Direct mail campaigns now are vastly different from the days of huge mailings that were sent to every known address in a zip code.  Advances in the printing industry along with new technologies, have streamlined the direct mail process, making it easy to present each targeted recipient with a unique and highly relevant message.

Innovative digital technologies now make it possible to pinpoint specific prospects based on demographics, launch direct mail touches based on event triggers, and capture real-time response metrics in order to determine immediate ROI. Unique codes, mobile technology and new quick response codes have changed the way direct mail is being used.

Check out our latest video, Smart Direct Marketing, that demonstrates how technology and direct mail can be combined to provide marketers with near instant campaign ROI — putting agencies in a great position to track campaigns and gain  more access to client marketing dollars.

“So rather than complain about the rising cost, power mail users should do what others do when the price of any resource rises—figure out how to use it more efficiently. Businesses have to get smarter. And many uses of today’s mail simply aren’t smart.”

Both as a marketer and a consumer, I couldn’t agree more.

Marketers need to take advantage of new tools, technologies and methodologies to deliver smarter, faster, and measurable direct mail. By doing so marketers can save money, get the data and ROI they want while consumers get what they want—relevant mail that addresses their needs and interests.

Here are some technologies marketers can integrate with direct mail in order to bring efficiency and improved ROI to marketing campaigns.

Extreme Personalization:

Nothing captures attention and motivates response like relevant, timely and personalized direct marketing communications. Advances in database integration, variable data printing and event triggers allow marketers to deliver a truly unique experience for each consumer. And when done properly, it’s more than likely they’ll experience a much improved response rate and boost in ROI.

Read my reaction to a personalized direct mail postcard that I received after a shopping experience. I can still remember it like yesterday…

QR Codes:

Eliminate the gap between customer response and delivery of coupons, product information, special offers, or other marketing follow-up communications. QR (quick response) codes are two-dimensional, square barcodes that can store large amounts of unique data and, when scanned, can launch specific actions. They not only allow consumers to immediately access coupons, landing pages, product information or other data directly from their mobile device; QR codes enable marketers to collect data on consumer activity and track the effectiveness of marketing elements in real time.

Mobile SMS Text Marketing:

Motivate immediate response, collect real-time consumer data, and facilitate two-way communication by incorporating SMS marketing elements on direct mail pieces. Consumers may use mobile text marketing to initiate a survey, provide feedback, access customer service and support, receive promotional offers or redeem customer loyalty rewards. Marketers benefit through real-time response metrics in addition to capturing mobile phone numbers and other information to enhance consumer data sets.

Personalized Landing Pages (PURLs) and Unique Access Codes:

Personalized URLs allow consumers to access landing pages which contain information unique to them; a tactic that’s proven to drive response. Unique codes printed on direct mail pieces may be used to deliver more information, rewards, coupons and special offers to consumers via the PURL. Visits to PURLs and use of unique codes are highly trackable and can provide marketers with real-time metrics as well as a way to enrich consumer data sets.

An Integrated, Multi-Channel Marketing Approach:

By blending sophisticated marketing technologies with traditional and emerging channels, marketers have the opportunity to track campaign elements, collect valuable lead data and generate ROI metrics—all of which empower them to make strategic decisions toward achieving campaign goals. This also provides the consumer with information they want via their preferred channel and allows them to engage in more meaningful ways.

These are just a few technologies that are helping marketers use direct mail in more efficient and effective ways. Incorporating them into direct mail campaigns help to motivate consumer response and provide real-time metrics at the individual level. This, in turn, allows marketers to A/B test creative, cleanse lists and get smarter with direct mail.

Ease vs. Techiness

Even considering the only major virtual card format, the pervasive “VCARD” (files in .vcf format), there’s obvious shortcomings on adoption of this standard across platforms.  I have been very impressed that Apple’s taken the standard that Microsoft popularized, and integrated it into their own world.  So, .vcf files are indeed an option for exchanging contact information if you are in your office communicating with someone over the internet – whether they have a Mac or PC.  However, what if you aren’t in the safety of your office?  When you go to a conference or seminar and meet 12 people at your networking table – how long will it take you to ask each of them individually to spell out their email address so you can punch in an email on your iphone and attach your .vcf file?  Or do you just want to get their phone number, and have to call them later to ask for “the rest of their information”.  That’d be an awkward phone call.

This is the current reality of vCards or virtual business cards – they take way too much time and effort to exchange contact information when you meet someone in person when compared with the traditional paper business cards.   Why aren’t we in a virtual card world yet?  Couple of reasons:  One reason is that cellular companies have lagged tremendously in adopting cross-platform proximity technology, because … well… it would mean that they would have to work together on a common tech standard – and in the real world they don’t like to talk to one another.

The second reason we’re still in a physical card world is that many people make good use of the creative, visual aspects of business cards (in ways that a VCARD format would never allow).   A business card can be used as a branding “first touch” in a marketing sense, to make the recipient think about the company or value proposition, like this Graphic Designer does with his complex back.   Or the countless other examples of memorable executions of printed cards.

In the OPEN blog post Josh Catone’s tone is that anything physical is inevitably going to be replaced with the virtual.  In fact he only passingly mentions  this quote from Moo CEO Richard Moross:

“Some of the emerging virtual business card ideas are great, but they universally lack one critical ingredient: personality. Form is still just as important as function these days. A virtual business card is just data.”

In truth, we live in a physical world every moment of our day.  More of our time is spent online, but I think we are a long way from being like Bruce Willis in Surrogates, only living to “plug in” to our virtual selves.  When we’re at real-life events like seminars, classes, church services, wine-tastings or whatever you like to do in your spare time, you really have three first impressions: what you look like, what you say, and your business card.

If you send only 1 Ad / Impression, then Give Away the Farm

First off,  most marketing campaigns require more than 1 touch. (If you haven’t heard the term “touch”, touch = impression = ad; but it can also be a phone call or other interaction.)  In fact, marketing campaigns require multiple touches over time to a given customer before they’re ready to buy – just think of any relationship you’ve made in the past – you’re more likely to buy from someone who you’ve had multiple interactions with, than someone you’ve met for the first time (given that choice).  The only exceptions to this marketing rule, are in those cases where a product or service is incredibly cheap or incredibly scarce.  In terms of offers, think $10 round-trip airfare specials  or a seller with an experimental iPhone not available to the public…. you get the picture.

Most of Us Like Balanced Offers

However these extreme types of offers are the exception, not the rule. Most marketing campaigns balance an offer with a description of marketing features/benefits.  Consequently, both your brand (if you have a new/unknown brand) and your specific offer needs time for consumers to recognize the brand, then hone in on your exact message.

Many clients ask – how many times do I send out my mailing / advertisement?  This question is relevant across marketing disciplines, whether you use TV, Radio, Direct Mail or any other outbound method.  I get the sense that most people are looking for a definitive number – an absolute truth in marketing that they can rely on, to do the marketing for them.  It’s good then that people step up to the plate:  some advertising students say 5 impressions is required,   Creative Directors say 8 impressions, and others say 27 times.  I’m glad they step up with these firm numbers, as I am not sure I would ever float a definitive number, because it really depends on all the demographic and psychological factors that go into a specific brand & offer  being marketed to a specific audience.  Even the proponents of the renowned professor John Philip Jones who asserts that in the end, a single ad impression can influence a buyer, have to consider the observable, historical fact, that “enough concentration of media weight” must be placed to that buyer, for it to cross the necessary threshold with her for a purchase decision.  So for many campaigns, this means that one impression won’t cut it.

O.M.G. – Is this going to be a drain on my marketing budget?

Most companies see ROI fairly quickly if they know how to approach their campaign.  Instead of asking “How many times do I send out this ad?”, it might be better to ask “How many minimum touches do I need to send in order to start seeing returns?”  This takes into account all the factors that I mentioned above.  Your ROI trendline will probably look more like a bell curve anyway, so expect that there will be a ramp up period and a period of ongoing positive returns that will make up for the startup cost of branding your impressions on a given audience.  Just make sure you send out your ads for repeated impressions.

Your 5th Ad should not be a Clone of your 1st Ad

I cannot tell you how many times companies take it for granted that they have designed the best possible piece  – and never consider improving it as they go along.  Do research on how to do A/B Testing  (sometimes called Split Testing). The same audience demographic should be getting two different versions of your ad.  Pay close attention which performs better.  Typically you need a large mailing to prove statistically which one wins, but even if you do two small mailings side by side – if you get zero responses from one and 7 from the other, I think you can feel secure to judge a winner.  (Caveat: there may not always be a winner).  The point is that you are increasing the effectiveness of your ad in measurable ways, and by the 6th, 7th, or 8th impression your piece will have matured enough to make the appropriate impact with your prospect.

As a closing thought to the number of times one should advertise – in most cases if your campaign is a direct order campaign, and you can link positive ROI from one of your “Nth” mailings, then watch that ROI percentage closely.   That metric will tell you better than any marketing veteran when to stop advertising.   If you’ve sent out your 20th mailing and there is still positive ROI from the marketing campaign, then ask yourself – is there any reason to stop?

QuantumDigital was in fact founded to help agents with making a name for themselves in their local markets using postcards. Technology has improved allowing agents to send personalized postcards to drive potential prospects online where they can view more information about themselves and their listings.  The new TriggerMarketing™ automated marketing system has also been developed to close the loop between sending a postcard and receiving a real-time warm lead.

It shows that marketing success is truly achieved when you use a mix of mediums for prospecting — postcards, printed materials, websites and social media can all be used in conjunction to drive awareness and response.

We need to stop embracing the latest variable or dashboard VU meter and demand a better, bigger, more thoughtful perspective on how to measure the ways marketing outreach meshes with consumer needs and expectations.

His statement confirmed my direction on the true goals of my upcoming campaign – to capture relevant market data, giving me a clear picture of the challenges that my prospective clients are facing, creating a relationship with said prospects based on their terms and needs, and adding them as a new customer by selling them a direct marketing solution that works…well, for THEM.

We too often get caught up in tracking numbers – hits, clicks, usage – and forget the main reason we are in business: to truly understand the client and customer challenges, needs and business goals by asking key questions; thereby increasing sales.

Imagine if you had data on an individual, not just a name and address, but what they are challenged with in their businesses (for BtoB). Your direct mail and email campaigns would take on a new light. They’d be personalized and relevant.

Ultimately, we should all develop better technologies, products and services that meet those relevant needs and see an increase in repeat sales — a metric worth tracking.

There’s an interesting consensus as society settles into

understanding what a personalized experience means.  It means we’re creating a “world” (i.e. consumer experience) that’s tailored to you.

In the online ad space, one marketing agency, Q Interactive , conducted a study regarding online ads that were served up based on behavioral data:

Women’s Channel, an agency that researches online trends among females, reported that 65 percent of its participants were intrigued by the system of behavioral marketing. They were especially interested in how the ads seemed to “know” what they wanted. A sizeable number of them — 88 percent — said that they wanted more tailored ads served online.  (imediaconnection.com)

This study is relevant to offline marketing in that it focuses on the question of “how did you like the experience” – when it comes to personalizing an experience for a recipient / web user.  The women who were part of this survey found, on the whole, that advertising that is tailored to them as an individual, creates a better experience.  It implies that the marketer has done the legwork necessary to intelligently recommend a product, instead of past approaches of simply yelling out a feature or benefit to anyone within earshot (or on a mailing list… or on a webpage…).

To some extent the personalization and relevance that some websites have (think facebook’s recommendations or personalized homepages like alltop) have shown us how useful this technology can be – and now offline technology like PURLs and demographic selects will translate a similar experience through the mail.   True this is but one study, but I think if you focus on the ad experience, we’ll find it to be a better world when even your dinner menu arrives personalized.

In order to address what some consumers believe is “greenwashing” (the practice of falsely portraying a product as green), every industry from Autos to Retail Food depends on third party organizations to provide credence to a company’s claims of environmental responsibility.  Our company achieved chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council to provide some transparency to how we print and use paper.  There are alot of aspects to this accreditation, from their website :

The intent of the FSC system is to shift the market to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging. Just like other forest products, in order to use the FSC logo as an “environmental claim” on paper, the product must have flowed through the FSC “chain-of-custody” from the FSC-certified forest, to a paper manufacturer, merchant, and finally printer who have FSC chain-of-custody certification.

FSC is probably the largest of the independent certifications that one can get with regard to printed paper products. However, there are other organizations like the Sustainable Forestry Initiative with a long list of conservation supporters that endorse timber and paper companies like the one we use.  These organizations exist to provide both transparency and a source of information to consumers, so why not help educate by mentioning that chain-of-custody responsibility which passes on to your brand (if you use a provider that is certified).

Besides the marketing benefit of mentioning this in a message – think about what this really means – that we can know we’re doing the right thing to both live in society and manage it sustainably.

So why do they spend so much on marketing if everyone is already very familiar with their product?  The reason is to make sure that their product stays in the forefront of their customers’ minds all the time, so when they think about getting a hamburger the first one they think about is a Big Mac.

If you are a small/medium business, you probably can’t afford to use mass media to ensure that you customers hear your name several times per day.  But you can achieve the same kind of effect using social media.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn are free.  You can use these tools to keep your name in front of your customers and friends so that when they need your product or service, you are the first one they think of.

Make sure that your friends and customers follow you on social media sites, then post to them regularly.  Posting regularly is the key.  Just like McDonald’s will buy ads in multiple times slots on multiple mediums several times per day, you want to make sure your friends and customers see your name as often as possible.

Every post doesn’t have to be worthy of a Pulitzer prize.  Just make sure you get something posted at least daily.  Set up a Google alert to monitor your company name, the products/service you sell, industry terms, etc.  Then you can keep your customers informed with a social media post when Google alerts you to an interesting article.  Posting weekly specials or promotional codes will always be appreciated by your customers.  If you cannot think of anything directly related to your business, you can always post something motivational or inspirational.  People always like that.

Social Media is also great because your customers decide if they want to follow you on social media, so its opt-in from the start.  Of course, you will still want to keep them interested with relevant and timely posts.  If your posts become too bland, they may lose interest, so although you don’t have to be a social media entertainer, you do have to put in the effort.

So how does social media enhance your direct marketing?  The short answer is:  it’s more impressions.  It’s usually not one direct mail piece or one marketing email that spurs someone to buy.  It’s making sure that your customers remember who you are so when they need your product or service, they automatically think of you.  Adding social media will keep your name fresh in their minds so when they receive a direct marketing promotion, they will recognize it and be more likely to act on it, rather than just ignoring it because they don’t remember you.

Fit Pregnancy's renewal cover

Now I realize that with almost every other magazine out there, that this wrapper is pretty typical marketing tactic to spur renewals… But think about it for a minute.  Your reader was pregnant 12 months ago. That’s why she ordered your magazine – but at this point it’s highly unlikely she’s still pregnant.  I know that my wife is not currently pregnant – and if FitPregnancy knows before I do … well, I will need to start a whole other rant – and probably not on this blog

From a marketing perspective, it would make better sense to put this in some context.  I researched FitPregnancy’s owner – American Media, Inc. and it seems that they own a wide variety of magazines, including 3 other magazine titles aimed toward health-consicous women, including Shape and Muscle & Fitness Hers.  So why couldn’t FitPregnancy cross promote those titles in addition to this renewal call-to-action?

If you stop and back up a moment, this is relevant both from a direct marketing perspective for those with magazines they’re steering but also for the rest of us who aren’t in the magazine game.  How unique is your product that perhaps the typical ways of marketing oneself needs to change depending on who you are?  Or a better question – what is the end experience that your prospect / customer receives?  Do you have the tracking (qualitative and quantitative) that would tell you the moments that your audience has disconnects with your marketing message?  Have you invested in people on your marketing team that are “listening” to what your audience is saying?

Companies that are both tuned into what their customers are thinking and saying AND have that feedback loop that enable them to translate those things into tweaks to future marketing touches will mean greater customer engagement and loyalty long term.  If you aren’t willing to go the “listening” route, then you better be really good at knowing the moment your customers start “expecting” again…