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Junk Mail? Not on your life!
Junk Mail, you say?
Afraid you are going to be called a “box stuffer”? A “Snail Mail Maniac”? A “Junk Mail Jiver”? Are bullies of the cyber world confusing you?
What constitutes “Junk Mail”? Is it determined by the mere volume of said product that ends up in any given mailbox? Is it the content of aforementioned advertisements? Is it the quality of the materials?
Is it the point of origin of these postal interlopers that has us worked into a frenzy or is it all of the above?
Who says it’s “JUNK”? A brief tutorial…….
Volume: Did you know that Direct Mail marketing continues to grow? A recent study published on behalf of the US postal service shows a continued increase in spending on advertising dollars with respect to monies spent on direct mail postage. Tracked by measuring mail sent and received to US households, the 2010 numbers were a 4.3% increase from 2009 and that accounts for $171 billion in advertising-roughly 12% of this is direct mail postage dollars. And this is up even considering Internet marketing and social media! Direct Mail Works!
Quality and content: Would your direct mail piece speak well of your company? It’s a traveling testimonial to your business and is a little piece of you out representing, well…YOU! If you are taking the time to be delivered right to your customer’s door, put your best foot forward. Discuss your needs with your direct mail customer service representative. Your product, your recipient, and the type of piece are all factors in how your message will be presented in the most advantageous way possible. Three things to remember- 1) stand apart from the herd with great graphics! 2) Garner attention with timely and attractive offers! 3) The first two don’t amount to a hill of beans if your mailing list isn’t customized! (We will address these issues in future blogs!)
Point of Origin: Who is bombarding your mailbox? Other than your friendly bill collector, there are billion dollar companies who currently use direct mail because, well, IT WORKS! Did you know that AT&T is now sending Hallmark cards? GOOGLE uses direct mail! I know that because I Google’d it. Just sayin’. American Express is still using direct marketing and has been since 1967 when Lester Wunderman defined the terms for the business giant and created their customer rewards program.
Fear not! Stamp On, my friend!! Put direct mail to work for you today and watch your business grow!
Tomorrow’s episode: What’s this coupon packet and why is there an ad for a plastic surgeon in here with my pizza guy?
Written by Dawn Burke
National Sales Executive
Kessler Creative
About the Author:
Dawn has been with Kessler Creative for over three years. She loves being a mom and is infatuated with her four-inch stilettos…on the floor beside her bare feet!
Marketing to your existing customers or clients
It goes without saying that most business owners think about their business at least once a day. How can I target the right audience? How can I bring in new customers? More importantly, how can I keep them? There is a large amount of people out there who don’t think about your business as much as they should – your customers. Instead, they’re doing exactly what you’re doing: thinking about their own business.
It is a generally accepted truth that it is far easier to sell to an existing customer than to someone who has never heard of you. But customers rarely have need of your product or service every day. Or even every week, sometimes not even every month. Most likely they will need it again at some point and this is when you make your second or sixty-fourth sale.
The key to keeping customers is ongoing communication from you personally. Meticulously designed, ongoing communications keeps your name and your value in front of the customer when you can’t be there. It also an opportunity to inform your customer of the other products and services you offer so you’re constantly upselling with minimal pressure. So what’s the best method? Direct mail is still the channel of choice for customer acquisition and customer retention.
Direct mail is the way to communicate to customers. First and foremost, you have their correct address. Second, there is often sufficient recognition to get the mail opened. And if it can’t be read immediately, your chances of it being saved for later in the day or later in the week are at least 100 times better than email.
What you mail is up to you. Newsletters, testimonials from other clients, customer satisfaction surveys, news about new products or services – all these and more are possible.
How to get started? Call us first. We can set up the mailing list, manage your database, and even design the mailing piece. But the drive to stay in front of your customer has to come from you.
Written By:
Stephen Dackiewicz
Kessler Creative
National Account Director
About the Author:
Stephen has lived in Jacksonville Fl for nine years and is originally from Tampa Fl. He enjoys outdoor activities like sports, camping and fishing. He has been a part of the Kessler Creative team for nine months and has been in sales for over five years.
Variable Data Printing
A great way to increase your ROI is with Variable Data…..
Variable-Data Printing (VDP) is a form of digital printing. VDP allows you to change text, graphics and images from one printed piece to the next. VDP enables customization of documents with a digital copier. For example, we can take data and customize the letter to specific individuals which will help increase Return on Investment (ROI). The returns can up to double a normal return rate by using variable data. This, of course, depends on the relevance of the content and the offer to the individual.
Please give us a call and we can show you how to make your next Direct Mail campaign more profitable.
Posted in General, Marketing, Print
Tagged advertisment media, Direct Mail Marketing, Kessler Crative, variable data
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Seasonal Marketing
Timing is everything and for some businesses, it is crucial to market more heavily during certain times of the year more than other times. This is what we call seasonal marketing.
Even though it is critical to keep your name in your prospects mind throughout the year, there are some seasons when you should hit prospects hard with offers and incentives to use your services or buy your product.
Seasonal marketing can be implemented during various seasons for various reasons. It’s not uncommon to have a business that relies heavily on certain seasons for increased sales volume. For most retailers, and other industries such as travel, the December holiday season is a significant time for sales. Depending on the type of business you own this may vary from time to time.
You will need to plan your marketing campaign well in advance of your busy season or seasons. A reverse timeline, created by working backwards from what you consider to be the kick-off of your busy season, will help you get printed materials in full gear with plenty of time to spare for mailing. Give yourself some flexibility. Your staffing needs may also require careful planning. Therefore, budget accordingly.
If your business has various high points throughout the year, try to piggyback one promotional and marketing campaign onto the next. Timing and preparedness are keys to handling seasonal activities. Often off-season planning is as time-consuming as the actual selling is during the busy season. As soon as one season concludes, you should be working on the next season’s marketing plan.
Putting a year marketing calendar into effect is a sure fire way not to forget to hit your market during the season that people will be most responsive.
Here at Kessler Creative, we have many clients that rely on us to keep them on track for a successful seasonal marketing strategy.
If you find yourself in a last minute jam for your seasonal marketing call one of our Marketing Specialist today at 866-775-8035. We have a fast turn-around time for all you last minute marketer’s out there.
Posted in General, Marketing, Our Company, Print
Tagged advertisment media, direct mail, Direct Mail Marketing, kessler creative, Seasonal Marketing
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Effective Direct Mail Copy
Effective, persuasive direct mail writing (called copy in the marketing world) can increase your direct response rates and help make your direct mailer more successful. Direct mail writing really is an art. Here at Kessler Creative; we have a talented staff that can do this for you but if you want to try your hand at doing it yourself; here are some tips to get started.
1. Who is your prospective client/prospect?
• Your direct mail copy will be more personal and convincing if you write it as if you are talking to a specific person.
• Write a list to describe your typical prospective customer/client that covers things such as: did he/she go to college? Where does he/she live? What is their life like? What does he/she do for a living? What does he/she do during free time? What do they dress like? How much money do they earn? Do they have children?
2. Next create an outline of what you want to say
• As if you were having a conversation at a social event. If your perfect prospective was asking you about your business, what would you say? Would you start with the history of your business or would you go straight into how your business addresses the needs of the person you are speaking to?
3. Write the copy
• Write to appeal to your “perfect prospect”.
• How will your product or service help them?
• How will it fulfill his/her needs? Desires?
• Write about benefits and use product features to support the benefit claims.
• Keep it short.
• Make it easy to scan by using bulleted lists, subheads and bold.
TIP: someone should be able to get all the key information they need by just reading the headline, subheads and information in bold. The problem, the solution and where to find the solution is a simple formula. Most people scan direct mail and then if they are interested, they’ll choose to read the rest of the information.
4. Now, focus on improving what you’ve written before paying to produce, print and mail your direct mail.
• Walk away from your direct mail copy for a couple of hours and read it again with fresh eyes.
• Come back and read it as if you were that “perfect prospect”. Are the words you use what you’d say if you were talking to them in person? Would they respond? How quickly?
• Be sure that what you say creates these type of responses after they see/read your direct mail:
• Yes, I could use this service or product
• That sounds interesting…I want to read/learn more
• I know who this mailing is from.
• I understand what this product/service/company offers/does
• I understand the benefits for this product/service/company
• I want to learn more/take action
• I know how to contact the company
• Be sure to have several people proofread what you’ve written to make sure there are no typos. A good way to do proofreading is to read each sentence word by word backwards.
Writing your own copy can be tricky and time consuming. Kessler Creative has a talented team and offers this service at a discounted rate for all of our print and direct mail clients.
Contact us today for all your marketing needs. 888-775-8035
Kessler Creative is your one stop marketing solution.
Posted in General, Marketing
Tagged advertisment media, direct mail copy, kessler creative, marketing, response
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DIRECT MAIL VS OTHER MEDIA
Businesses and marketers have more choices than ever to advertise their products in today’s marketplace. The traditional media of radio, television, outdoor, newspaper, and direct mail have been joined by online and social media alternatives.
The first step is always to identify the purpose and then the goal of the advertising campaign. In the current difficult economy most companies are electing sales driven instead of brand building programs. There are many keys to success in any campaign but for the purposes of this discussion let’s focus on the unique attributes of direct mail.
Each form of media has varying strengths and weaknesses that can be magnified or minimized depending on your product, target market and offering. Direct mail offers the unique benefit of both immediate response and potentially long-term residual value. Unlike most media it also has a nearly 100% guaranteed presence if properly packaged.
Media I would term as “flash” advertising such as radio, television, outdoor and internet are exposed to the consumer only for a limited time (i.e. mostly ten to thirty seconds). The message comes and goes without the consumer being able to “freeze” the message even if they wanted. That is why sellers of this form of marketing stress proper frequency with repeat ads to improve retention and response.
Direct Mail is more permanent and offers the consumer as much time as “they” choose to digest the message. As an added benefit there is no rush to try and write down contact or offer information. While this seems like common sense you would be amazed how often other “flash” ads are run and they gain interest but the consumer never ends up responding.
Think of your own personal situation. Have you ever watched a TV ad, listened to a radio spot, saw a rotating online banner ad or drove by a billboard and were interested in ad but never wrote down the information and/or purchased the product?
When designed properly with a call to action direct mail can produce an immediate response such as a phone call or website visit or trip to the business. In addition, as a hard marketing piece it can be kept and retained offering longer shelf life than other types of media.
Most traditional proponents of direct mail would tout its major strength is the ability to target the mailing to certain demographics. While this is absolutely true and still likely the best media for this purpose the gap is closing as consumer information is being extrapolated and mine more and more for use by a variety of media.
While there are numerous other benefits to utilizing direct mail the final two key advantages I would like to highlight is its ability to track and measure results and as one of the few media that is “invited” by the consumer. Simply by printing an offer code or tracking which specific consumers received the mailing direct mail and specific offers can be easily recorded to measure results. Testing can be done to compare various offers and strategies. Formulas for return on investment are used by savvy marketers to ensure advertising dollars are being put to the best use.
Finally, direct mail is one of the few media where consumers actually look forward to receiving (not all but you would be surprised how many are excited to see what they got in the mail). Also, this advertising in delivered into the hands of the consumer at the advertiser’s choice of location (i.e. home or business).
Benefits of Direct Mail
• Targeted. It allows you to focus on your specific audience, directing your campaign to the market you want to reach.
• Personal. You can craft messages that are tailored to your business audience, addressing their needs and appealing to their interests.
• Flexible. Direct Mail Postcards can be sent with a variety of colors and graphics.
• Tangible. Customers can hold your mail piece, referring to your message as often as needed. Special offers included on your postcard help encourage customer interaction.
• Measurable. The results of your Direct Mail Postcard campaign can be tracked by counting the responses or inquiries it generates. You’ll know what worked and adjust your plans accordingly.
• Cost effective. A Direct Mail Postcard campaign makes your advertising dollars go further, because your targeted message goes directly to the people you want to reach.
Posted in General
Tagged advertisment media, direct mail, kessler creative, marketing
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Effective Direct Mail
Here at Kessler Creative; most of our clients ask the same question. “How often should I send out a direct mail campaign?”
Every day, I talk with business owners who don’t have a good, solid strategy for a well thought-out direct mail campaign. However, most businesses don’t understand that, to be affective, and get the most response from a mailing list, you need a consistent, series of mailers, over a period of time. Whether you mail postcards or letters, or a combination of the two, you will maximize your response rates with a series of marketing mailers over several weeks, verses just sending one. Remember, consistency is key!
Below I have outlined a simple 3 piece mail campaign with some content ideas that you could use with virtually any business. Obviously, you would want to customize this to your list and target specific market. This is meant as just a general guide. Kessler Creative can customize your campaign to optimize the power of direct mail.
1st Mailer: This is usually the introduction piece. It can be a post card or letter, but the point is to make a good first impression. This is where you introduce your business to the recipient and why they need your services. You can include a call to action as well.
2nd Mailer: “Time is running out.” In this mailer, you want to create a sense of urgency with them to pick up the phone and call you because (insert reason). No matter what your offer is, you can always come up with a reason to encourage them to call you now verses later. Make sure you keep consistency your contacts by staying with the same logos, look and flow of your mailer.
3rd Mailer: This is a great reminder of your services and/or product. Still emphasize that fact that you can be a solution for their problem. The fact that this is the third piece you have sent shows consistency and persistence on your part. This mailer will be the one that you have captured your prospect because of name and brand recognition. They have seen you three times now and they will remember your business name.
Sending three mailers may sound like a lot, but the truth is, you can improve your chances of landing that big deal with this consistent strategy each time you mail. You will find that your ROI goes up with each mailer.
Consistency is key!
Contact one of our Marketing Specialist today!
Kessler Creative has the experience and know- how. Let us put an affordable, response driven campaign together for you.
Posted in General
Tagged direct mail, effective mail campaign, kessler creative, marketing
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Increase your direct mail response
We all love to receive gifts.
Promotional giveaways get consumer’s attention. Adding a premium as an incentive to respond to your offer is a great way to boost a response rate of any direct mail campaign.
Unlike many other media channels, with direct mail you have the luxury of pointing out features and benefits in detail.
A good offer paired with a gift is a winning combination.
Premium giveaways can increase your response rate by an additional 2%.
Free gifts work particularly well for driving traffic to your business.
For example:
If you are marketing for a gym, offer a mini-vacation with each new membership on your next direct mail campaign. A typical promotional vacation package is inexpensive to purchase and is a great get-a-way for your new customer.
If you looking to drive traffic to your car dealership, add a scratch and number match to your direct mail campaign. Offer several prizes just to show up for an event. You can offer $10,000.00, $3,000.00, a big screen TV and $5.00. The prizes can be insured in the event that the winning number shows up.
Kessler Creative offers a wide variety of promotional giveaways to complement any direct mail campaign.
Contact one of our marketing specialists for a list of exciting gifts that your potential clients will show up for.
Direct mail and QR codes
What is a QR Code?
A Quick Response (QR) Code is a two-dimensional barcode that is embedded with data (contact information, a coupon, a link to a website, directions to an event, etc.). It merges static printed material and online information to handheld mobile devices.
QR Codes are being used on almost every type of printed piece – brochures, direct mail, event posters, signage, product packaging, and business cards.
How do I read the QR Code with my phone?
Just go to the application store for your mobile device and download a barcode reader. There are several free barcode readers available. Through the code reading application, scan the QR Code to be instantly linked to live information on your mobile device.
Why should I use QR Codes on printed materials?
By scanning the QR Code with a Smartphone, offline material instantly becomes mobile online information, right there in your hand. The possibilities for integration of all your marketing efforts are limitless.
How can I implement QR Codes?
QR Codes are designed to get as much information as possible into the palm of consumers’ hands. These are some of the most common uses:
• Create a Vcard that loads your contact information right into their phone.
• A coupon offer good for an on-site promotion at your store, restaurant, etc.
• Link to your Facebook or Twitter page.
• Post information about an upcoming event. Keep your eyes open this year, especially this summer, as more movie and concert promoters use them to generate excitement and increase their audience attendance.
• Share a video with helpful how-to information or product demonstration.
• A survey landing page to get customer feedback.
• Link to a map of your business location or event.
Where do I get a personalized QR Code?
The Kessler Creative team is here for you. Contact us at 866-775-8035 get your QR Code today!
