RCBlog

Direct Mail with Personalization Beats Online Marketing

2012-02-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

If you’re looking for a revenue-generating powerhouse for your business, you’re looking for direct mail. Direct mail campaigns are the Old Faithful of marketing—businesses count on them because they’re dependable and promise a consistent ROI.

You can push direct mail’s ROI from consistent to record-breaking with a focus on personalization. Some online marketers mistakenly think their methods are more personal than direct mail. But thanks to Internet cookies, over-sent emails and Google Ad Words, consumers are turned off and tuning out. Direct mail bests digital marketing tactics in the area of personalization because, to the consumer, it feels more human.

The simplest way to personalize direct mail is using variable printing to address your business’s leads by name. But you can go even further than that.

The key to effective personalized direct mail is to get as much useful information as you can from your customers and prospects. Use sales records, surveys and social media to collect good data about your mail leads.

Now it’s time to personalize your direct mail piece. To craft a message that’s relevant to the prospect without being creepy, you’ve got to use your data carefully. Let’s say, for example, that your jewelry store wants to market diamond engagement rings. You’re working from a list of young people who you assume—or hope, for your business’s sake—are single (and you should know that from your data).

It makes sense to write copy that speaks to a buying audience in the mail piece you will send to males. On the other hand, the mail piece sent to females should feature different photos and copy. Although who will buy and who will receive such a gift varies, catering the message of the direct mail according to gender is a subtle method of personalization.

As this examples shows, the best marketers have to interpret the data and use it in a way that tactfully shows consumers that your business is just what they need. But you don’t have to be selling jewelry to personalize direct mail skillfully and in a non-intrusive way. Think about your audience and how their demographic information may affect their buying habits or business needs.

Work from your recipient data to go beyond names in personalizing your business’s direct mail. When you personalize your direct mail piece with a name, you’re working to catch your prospects’ attention. Go one step further—and one-up online marketers—by letting demographics inform your direct mail piece.

Multi-touch marketing campaigns multiply results

2012-01-26T15:33:00.002-05:00

To many people, a multi-touch marketing campaign might seem overwhelming, but it is actually easier to deploy than you think. Simply stated, a multi-touch marketing campaign uses multiple methods of reaching out to prospects in order to maximize the effectiveness of a campaign. An example might be a campaign that includes contacting prospects using Direct Mail, Social Media, and Email in a combined, cohesive manner. No single communication channel is 100% effective, so extending your reach means improving your response rates.

It is important to first look at your objective and evaluate the different services available while developing the best strategy. No one solution will work for every campaign, so it is always important to brain storm about what matters most to your proposed audience, and then employ the tools that will best address their needs or interests.

Here are a few tips to help get you moving forward with a multi-touch campaign:

Be creative and think outside the box. Get together with your provider and colleagues for a good brainstorming session. These meetings can produce interesting ideas and unique campaigns that just might prove more effective than the old messaging you used in the past.
Employ continuity and consistency when using multiple tactics such as direct mail and Email to ensure that the recipient will know they are part of the same campaign simply by looking at them.
Be flexible enough to make changes. Focus on the parts of your campaign that are doing well so you can put your time and energy into those. If part of your campaign is not doing as well, consider possible alterations or doing away with that part of the campaign altogether.
Have a response procedure in place to maximize your conversion rates (inquires to sales). Out of necessity, many campaigns are designed to generate qualified leads, not automatic sales. Make certain your staff recognizes the value of each lead that is generated through your campaign so they respond in a timely manner while the prospect’s interest level is at its peak.

Based on independent research, studies show that it can take 5 – 7 touches to reach and then start a meaningful dialogue with your target market, so consider making a commitment of three to six months to execute a disciplined marketing program using a consistent message and design. If you are using intelligent landing pages to gather critical marketing information, continue to nurture your target market database and prioritize your contacts based on the feedback you receive.

At R.C. Brayshaw & Company we manage multi-touch campaigns that incorporate from two to five touches within an individual campaign. When reviewing the analytics, we find the response rates increase with each subsequent touch in every scenario. Remember, multi-touch works!

Written by Rick Hall

Why Top Brands Utilize Social Media

2012-01-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

Social media is a trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down in the branding world—from Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus, and others continuing to emerge. You may not be a social media guru, but for your brand’s sake, social media is worth a second glance.

According to a recent Mashable article, research from a firm called Brightedge found that 93 out of the top 100 brands are on Facebook. Likewise, 77 of the top 100 brands have Google Plus. The list of the top 100 brands came from Millward Brown’s list of Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2011. Among some of the brands on the list are household names like Apple, Google and McDonalds.

And these days, almost everybody and their dogs are using social media. Literally, some people have created social media pages for their household pets. Even grandma is getting in on the social media action. And although not everyone has signed on to social media, there is still a large percentage of the population that utilizes social media everyday.

By creating a page for your company, you have another avenue to advertise your brand, values and mission. Keeping that in mind, what makes branding successful in the social media world?

Determine a Purpose
Before jumping in to create social media pages and post random stuff about your business all over the socialsphere, you need to have a plan. Determine what you intend to achieve with each social media outlet. Maybe Facebook is strictly your company culture and customer service. Twitter could be where you exert your industry expertise. And maybe, just maybe, Facebook doesn’t compliment your branding objectives at all. (Even if you don’t intend to use a social media service, it’s a good idea to claim your pages, as none of us know what the future will hold.)

Consistency is Key
Your brand depends on maintaining your company’s image. Although you don’t have total control over the layout of your social media pages, you do have the opportunity to control what words are being displayed. If your company has a longstanding traditional brand, don’t go too far out and try to be something you’re not. Likewise, if you’re a contemporary company, don’t be afraid to push the envelope with your social media posts. People will be upset if your content does not match the way your business operates. Try to gain as much interaction with your followers as possible, engaging them in your brand.

No Room for Slack
There’s no excuse for being lazy on the job, and there’s no excuse for slacking off on your social media pages. If you jump in, you’ve got to act. You could potentially hinder your brand if you hardly ever post or reply to your followers. Also, remember to try to post on a regular schedule. The more your name pops up on the computer screen, the more your brand is being instilled into the minds of users.

As social media continues to evolve and new outlets such as Google+ are created, there are tremendous opportunities to place your brand in front of both current and prospective customers. At R.C. Brayshaw & Company, we stand ready to assist you with updating your current social media campaign or getting you on track with a guided approach to a new campaign.

Four Ways to Treat Your Email Subscribers Like Friends

2011-12-10T15:16:00.001-05:00

According to the 60 Second Marketer, email marketing is powerful because it delivers your message to a subscriber's inner sanctum—alongside party evites from friends and photos from recent family trips. Because of this, they argue, "You need to develop a relationship with the consumer as well. Otherwise you are just an intruder in a house [where] you don't belong." Check this list to see if you commit some of the most egregious mistakes you can make.

Here are a few tips for making subscribers think of you as a friend whose messages belong in their inboxes:

Be personable. A friend knows how to spell your name correctly; remembers your birthday; takes note of your likes and dislikes; and speaks to you in an informal, conversational voice. There's no reason why your email program can't exhibit all of these traits as well.

Be consistent. We all have that friend who alternates between bombarding us with messages and disappearing for weeks or months at a time. It gets old in a hurry. So be the friend who stays in touch consistently, and never comes on too strong.

Be concise. "You don't want to be that friend who takes 20 minutes to tell a 2-minute story."

Be sensitive. Friends recognize when "now" isn't a good time to talk—and it's important to remember that when timing your email campaigns. Mornings might be an ideal time to catch a stay-at-home mother; Friday evening, conversely, might be a terrible time to reach a B2B customer who keeps a regular office schedule.

The Po!nt: Be a pal. Thinking of your subscribers as your friends is an effective way to gauge the appropriateness of your email program's different initiatives—and not wear out your welcome.

Social Media, Mobile Marketing, and their Interaction with Print

2011-11-21T10:50:00.001-05:00

A question we often hear from customers, friends and prospects is "Isn't the impact of Social and Mobile Marketing killing print media?" Well, let us be the first to assure you that print is very much alive and doing quite well, thank you very much. There is no question that new technologies over the past several years have disrupted the traditional print on paper concept, and there is no doubt that there are future emerging technologies that will continue to do so. However, every new development creates opportunities for those of us engaged in providing or using marketing services.

In today's business environment it is almost impossible for a company that merely provides print services to survive. In fact, today's marketers are leery of sales representatives who attempt to sell them a product versus being able to work with a consultant who is embracing and using today's enabling technologies to provide custom solutions. Print still remains a vital part of a communication chain that works in tandem with a marketing plan, and working with client's on their business development is not new to us as we embraced the need to provide marketing solutions for our clients several years ago.

The web, and now mobile media, being an integral part of those solutions has helped to provide many dynamic means for conveying marketing messages. Response rates and the return on campaign investments improve when a campaign incorporates the use of multiple channels and multiple touches. Integrating print media with a web interaction, and synchronized with a link to Social Media channels can now provide response rates that were previously unheard of. While the basics behind engaging a prospect or client remain the same, the use of data driven marketing provides for higher levels of personalization in both the print and virtual environments, providing targeted, customized messages on every level.

Print drives people to the web and to the virtual environment. The overwhelming majority of on-line interactions and purchases made today are the result of a printed piece (catalog, direct mail promotion, etc.) engaging the consumer and generating their initial interest. Years ago we might have placed an order by phone or taken the time to fill out a form that we mailed in (sounds painful compared to current standards). Today we sit at the PC, grab our tablet or our "smart" handheld device, and go to the company's web site where we can gather further product information, read reviews, and if desired, make our purchase. In some scenarios the keystrokes are minimized or eliminated completely when we scan Quick Response Codes with our tablet or smart-phone.

Written by Rick Hall, Business Development

Making Sense of Recycled Papers

2011-11-01T16:13:00.002-04:00

When you see the recycled logo on products, what do you think? Most of us, with good, green intentions often feel we’re being eco-friendly by virtue of grabbing anything with the recycled logo on the label without knowing that there are two different types of recycled content in products: “pre-consumer” and “post-consumer”. In the paper world, there are three types of recycled paper, the sheets manufactured with pre-consumer waste, those produced with post consumer waste, and those produced with both pre and post consumer waste content. Many paper vendors will tell you that the majority of paper in the market place always has some sort of recycled content in it as the paper mills typically recycle the left over pulp from one production run into the next batch. But the more “Eco-Friendly” recycled papers are those that contain post consumer waste.

Pre-consumer recycled paper is basically paper that has not hit the market place. It was not your newsletter or brochure, nor was it that mailing that you did to your customers. It's the paper waste or pulp waste that is left over from making those materials. The paper mills also have pre-consumer recycled paper when they produce the rolls for web presses or they sheet the paper for offset sheet-fed presses such as what we use in our production process.

Post-consumer recycled paper is anything that has reached its end user and is then recycled, thereby diverting the waste from landfills. This includes the brochures, letters, envelopes, newsletters, etc that you give to your clients or customers as well as waste from the print production process. R. C. Brayshaw & Company recycles all trimming waste that is generated in the production of the printed materials that we deliver to you. This “post-consumer” content represents the more valuable aspect of recycling and is normally what many consumers are looking for in their paper.

There are many levels of paper with post-consumer waste (PCW) ranging from 10% all the way up to 100%. On the open market you will often find that uncoated papers typically contain a higher PCW content than do coated papers simply because of the cost of manufacturing. There are some coated stocks on the market that can contain a high PCW such as Chorus Art (50% PCW) up to the line from New Leaf Paper which can contain up to 100% PCW (Reincarnate Matte). The higher end sheets such as McCoy contain 10% and then you can go to Galerie Art which contain 15%.

Either way you want to go, having some recycled content in your paper is becoming more and more accessible. There are numerous choices in both coated and uncoated stock that can meet your needs. Please feel free to contact our offices to get samples of both coated and uncoated options of paper for your next project.

For more in-depth information on how the paper and print industries continue to make strides on environmental issues feel free to visit http://www.paperrep.com/content/environment.aspx. This website is co-sponsored by the paper vendor Lindenmeyr Munroe and global paper manufacturer, International Paper.

Editor's Note: This article written by none other than our chief estimator and paper specialist, Josh Adams!

The Benefits of a Web to Print Portal

2011-10-17T16:15:00.000-04:00

Essentially, a Web to Print Portal is an online ordering center where your company associates and sales personnel can request either inventoried or customized marketing materials quite easily with the use of their office computer or other remote device. Consider it as a tool that centralizes and simplifies the process of creating, distributing, and tracking all components of your marketing collateral. Listed below are some of the benefits you can derive from your own Web to Print Portal.

Never worry about accidentally depleting your inventory
The quantities you have in stock are constantly available for your review online as we will automatically track your inventory for you. You can rely on the receipt of our Email alerts notifying you when the inventory on a particular item has reached a predetermined level, providing you with adequate time for reordering your crucial marketing materials.

Keep your corporate brand consistent
Having a web to print portal for your company ensures that your corporate branding adheres to company policies. You will be able to maintain control over the important things that made your brand strong in the first place. Create brochures, stationery, product flyers and more for all your locations while having the confidence knowing your brand is consistent.

Reduce your storage and collateral management costs
You will no longer need to maintain a storeroom or the packaging materials required for the storage and distribution of your marketing collateral. You staff will be free to perform other, more important or pressing duties while we fill the orders and ship it directly to your associates or customers.

The Web Portal is Customized and Branded specifically for your needs
Having a site specifically designed to suit your needs and your product line helps to maintain the look and feel of your organization that is both familiar and comfortable for your associates to use. Most importantly, since change is persistent in the business environment, each site is organic and fluid in its design to allow for easy edits as your company’s needs evolve.

You have complete control over the order approval process
Never worry again about one of your associates ordering product in quantities that might incur unnecessary waste. We will process the order only after it is approved by the individual within your firm who is empowered to do so.

Items are customizable for use in multiple areas
With centralized ordering, you can take advantage of volume ordering and pricing with specific site customization on an "as need" basis. You will be able to view and approve the customized content right online.

Place orders at your convenience
Your web portal is available for use 24/7 allowing you to place orders at your convenience. The time required to place an order is streamlined and efficient since your ordering process is centralized and easy to access. Orders that formerly tied up the administrative staff with excess processing time now only take minutes to enter.

At R. C. Brayshaw and Company we will meet with you, evaluate your needs, and suggest what we feel will work best for your organization. Let us help you develop your own custom-created web portal so you can allow your approved users easy, online ordering of your marketing collateral. Contact us today for further information.

Preflight Boot Camp: Quick Tips for File Prep

2011-09-27T14:51:00.048-04:00

As people get accustomed to our electronic devices doing more and more for us, it seems a good time to remind everyone that the fundamentals of file preparation, are as important as ever. The old computer adage "garbage in - garbage out" is still relevant, even in these days of automatic PDF creation and automated workflows. Here are some of our time tested tips to help you make sure your jobs sail through the process, no matter what the output method is.

The right tool for the job.

Those preparing files will often use the tool they are most comfortable with, sometimes whether it is appropriate for the job or not. If it is a multi-page document, then Adobe InDesign or QuarkXpress would be the logical choice. However, we sometimes receive multi-page documents in Adobe Illustrator files, or even CorelDraw; neither of which are the best choice for multi-page documents. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard image manipulation package, but it is not the ideal format for complex text layout either, although we receive files in this format as well.

What kind of file can I send?

We can work with native files or PDF files, and there are pros and cons for both.

Native page layout files, with all relevant files (graphics and logos and so on) are preferred if you anticipate that there will be complex changes, or that your files may need some color correction. The two main programs for layout, InDesign and QuarkXpress have built in functions for collecting or ‘packaging’ your files for you to make it easy to send all the needed files.
If you prefer to send a PDF, it is even more important to make sure that your source files are preflighted and correct before creating the press-ready PDF. If the images are all low resolution RGB files and you make a press-ready PDF, then the result is a nice PDF with low-resolution images wrapped inside. If you are not using a standard layout program, then PDF files may be the best file format for submitting your document. You should be aware that many programs do not offer or support all of the features that your document requires.

Pick the right colorspace.

Choose CMYK for four color process printing jobs, or choose correct Pantone references for spot color jobs and always avoid sending RGB colors. It you are using special colors, such as metallic or fluorescent inks, or spot (overprint) varnishes, they should be specified in the document. If you are unsure how to specify special inks, please contact us and we will be a happy to assist you. Always be sure to remove any extra color swatches from your document, and convert any used RGB colors to the right color space.

Bleeding edges?

Did you allow for the correct amount of bleed? It is standard to allow for .125" of bleed off all edges of your document for bleeds. It is also a good idea to keep text and other important content away from the trim edges, so that it doesn't get chopped off or look like it is too close to the edge.

Are all graphics files of a high enough resolution?

Now that we can transfer huge files around the Internet with ease, it is easier than ever to use high resolution images in your documents. Go bigger than you need, it doesn't hurt in most cases. This rule of thumb will handle most applications: 300dpi at 100% reproduction size. If it is a 4"x5" image at 300 dpi, and you are printing it at 4"x5", then you are fine. Double the output size of the image to 8"x10" and you cut the dpi to 150, and will likely be disappointed with the results.

Spell Checking, Proofreading, and does it look right?

Take the extra time to spell check and proof read one more time. Did you know that 9 out of 10 costly post-proof changes are text edits for typos, misspellings and other such errors. And as there are no 100% effective automated systems for proofreading, we need our brains!

Many websites and printers may state "just make a PDF and send it, we can print it", and they can, but with serious limitations. Websites and automated workflows can check for many things, such as dpi, color space, fonts and page size; although they are not capable of evaluating whether a photo is too blue, or cropped oddly, or if all the items on a page bleed correctly. And while they can correct some errors automatically, like doing RGB conversion to CMYK, be aware that you are getting an automatic conversion to a CMYK color space for the output device used, with no human intervention. If you send a PDF that has an error that cannot be corrected automatically, your job is kicked back - automatically, and you may get an email notice asking you to resubmit your files, sometimes with the information about what you need to fix and other times without that information. And unfortunately, you have lost time on your schedule or possibly missed your deadline.

Treat every document like it will be printed in the highest resolution, on the most expensive paper made, on the highest quality output device. Then, regardless of whether your document is printed on an offset press, web press, digital press, color copier or even a poster printer, you can rest easy in the knowledge that your file will produce the best possible output that any of these devices are capable of achieving.

If you would like more information on file preparation and preflighting, please contact us through our website, http://www.rcbrayshaw.com/.

Comparing the Environmental Impact of Print and Technology

2011-09-07T15:47:00.002-04:00

Ever notice the comment at the end of Emails from well-intended individuals encouraging you to think about the environment before printing their Email? The implication is clear; they feel that we are helping to destroy the environment we live in by printing out a copy of an Email. These same, well-meaning individuals normally give no thought to the toxic waste that is generated as a result of their actions when they upgrade a computer or cell phone for something newer, faster, and with technology that is more recent. If you are interested in knowing how our habits and actions truly affects the environment, please read on as we compare the benefits of print to the toxic waste that technology is creating.

Print: If you want to do something that truly does make a positive difference in the world, purchase, and print using only environmentally certified paper. There are three primary environmental certifications: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), an international umbrella organization. Each certification system uses somewhat different standards and covers different elements in the chain of custody, but they all focus on the long-term health of forests and protection of local communities. Most people are not aware of the fact that using environmentally certified paper actually helps to promote the protection of our forests. We will explain how that is possible in a moment.

Technology: First, let us consider the computer involved in the transmission of the aforementioned Email. What happens when the owner upgrades to a newer, faster, system? Where does their old computer end up? Environmental groups say there is a good chance this “e-waste” will end up in a dump in the developing world, where thousands of laborers burn, smash and pick apart the electronic waste to scavenge for the precious metals inside – unwittingly exposing themselves to innumerable toxic hazards. The “cyber-age nightmare” we are creating includes clusters of villages in southeastern China where computers from the United States are being ripped apart and strewn along rivers and fields.

Print: So how does buying environmentally certified paper help protect and grow forests? Nearly 60% of our nation’s forests are privately owned with 55 million acres of forestland owned by people who plan to sell or transfer some or all of their land in the next five years. How can we protect these rich ecosystems? Give landowners an economic incentive to hang onto them! In addition to the expense of protecting these woodlands against fire, insects, invasive plants and illegal logging, the owners have to pay property taxes as well. Selective harvesting and replanting portions of these woodlands for timber sales provides the needed income so the land can pay for itself, thereby reducing the risk that the landowner will need to sell the property to a developer.

Technology: The authors of the report “Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia” had investigators visit waste sites in Guiyu, China. There, they witnessed men, women, and children pulling wires from computers and burning them at night, fouling the air with carcinogenic smoke. Other laborers, working with little or no protection, burn plastics and circuit boards or pour acid on electronic parts to extract silver and gold, while many others smash lead-laden cathode ray tubes from computer monitors, the report said. Other materials contained in the e-waste posing risks to human health and the environment include nickel, cadmium and mercury. Consequently, the ground water is so polluted that drinking water has to be trucked in from a town 18 miles away. One river sample in the area had 190 times the pollution levels allowed under World Health Organization guidelines.

Print: Another reason for buying environmentally certified paper - it helps to support forests that are responsibly managed and as a result, healthy forests are maintained. Certified forests are under the management of professional foresters who manage them for long-term sustainability, wildlife habitat, and water and soil conservation, as well as recreational use. When you print on FSC-, SFI-, PEFC-, or other certified paper, you are helping to protect wildlife, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and, most importantly, water.

Technology: The report also estimates that as much as 50% to 80% of the United States' electronic waste that is collected in the name of recycling actually gets shipped out of the country. Once it leaves the country there is no chain of custody and the waste often ends up in operations like the dump in Guiyu or similar ones in India and Pakistan. Here labor is so cheap it is cost-effective to try to salvage every last screw or bit of silver at the expense of the laborers’ health and the environment in which they live. It is time for the public to insist on a real electronics recycling and chain of custody program much like the printing industry developed several years ago. In 2009, only 25 percent of discarded computer products were collected for recycling, and currently the United States Environmental Protection Agency has no reliable data on how much e-waste we export.

Print: Going forward, please remember these points when thinking of the value of print and how it involves (1) supporting healthy forests, (2) reduction of the waste stream in lumber production and (3) encouraging and supporting recycling efforts.

Print Values Trees
Most paper now comes from sustainable forests. These forests are essentially “tree farms,” where trees are grown as a crop, just like broccoli or wheat. One-third of the fiber used to make paper comes from this renewable source.

Print Uses “Waste”
One-third of the fiber used to make paper comes from wood chips and sawmill scraps; another third comes from recycled paper.

Print is Recycled
Print on paper is recycled and reused. In 2009, for example, 63.4 percent of all paper used in the United States was recycled, and this number increases each year with more deliberate curbside and drop-off collection systems.

Print is Responsible
Just 11% of the world’s forests are used for paper. In the U.S. a growing percentage of the wood used to produce paper comes from certified forests. The Forest Steward Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) track fiber content from certified lands through production and manufacturing to the end product. There are now certified forests in over 80 countries.

From sustainable forests to the renewable nature of trees and the recyclability of paper, the print and paper industries have a positive environmental story to tell—one in which print on paper and healthy forests thrive hand-in-hand.

If you would like to know more about how the print industry depends on responsible forestry, we have provided links to learn more.

Print and Sustainability

Print Grows Trees

And this excellent report from 60 Minutes

The Value of Using Twitter for Business

2011-08-17T15:34:00.005-04:00

One might ask why R. C. Brayshaw & Company would take the time to post a Blog about a social media service like Twitter. After all, since we don’t sell Twitter, why take the time and effort to educate our customers and friends about this service? The answer is quite simple, our primary focus is to consult and help your business succeed at the highest level possible by continually sharing new marketing concepts and tools. We want to supplement your needs in any way we can, because as any smart businessperson knows, success breeds success, and anything we can do to assist each other in that endeavor is time well spent.

With the emergence of integrated marketing technologies, there are now many dynamic ways to reach your audience with your messages. Since no single communication channel is 100% effective by itself, you can improve your response rates and return on your marketing investments by supplementing your campaigns with multiple touches to your audience. In this segment, we will focus solely on the benefits Twitter can provide.

Let’s evaluate why Twitter is good for business. First of all, it is free and easy to use. Signing up takes only a few minutes, and the “Twitter for Business” web page (http://business.twitter.com) provides a simple road map on how to get started right through to optimizing your activity and advertising your business. Twitter is like a “micro-blogging” service, allowing you to send short messages out to select groups, and it allows you to receive responses from many, many people. It is both a relationship building and relationship maintenance tool, allowing you to meet potential customers and prospects in the same manner you would at a networking event or trade show.

Here is a partial list of ways Twitter can be helpful to you and your business:

Practice Reputation Management by interacting with your customer base and tracking what people are saying about you
Generate interest in any upcoming events you are involved in
Promote other marketing content you’ve developed such as printed brochures or catalogs, blog posts, or any other outbound or inbound campaigns
Generate new sales leads
At conferences and events provide attendees with real-time updates
Offer customer service and support
Follow your competition
Drive people to your company’s website
Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry

We hope we’ve provided you with the incentive to look further into ways Twitter can help your business. Print media, along with other outbound marketing tools will remain as viable tools to creating and maintaining your brand, but inbound tools are critical to allowing you to be in touch, in “real time”, with your customer base and prospects. The staff at R. C. Brayshaw & Company always welcomes the opportunity to work with our customers to evaluate their needs and provide marketing solutions. Let us know if we can help in any way.

5 Best Practices in Direct Mail Design

2011-08-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

by Ethan Boldt, editor-in-chief, Inside Direct Mail Weekly

As a creative who understands production, direct mail designer Patrick Fultz is always trying to tweak existing formats in order to get them to work better or simply inventing new ones. He seeks to reinvent the way companies go about customer acquisition, retention and win-back campaigns by combining the power of direct mail and digital marketing output.

Who better to ask about how direct mail can get a design overhaul to help it survive the digital future, if not prosper for certain campaigns?

1. Get Recipients to Stop ... and See

"You first need to stop them long enough so they can see if there's a 'what's in it for me' connection," describes Fultz. "I see the outer of the mail piece the same as a store window ... if I can't get them to look long enough to walk in the store, they walk on by — or trash my mail piece."

To create such a successful mail piece, Fultz uses all things available to a designer: format, windows, paper or plastic substrates, printing technique, color, illustration, photography, interactivity, headline, pURLs and gURLs, and, most importantly, offer.

The goal is to stand out, visually and conceptually. "You can't have one without the other. You'll stop them, but you'll lose them if the concept doesn't hold up and is not relevant to them," he says.

2. Invent the Next Concept

Fultz believes too many designers get bogged down in design tricks. He reports that many Caples entries have "really cool" production techniques, but then the concepts behind the mail pieces were weak.

"I'm always looking for what I can design to make my package reach out to the person and grab their attention. I'm always looking for 'new,' or try to reinvent," explains Fultz, who mentions the time he introduced Columbia House to a new envelope called a Bevelope. Made of a board material with a 3-D effect, the material allowed him to emboss the piece to look like buttons on the face of a CD player — an approach that leveraged the target audience's affinity for music. It beat the control by more than 25 percent.

3. Get Them Involved

If getting prospects to stop is job one, job two is getting them involved with the mailing. "It could be an engaging headline that challenges their knowledge, a sticker or stamp to move to an order card, or an interesting pull-tab ... almost anything that gets them involved," illustrates Fultz, who then reminds that for such an interactive concept to work for prospects, it must be relevant to the marketer's business, value proposition and audience.

4. Easy to Read, Easy to Find Equals Easier Response

The basics of type and layout remain very important, as Fultz admits that too many designers, copywriters and marketers pay too little attention to leveraging the full power of layout and typography. "You can lead the person around the page ... If done right, you can pull a person through your offer who may not have done so had the type and layout not done its job," he explains.

As Fultz says, "No one will work hard for your package." You've got to make it look good, sure, but it also must be readable and searchable.

5. Swing for the Fences

"Marketers must be careful that their packages don't all start to look the same. They can have different type, colors and pictures, but when all are put next to each other, they are really the same design and look," posits Fultz, who says such an approach can prevent a marketer from finding the next big winner.

Solution? Swing for those fences, and prepare to strike out once in a while. "You learn so much from every piece you do ... 'strike-outs' can almost teach you more," he concludes.

Why ‘Conversion’ Is Not The Most Important Metric

2011-08-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

by Gavin Finn, Email Insider, mediapost.com

Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error, which we shall afterwards carefully avoid. -John Keats (1795 - 1821)

In almost every marketing campaign or event, managers always want to know what the conversion ratio was. Whether the objective was a sale, a registration, a white paper download, or any other marketing goal, the primary metric is typically a measure of the number of people who did what we wanted them to do.

What is easy for marketers to overlook are some of the key metrics along the way that help to understand why our prospective customers did what they did, regardless of whether they "converted." Important measures of customer behavior can lead to an understanding of what to expect when we present customers with choices, programs, selections, or offers. Ultimately, we need to be able to predict behavior, and the very best way to become better at prediction over time is to measure every customer action (and non-action) and then to analyze all of these measurements carefully.

Precise measurement can be useful, of course, but only when there's an understanding as to why you're analyzing the data, and which actions can result from this analysis. Rather than looking at whether enough data exist, ask "What's the point of collecting it?" After all, it's the why that will help you to understand what actions to take. Collecting all the data in the world does not make for success. There's much more to it than just the data. In fact, in any business setting, to make use of measurements, several dimensions need to be considered:

Data - the raw numeric or alphanumeric values associated with specific measured events
Information - data collected into tables/organized areas so that they can be used in a meaningful way;
Analytics - information that has been sorted through, using a range of algorithms and programs, so that aggregated trends and/or results are obtained and made visible;
Insights - key leanings from the analytics are identified in terms of meaningful business conclusions that can be drawn;
Actions - based on insights, business actions are taken to correct or exploit the results of all of the work done in the data/information/analytics/insights value chain.

While there is a story in the data somewhere, without a well-understood process of uncovering the relationships between the data and the context in which they were collected, the story will most likely remain hidden. The very first step is to identify what the intended use of the information may be. For example, in retail settings one might look to better respond to consumer demand; improve operational efficiency; or fight competitive pressures such as price deflation and eroding gross margins. Only once the objective has been identified can you look at what's possible to measure, and in turn, this can lead to actions.

So what data could be captured (in both an online and offline environment) that would lead to information, facilitate analytics, and drive insights around pre-purchase customer behavior? Information such as:

Which products a customer looked at before purchasing the selected model;
Which product features were important to them in their selection (for example, do customers who care more about ease-of-use choose product "A" over product "B"?);
How many products a customer looked at before purchasing their selection;
How long they spent making their decision;
Whether they had researched in a different channel prior to purchasing in this channel.

Analysis on these data might show trends (for example, customers who purchase high-end digital camcorders tend to focus more on user features and product capabilities, whereas customers who purchased lower-end models focused more on size/weight).

Insights and actions that would follow could include merchandising products based on price category; demonstrating key feature differentiation at the high end; and focusing on in-store marketing that highlights size/weight benefits/differences at the lower end. In some cases, merchants might decide to reduce or increase the product variety at one or another end of the price spectrum to be able to drive purchase behavior based on insights obtained in this process.

While measuring this kind of raw pre-purchase data is easy online, with today's cutting-edge technology it can also be accomplished in an offline environment. For example, innovations in interactive touch-appliances create compelling customer experiences, and importantly capture key customer pre-purchase behavior data.

If decisions are to be made on the basis of insights, ensure that the data collected, and the analyses performed, lead to the conclusions that will allow for meaningful business insights.

Find ways to accurately measure pre-purchase customer behavior in a multi-channel environment, and then apply a process to transform the data into actions that enhance the customer experience and improve your bottom line.

5 Goals LinkedIn can help your business accomplish

2011-07-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

Published from heidicohen.com by Heidi Cohen

LinkedIn can help enhance your company’s marketing communications in a social media environment. Here are five business objectives LinkedIn can help achieve.

Position business or company. A LinkedIn presence, either in terms of a company page or in employee profiles, proves that your firm exists. Further, these references give life to your company for people interested in finding out about it including customers, employees and investors. (Of course, this also holds for competitors who may be trying to get a feel for how your firm is structured.)
Offer credibility. By sharing knowledge on Linked including profiles, status updates and shared content in terms of links, employees position your organization in your category. In particular, answering inquiries on the Q&A section shows that members of your team are thought leaders and experts while building relationships. If you’re looking to expand your firm’s expertise, assign a few of your area experts, not senior executives, to answering relevant questions on LinkedIn regularly.
Expands business contacts. While most LinkedIn users think of broadening their reach, they generally think in terms of their next job. In doing so, they miss some of LinkedIn’s power. LinkedIn allows your firm to broaden its network with prospects, customers, suppliers, distributors, consultants, funding sources and analysts by helping you to reach out to others in your network and through them to their contacts. Further, they don’t take a social media pay-it-forward attitude. If you want to connect with someone, think about how you can do something for them before you ask them for a favor. Also, don’t underestimate the strength of other people’s networks because there are contacts you may not be able to see.
Expands company network. Through LinkedIn Groups, executives can extend their business networks, meet new customers and position your firm as a thought leader. You can join a group as well as start one. The benefit of starting a group is that it links to your business. Moderating a group puts you at the center of a group of executives in your business arena.
Sources employees. Don’t just leave this work to HR. While LinkedIn helps find and vet new employees, it’s a great way to stay connected with former ones. Don’t overlook the power of owning your firm’s alumni organization! Many consulting firms are known for this. Your former employees know you operation well and can become future clients, source of referrals, employees or other business connections. Why not create a forum that enables both of you to keep up the relationship. As the Godfather advised, keep your employees close and your former employees closer.

From a business perspective, using LinkedIn is a no-brainer. It enables your firm to achieve measurable goals and in an environment where the work in terms of content creation and outreach can be distributed across a group of employees. Further, it doesn’t require special content marketing. The related information can be created by a member your business team without special training.

Social Media Should’s And Should Not’s

2011-07-14T17:43:00.000-04:00

Posted by: Jay Deragon. Published from www.relationship-economy.com//

Life is shaped by rules. Some we can deal with others we resist. Some rules are designed to benefit us and others are designed to control us.

Everything has rules spoken and unspoken. It is up to us to determine which rules apply to enabling us to accomplish things and which don’t.

Social media does have rules and most of these rules are reflective of “how” people intend to create social capital with their markets. Markets are conversations so your conversation either builds capital or uses other peoples capital. Using other peoples capital can get you a short distance but building your own capital will give you value in the long haul.

So if your intent is to build your market with your own capital there are some things you should do and things you shouldn’t do.

Here is my list, for what it’s worth, of what you should and should not do with this things we call social media.

Should

Develop a social media strategy before you jump in. Understand who, what, where, when and how you intend to create value for your audience. Not having a strategy is akin to not knowing where you want to go and how you’ll get there.
Learn the difference between advertising and convertising. Not knowing means you are likely to fail.
Understand what your market is seeking and give them that which they want and need. This will require constant listening before you act.
Think about long term impacts rather than short term gains. This isn’t a sprint rather a marathon that never ends.
Throw out institutional and corporate speak. Learn human terms. People will reject corporate speak and slick marketing campaigns.

Should Not

Don’t outsource your conversations. Engage your own people to engage with your market but first learn to engage your own people.
Don’t push rather learn to pull. No one likes pushy people.
Don’t think of your audience as targets. Think in terms of relations
Don’t try and trick or catch people. Rather think about engagement and experience.
Don’t even begin to use social media until you first consider your existing cultural barriers that may be the enemy of any social media strategy.

The market of conversations is a different market and mass media doesn’t work in this market. The technologies enable mass reach but reach isn’t for targeting rather it enables relational dynamics for engagement with people. The technology is easy. The process isn’t. Get it?

Direct Mail on the Rise in 2011

2011-06-14T14:46:00.004-04:00

Published from printinthemix.rit.edu

Twitter Analysis from the marketing consulting firm Winterberry Group, entitled “Outlook 2011 What to Expect in Direct & Digital Marketing,” shows a positive outlook for direct channels in 2011.

Spending on direct mail is expected to increase 5.8% in 2011, to $47 billion dollars. This surge is driven by a return to acquisition mail led by financial services, retail, and automotive, according to the report.

The direct marketing upswing is a continuation of the 2010 rebound in which direct mail spending rose 3.1% -- after experiencing declines in 2007 (-1.4%), 2008 (-4.1%), and
2009 (-16.7%).

Graphic by Winterberry Group

In addition to an increase in direct mail spend, direct response print advertising is expected to increase by 2.0% ($15.3 billion) and insert media will see a very slight bump in spending from $0.8 billion in 2010, to $0.9 billion in 2011.

Source: Winterberry Group

USPS QR Code Promotion For Postage Savings

2011-06-10T16:47:00.000-04:00

Published from ballantine.com

The USPS is running a special promotion to entice mailers to test mobile barcodes on their direct mail. The ultimate goal is to build awareness of mobile technology and demonstrate to mailers how mobile barcodes can increase the value of mail.

A mobile barcode is a two-dimensional barcode that can be read or scanned by a smart phone and will direct the user to an advertising website. The two most common types of mobile barcodes are QR Codes (Quick Response) and MS (Microsoft) Tags.

Program Details

The program runs from July 1, 2011 through August 31, 2011 and is available for First Class, Standard and Non-Profit Mailers who incorporate a two-dimensional barcode either on the face or inside every piece in the mailing that is designed to direct the user to a promotional website. Mailers will receive an upfront 3% discount on postage for mailings that meet program requirements.

Program Requirements

First Class, Standard and Non-Profit mail is eligible.
All mail pieces must include a mobile two-dimensional barcode on the face or within the mail piece.

The barcode must be used for marketing purposes only.
Postage must be paid via permit imprint and all postage documentation must be submitted to the USPS electronically.
Co-mailing customers are eligible to participate in this program.

For more information visit https://ribbs.usps.gov/mobilebarcode/documents/tech_guides/FAQsMobileBarcodePromotion.pdf