Better response for marketing campaigns!

GURLs, CURLs, and PURLs

So, why are some of us still reluctant to use PURLs as an ingredient in our direct marketing mix. Does it not generate higher response rates than GURLs or CURLs ? Is it not cost efficient? Implementation is difficult and time consuming? If you nodded and/or answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably haven’t done your homework.

There has been sufficient proof that PURLs generate higher response rates than GURLs and CURLs do… Google it! Yes, personalization does come with a price tag, but it may not be as costly as you think. The key is to consider other alternatives before committing to “out of the box” solutions. Do some research on SaaS (software as a service) solutions… they are more likely to be more cost and resource efficient.

I strongly believe the true barrier is the perception that implementing PURLs is difficult and time consuming. Perceptions are not always true. There are solutions that enable users to quickly implement PURLs into their direct marketing initiatives with very little effort. What I am speaking of is not a myth. Take a few minutes and check out the clip below and witness how PURLs can be created and published in just minutes. Just a side note, the presenter (Doug) did this on his laptop, while waiting to tee off at the 16^th hole. 

(don’t be too concerned with all the technicality, this is just an example of how easy and quick PURLs can be implemented)

For general definitions of GURLs, CURLs and PURLs, check out the Insight Forums

Will V.

As I was taking out the trash this past weekend, I realized how much marketing $$$ was being thrown away. I decided to pull out all the direct mail pieces from the trash bag and sort through them. Every piece was composed of different offers, content and images. After a brief examination, I realized a great deal of money, time and effort must have been required to generate and deliver these pieces.

The common reaction to direct mail is, “oh, more junk mail” and in the trash it goes. We would never consider the amount of resources that had gone into generating the piece and it would most likely go straight from the mail box to the trash bin. As marketers, we should all take a step back and ask why are we spending so much time and money creating something that just ends up in the trash without serving its purpose? We might as well just toss the actual marketing dollars in the trash.

Direct mail is not able to generate higher response rates and ROI because of two major reasons: they are typical and they lack relevance. They are typical, meaning they look just like the 50 gazillion other pieces of direct mail that are sent out each day. A two sided postcard with some text and a couple of images or a letter that looks like a legal notice of some kind. Who wants to read through tens if not hundreds of these pieces each month?

This was a piece used by the Seattle Art Museum to promote the Life Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness exhibit. If I received this in the mail, I would  likely to flip it around and read it before throwing it away. The point I am trying to make is we should always try to create a piece that no one else is creating. Part of marketing is to stand out and not be typical. Being typical will not catch any attention and is a waste of money.This may be a thought that is always in the back of our minds, but we don’t always factor it into our marketing initiatives.

A piece that stands out will only catch someone’s attention, but not necessarily motivate response. The key to motivating response is relevance. Only communicate to those who are likely to purchase your product/service. An 80 year old lady is most likely not interested in a discounted sky diving package. Personalization is an enhancement to relevance. Talk to your prospect customers as an individual and never address them as a part of a group. Just being able to print their name on the piece is no longer sufficient in creating a personalized piece. Think about the offer, images or colors that can vary depending on who is receiving the piece. Here is a good example of a piece that is both atypical and highly personalized…

Imagine receiving this in the mail. This was a piece created by Proximity London for a sensory-based direct mail campaign. The recipient’s name is printed on the chocolate and encouraged to touch, smell and taste the piece (it was created with real chocolate).

Before being engaged in your next direct mail initiative, make sure to consider if your piece stands out and who you are sending it to. Do not send out postcards because your competitors are sending out postcards. Send out something you know your competitors will not be sending out. Remember, you are not just competing with your competitors’ pieces, but with the 50 gazillion other pieces who are not even from the same industry. Take a minute and ask yourself if you would read the piece you are about to send out or would you just throw it away.

Just a thought.

Will V

Finding out detailed information about your prospects is made easier everyday. If you are currently using services like Hoovers, Linked In, Jigsaw etc.. You should check out TheOfficialBoard. This new service will provide users with the organization chart to the largest companies. It is basically a report of who the executives are, who reports to them, who they work with directly etc…There are currntly over 20,000 executives listed in the system.

Their database is build upon information contributed by members, but extra efforts are made to ensure accuracy. For example, all executive emails entered into the system are checked and verification is requested from the named executives. Like Jigsaw, members gain access to information by contributing information. Members also have the option to pay for premium access.

TheOfficialBoard provides a visualization of power relationships within each organization. You can find out who is related to who, what the key positions are, who holds each position etc… It also provides alerts when an executive or members of the organzation chart changes job positions.

If personalized marketing is in the mix of your initiatives, I encourage you to check it out. www.theofficialboard.com

Will V.

Do you get your favorite magazines at the news stand or delivered to your door?

I know I browse through magazines at the stand, and in many of them I have the option of signing up with the publication for a year (often at a lower price).

Now, since you’re already collecting information about me, how about finding out my preferences and personalize some of the magazine, catalog or publication to me.

This can be as simple as printing my name on the cover (and not just on the mailing sticker), having a centerfold personalized to me, even publishing ads that apply to me… an insurance ad that says ‘is the Lou household sufficiently covered?’.

Costs?

Have your printer print digital rather than offset. Advertisers that opt for personalized print ads get more value for money, subscribers become more connected to the magazine.

Technology? 

The technology already exists (if your vendor is unable to create a fully variable catalog/publication talk to us!), just waiting for a publisher to take CRM and Variable Data Publishing up the next level.

If this resonates with you, let me know via twitter: @RyanLou

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Related articles from marketing blogs:

How online communities have come of age… for catalogers

Strategy for catalogers: It’s all about Co-Mailing

Cut costs and keep creative - How creative and inexpensive catalogs can live happily ever after with postal reform

Amid fears of the spreading credit crunch affecting your core print business and limiting your ability to purchase expensive print equipment on credit and half measures for tiding the poor economic conditions, we suggest you diversify your business out of trouble.

While your immediate concerns are to cut down staff and reduce investment (even on marketing), these actions may leave you in a disadvantaged position to grow your business when the economy picks up.

A better option would be to reduce your cost while increasing business even while your competitors trim theirs.

Industry Data:

Clear market trends suggest that marketers have long been looking to the web to compliment print in reaching their target customers.

Marketers are increasingly going direct, personalized and online! Are you keeping up?

If you are already using digital press from the Canon CLC and Konica Minolta 850 on the low end to the Xerox iGen3, Kodak NexPress and the HP Indigo on the high end, then you have already made it easy for your print company to diversify your business, growing while the industry does!

If you’re stuck with offset press that are huge and expensive to run and maintain and set you back with millions of dollars in debt then now would be a good time to ‘go digital’.

5 key production characteristics*
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1) Make your content and offer relevant

Make your content suitable for your customer segment. The experts in your industry will react better to a more technical message with specific features. Other buyers with less industry knowledge will likely react to a more benefit-rich message.

Take the following 2 sets of content for selling a new computer.

Advanced buyer:

Ryan, we know you are looking for a new computer and want specifications that lets you run games more effectively.

We have the newest game machine with the following features that will interest you.

Processor: Intel®  CoreTM  2 Extreme Processor X7900 (9.20GHz,4M L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)
Memory: 15GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 4DIMMs
Hard Drive: 10TB (2×64GB) Solid State Drive
Video Card: NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3 Memory

When you buy today: I’ll even throw in a new extra-reactive mouse designed for gamers like yourself.

 ###

(By the way, if you knew computer specs, you’ll notice I exaggerated the details above)

Basic buyer:

Ryan, we know you are looking for a new computer. While I could go over the specifications of our new computer, I know you are more interested in reducing the time it takes to launch your programs. Our newest version significantly reduces the time it takes to load and run programs like microsoft office and outlook.

You’ll be pleased to know that it also comes with the latest version of these programs, they’re more stable which means your programs do not crash while you are working on them.

When you buy today, I’ll even throw in an extra 1 year subscription to Norton antivirus free!

###

2) Get them acquinted with you

Whether your email is read depends on the relevance of your “sender name” and “subject line”. A message from Dell is more likely to be opened than one from ‘Hotstuff’ for example.

What if you have a brand name that is not as famous at Dell?

Emails will be a good way to build up your reputation to a targeted list. Open rates may be lower in the beginning but as you send relevant information with useful content (e.g. 5 ways to speed up your pc, 10 tips for avoiding viruses, … ). Then you increase the chances each of your emails are opened.

While picking a good subject line is important, building a relationship with your prospects should be the ultimate goal.

3) Be clear how you want them to respond (Call to action).

Is the goal of your email to motivate a phone call, take them to a Personal URL, reply you at your email address, download a PDF file or sign up for an event?

If your recipients are not clear what they’re supposed to do, they click the cross on the top right corner and you lose a possible customer. Make sure you send yourself a proof of the email before you send it to your list. A convincing email with broken links will not get you any response!

Much of the focus on Software as as Service has been on differences in architecture, setup and implementation with other models like enterprise software or web 2.0. This post is not about these, instead it is about highlighting the “Service” aspect in a SaaS model.

For that I use an anecdote of Toys and batteries:

How often do we find in television commercials, print advertisements, etc. an outstanding advertisement about the newest robots (http://www.robosapienv2online.com/ ), Air Hogs that can battle each other (http://www.airhogs.com/) or even education toys like those by leapfrog (www.leapfrog.com), and at the end of the commercial/ advert, they say “batteries not included!”.

Surely, it makes sense to provide 1 set of batteries- a tiny fraction of the cost of the toy/item that goes a long way in increasing customer satisfaction!

Similarly, in Software as a Service, the key to success still lie in service quality. Sure, SaaS makes it cheaper than creating it in-house and more convenient than an enterprise solution, but the main benefit is the quality of service that it affords.

In a business environment that is increasingly competitive, it is still difficult to find a company that provides quality service and support for their customers. Yet this simple act goes a long way to keeping current customers happy, keeping businesses afloat and sales coming in.

Apply the same approach of including the “batteries” to your business in the following ways
- good customer support
- follow-up with your customers after the purchase
- trial offer/ discounts
- free bundled services/software
- could even be that Personalized Birthday Card you send to your clients
- doing things that surprise your customers.

At L2, we’re increasingly adopting this approach of “including the batteries” with lowered pricing for new customers to launch their first personalized marketing campaign with our software and improving our customer service and time to market with existing customers and their campaigns.

And with customer comments like these, it looks like we’re heading in the right direction.

“Your secret sauce is not just your code, it’s Joe and Alan and Lawrence (Operations and Lawrence is our CTO) ”

“I have some colleagues that chose another product besides Fuse and while they got alot of marketing and sales attention up front, the post-implementation support has been absent.  It’s not that way with you guys(L2)”

For more on improving customer service

See Joel on Software’s february post with 7 steps to remarkable customer service
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html

And kevin Eikenberry’s post on how customer relationships can be recession busters
http://www.kevineikenberry.com/blogs/2008/04/customer-relationships-are-recession.asp