Printing a book in 1947 — »Making Books« from manu on Vimeo.

Never be without a paper book on an airplane again.

To some this may come as a surprise but direct mail is still the best way to get to your customer. Google is a prime example. I mean, they can target anyone they want with Adsense Ads. They have my gmail account, all they have to do is insert an email into my inbox that says Hi we’re Google and we would like to give you $100 free Adsense dollars just click on this link. Sure it may upset me that they are targeting me directly but if they’re giving 100 bucks my anger would not be felt for long especially if they had a clear and visible opt-in/out button and maybe a This is my last warning Google -button. Yet they choose not to do it. They don’t want to upset their users but also because they know that the real Inbox is still the Mailbox (if you try to get into your local client’s wallet, that is).

Mailer includes:

• Envelope – printed on FSC paper, full colour
• Letter – full colour, fsc 80lb offset paper, single sided. Obviously noone informed Google of the rule in Direct Mail: 2 pages of copy get you a higher response rate than a single page, 3 pages get you a higher response than 2 pages and 4 pages will get you even higher response rates than a 3 page letter but it tips at 4 pages.
• A flyer printed on cover stock, what looks like 2 colours at first is really full colour (digital) because the back has the Google logo in full colour. Looks okay but if you’re going to print in full colour, utilize colour on all sides because Xerox has proved it time and time again with all kinds of industry wide research that Colour Sells.
• A heavy card stock, round cornered, $100 coupon card is attached to this letter with a variable imaged code.

My two cents about the campaign:

My assumption is that this is not working out too well for Google. The idea is great. Direct mail is the best way to get to local businesses, however, neither the letter, nor the flyer tell the audience how to easily start a campaign with the $100 card. All Google keeps saying is that their ads are targeted, that it’s flexible, that the ad appears in this area of the search results, etc. These are all features and benefits of Google that we have heard from everyone around us. What the customer needs to know is: “Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 click OK and you’re ad is now seen by thousands and clicked by the customers you want, and based on our vast knowledge and expertise here are a few headline suggestions, and you should not hide your URL behind a shortener in your ad because people will not click, and …”

Tell the customer how easy it is to launch a campaign, lock it for only $100 and track all clicks. There’s plenty of unused white space on the back of the letter to shift all the necessary features/benefits from the flyer and turn the flyer into an easy startup guide.

This morning I have opened up my POBox to find an envelope with Google’s logo on it and my address plus FSC logo which is fashionable now. Inside was a 4 page postcard printed 4/2 on a 100% recycled paper and a business card sized 14pt card with rounded corners printed 4/4 digital with a variable code on one side and most likely AQ coating (it definitely looks like a shell card because the AQ coating goes only half way on one side to ensure that the variable code can be imprinted at any time). What surprised me though was the fact that there was no QR code on the card. Google actually wants me to type the 29 character URL into my browser and then type the 24 random character code to get a credit for my Adsense. Although, for me this is a little too much work I’m sure there may be others who will jump on this direct mail offer. Good for you Google. I’m sure others will follow realizing that Print is still King, for local businesses.

• Cash Savings – you can get as much as a 2% price reduction if you pay at the time of pickup – just ask for it. If you print a lot in a year that 2% adds up to a good chunk of money. I get 1% cash-back from my credit card and I’m very happy when I get that check at the end of the year. I remember my first bosses pocketed tens of thousands in a year doing just that – demanding to pay right away for a little cash discount.

• Priority Service – most customers don’t pay at the time of pickup which means the printer has to wait at least 30 days to get paid for his work. Whom do you think he will offer greater favours – the guy who pays in 30 days or the guy who gives him cash at pickup? A recent project landed on my lap on a Friday afternoon at 2pm. It was an odd size 12 page plus cover coupon booklet with every page perf’ed. I had to have 7000 on Saturday by 12 noon. One phone call, and the following morning I paid cash, picked up my order and delivered to my customer. Because the saying does not go… Invoice talks…

Printing is a custom manufacturing process and it has been around for over 500 years. Printers have “been there” and “done that”. They carry a wealth of knowledge. Be open to the printer who asks questions, more likely than not, that is the printer who will save you money and/or make you money.

A printer has printed your type of project for your type of company for your type of campaign in the past. Your type of company has given him feedback on the outcome, made tweaks to the project, reprinted it again and reported feedback again – and you don’t want to hear about it? That’s like trying to reinvent the wheel. My advice, get quotes from order takers but give orders to the printer who asks questions and offers advice, even if the final outcome will be exactly to your specifications.

• Specify what the product is, ie. Brochure, postcard, booklet
• Specify the number of pages if it’s a brochure or booklet  and whether it is self-cover or plus cover (Self-cover means that all pages print on the same paper; Plus cover means that the cover prints on a different paper)
• Specify if the job prints colour or black only, example
  i.      4/0 which means full colour on one side and nothing printing on the back
  ii.      4/4 which means full colour on both sides
  iii.      2/1 which means 2 colours (a PMS and a Black) on one side and Black on the back
• If it’s a booklet with a cover than you should specify what colour scheme the cover uses and what colour scheme the inside pages use, example
  i.      Cover – 4/4; Inside Guts – 1/1 which means the cover prints in full colour and the inside pages print only in one colour (ie black)
• Specify the Flat size and the Finished size of the piece
• Specify the type of paper to use and the proper weight, examples:
  i.      Weight – 70lb, 80lb, etc.
  ii.      Brand – specify the brand of paper, if you don’t , the printer will use his house stock meaning the paper that he orders the most of, which in most cases means most economical.
  iii.      Finish – Coated : Gloss, Matte, Silk or Uncoated/Offset: Smooth, Regular
  iv.      Type: Text weight (regular “flimsy” paper;
• Specify the type of finishing, ie. Trim, Fold,  Score, Stitch, Glue, etc.
• Specify how you want this packaged: Bulk in cartons, Shrinkwrapped in bundles of #,Banded in bundles of #
• Specify the quantity – number of finished pieces