5 Ways To Enhance The Value Of Print Communications

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Typically, when considering print in the marketing mix, companies focus on direct mail and marketing collateral as the main forms of print communications. But, is your company utilizing them to their fullest extent?

In the past, traditional forms of print communication were limited – not only in what they could accomplish (e.g. personalization, automation), but also with how people could respond and continue the conversation.

If you’re not effectively combining the various communication channels, then you’re not making the most of your print budget. So, how exactly do you make the most of your marketing budget, with respect to print?

Here are 5 easy ways you can enhance the value of your print communications.

  1. Consider what other forms of communication you’re using (e.g. social media, email, radio, outdoor, TV, online) and mention your use of those channels within your print pieces (e.g. “find us on Twitter and Facebook” – provide a link).
  2. Integrate digital technology, such as QR codes and text messaging, making it easier for prospects/clients to connect with you.
  3. Test variations and track individual responses by providing unique URLs, personal identification numbers, and different phone numbers within your print communications.
  4. Personalize your marketing with variable data to create marketing collateral that is specific to the recipient.
  5. Provide an alternative, such as a digital version (a downloadable PDF, interactive flip-book, or microsite) with the same content as your physical print version.

Interested in learning how The Whitley Group can help you stretch your marketing budget? Contact us today!

3 Benefits of Having an Email Newsletter

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If your company, organization or association falls short when it comes to staying top-of-mind with your consumers, it may be time to start an email newsletter.

Everyone is familiar with the different economics involved with maintaining customers versus recruiting new ones – it is far easier (not to mention, far less expensive) to keep current customers than it is to try and build new clients. Add to that the time and cost involved it would take to bring back an ex-client!

One simple way to maintain a regular stream of communication with your clients (and enve prospects) is using an email newsletter. There are numerous benefits to maintaining the stream of communication via email, but here are three benefits to starting your own email newsletter.

  1. It is a pressure-free way to promote product enhancements, new products/services and even company news
  2. Email has a very high ROI – nearly $40 per every $1 investment1
  3. It is a cost-effective way to enhance your brand voice, improve brand recognition and give your clients something to talk about

Not to mention, your competition is likely doing the same. Our first email newsletter will be delivered next month to our current clients. If this is something you are interested in doing, feel free to contact us, we can help!

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[1] “Email Remains ROI King; Net Marketing Set to Overtake DM, Says DMA” – 10/4/11 (link)

Webinar Review – Building an Effective Direct Marketing Campaign

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In part three of our webinar series, Ross Clurman outlines the components of an effective direct marketing campaign. Topics covered include:

  • Defining your targets
  • Segmenting your audience
  • Setting up campaign components: goals, objectives, strategies and tactics
  • Establishing metrics for measuring response
  • Best practices for direct marketing

A copy of the slides covered is below…

The Whitley Group – Building an Effective Direct Marketing Campaign

Webinar Review – Lead Generation and Lead Nuturing

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The below slides were shared in part two of our three-part webinar series on direct marketing. The presentation below reviews the best practices and examples for generating leads, methods of lead generation, and successfully nurturing those leads through the sales process.

The Whitley Group – Lead Generation and Nurturing

Austin Ad Fed Big Wig Awards!

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Wow, what a night!

The 2011 Austin Ad Fed Big Wig Awards were held last week and it was quite the celebration. Winners were chosen in 26 different categories and I am HAPPY to report that The Whitley Group (TWG) left the party with two awards in hand.

TWG won the award for Best Printer and Kevin Cassis won the award for Best Print Rep! It was a fantastic evening and TWG is grateful to be honored in these two categories.

Kevin Cassis receiving his award.

Congratulations to all the winners and big thanks to everyone who helped organize this wonderful event.

The Importance of List Segmentation

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So, you have a list with your basic and advanced variables – now what?

It’s time to determine the best way to utilize these variables to create an effective data-driven marketing campaign.

The two main methods for delivering your message (direct mail and email) allow you a lot of flexibility when it comes to variable content. Using digital print (direct mail) you can create an unlimited number of variations to your message content and the design of your direct mail piece.

Email is just as flexible, but both require additional setup time for each variable. I suggest A/B testing variable pieces against each other to figure out what the sweet spot is for your particular audience or campaign.

Segmenting your list into manageable chunks allows you to focus your efforts on the message and delivery strategy. It also allows you to plan for specific follow-up methods for each group.

As an example, let’s say you’re going to send an outbound message to your list about an upcoming shoe sale. The sale is taking place both online and offline (in your stores). One way to segment your list would be to first divide customers and non-customers. For every segment, you should always include an “unknown” option.

Many of your advanced variable fields should include this as an option because there is a chance the data will not be available, or it may contain errors. Either way, it’s always better to be prepared.

Once the list is divided into the three customer-type groups, other variables can be considered – for example:

  • Age range – 18-24, 25-30, 31-38, 39-45, 45+, unknown
  • Gender – male, female, unknown

Age and gender will play a specific role in what types of products you should be advertising, and what types of incentives will be relevant.

A 24-year-old female will not be making the same purchases as a 39-year-old male. Further, non-customers may require an extra incentive to make a first purchase, where as current customers may not.

There are a lot of things to consider when segmenting your list – things I haven’t even covered in this post. Another great article on list segmentation is available on Marketing Pilgrim’s website.

Advanced List Variables

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The backbone of any direct marketing campaign is the data. If your data lacks adequate variables and quality, your campaign will perform poorly – resulting in missed opportunities, lower response rates, and more unsubscribes (email/mobile marketing).

If you already have quality data, (and plenty of it), here’s how to go about using it for effective outreach.

All direct marketing campaigns should already include the basic variables like name and address. Some additional variables which will help you further segment your list and target your efforts are:

  • Age, gender, and income
  • Purchase history (amounts, dates, items, etc.)
  • Marital status
  • Proximity to a brick-and-mortar location
  • Preferred form of communication

Additional variables can help you fashion a marketing message that resonates more with each recipient. As an example, let’s review one way to store these variables within your database by naming the associated fields accordingly.

In addition to the basic list variables, you should document the following data fields:

  • age
  • gender
  • annual_income
  • pur_hist_amt
  • pur_hist_date
  • pur_hist_type
  • marital_status
  • miles_from_store
  • pref_contact_meth

How can these variables play into your marketing message and creative?

Age/Gender
This can help you determine if they are a head-of-household, or likely a dependent of someone else. In combination with a variable like “gender” you can also establish relevant product lines and/or events. You can also customize the creative to appeal more to their motivations.

Annual Income
This can help you determine their percentage of disposable income and if they are qualified as a potential customer. Most of the time you can save your budget by excluding people unlikely to make a purchase based on their income or social status. Combine this variable with their purchase history to further refine what products/services they are likely to renew or buy.

Marital Status
Certain products/services are geared toward couples – family discounts, vacation packages, etc.

Proximity
Depending on how close they live to a store will directly effect how likely they are to utilize an in-store coupon, or attend an on-site event.

Contact Preferences
This is something many marketers fail to collect. By collecting this information, you can increase conversions and reduce wasted materials. Consumers will openly tell you if they prefer plain text emails over HTML, or if they prefer not to receive any email at all. Either way, you’re gaining some insight to how (and if) they want to be contacted with promotional messages.

Additional fields you should consider including in your database:

  • Title
  • Company Name
  • Lead Source
  • Account Executive
  • Last Communication
  • Customer Type

As with all data-driven campaigns, there is no limit to how much data you can collect and utilize, the most important thing to remember is to make the message and the creative relevant.

An Introduction to List Variables

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If you work in direct marketing, or currently deliver marketing messages to your audience, you’re probably already familiar with the term “database marketing.” The idea here is that your marketing message is driven by the data within an in-house, or purchased list.

This data is used to identify individual customers or prospects which your campaign is targeting. The quality of your list(s) is very important, so maintaining accurate and ample data is key.

When starting to develop a list, you should include some basic fields of information that will help you identify your list members. These fields are:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Mailing address
  • Apt or suite number
  • City
  • State
  • ZIP
  • Country (if you do business outside the US)
  • Phone (at least one phone number)

Using these variables you will be able to create a basic direct marketing campaign. When doing advanced campaigns, additional variables will come into play. In later posts, we’ll discuss what these variables are and how you can use them to effectively segment and send a direct marketing campaign.