MarketingAdVents
June 2010
Publication of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington
Anatomy Of A Successful
Cross-Media Marketing
Campaign
C
by Ramin Zamini
ross-media marketing campaigns employ technology
to leverage prospect and customer data and deliver a
highly personalized message via a variety of integrated
touch points in a timely fashion. The average response rates are up
to three times higher than traditional marketing campaigns. This
article reviews an example of a successful cross-media marketing
campaign that used direct mail, email, text messaging, telemarketing, personalized URLs, QR codes and customized microsites, and
resulted in an impressive response rate of 24.9 percent.
Campaign objectives
MindFireInc is a fast-growing, Inc. 500 software company based in
Irvine, CA, with more than 550 clients across 19 countries. Last February, they exhibited at a major printing industry event in Dallas.
The event was Dscoop 5, sponored by Digital Solution Cooperative,
Vetting Social Media
by Sean Powell
R
ecently, I talked
with a few good
friends about their
social media success.
We chatted about good
practices, what made someone
a good community member,
and what made connecting
online through social media
special. We talked at length
about how we got started and what we are doing now.
Afterward, three things really stuck out as being key
to social media success. You have to know what's going on. To be truly part of something, you have to give
back. You shouldn't be on the sidelines. The following is
my breakdown of those conversations into actions you
can take to build your social media presence.
Listen: If I could write this whole article on listening, I
would.
Vol 49 | No 6
an independent community of HP Indigo owners and operators who focus
on digital solutions in print and marketing services. MindFireInc defined
three objectives for the campaign: 1)
Drive traffic to booth (lead generation); 2) Re-enforce their company’s
position as the industry thought-leader (brand-building); and 3) Introduce
the addition of a new feature in the
upcoming product release.
Target audience
The campaign targeted prospects and existing clients. The
target audience was divided into three segments: 1) Dscoop
members who had registered to attend the event; 2) Dscoop
members who had not registered to attend; and 3) MindFireInc’s clients who were coming to the event.
Creative and messaging
The marketing communication for the event used traffic signs
as the creative theme. As a “Platinum Partner” of Dscoop,
continued on page 12
You need to listen. I don't
mean listening to music, or listening to your favorite talking head,
or even listening to your mom. At
best, that's passive listening (sorry,
mom). You need to be an active listener. Search online for information
that is of interest to you or your
organization. Listen, through the
various social media channels, with
the goal of understanding what's
being said about your industry,
your organization, or even you as
an individual. Through this type
of listening, you can gain valuable
insight into what your customers,
donors, or clients are thinking. You
could learn what drives them to
sign that petition, give money, or
buy your product.
How do you become an active
listener in social media? Well, be
continued on page 13
What's New?
For social media conversation
among marketers, check out MediaDailyNews’s “Feedback Loop.” Tagged
“Your view on today’s news,” the ezine
links to a variety of popular posts,
invites marketers to comment, and
features a round-up.
HOT Topics
2010 Bridge Conference
Blogging for Dollars . ................... 8
Cross-Channel Integration . ....... 8
Secrets of Demand Creation . .... 9
Still the Best Lead Dog..................... 2
Leadership Perspective.................... 3
What It Takes....................................... 4
Production........................................... 5
Don't Hit Send!................................... 6
Postal Developments........................ 7
Envelopes Count.............................. 10
News Notes........................................ 11
Cross Media Bits............................... 12
"Yes, but..." . ....................................... 14
Spotlight: Steven Fleshman.............15
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
Direct Mail is
Still the Best
Lead Dog
By Mike Deuerling
I
f you’re in
the everchanging
industry of marketing and advertising, it’s a good
bet that you’ve
told someone,
at some point in
time, to go away or get out of your face.
Deadline pressure can turn people into sociopaths in the blink of an eye. In a much
more positive way, direct mail is establishing itself as a leader in telling people
where to go and how to get there.
Developments in variable data printing
and database marketing enable marketers
to send targeted messages featuring creative, high-quality imagery that attracts
buyers.
Even though postage costs have increased, marketers continue to see value
and power in direct mail. For example,
companies are using catalogs as a lead
into the multichannel marketing world.
When someone buys online, a mailed
catalog often follows.
A new form of a catalog presents valuable
content, not just advertising and product
pricing. These content catalogs are known
as “magalogs.” The content is useful, howto information aimed at encouraging additional purchases.
For instance, a pet product provider might
provide an article on checking pets for
ticks after walks in a wooded area. The
article recommends company products
to help readers avoid and rid their pets of
these dangerous insects. In addition, the
magalog may direct customers to specific
website landing pages.
2
Landing pages are created to get readers to the exact information they need to
say yes and to demonstrate how easy it is
to place an order. Marketing can make a
buying experience more enjoyable for the
customer and measure the effectiveness
of advertisements with landing pages.
In addition to magalogs, marketers are using direct mail to drive customers to visit
a web address. In return for their visit, the
customer is rewarded a dollar discount or
a special offer. The details of the special
offer are revealed when they visit the
website.
In marketing terms, this direct marketing
tool is called a personalized URL or p-URL.
The technological term is a dynamic URL
or landing page. Technology never has
enough acronyms.
Another advantage of direct mail is to
present the recipient with an easily recognizable brand image that reminds him
or her of an existing buying relationship.
The brand image slices through the advertising clutter and increases the odds of
response.
Direct marketers are increasing the use of
mailed invitations to special events. These
invitations use personalization and relevancy to the customer.
Recently, a seller of Scotch whisky invited
prospects to a tasting party with an added
enticement of a free round of golf. Such
events allow marketers to collect and analyze personalized information for future
marketing efforts.
Calendar
Deadline for registration: 48 hours
before the event, space permitting.
Registrations received after that
will be charged the onsite rate and
are subject to space availability.
Cancellations must be received 48
hours in advance. No-shows will
be billed. Register online at www.
DMAW. org and click on Events, or
mail with payment to DMAW.
Monday, July 26 Wednesday, July 28, 2010
5th Annual Bridge to Integrated
Marketing & Fundraising Conference
Gaylord National Hotel and
Conference Center on the Potomac
in National Harbor, MD
Third Thursday of Every Month
Monthly Networking Luncheon
June 17:
US Postal Regulatory Update
Ruth Goldway, Commissioner,
US Postal Regulatory Commission
July 15:
How to Develop An Effective
Telemarketing Strategy
Karin Kirchoff, Membership
Director,
Defenders of Wildlife
First Tuesday of Each Month
Annapolis Direct Marketers' Social
Eva Bowie at ebowie@scadirect.com
Last Wednesday of Each Month
Young Professionals Networking
Even though direct mail volumes are
down, there is plenty of staying power
with direct mail. Direct mail guides the recipient through the many different touch
points of multichannel marketing.
Marketers who integrate their direct mail
databases with their online marketing efforts will continue to see success. Now is
the best time to get on board and join the
pack.
Mike Deuerling is chief marketing officer at Marketing
Communications Group in Naperville, IL, 60563-8535.
Reach Mike at md@dmcm.net or call 800-251-3608 or
815-496-9900.
June 30:
McFaddens, Washington, D.C.
Jenna Silverstein at
jenna@turnkeysolutionsdm.com
Thursday, October 7, 2010
9th DMAW Annual
Association Day
Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Best of Direct
National Geographic Society
Executive Committee
President—George Lizama, Production
Solutions, Inc., 703-734-5700 glizama@
psmail.com
Vice President and President Elect—Kristin
McCurry, MINDset direct, 703-538-6463
kmccurry@mindsetdirect.com
Secretary-Treasurer—Kathy Calta, Vertis
Communications, 410-949-2267 kcalta@
vertisinc.com
Immediate Past President—Graham T. Ruffels,
Victory Production Management, 215-2725600 graham@victorydm.com
Board of Directors
Co-Chair, Programs—Vickie Norman,
Robertson Mailing List Company, 703-2096320 vnorman@rmlc.net
Co-Chair, Programs—Robbin Wilson,
Convergence Direct Marketing, 301-656-5516
rwilson@convergencedm.com
Co-Chair, Marketing—Barbara Armentrout,
Marketing General, Inc., 703-706-0337
barmentrout@marketinggeneral.com
Co-Chair, Marketing—Suzanne Cole Nowers,
Nexus Direct, 757-961-3220 suzanne@
nexusdirect.com
Co-Chair, Membership—Michael DeFlavia,
Lautman, Maska, Neill & Company, 202-2969660 ext. 14 mdeflavia@lautmandc.com
Co-Chair, Membership—Jean Simmons,
Catholic Relief Services, 410-951-7458
jsimmons@crs.org
Chair, Social Media Marketing—Hilary Baar,
The Lukens Company, 703-845-8484 hilary@
thelukenscompany.com
MAXI Awards Liaison—Jamie Natelson, Avalon
Consulting Group, 202-429-6080 ext. 106
jamien@avalonconsulting.net
Chair, Volunteers—Alan Rich, Nova Label Co.,
301-386-4433 alan@novalabel.com
DMAWEF Liaison—Jinny Fleischman,
Company’s Coming, 202-966-3361 veflei@
aol.com
DMAW Educational Foundation
Karen Depew, Executive Director, 301-6527074 karen@northwoodconsulting.com
Syma Mendelsohn, President, smendelsohn@
rcmd.com
DMAW Executive Director
Donna Tschiffely, donna@dmaw.org
703-689-DMAW, fax 703-481-DMAW
Postmaster: Send address changes to DMAW
Marketing AdVents, 11709 Bowman Green Drive,
Reston, VA 20190-3501; email info@dmaw.org •
website www.dmaw.org
DMAW Marketing AdVents: (ISSN 0896-4742) is
published monthly by the Direct Marketing Association
of Washington, Inc., 11709 Bowman Green Drive,
Reston, VA 20190-3501. Periodicals postage paid at
Herndon VA and at additional mailing offices.
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
DMAW Executive Committee
& Board of Directors 2010
PRESIDENT'S perspective
by George Lizama
A
s you are reading this June issue of AdVents, I assume
you are preparing for a long, hot (hopefully), and
active summer. If you have a lawn, it’s been mown
multiple times already and your summer flowers have taken
root. “Snowmageddon” is in the distant past, and now it’s time
for iced tea, linen slacks, and shady spots under a tree.
For direct marketers, early summer is
spent assessing results of the year’s first
half. Are we ahead…right on… or behind
on those campaign projections? Are the
multichannel marketing strategies properly balanced and tuned? Is the creative
right?
For the leadership of the DMAW, June is
the month preceding our annual Bridge
to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising
Conference (Bridge Conference), produced jointly with the AFP/DC. It is the
month in which volunteers, speakers, and
exhibitors realize that the conference is
just around the corner and that it isn’t just
the weather that’s heating up! For them,
it’s almost show time!
By the end of June, our association’s program committee will have completed the
first half of its stimulating monthly luncheon presentations. We’ve had six strong
presenters and cumulative attendance has
exceeded our expectations. The luncheon
series continues to be a great source of
information and networking for members,
so look for them to continue through the
remainder of the year.
DMAW’s membership is increasingly diverse, and so is the membership of its
board of directors. Our board is composed
of end-users, agencies, and suppliers who
provide services not only to the nonprofit
sector but to clients in the commercial
and associations sectors, as well. This diversity of service providers and customer
segments is providing a newly rich crossfertilization to our deliberations and adding value to membership.
To this end, this issue of AdVents provides
insights into multichannel marketing,
another perspective into social media, as
well as a host of other topics. This continues the “cross-media” theme that is
relevant within any sector in which you
practice direct response.
And finally, for the past few months there
has been a helpful flow of member feedback regarding our programs, our focus,
and this newsletter. Your feedback is helpful, highlighting much that we have to
improve to remain the primary direct marketing entity in this region. I thank you for
the feedback and urge all of you to weigh
in. This is your association and it needs to
speak to your needs.
The Bridge Conference is July 26-28 at the
Gaylord National Hotel and Conference
Center. Co-Chairs Greg Albright, representing the DMAW, and Dayna Kuhar, representing AFP/DC, and their conference
teams have done a great job building
meaningful content. Be sure it’s on your
calendar. In the meantime, enjoy some
long June days and (hopefully) weekends.
DMAW is now planning a transition from the Listserv
to LinkedIn. If you are not already registered with
LinkedIn, please do so at www.LinkedIn.com. Then go
to the DMAW page and look for the yellow “Join Group”
button at the left side of the page. Click on the button
and you are part of the group.
3
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
What It Takes To
Get A Dollar in
Hard Times
by Hilary Baar
C
arol
Rhine,
senior
research analyst
at Target Analytics (a Blackbaud
Company) spoke
at the March 18
DMAW luncheon.
In Tracking Trends:
Fundraising Ups and Downs During These
Uncertain Times, Rhine offered one of the
best, most informative, completely useful
sessions I’ve attended. Here’s just a bit of
what the lucky attendees took away.
2009 Hurt
According to actual tax records and
survey-based information developed by
Giving USA, 2008 was the first year that
fundraisers experienced a real downturn
in individual giving since 1987: down 2
percent. In 2009, fundraising experienced
another decline, also representing the first
time key metrics were down across the
board (in individual giving, bequests, and
corporate sectors).
•Overall, 2009 revenues fell 5 percent,
compared to 2008.
•Revenues per donor dwindled by 1.5
percent (Q4 2009).
•Donor giving declined 2.3 percent (Q4
2009).
•New donor giving was off even more:
down 7.9 percent (Q4 2009).
•Overall retention backslid as well, by
0.1 percent (Q4 2009).
•First-year retention also suffered, falling 3.1 percent (Q4 2009).
•Multi-year retention deteriorated by
the same 3.1 percent (Q4 2009).
•Reactivation ended sluggishly, at a
mere 0.6 percent (Q4 2009).
4
What IS Working?
Solutions lie in improved donor relations,
particularly stewardship, acknowledgment, and follow-up.
Rhine advises meticulous attention to the house file, and notes that the
long-term donors have become more important, which means that the shift from
acquisition to reactivation offers the most
affordable tack.
Increasingly, donors are using tools
such as Charity Navigator to determine
giving. Smart fundraisers will include a citation of work being accomplished along
with a citation of the percentage of donations going to that work.
To facilitate online conversion, fundraisers should employ multiple channels
by which people can enter the organization’s website, including clear and prevalent postings of their email and website
addresses.
Engagement is the trick and tactic
of successful fundraising today. Social
channels offer another way for donors to
visit your website, access your email address, or make a donation. For example, a
Google search yields an entire first page
of links for the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, including its blog, its Facebook page, and other
channels beyond the ASPCA website.
This may be a good time to look at
a monthly giving program. In some sectors, these have seen the largest growth
and have great potential for upgrades. For
example, a small monthly upgrade of $3
translates to $36 per year.
Communicate what your organization
is doing well and how programs are being
executed. Invest in new methods such as
social media or a major gifts program.
Online efforts need to complement
everything you are doing! The most
successful fundraisers are employing
search-engine optimization and Google
ad space online. Any social media effort
should be fun and interesting, not too
dry or institutional. Remember to engage
people where they are and give donors
choices about how to get the information.
Be certain to remain in touch with your
most reliable donors and let them know
that their continued, or renewed, support
is essential to your organization’s success.
Stewardship is vital. People are more
likely to give to a purpose, so focus on
what will happen with their money.
Mobile Phone Giving
Fundraisers noticed a large increase in
giving during the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami. Until Haiti, no event prompted
as much giving, but some fundraisers
doubled their file size following the recent
earthquake disaster. For the first time in
history, many donations were generated
through mobile phone contributions
(though the money has taken awhile to
collect). Meanwhile, however, organizations have found that mobile giving has
limited their ability to continue communicating with donors, which represents a
very different scenario in the fundraising
universe. Rhine noted that the Internet
has changed how people do business and
how they give money. As a result, tracking
has become messy. For example, by leading donors to look up information online
and then call to donate, the act of “writing
a check” is bypassed altogether.
Note: Emergency givers may lie dormant
until next the emergency, but these are
your warm prospects. Donors acquired
through emergency acquisition need to
be placed on a separate track.
In Short
This year should be better than 2009, as
revenue is not likely to be as relief-driven.
Donors will be more apt to maintain their
current levels of giving. From that, you
build. Good luck!
Hilary Baar is an account director for The Lukens
Company, developing fundraising programs for museums
and nonprofits. Hilary Baar has served on the DMAW
Board of Directors since 2003, where she has chaired
the membership and marketing committees and served
as treasurer. This past year, Hilary was dedicated to the
creation of the DMAW social media network, including
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and a blog. Hilary’s direct
marketing programs have been honored with several
awards, including several MAXI’s, an ECHO, and an
ASAE Gold Circle Award. Reach her at hilary@the
lukenscompany.com.
by Crystal Uppercue
Why "Customer
Service" Is Not
On the DM Bill of
Rights
T
his article contains
my version of the
eight “services”
that comprise
the 2010 “Direct
Marketer’s Bill of
Rights”—those
“inalienables”
that you have a right to expect from every
direct marketing production vendor with
whom you do business. And guess what?
customer service isn’t even on the list.
Read on and you’ll see why.
1. Package Ideas Galore. Your DM production vendor should offer you years of
experience and tons of ideas. With that
experience should come the ability to not
only evaluate your campaign concept and
strategy, but offer concrete suggestions
on how to improve it—I mean real, workable, creative suggestions.
2. Package Efficiency Obsession. Just
like you, a direct marketing production
vendor is in the game to make money—
but not at your expense. In fact, if the
company has been in business awhile,
they’ve stayed solvent by actually saving
you money. They know how to make every
job that comes in the shop more cost effective and optimally time efficient. It’s
simply what they do.
3. Follow-up Compulsion. After your
package has dropped, the results come
in. That’s when you (and your boss) learn
whether or not the campaign was effective. A seasoned direct mail vendor is just
as interested in those results as you are.
If the results are good, you’ll be back. If
not, you’ll want to know the reason why.
By including your direct marketing vendor when you are studying and tracking
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
production
what’s happened, they will be able to help
you interpret the results.
4. The Big Picture View. The direct mail
campaign you’re planning or the one
you’ve just completed are important, but
they’re only one part of the overall effort,
right? To do the best job for you—and
advise accordingly— provide your direct
marketing production vendor with the
details on how each direct mail event fits
into the bigger campaign picture.
5. List Advice. It’s a DM rule of thumb
that the list(s) you select spell the single
most important component of your campaign’s success. If your DM production
vendor knows his or her way around a list
enterprise and how to export and import
data within your database, you’ve just
found a direct marketing production partner who will make your life easier.
6. Postal Expertise. Anybody who’s been
in this business a year knows enough not
to “go it alone” with the U.S. Postal Service.
Even people who’ve been around since
forever sometimes get confounded by the
bureaucracy, change, and technology that
comprise mail delivery. Your DM production vendor absolutely, positively must be
expert in postal matters.
7. Education That Never Quits. Who
would quibble that this 21st century is
proving to be a bruiser for folks deeply
into the DM business? Only constant
education tempered by experience can
stand up to this consumer-driven market
mix that calls for creativity; technology;
metrics; database design and management; market demographics and shifts;
the USPS; paper on ink; and human psychology — all on a tight, no-mistakes
production schedule. Bottom line: Your
direct marketing production partner is not
your father’s (or even your older brother’s)
“printer.” This is DM; this is BIG.
8. Online Tools. Today, time demands that
you conduct much of your direct marketing work online. You’re just too busy to do
otherwise. Your DM production vendor
should have every current online tool
available so that you can upload files electronically, check proofs online, execute
efficient web-to-print strategies, make
intelligent data and list selections from
your office, retrieve job status updates
in real time, and manage your inventory
remotely.
9. Customer Service—A Gimme! Okay,
I put it here. But it’s not really part of the
DM Bill of Rights because it IS the DM Bill
of Rights. Customer service is the foundation from which the other eight—and all
else—build. A direct marketing production company that emulates this bill of
rights can be a steadfast partner who
shares the responsibility for the success of
your direct marketing program.
Crystal Uppercue is the marketing manager for EU
Services, a 330-employee direct marketing production
facility based in Rockville, MD. Download EU’s free white
paper, “A Marketing Manager’s Guide to VDP Project
Management,” at www.euservices.com.
Tell us to stick it!
(or stuff it, glue it,
fold it . . . )
• Conference Bag Stuffing
• Collating
• Notebook Assembly
• Shrink Wrapping/
Poly bagging
• Packaging
• Applying Labels/Stickers
• Folding/Inserting
• Electronic Counting
• Banding
• Gluing
• Poster Rolling
• Double-stick Taping
• Multi-hole Drilling
• Mailing Services
• Mechanical Assembly
• Ink-jetting
• Customized Services
(301) 731-4242
www.roiworks.org
2010_Sourcebook_Ad.indd 1
5
12/3/09 10:37:34 AM
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
Don't Hit Send!
By Jean Kelley
S
pam…
chain
letters…obnoxious
or off-color
jokes…these are
just a few things
that annoy business professionals when it comes to daily email. While
you’re likely not sending any of these
things, what if your emails are considered
just as annoying?
Unfortunately, many people are unknowingly irritating co-workers and clients with bad email etiquette and habits.
Even worse, the offenders are tarnishing
their reputations in the process, unaware
that their emails reflect their personal and
company brand, their image, and their
credibility. To maximize the effectiveness
of your emails, avoid the following top
five email pet peeves.
1. Sensitive topics.
6
Sensitive and emotionally charged conversations have no place in an email. If
you need to fire someone, express disappointment, or apologize, do it face-to-face
(most preferred) or via the telephone.
When a sensitive topic is broached in an
email message, the recipient’s reaction is
unpredictable at best. Why? Because it’s
virtually impossible to display emotion in
an email (aside from some carefully placed
emoticons, which not everyone appreciates). By nature, people look for the worst
in a message rather than the best. So your
innocent question -- “Why did you call Mr.
Smith?” -- could be read as an accusation:
“Why on earth did you of all people call
Mr. Smith and bother him?”
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that
many people write things in an email that
they would never say in person. They view
email as a way to have “safe” conflict without a face-to-face confrontation. So they
might snap back at someone in a sarcastic
way or slam someone professionally or
personally. Some people even enjoy this
type of conflict, as it gives them a charge.
The bottom line is that if your message
has any type of intense emotion behind
it, don’t send the email. The matter is best
addressed in a face-to-face meeting or
phone call.
2. Using “reply all” versus “reply.”
Just because you were one of many recipients on a message does not mean everyone needs to hear your reply. For example,
a supervisor may send a group message
out to the entire department asking who
will be present at the quarterly meeting.
The only person who needs to see your
response is the person who initiated the
message, not the entire group. If the
group contains 100 people and each one
does a “reply all” saying, “I’ll be there,”
you’ll have a very cluttered inbox and 100
annoyed people.
Therefore, really think about who
needs to see the message before you reply. Obviously, if your company requires
that you do a “reply all” for business
emails, then by all means do so. Otherwise, use the “reply all” button judiciously.
3. Poor grammar and spelling.
A typo every now and then is not a big
deal. However, consistent bad grammar
and misspellings are obnoxious. Email
is a form of written communication,
so respect the written word. Additionally, this is business, and everything you
do, say, and write is a reflection of your
professionalism.
When people read your messages,
they naturally and automatically make a
judgment about you based on your writing. If your writing is poor, everything
else about you is in question. After all, if
you don’t care enough about your writing, what else don’t you care about? Your
product? Your service? The reader? Remember that no email message is ever really deleted permanently. Make sure your
lasting impressions are good ones - even
when you email.
4. Complicated information.
If you have to give someone technical,
detailed, or complicated information, do it
with a phone call and an email as a backup, rather than relying solely on email.
Email is best suited for short messages
that don’t require a lengthy response. If
your email is more than a couple of paragraphs, pick up the phone and talk to the
recipient. Use the follow-up email to send
needed documentation or as a recap of
your verbal instructions, but don’t expect
people to read and act upon a lengthy or
complicated message.
Additionally, if you receive a detailed
message and need time to work on the
reply, send a short acknowledgment message that states, “I received your message
and am working on the needed items.”
And if the reply requires real discussion,
pick up the phone and talk about it. Don’t
rely on email for every topic.
5. Bad or missing subject lines.
Unless you’re doing email marketing and
using your messages to sell, use straightforward subject lines that reflect the true
theme of the message. Leave the cute and
clever wording to the marketers. For dayto-day business purposes, plain and direct
work best. So rather than a subject line
that reads, “want to pick your brain;” write,
“need your input on the Jones project.”
Realize, too, that many people use
their email as a filing system, and they
rely on subject lines to find key information later. So if all your subject lines are
vague (e.g., “a message from Tom Smith”
or “info you requested”) or if you don’t use
subject lines, people won’t know what
the message was about when they search
their files later. Always write detailed
subject lines. And should the email’s subject change as the conversation ensues,
change the subject line to reflect the new
theme.
Email has certainly come a long way
in the past couple decades. What was
initially viewed as a novel way to share
key information in the 1990s is now the
preferred method of business communication. But remember, just because
something is commonplace and expected
doesn’t mean you can become lazy with it.
Always use email properly and for the purposes and subjects it is intended. By doing so you’ll gain productivity rewards as
you enhance your professional reputation.
Jean Kelley, president and founder of Jean Kelley
Leadership Consulting, is the author of Get A Job; Keep
A Job. As the sole owner of Jean Kelley Personnel for 25
years, she personally helped more than 20,000 clients
enhance their careers. Coupled with her other book, Dear
Jean: What They Don’t Teach You at the Water Cooler, Jean
has positioned herself as America’s workplace coach. For
more information, please visit www.jeankelley.com.
Cardinal Sins
F
limsy,
Floppy,
and
Droopy are three
of the U.S. Postal
Service’s deadly
sins. You can overindulge every bad
habit, you can lie,
cheat, steal, covet, and curse (but not at
the post office, of course!), but you cannot present mail that is flimsy, floppy or
droopy! Mailers of flats (i.e. pieces larger than
6 by 11 inches): Get a drop on the droop
test. Ignore this warning at your own peril. Floppy flats are not a new phenomenon nor a new concern at the post office.
For years, the USPS has had a “droop test”
for flats on the books. However, it has been
enforced irregularly and without much
consistency.
Here’s how it worked: You presented
your mailing (printed on thin, cheap paper to reduce cost and pinch pennies, no
doubt) to the bulk-mail unit mail acceptance clerk.He took one look at the cheesy
stock and realized it would fail the droop
test. To prove it, he draped 4 inches of your
piece over the edge of the counter he was
working. If it sagged more than 45 degrees,
the piece failed the droop test. You were
busted and he got an atta boy from the Big
Boss.
The test had two obvious flaws: The
acceptance clerk’s idea of 4 inches and
his perception of 45 degrees. Beauty—or
not—was in the eye of the beholder. And
that beholder was both judge and jury.
The postal clerk—or at least his boss—
cared about your taste in paper because
paper that is too thin simply can’t survive
postal machinery. It will shred, tear, and
gum up the works for everybody. YOU
should care about the paper you select because substantial paper says your business
is substantial. It’s a subliminal—but very
important—message to your audience. If
you insist on using tissue paper, you should
reasonably expect that the money you save
in printing will be donated to the USPS,
by Ellen Paul
which can assess the “non-automation”
rate. Depending on your mail list distribution, the penalty could be as much as 6.2
cents per piece.
Newspapers, already hammered with
declining ad revenues and the abysmal
reading habits of our fellow U.S. citizens,
are feeling the pinch the hardest. Catalogers are not far behind.
Well, the post office has decided that
interpretation of the droop rule has been
too loosey-goosey for too long. So now it’s
codifying the rule and making it tougher. The new procedures reduce clerical
subjectivity. For pieces longer than 10 inches, the clerk extends 5 inches over the edge
of the surface. He then places a flat 12-inch
ruler on top of the mailpiece and secures
the ruler with a weight. If the piece droops
by more than 3 inches (as measured with
the second ruler) it fails the droop test. The
clerk then repeats the test on the opposite
end of the mailpiece. If the piece is shorter than 10 inches
long, the clerk extends 50 percent of the
MSP Trust Ad 4x4.indd 1
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
POSTAL DEVelopments
piece over the edge, secures the first ruler
with the weight, and measures the droop
using the second ruler. If the droop is more
than 2 inches, the piece fails. He rotates the
piece and repeats the measurements.
Pieces are exempted if delivered to the
DDU (Destination Delivery Unit) thereby
bypassing all the postal equipment en
route.
The ruling goes into force on June 7,
2010, but won’t be enforced until Oct. 3,
2010. Hence, mailers of flats have time to
modify their designs and paper selections
before postage penalties are assessed.
Mailers of flats: Procrastinate until Oct.
3 to make the change, and you might have
to dust off your St. Jude’s medal. St. Jude—
the Patron Saint of Lost Causes—may be
your only line of defense against the postal
sins of Flimsy, Floppy and Droopy.
You’ve been warned.
Ellen Paul is president of Paul and Partners: “Your smarter
marketing partner.” Ellen blogs about postal and other
direct marketing matters at http://paulandpartners.net/
blog. For a quote or to reach Ellen contact 703-996-0800 or
Ellen@paulandpartners.net.
4/7/10 2:27:04 PM
7
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
@BridgeConference 2010
Brandraising:
Blogging for
Dollars
By Sarah Durham
E
8
arlier this year, I participated on
a panel about blogging for nonprofits at the Ad Council. The
room was full of nonprofit people trying
to understand what blogging is, if their
organizations should be doing it, and how
it’s done.
During Big Duck’s search for compelling blogs, Holly Ross, executive director
of the Nonprofit Technology Network,
pointed out what turned out to be the
most interesting discovery: Cross Blog
(redcrosspdx.blogspot.com).
Cross Blog is produced by the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter and
bills itself as “Disaster Proof, Fire Safe
and Updated Daily.” There’s a lot to love
about this blog — and many lessons for
nonprofits of all sizes. It’s hard to imagine
that you could make topics like disaster
relief or blood donations funny, but these
wacky Oregonians have done just that.
The best part is the fundraising. On
a regular basis, the Cross Blog features
donors and fundraisers who support the
Red Cross. My favorite is a super-cute kid
named Claire Abraham (Jan. 26), who donated $35 from her piggy bank to the Red
Cross, earmarked for kids in Haiti.
That entry features a photo of Claire
tricked out in her Red Cross helmet with a
big smile (the Red Cross really knows how
to reinforce its brand, but that’s a topic for
another day). The Cross Blog’s fundraising
message: Every donor is important; every
gift counts.
How often do fundraisers wish there
were a way to make every donor feel
important? To celebrate the grassroots
advocate alongside the major donor?
From a fundraising point of view, the
beauty of blogging is that you can do
both. Best of all, you don’t have to be
the big guys to do it. In fact, telling local
stories through your local blog might be
even more powerful, because it’s personal. Sarah Durham is founder and principal at Big Duck
bigducknyc.com. On July 27, Sarah will speak at the 2010
Bridge Conference on the subject of “Brandraising Online:
One Organization, Many Channels. Reach her via e-mail at
sarah@bigducknyc.com or on Twitter at @BigDuckSarah. How Print
Media Enables
Cross-Channel
Integration
I
by Oscar Padilla
n 1963, Ideal Toy Company first introduced a board game that is now
renowned among childhood games:
Mouse Trap. Who can forget the satisfaction of completing the fully built course,
deftly turning the crank, rotating a set of
gears, and setting off a series of obstacles
that ended with a cage falling over our
captured opponent’s prize?
Stepping back from childhood games
and examining today’s consumer marketing landscape, many marketers minimize
the print medium and focus almost exclusively on the interactive space because
of the misconception that print is not
capturing consumers’ attention. However,
much like the ever-powerful crank in
Mouse Trap, print direct mail has actually
become the enabler that triggers successful interactive marketing campaigns.
Print is no longer passive; it has become
an active device that is very successful at
driving behavior to the online space. So
how can this marketing mousetrap be carried out?
Rack Room Shoes, a national family
footwear retailer with 300 stores in 24
states, was seeking ways to reduce costs
incurred in changing the retail address
panels on its weekly print circulars each
time it opened a new store. Last October,
a new mobile campaign concept was
introduced to the retailer’s printed ad
inserts only, which urged customers to
text message a number to locate the Rack
Room store nearest them. At first, only a
small trickle of requests came in. But on
Black Friday, customers sent 2,600 storelocation texts – a level of interest that
remained consistent throughout the holiday season. By the end of 2009, more than
10,000 customers had texted Rack Room’s
“store locater” through visibility achieved
solely from weekly print circulars. Thus, a
simple, traditional form of print marketing
triggered the success of a mobile opt-in
program, driving in-store traffic to retail
locations nationwide and spawning a fully
integrated marketing initiative, complete
with updated print circulars, email marketing, online advertising, and the redesigned RackRoomShoes.com.
In another example, a popular
motorcycle manufacturer – despite its
worldwide position of distinction since
its founding more than 100 years ago
– was facing challenges that required
more targeted marketing solutions than
it had previously employed. The company
looked to Vertis Communications for assistance in creating a personalized, multichannel marketing campaign that armed
them with tailored messaging, imagery,
and incentives for a wide variety of recent
and prospective customers. The collateral
needed to be built around existing demographic information and based on the
event at which the consumer expressed
interest in the company’s products. Additionally, the manufacturer wished to
create a program that could be easily
and economically repurposed into other
similar campaigns throughout the year –
including the ability to collect customer
preference and contact information and
to provide special offers and services to
customers as incentives for sharing that
information. The solution included the
successful deployment of print direct mail
featuring personalized URLs (p-URLs) on
each one to bridge communication with
Oscar Padilla is the director of interactive services for
Vertis Communications. His keynote presentation,
“Multi-Channel Strategies: How Offline Media is Enabling
Cross-Media Integration,” can be seen at the 2010 Bridge
to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, July
26-28, in Washington, D.C. Padilla may be reached at
opadilla@vertisinc.com.
Unlock the
Secrets of
Demand Creation
To Make Social
Networking Work
by Suzanne Carawan
W
hy are organizations still
struggling to get users
to adopt the tools and
provide real proof as to whether social
media is working to further the organization’s mission? This question is at the
heart of nearly every conversation held
at the board and executive level at nonprofit organizations. Fortunately, there
is a rarely discussed marketing practice
called demand creation that is the key to
making programs—including social media
programs—successful.
Demand creation is the practice in
which you, as the organization, create
an offering and present it in such a way
that people want it and will seek it out.
The offering is something that provides a
clear value to individuals so that they can
understand it quickly and, on their own
volition, opt into its use.
The best demand creation programs
do not require an extensive educational
process, nor do they involve a great
amount of staff training and donor/member support. The offering is such that an
individual immediately recognizes the
service, product or program as something
new, something that is useful or could be
used by them that is different and that
they do not now have.
Most organizations go wrong in trying to create demand for the social media or social network itself. This doesn’t
work. It is not very exciting, doesn’t offer
a discernible benefit that doesn’t require
explanation, and doesn’t elicit a feeling
within most users one way or the other.
For social media, the consistent
thread that runs throughout all of the
demand creation efforts is to find ways
to extend a particular experience and
provide participants with a multitude of
touch points that bring them closer to
the end benefit—whether that is actually
experiencing where the money goes for
a donation campaign through interaction
with end-recipients, or allowing advocates
of an effort to experience the trials and
tribulations of working through the political process. This heightened experience
creates deeper impressions and provides
the opportunity to more closely involve
individuals in any given cause.
Many examples and a case study on
how to create interactive, online experiences using social media will be presented
at the 2010 Bridge Conference. Additionally,
a series of webinars on the same topic will
be presented to the DMAW membership to
allow for further investigation into demand
creation techniques.
Suzanne Carawan, vice president marketing & strategy,
joined ThePort Network in January 2010. Mrs. Carawans is
responsible for setting the strategic direction of ThePort’s
brands, product lines, and oversight of all marketing
efforts. She joins the senior team with over 15 years
of experience working in technology companies. Mrs.
Carawan holds a BA in Philosophy from the University
of Maryland, College Park, a MBA in Marketing from
American University, and a MPH in Social Marketing from
Tulane University. She is a member of ASAE & The Center,
Women in Technology, American Marketing Association,
CMO Summit, and was named as a 2010/2011
Professional Woman of the Year by the National
Association of Professional Women.
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
its core audience and provide an integrated mechanism to drive online traffic and
gain greater consumer intelligence.
Savvy marketers looking to boost
their interactive efforts must always keep
print in mind as the initial program trigger. Most brands have collected intelligence on their target audience already;
utilizing traditional direct mail or advertising inserts with online or mobile calls-toaction will deliver the greatest return on
investment and will set the stage for larger interactive campaigns in the months to
come.
Hey, Direct Marketer? How familiar does
this sound?
• “Direct mail, email, P-urls, Twitter, Facebook,
search-optimized websites, auto triggers, and
now mobile! Is there any way to integrate all
these marketing channels without slaughtering my budget?”
• “I really know my job, but all the chatter has
my head spinning. Can anybody explain the
value proposition in all this stuff?”
• “Sure, integrated marketing is where it’s at
and where it’s going. BUT… given my time
and resource limits, how do I set priorities in
adopting new technology?”
If you can relate to these
words, you’re in luck. As a
member of DMAW, you’re
scheduled for a special
spot (and a cost-break)
at the 5th Annual Bridge
to Integrated Marketing
(where the answers are).
We’ll Be Laser-Focused On
the Concerns That Define
Direct Marketing 2010.
The Commercial Marketing Transformation
Strategies track will feature presentations like
these:
• The New Direct Marketing Equation (Emily Reagan, RTC Relationship Marketing)
• Proof Positive: The Practical Application
of Social Media in a Highly Regulated Business Contest (William Redmond and Jeff
Foster, Foster-Redmond)
• Social Media is About Socializing (Harry
Gold, Overdrive Interactive)
• Integrate Your Social, Web, and Integration Marketing Programs (Randy Hlavac,
Marketing Synergy)
• Multichannel Strategies: How Offline
Media is Enabling Cross-media integration
(Oscar Padilla, Vertis)
• Leverage Consumer Demand-Insights to
Enhance Target Precision and Relevance
(Sue Tobias and Kevin Bowen, The Cambridge Group)
• Redefining “Loyalty” in Today’s Economy
(Cyndy Greenglass, Diamond Marketing
Solutions)
A Second Track on Messaging, Branding, and
Communications focuses on these top-of-mind
commercial direct marketing topics:
• Brandraising Online: One Organization,
Many Channels (Sarah Durham, Big Duck)
• Unlocking the Secrets of Demand Creation (Suzanne Carawan, ThePort Network)
• Understanding Digital Data: How Online
Data is Changing Direct Marketing (Bruce
Biegel and Chris French, The Winterberry
Group)
• Direct Marketers’ Role and Objectives in
a Multichannel Integrated Campaign (Ted
Moon, Pathfinder Interactive)
• Micro-Campaigns in the Age of Real-time
Marketing (Brendan Gallagher, Digitas
Health)
Don’t Wait! Check Out the Full Program
Right Now At www.bridgeconf.org.
9
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
envelopes count
Cross-Media
Marketing for the
Little Guy
A
ny business
owner
knows about
economies of
scale - the increase in efficiency of production that occurs
as the number of
goods being produced increases. Typically, a company that achieves economies
of scale lowers the average cost-per-unit
through increased production, since fixed
costs are shared over an increased number of goods.
Economies of scale bring down
the costs of all sorts of things, such as
by Ed Glaser
printing and mailing, whether you are a
large national corporation or a nonprofit
fundraiser.
But what if you’re a little guy? Little
guys still have profit margins and fundraising goals to meet, and along with
those, the need for affordable marketing
and fundraising solutions.
Thanks to advancements in technology, direct-mail driven, cross-media campaigns can be an affordable solution for
small businesses and nonprofits.
Cross-media campaigns reach an audience via traditional offline and online
channels, including direct mail, email, personalized URLs (p-URLs), QR Codes, micro
websites and auto-generated responses.
They feature personalized and tailored
marketing messages. All responses, including non-responders, are treated as
triggers for cause-and-effect relationship
marketing.
Take Cyclonic Consulting, Inc., a specialty direct response solutions provider
for small businesses. They needed a standout fundraising solution for a small nonprofit that awards up to $20,000 in clinical
research grants each year.
The annual research campaign traditionally launched in February with the
goal of raising $25,000 by December 31.
Fundraising is especially vulnerable during periods of economic turmoil or cataclysmic disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake, which occurred just two weeks
prior to the planned campaign launch.
The research campaign had previously been conducted out of the nonprofit’s
office with a PC and an office copier. While
every nonprofit seeks donations, crafting
a special appeal for a targeted purpose
can increase donations regardless of economic climate. The campaign needed to
engage new and existing donors without
getting lost in the national wave of emergency fundraising for Haiti.
LOOKING FOR CROSS MEDIA
MARKETING SOLUTIONS?
Look into TRANSFORMAILER letter packages
TRANSFORMS direct mail into a complete
cross media campaign.
Colorful VDP letters
PURLs/Internet Landing Pages
Emails
Texts
QR codes/Smartphone Mobile
Social Media
WATCH OUR VIDEO DEMO
Scan this QR code
or visit CmrxVideo.com
804-545-2566
10
Colortree Marketing Resources
continued on page 11
Using the existing database, the
nonprofit’s appeal was revamped with a
direct-mail driven, cross-media campaign,
featuring a full-color letter package with
images, personalized messaging, business-response envelopes, and a personalized URL connecting to a landing page
configured to accept online donations.
These small-scale campaigns can be
tough to pull off, but the rewards are tremendous, generating response rates up to
30 percent and significantly boosting ROI.
For example, a few weeks after launching
the grant fundraising campaign, the nonprofit boasted a 36 percent response rate,
with $23,056 raised in the first month and
an ROI of 1,412 percent. Approximately
50 percent of the donations were online,
and 50 percent were sent through the U.S.
Postal Service.
Unlike multichannel campaigns,
cross-media marketing uses a response
mechanism to deliver measurable results.
It is important to have a clear objective at the outset. You should consult a
direct marketing production vendor who
is knowledgeable about cross-media
marketing. Their expertise will guide you
through the process and help deliver
chart-busting results. The ability to track
responses is imperative for evaluating success. Cross-media metrics are similar to
those of traditional direct mail. Look for
results in the following areas:
• Email: track open, click-through, clickto-open, and conversion rates.
• Direct mail: compare responses from
direct mail to those of email, p-URL,
telephone, and overall sales.
• p-URLs: measure total visits, conversions, length of time spent at given
p-URLs, repeat visits, links visited, and
exit points.
Ed Glaser is director of marketing at Colortree and chief
marketing officer at Colortree Marketing Resources, a
division of Colortree that specializes in digitally produced,
highly targeted and personalized short-run, cross-media
marketing campaigns for the trade. Ed can be reached at
804-545-2566 or eglaser@colortree.com.
This group spends approximately 18
percent of their total permission email
time on a mobile phone, indicating the
importance of sending email that renders correctly across multiple devices.
••
ABIS has added two sales veterans to
its direct mail marketing division. With
more than 40 years of combined direct
mail marketing industry experience, Neil
Lubin and Sam O’Rear will be instrumental
in developing new client relationships.
Lubin and O’Rear have extensive experience in establishing long-term business
relations and providing world-class customer service and marketing solutions.
Prior to joining ABIS, both Lubin and
O’Rear worked as senior sales executives
for national manufactures of direct mail
products. Contact Patricia Jones, patricia@
pjonesinc.com.
••
Merkle’s “View from the Mobile Inbox”
eight-page report provides mobile marketers a snapshot of consumers’ mobile behaviors. The report’s findings are based on
data from Merkle’s online survey of 3,281
U.S. adults age 18+ conducted during the
fall of 2009. Merkle’s report is available at
no cost by visiting: http://www.merkleinc.
com/vfmb. Highlights of the report include:
- The largest difference in mobile behaviors across demographics is the
percent who send text messages. While
70 percent of those age 18-29 text, this
percentage decreases steadily with
age, down to just 11 percent for those
age 65+. - Mobile users younger than age 40
are more likely to access their personal
email via mobile devices compared to
older users, with peak access and frequency rates for those in their 30s.
- Internet-enabled phone penetration
is 6 percent higher for men, in that 53
percent have a mobile phone that can
access the Internet. Additionally, men
are 3.3 times more likely than women
to have an Internet-enabled phone for
work purposes.
- Of those with an Internet-enabled
phone, 44 percent check their personal email on their mobile device.
- Consumers with an Internet-enabled
phone are one-third more likely to
be active on top social networks. This
natural affinity of mobile and social
networking, both in demographics and
ease of use, speaks to the importance
of both within an integrated digital
strategy.
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
continued from page 10
newS
NOTES
Merkle’s Director of Research and Analytics, Lori Connolly, said, “The recent exponential growth in mobile phone applications and software is a key example of how
marketers must embrace all available technology to keep up with their target markets and engage consumers on their own
terms. The number of people accessing the
Internet and viewing their personal email
on a mobile device continues to increase,
which highlights the need to optimize the
mobile environment.” For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or
visit www.merkleinc.com.
••
Paul & Partners, Inc., has named former DMAW board member Rick Legeer
sales manager. Ellen Paul, longtime AdVents’ Postal Developments contributor
and president of Paul & Partners says,
“Rick is ideally suited to spearhead our
expanded range of full-service direct
marketing capabilities. Rick’s proven track
record in printing and direct mail, his early
involvement in e-messaging and his keen
awareness of Web 2.0 is an excellent fit for
our full range of services.” Paul & Partners
recognizes the unique needs of each client, providing solutions tailored to their
requirements. Over the years, nonprofits,
corporations, agencies, and educational
institutions have repeatedly turned to Paul
& Partners to successfully manage their
direct marketing solutions. Rick can be
contacted at rick.legeer@paulandpartners.
net and 703-996-0800.
11
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
Cross Media Bits
• In the U.K., “Where Am I Now?” Will
Cost You. The Association of British Insurers is forecasting a 10 percent hike in
home-insurance premiums this year. The
hike is prompted by an increase in home
invasions stemming from people who
disclose their whereabouts on social networks. About 40 percent of British social
network users post their holiday plans online and about a third reveal their ordinary
weekend plans.
Source: The Social Graf
• We Have Ways of Making You
Watch. ESPN is going cross-platform for
the World Cup. AdAge reports that ESPN
has commissioned four media measurement companies to learn which platform
consumers are using and what the statistics mean. By 2012, EPSN plans to measure
continued from page 1 (top)
MindFireInc’s brand enjoyed high visibility, so the team decided to use three different versions of the same creative theme,
each tailored to meet specific needs of
the targeted segment. In order to craft a
resonating message, the MindFireInc team
interviewed some existing clients and
prospects, as well as its own sales team,
to gain a better understanding of the pain
points and major challenges they face.
“Making The Right Decision” was selected
as the main message and was adopted
across the variety of channels.
Campaign architecture
Each attending prospect received a 5.5-by
-11-inch direct mail piece that included a
p-URL (www.JohnSample.MakesTheRightDecision.com) and a personalized QR
code, which directed each recipient to a
customized landing page where he or she
could easily RSVP for a MindFireInc VIP
cocktail party.
The RSVP form on the landing page
asked the visitors to provide their cell
phone number if they wanted to receive a
reminder before the party. The direct mail
pieces also used Intelligent Mail barcodes,
which triggered an automated reminder
email once the postcard was delivered
12
cross-media audiences year-round, all
with the hope of convincing advertisers
that cross-media reach is worth it.
Source: EConsultancy blog
• High-End Gets Uglier. Overall, sales
of prestige beauty products dropped 6
percent last year, with costly fragrance
sales declining 10 percent. Only skincare
products held on, registering four-quarter
growth. Maybe that’s because “high-end”
also MUST be “top quality.” [see below]
Source: Marketing Daily
• Starbucks Relied on Employees To
“Turn It Around.” The Employee Factor
reported on the nine strategies that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz relied on when
coffee sales went south in 2008. All strategies were designed to communicate with
and engage employees.
• Take responsibility.
• Be accountable.
in the target’s mailbox. Non-attending
Dscoop members also received a similar
postcard, but with a different message
and a different offer.
By scanning the QR code or visiting
their p-URL, respondents were asked to
schedule an online demo and enjoy the
event-exclusive “special offer” to become
a licensed client. All prospects also received text-only personalized emails from
their respective account managers with a
p-URL inviting them to visit their customized landing pages. Attending clients were
sent an email, received a follow-up phone
call from their respective “Client Success
Executives”, and were personally invited to
the party.
At each morning of the event, an
automated personalized email was sent
to both attending prospects and clients
with a friendly greeting and a helpful,
brief “agenda of the day” that highlighted
the event’s key sessions. Naturally the sessions presented by MindFireInc or its partners were included. During the day, those
who had opted to receive SMS were sent
text messages that reminded them of key
sessions and MindFireInc’s own VIP party.
In advance, the marketing team
had also created a series of tweets that
were scheduled to be sent at specific
• Share the vision with the entire workforce.
• Clearly lay out the plan.
• Tell employees what they can expect.
• Tell employees how they can help.
• Engage the employee.
• Foster two-way communication.
• Be positive.
• Ignite passion and enthusiasm.
Source: The Employee Factor
• High-end or Low-end, But Not
Inbetween. Harvard Business Review
reports that consumers are willing to pay
for superior products with a high-quality
rep (e.g., Apple or Hermes). Otherwise,
they’ll choose “good enough” products at
low prices, like those from Vizio or Ikea.
The loser is the “inbetween” retailer that’s
dubbed “soft in the middle” by economics
writer, James Surowiecki.
Source: Bnet
moments during the show: before the VIP
party or company’s presentations at the
conference.
Results
Results were impressive. Out of more than
400 attending prospects on the target list,
close to 25 percent visited their personalized landing pages and more than half
RSVP’d for the party. The campaign for
those not attending yielded 4.4 percent
response rate and 13 requests for demos.
More than 35 percent of invited clients
RSVP’d. Traffic at the booth exceeded
expectations, and, many times, the company could definitely have benefited from
more sales staff on hand. Keen attention
to even seemingly unimportant details
coupled with relevant personalization
across different media, careful timing for
each touch point, company-wide teamwork, and of course leveraging the power
of technology, made an otherwise typical
campaign highly successful.
Ramin Zamani is director of marketing at MindFireInc,
an Irvine, CA-based marketing intelligence software and
services firm that creates and deploys targeted, trackable
cross-media campaigns. MindFireInc’s next generation
technology, MarketFire, automates the creation and
management of highly effective direct marketing
campaigns using customer microsites, personalized
URLs, response-tracking, event-triggered notifications,
email, SMS communication, and more. Contact Ramin at
rzamani@mindfireinc.com or 949-474-4418 x271.
Danielle Brigida, social media outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation. She has a command center-like listening post, using tools like Twitter's real-time
search, google alerts, and RSS feed readers
that would rival CTU's (just kidding, Jack
Bauer, seriously). She uses these tools to
bring in her favorite blog posts, articles,
real-time search feeds, and alerts related
to her organization. As a result, Danielle (@
starfocus) is constantly finding conversations about NWF, the outdoors, wildlife, or
whatever else relates to NWF's mission of
protecting our outdoor counterparts.
Build goodwill: If content is king, then
goodwill is its ambassador.
You have been listening for a while.
You are becoming familiar with those
peers who push the envelope, make you
think, and provide valuable information.
It's time to help them out by promoting
them, introducing them to others, or reporting on these new resources you have
found. This is your chance to give back.
To Rebecca Leaman (@rjleaman), Wild
Apricot blogger, tweeter extraordinaire,
and all around nice person, "generosity is
key" to building online presence. Whether
promoting someone through her writing,
tweeting, or referring to, she is working
hard to promote others. The recipients of
her generosity understand the value she
provides and are thankful for it. And they
reciprocate by sharing Rebecca's content, creating a market of sorts driven by
generosity.
The good news is that it's easy to build
some goodwill online. All you have to do is
share someone's blog post on Facebook, or
re-tweet someone's ideas on Twitter, and
if you blog, link back to another person's
post in yours. You'll be loved for it.
Start one relationship (or 200):
Join a conversation. Pick a fight. Build a
friendship.
Starting out, leveraging your existing
offline relationships can help you build
strong ones online. Jocelyn Harmon (@
jocelynharmon), director of nonprofit services at Care2 and author of the Marketing
for Nonprofits blog, leveraged her offline
relationships to help build an audience
before actually starting her blog. She wondered if starting a new blog was a good
idea (all wonder this, I bet), so she used her
network as a sounding board. She got the
responses she was looking for and we received another great resource to listen to,
comment on, and re-post to our own social
networks.
Conversely, you can start building
relationships by looking for a deeper engagement with those you currently interact
with online. This can mean commenting
on your favorite blog post, replying to a
tweet, or simply sending an email with
your thoughts. You don't have to agree
with what someone is saying, just having a
thought to share counts. Others want you
to share your experiences, and you want to
weigh in on the important topics in your
community. There are many different ways
to get started and grow your social media
presence. These are just a few ways to do
it. View the items in this article like pieces
of a puzzle. You can start with the last one,
like Jocelyn, or start with the first and listen
for a while, like I did. It doesn't matter. With
time and a little practice, we will all meet at
the same place -- full of intriguing conversations and generosity.
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
continued from page 1 (bottom)
Sean Powell is the online fundraising director at The Production Management Group, Ltd., a direct marketing production firm located in Columbia, MD. He heads up Engage,
PMG’s service for managing online fundraising production.
Contact Sean at sean@pmgdirect.net.
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MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
"Yes, but..."
by Jerry Gould
T
hat’s the
answer.
Here is
the question: Will
online media displace direct mail
lists?
Consider the
following:
• The younger
the demographic, the less it uses paperbased media. Email is fast displacing
postal mail. Buying and selling on the
web is now (for the most part) safe and
easy. Fewer people will be found on
postal lists in the future.
• Traditional direct marketers are putting
more and more of their budgets into
web marketing, which is less expensive
than direct mail.
• Catalogs are transacting more housefile
business online, and prospecting less via
postal mail.
• Magazines, historically a huge market for
mailing-list rentals, are failing in droves
due to the high cost of publication on
paper and the difficulty in signing advertisers, who are finding space ads less
productive as subscription bases shrink.
• Many newsletters, once also large users
of postal lists, have shifted from paper
to online publication because of cost
advantages and editorial timeliness, and
are prospecting online as well.
• Fundraisers are discovering how to solicit donations online.
• The postal service is expensive, bureaucratic, and unreliable. Contrast email.
• Direct mail is a slower response medium
than the web. Whereas it might take a
month to read direct mail results, web
marketing results have the enormous
advantage of being readable in a matter
of hours -- if not minutes.
In sum, both the number of people
who will be found on mailing lists and the
number of marketing efforts using postal
mailing lists are shrinking, and those are
clearly long-term trends.
(Have you noticed that you hear fewer
complaints about “junk mail” these days
and far more about the hours it takes to
go through email? What about complaints
about spam, viruses, the loss of privacy
online, identity theft, etc.? To a remarkable
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extent, direct mail has been replaced as a
scapegoat.)
However, paradoxically, the future
of direct mail is very promising for some.
Here’s why:
• The mail stream is becoming less saturated with direct mail solicitations. Response rates will improve as a result.
Already, I’ve heard one list broker say
response is so good you can almost mail
the phone book for some offers.
• And comparatively, response rates are
much higher in direct mail than online.
• It is a truism that direct-mail derived customers and donors are top quality, with
lifespans significantly greater than those
who are garnered from other media.
That is unlikely to change significantly.
In the Jan. 12, 2010, edition of The Wall
Street Journal there is a story by Teri Evans
titled, “Firms Hold Fast to Snail-Mail Marketing,” which features a couple of small
B2B firms that mail well below 100M pieces
per year. The article is subtitled, “Despite
Prevalence of Digital Media, Entrepreneurs
Find Old-Fashioned Direct Mailings Still
Key to Winning Customers.”
That will continue to hold true, and
not only for small mailers. Even though
direct mail will shrink further as a component of the overall marketing mix, it will
still command a loyal and secure customer
base for which it is the only medium that
produces solid results. Fundraisers in
particular, high-volume mailers whose
target demographic is typically age 70+,
the oldest among direct mail sectors, will
continue to thrive for at least another two
decades using direct mail.
But the mailing list industry itself
needs to face the fact that it will become
less populous in the next few years because of lower demand. Traditional list
brokers and managers must expand the
services they offer in order to succeed.
At my own company, for example,
nearly 10 years ago we began to offer online marketing services. Just in the last 12
months, Conrad Direct’s volume in web
marketing has more than quadrupled for
clients who traditionally were (or would
have been) direct-mail sourced. Online
represents a significant percentage of our
total business.
Jerry Gould is president and chairman of Conrad Direct,
Inc., a mailing list and direct marketing services company
in Cresskill, NJ. He can be reached at 201-567-3200 or
jgould@conraddirect.com.
Fast-Action Directory
DMAW Headquarters: email info@dmaw.org
Articles: Nancy Rathbun Scott, Editor,
703-496-3259, FAX 703-310-7640,
E-Mail: nancy@nancyscott.com
AdVents Advertising: Terri Jones, 703-471-4902,
tjones@dmaw.org
Inserts: must be related to DMAW events;
contact DMAW Headquarters to inquire or
schedule.
Job Exchange: Submit by email to Ann@
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confirming cost prior to posting. Deadline
for print version is 15th of month preceding
publication; electronic version posted to
website within 48 hours. Cost: MEMBERS:
“positions sought,” free; “positions available”
at $100 for first 50 words. $1 for each
additional word. NOT-YET-MEMBERS: $200
for first 50 words, $1 for each additional
word.
[Note: If the nonmember advertiser chooses
to join for $199 for 12 months, then the
ad being placed and all subsequent ads
are billed at the member rate, plus the
advertiser receives print and electronic
copies of AdVents and all other benefits of
membership].
News Notes: Send to Nancy Rathbun Scott,
Editor. Items of professional interest or
significant personal news about members.
Deadline for Articles and News Notes: 15th of
the second month preceding issue date (e.g.,
deadline for May issue is March 15.)
DMAW Educational Foundation: Send
correspondence or charitable donations to
DMAWEF, 4414 Walsh Street, Chevy Chase,
MD 20815; Attention Karen Depew, Executive
Director; email karen@northwoodconsulting.
com
Publisher: Direct Marketing Association of
Washington, 11709 Bowman Green Drive,
Reston, VA 20190-3501; website www.dmaw.
org.
Executive Director: Donna Tschiffely, donna@
dmaw.org
Editor: Nancy Rathbun Scott, Liberty
Communications, 703-496-3259, FAX 703-3107640, nancy@nancyscott.com
Advertising: Terri Jones, 703-471-4902
Production Staff
Design: Liberty Communications, 703-496-3259
Printing: Good Printers, Inc., Bridgewater, VA
Marketing AdVents is published monthly by the
Direct Marketing Association of Washington to
bring its 1,300+ members news of DMAW’s
varied activities and information of professional
interest, including postal-related news. Columns,
such as in this and other issues, represent a vital
member service. Members with industry-related
educational information they wish to share are
encouraged to submit articles. A helpful memo
explaining guidelines for features is available
from the editor.
Volunteer SPOTLIGHT
Steven D. Fleshman
Founder/Creative Partner
DR2
dr2steve@aol.com
W
ith over 25 years of direct marketing experience, Steve is an expert
at beating direct mail control
packages, and saving and raising money for his
many clients. His experience includes leading
creative teams in the creation of winning direct
response campaigns for Fortune 500 clients as
well as fundraising for cultural organizations
and many good causes, including Rehabilitation
Opportunities, Inc.; Save Our Shelters; Hot Water
Rescue; and Good Dog Rescue.
Steve was born just outside Philadelphia, spent
his formative years in Pittsburgh, PA, earned his
degree at Edinboro University and did postgraduate work at Ohio State University and
Syracuse University. He lives with his wife,
Brooke Bonner, and his “kids” (all of which
have four legs and tails) in Annandale
and blogs at http://dr-2.blogspot.com.
What are the most helpful steps you took to
advance your direct marketing career?
I asked questions, paid attention, and tried to be
a problem solver rather than what designers are
usually known as—problem creators.
Any advice you’d offer a novice who wants to
move up in direct marketing? Learn as much
as you can about the production process. It will
save you a lot of money and headaches.
Professional Experience: Coast to Coast Resorts,
art director; Seabury & Smith (MARSH), art director; EDS, art director/creative director; Capital
One, creative director; SQN Communications,
creative director/senior direct response strategist.
Volunteer Experience: Moderated “How to get
the most out of your creative,” a panel discussion at the 2008 Bridge Conference with Kate
Mathews, Barry Cox and Sam Prestia. Also copresented “Copy vs. Design – Steel Cage Death
Match” with Pru Bovee at the 2007 DMAW-EF
Teach the Teachers event. Recently, was lead
designer on the 2010 Bridge Conference direct
mail brochure.
DM Forecast for 2020:
As the U.S. Postal Service redefines itself, we’ll
have many new opportunities in what we can
mail. The restrictions of the past will give way to
new and interesting challenges.
Toughest Marketing Project:
Long Term Care mailing, before the existence of
on-demand printing.
Favorite DM Packages:
Rehabilitation Opportunities, Inc. Spice mailing.
Rehabilitation Opportunities, Conference Bag
by allen hepner
mailing. Nuclear
Threat Initiative
“Chain Link Fence”
mailing. When you
see me, ask me
about my favorite
packages that
never mailed.
Wish I’d known
then . . . That there
is no monopoly on
good ideas—collaborate. Oh, and
yes you can be a designer AND be friends with
copywriters.
MARKETING ADVENTS JUNE 2010
MarketingAdVents
Steven’s Favorites
Restaurants
Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant, Mama Ayesha’s, Chipotle, Amel’s (in Pittsburgh).
Films
My Favorite Year, To Kill a Mockingbird, The
Scarlet Pimpernel (Merle Oberon, Lesley
Howard version), Kelly’s Heroes, The
Boondock Saints, Chinatown,
North by Northwest, Rear Window,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, Dumbo, The Great Escape, The Guns of
Navarone, Sin City, Blade Runner, Bringing
Up Baby, Lilies of the Field, African Queen,
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Books
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works,
by Erik Spiekermann & E. M. Ginger; Mother
Night, by Kurt Vonnegut; Twilight Eyes, by Dean
Koontz; Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and
Death of an Advertising Campaign, by Randall
Rothenberg; Getting Your Foot in the Door
When You Don’t Have a Leg to Stand On, by Rob
Sullivan.
Musical Groups
Beatles, Kenny Rankin, K.T. Tunstall, Michael
Buble, Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller, Pousette-Dart Band, Patsy Cline,
Dan Fogelberg, Carly Simon, James Taylor,
early Elton John, Kiri Te Kanawa, Steely Dan,
Eagles, Tuck and Patti.
Websites
www.animalsanctuary.org, www.roiworks.org
Leisure Interests
Screen printing, bicycling, reading,
photography, vintage wristwatches
Allen Hepner is Director of Sales with GrayHair
Software, Inc. GrayHair’s solutions address critical
mailing activities such as IM Barcode assignment,
mail tracking, postage payment and reconciliation,
Address Correction, UAA solutions
and a variety of mail processing
activities. For more information,
visit the GrayHair Software
website at www.grayhairsoftware.
com or contact Allen at 856924-2269 or ahepner@
grayhairsoftware.com.
15