trying to rethink and retool its current business model and is making strides in trying to be more customer-friendly. And like businesses in the private sector (us!), they are looking at ways to grow by implementing innovative programs.

Two of its newest programs provide excellent, simple, and affordable marketing opportunities for small businesses. And in spite of the decline in direct mail volumes, the effectiveness of direct mail marketing campaigns continue to breed success. 

Here are two of the programs that we encourage businesses to consider:

Every Door Direct Mail

This program is actually a rebranding of the Simplified Addressing Process, but it is worthy of a look. In its basic form, Every Door Direct Mail lets business saturate an entire residential zip code (or zip codes) with qualified mail pieces for as little as 14.2 cents postage per piece. Additionally, the pieces can be mailed without applying individual names and addresses, allowing users to easily target a specific geographic area.

So imagine you own a restaurant, a dry cleaner, an auto dealership, an apparel store or a fitness center. You have a special event, offer, or program you need to spread the word about. You want to specifically target residences in nearby zip codes.  And you want to target EVERY SINGLE RESIDENCE. This program is ideal.  No databases or mailing list required. No addressing or labels.  And all at a single piece postage rate as low as 14.2 cents each.

One caveat with this program is the unusual mailpiece size that is required to qualify. By definition, it must be a “flat” or “parcel”.  Some common sizes in this category are: 6.5”x9”; 6.5”x11” 8.5”x11”. Pricing for turnkey implementation of this program can be found here.

For more information, you can visit the USPS site, or contact us and we would be happy to help implement a program for you.

Summer Sale & Mobile Barcode promotion

We mentioned this last week, but it’s worthy of another look. 

For a while we’ve been talking about how QR codes can be used to help bridge the gap between the physical (printed)  and the digital worlds.  These 2d mobile barcodes help make the printed piece more engaging, and often more relevant for the targeted recipient.

Recognizing this, the USPS is offering a Summer Sale on qualified mail pieces that contain a QR code.  During July and August, you can save 3% on postage on Standard and First Class letters, flats and cards that include a QR code that can be scanned and read by a smartphone.

We go into a little more detail in this recent blog post.

Double Whammy

For those adventurous and somewhat spontaneous businesses, you can actually take advantage of BOTH of these USPS programs.  A qualifying mail piece – flat – that is distributed using the Every Door Direct Mail process that is printed with a QR code, may qualify for a 3% savings off the 14.2 cent mail rate.

Yes, the USPS is struggling. And out of its struggles come opportunities for business to enhance their marketing efforts in an inexpensive, and effective way. It’s worth a look.

I admit it, when it comes to direct marketing, I’m drinking the Kool Aid.  After all, it’s what I do. It’s my livelihood.  So when I attend seminars on the benefits of direct marketing, it’s easy for me to get excited to learn about the opportunities that can benefit our clients.  Admittedly, I am somewhat biased.

And when I hear vendor partners like Kodak, Xerox, and even the USPS tout the benefits of direct marketing, even someone as jaded (and as old) as me can often lose sight of the fact that they are trying to sell me something. But when I take a step back and look at the facts it becomes obvious that today’s tools can combine for some incredible direct marketing campaigns.

Consider that according to a 2010 DMA study every dollar spent on Direct Marketing returned $11.73 in revenue. And the beauty of today’s direct marketing tools is that now, more than ever before, marketing budgets can be used to produce measurable results – orders, leads, traffic, etc.

What is it that is driving this direct marketing success? Is it about being social? Is it about being viral? Is it about being mobile?  Certainly this all comes into play, but more importantly, it’s about the data we now have access to via these channels.  Data provides us the opportunity to get personal with our clients and prospects.  Good marketing is all about conversations.  Good data, and the various channels we have, makes these conversations possible. 

But why take my word for it?

I recently received not one, but TWO direct marketing campaigns from GOOGLE.  Yes, the behemoth of on-line advertising sent me offers via DIRECT MAIL. 

One was addressed to “business owner”, but the other, using better data, was addressed to me personally.  And it followed direct marketing best practices: it was designed to generate a response; it has a clear and obvious offer; it calls for a specific action; and that action would be entirely measurable.

Will I accept the offer?  Probably not. I will continue to rely on our own Direct Marketing techniques.  After all, if it’s good enough for Google…

 Paul Strack, CustomXM