That’s great, but how do you build that into your marketing mix… and budget?  We get this question from time to time and the answer is simple; a carefully thought out PLAN.

Cross-media marketing is not something to jump into blindly.  It needs to be strategically planed and with the right plan in place you can allocate your marketing budget accordingly.

First, you need to understand your audience, where they are and how they like to respond.  By understanding this you can help ensure you do not waste time, money and effort on channels and response devises that have no relevance to your audience. 

Recently, we had a client say to us “Personalized URLs don’t work”.  We were surprised to hear someone say this, as we have had great success with them and have case studies and references from others who have as well.  The client was a loan officer and after digging deeper into the campaign we learned he was targeting low income individuals, living in multi-unit dwellings such as apartment complexes.  This helped explain why he had a low response rate via the Personalized URL.  Many of these people may not own computers, plus they tend not to be as comfortable with web interaction as they are with face to face or telephone communication.  Understanding who you are marketing to gives you the opportunity to strategically place and tailor your message, offer and response channels.

Next it is important to have a follow up plan in place.  The team needs to be raved up and know how to respond. Without a plan of what you are going to do if these people actually respond, you risk appearing unorganized and will loose potential clients before they even walk in the door.  It is important that the whole organization be prepared.  This might mean staggering your marketing, thus allowing your team time to follow up with the first wave before the next one hits.  Also everyone should be aware of the promotion and its restrictions so they are not blindsided by a customer’s questions.  It is extremely frustrating, as a consumer, to walk into an establishment with their latest promotion and the clerk acts like you are showing them something they have never seen before.  Clients should not be educating employees.   Also it is important to have enough staff and/or product on hand in order to contend with the new business.  A direct marketer learned this valuable lesson the hard way.

A restaurant sent out 10,000, beautifully designed postcards with a great offer.  The response was just what they had hoped for, an overwhelming renewed interest in their restaurant.  However where the campaign fell short was that they did not have the internal staff to support the new serge of new business.  This lack of planning lead to long wait times, subpar service, dissatisfied customers and ultimately a tarnished reputation.  

Finally it is critical to have a plan in place to not only track the leads that come in, but to be able to identify where they came from.  If you use a combination of direct mail, radio advertising and mobile marketing you need to understand where each lead comes from in order to better allocate your marketing dollars the next time.   This step is often over looked yet it may be the most important.

Today marketing is moving from a transaction-based effort to a conversation. This conversation gives us the opportunity to engage and interact with our clients and prospects on an individual level.  Jumping into cross-media marketing without a plan or consulting an expert is not a good move and can result in a campaign failure.  However by incorporating the proper combination of cross-media platforms we can capture the attention of consumers and deliver a positive ROI.   

>USPS Holiday Schedule

1. They are Free

Adding a QR code should not cost you anything.  They are easy to create and simple to add to any marketing campaign. However, do not bother using QR Codes if you are not going to drive your audience to a mobile enabled site/content.  A normal website is too difficult to navigate from a mobile device and your audience will quickly become disengaged. Creating a mobile site will have some cost to it, but it is worth the investment to create a good experience for your customer. Additionally, you can make a QR Code variable creating an even greater impact.  When you provide tailored content in your messaging and carry that through to the QR Code you create a personalize experience.  This will allow you to form fill data, so that the user has to take less steps to interact with you.

2. They Stand Out

We have access to so much rich dynamic contact with digital billboards, computers, tablets and mobile devices that traditional media can sometimes appear flat. However, simply by adding a QR Code to your signs, postcards, flyers and magazines instantly makes the content “jump” off the page.  Instead of just providing static content you have now provided a way to engage the customer, create brand awareness and bridge the gap between your offline and online media.  So do not try to disguise QR Codes so that they blend into your creative, let them stand out, “pop” off of the page!

3. They Drive Traffic

No one likes typing a URL into a mobile phone, but scanning a QR Code can take someone to your website 24/7, no typing required!  Websites are more important than ever.  Most of us surf the web before doing anything. Trying a new restaurant, we look up the menu.  Making travel plans, we go to the web to find the best locations, hotels and airfare deals. Even going grocery shopping, we can check for coupons and special deals.  Internet surfing is part of our lives and with so many of us always on the go why not make it easy to get to your site with a QR Code.  Again, just make sure the site you choose is formatted for mobile.

4. How much more can you push Social Media

Don’t get us wrong, social media has its place, and it’s not going anywhere, but for many businesses it just is not practical.  Everyone is immune to the Facebook and Twitter promotions and logos driving traffic to these sites, and therefore they are easily ignored.  But a QR Code, now that is something unique and there is mystery behind it.  Just where will that barcode take you… coupons, content, sweepstakes, I don’t know but I am intrigued enough to scan it!

5.The effectiveness can be measured.

It is often difficult to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.  However, with QR Codes you can measure the results with clicks and leads.  You can simply measure the number of clicks or you can drive deeper and use variable QR Codes to gain a better perspective of who clicked your QR Code and when.  Encouraging customers to scan your QR Codes can be a strong call to action.  You get them to engage with you while providing additional content and/or offers all while seamlessly tracking these interactions.

Pew Research – Texting, Social Networking PDF

As you many now know the postal rates are going up in a couple weeks. This will affect First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package and Extra Services.

On average the increase varies based on the class and presort level, but the by law, it is capped at 2.1%, the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

While most of the increase is around 1 cent for first class and standard mail, the Postcard rate is jumping 3 cents. That’s quite a hit considering the state of the economy, but the USPS is struggling with cost over runs and pension issues. They must have felt the old PC rate was too low based on how they have to process it and 1 cent would cover the increase.   Ouch…!

Some Highlights from the USPS:

For First Class

• Letters (1 oz.) – 1-cent increase to 45 cents. This is the first increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp since May 2009.
• Single-piece letters additional ounce rate – unchanged at 20 cents.
• Postcards – 3-cent increase to 32 cents
• Letters to Canada or Mexico (1 oz.) – 5-cent increase to 85 cents
• Letters to other international destinations – 7-cent increase to $1.05
• The second ounce will be free for First-Class Mail Presort pieces weighing between one and two ounces.

For Other Services

• The price increase for Standard Mail Letters is slightly below the overall average at less than 1.9 percent
• A new 3-month pricing option will be available to rent PO Boxes for people on the move and others that need a PO Box for a shorter time period.
• Delivery Confirmation will be free for several parcel products as the Postal Service continues to make tracking an integral component of parcels mailed at commercial rates.

Additional Details can be found at the USPS.com web site.

For your convenience, you can download a detailed DataMart Direct Postal Rate Chart. Click here for Postal Rates

The DataMart Direct Family

Photo by Stan Kotecki Photography

2012 IS ALMOST HERE AND IT IS TIME TO “MOBILE UP” YOUR MARKETING! LEARN HOW TO LEAP OVER THE COMPETITION IN A SINGLE BOUND!

DataMart Direct wants to help you get 2012 off to the right start and to do so we will be hosting a FREE seminar, January 17th, 2012, that examines Marketing in this new digital age.

Networking and refreshments will follow!

Visit www.MobileUp2012.com to register.  Seats are limited, register today!

RSVP by January 10th, 2012 for a chance to win an iPad2!

Please contact us for more detail! 630-307-7100 or at info@datamartdirect.com

I think there is a need for the USPS to survive and I hope these measures (or whatever is finally agreed upon) make it a stronger and more nimble organization that provides the service and deliverability we need as an industry.

But back to my question. Many of our clients have already accepted these possibilities and asking how we can help manage them. Mail a bit earlier, mailing efficiencies we can suggest, even look at alternatives to mail delivery… This last one is an unfortunate reality – but one we have embraced. Our business is delivering a message on behalf of our clients. The USPS should be one of many tools we use. Our longevity will depend on how we deal with this fact and the opportunities we implement to achieve it. At least that is the direction we have chosen to follow.

What’s yours?

Ok, fair enough, I can’t recall when I used that exact expression to a client, but recently I was once again reminded that when you do show the passion of your convictions, a client might pause and take notice of your experience and may actually heed that advice to the betterment of their campaign.

I thought about it and put a process in place to help clients set the right expectations and how to ensure sucess when using this technology. If we break it down to 5 Key factors, we can ensure the PURL campaign has every opportunity to be successful.

First, let’s take a look from a high level. What do we want to get out of this campaign? You’d be amazed how often I ask that question and see that deer in the headlights look starting back at me. And I don’t mean the obvious “to get more clients” but the end goal.

To educate prospects on a service or product?

• To drive new customers to a website for a quick sale?
• To showcase a Video on your offerings?
• To reach out to current customers and learn from them about how they use our product and how we can better serve them?

Bottom line: if it is to use a PURL cause people like to see their name and that will get them to respond to our website, don’t waste their time…

Next, let’s look at the follow-up (as it is the most overlooked part of an interactive PURL campaign). Let’s say for grins, it is successful. Maybe a 15-20% response. Wow! One of the most appealing parts of this marketing technology is that it can be truly interactive. We can interact with the website and respond immediately to that person within moments of them connecting to that site. So…

Who will get those leads? and how? Email?

• Do the sales team have access to their email 24/7?
• What will be the workflow of the response?

Too often we have ran campaigns that failed because there was no foresight and the company simply didn’t follow-up on the leads they got. One we learned after a large project, the Marketing Dept never told the sales Reps across the country of the campaign so no one followed up on any of the 18% response they received… ouch…

Ok, we have the reason for the project and the plan for a successful follow-up. Nuts and Bolts time as we look at the 5 Keys to a Successful PURL Campaign:

1. Your Audience: Sounds obvious, but many times people forget how important the data is. Is it properly targeted? How will we communicate? Direct Mail Piece only, or is there an option of also reaching them via email for a multi media approach? Will they be touched once, or a few times over a period of time (this is greatly effective especially with email where the second and third touch can be very cost effective.

2. Piece or Email Design: Tough love for designers… The piece you developed may be beautifully laid out, the colors were so vibrant and enticing, the information so complete… but…  “Uhm, where’s the PURL?” Buried in the upper right corner like the return address… or lost in the design? Remember, design is very important, but so is the engagement. If it is the interaction of the recipient we are looking for. Let’s not clutter the message. One of the most effective and Successful campaigns I’ve seen was a simple postcard with a QR Code and a Purl on one side, and a line of text, “Are they Crazy? You gotta check this out!” Depending on our Goals, sometimes less can result with more.

3. PURL Site Layout: Imagine… I went to a purl website and hit a Landing Page that said Thanks Scott for visiting the landing  page. I then clicked to a Survey Page where I was asked to answer a few questions to better serve them. Next was my contact page. All of my contact info (which they must have had since they sent me a mailer??? And once through that I was led to a thank you page where I then was guided to a client side default website… Real World Gut Check: We are all real busy. If we’re lucky enough to people to actually login to your site, let’s keep the experience as easy as possible…

In general, we want to respect the valuable time of our visitors. Try a landing page that says thanks, can you answer these few questions, and confirm you Name, Phone, Email (these are usually the only pieces of info we need to reach out to them-Don’t ask for more info you already have). Then a thank you page with a follow-up Thanks you email. Instead of a 4 or 5 page site, we now have 2. Much more appealing from a visitor standpoint.

4. Interaction: We once worked with a client where they literally had 90 questions to ask about their product. They also only wanted 10 questions on a page. I offered them a deal. I said I would pay for a purl campaign where we ask one question. “Would you answer a 90 question survey about our company? If the Yes’s won, I’d comp the Survey. If the No’s won, they’d pay me a bonus for saving them a ton or programming money on a Purl that no one would interact with. Although we really want information from our clients, we also should respect their time. Keep the questions to around 5. That should be enough to let you know they’re are interested in you reaching out as a follow-up.

5. CALL TO ACTION: Can’t stress it enough. Think about it, we are selfish. We have much to do and little time to do it. If you want your audience to interact with you, make it worth their while. If you do, so will they. Whether it is a gift, sweepstakes, giveaway, there has to be a reason for your audience to engage. Think about what would make you respond, they might too. And remember, everyone will love your product or service, you just need to let them know about it.

Follow-up: I know I mentioned it before, but this is The Most Important Step.

That’s it. Really, not that difficult. A few simple steps will ensure you have the best opportunity to have a successful campaign.

 Last bit of advice, remember to have some fun with it if you can. If you have the right approach, that is to show your customers or prospects the value in your company, you can’t lose.

 Good Luck!

 Scott