Image by Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be
Generating ideas for your direct mail campaign designs can be difficult. One easy way to spark ideas is to pay attention to the direct mail that you receive both at home and at work. Save the pieces that caught your attention either in a good or a bad way, then analyze them to see what made you react. Compare the pieces to determine what prompted you to open or discard them. Now take that information and see how it can apply to your direct mail marketing for your business.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Were you drawn to (or put off by) the size, shape, color or feel of the mail piece?
- Did teaser copy catch your attention or arouse your curiosity?
- Was the mail piece addressed in a way that made you curious?
- Were you drawn to the marketer's message or offer? How did they do that?
- Were the important points organized, clear, and compelling? How was this accomplished?
- Did the mail piece ask for the order or a response in a way that moved you to take action?
- How long did you spend reading the mail piece?
- Did it tie into any online component? If so, did it work well?
- How can any of the elements be used by you?
Direct mail is an outreach to consumers, donors, or businesses designed to generate a response: a donation, a request for further information, a purchase, or a visit to a website. Direct mail is effective because it can be targeted at a specific audience; it arouses interest; and its results can be measured. When done properly, direct mail marketing creates a relationship with an existing or potential customer.
When designing your mail piece are you taking all of these factors into consideration? Have you looked at your piece through the eyes of your recipient? Remember to address “what’s in it for me?” from their point of view.
If you have any questions please call us in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Emails help to strengthen your relationships with your customers, build your brand awareness and give you another touch point. Email marketing CAN work for you. Here are a few important tips to make your email marketing successful.
- Get Permission: You need permission to contact people on your email list. Always include a way for the subscriber to opt-out.
- List Buyer Beware: Purchased lists generally do not do very well. Be careful when purchasing a list.
- Strong Subject Line: The subject line is the most important part; you have just a few seconds to get someone to open your email.
- Recognize Sender: Make sure the sender or from line is going to be recognized or the email will be deleted.
- Relevant Message: Make sure that the messages are relevant to the recipient, if they are not you will most likely lose that subscriber.
- Simple Design: Your email design should be simple. Make sure to size it so the subscriber can read all of it without scrolling.
- Personalize: Personalize your email whenever possible.
- Use Social Media: Include ways for people to share the email with others via social media buttons.
- Follow Up: Make sure to have thank you follow up emails when a request or order was placed.
- Test: Make sure to test in all different viewers. What looks great in Gmail, may look wrong in Outlook.
- Schedule: Make sure to setup a schedule that does not overwhelm the recipients. Too many emails will only anger people.
- Best Send Times: Generally the best days to send emails are Tuesday thru Thursday between 11am and 2pm.
- No Flash or Video: Most servers remove flash and video from emails, you are better off keeping that on the landing pages not in your email.
- Landing Page: Create your Website landing page to look like your email to increase responses.
- Analyze Results: Email analytics are quick. You will know within 48 hours how well your campaign did.
There are many more, but these are the major factors in email marketing design, management and execution. As long as you are paying attention to these tips and following your analytics you should have great results.
Would you like more information on email marketing? Click here.
If you have any questions please call us in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
So you have your list and know you are sending to the right people, you have a good offer, now how do you get them to respond? Direct mail is very visual; you need to capitalize on that. Color and imagery can greatly enhance the experience. The use of color in branding is common, but it should also apply to your direct mail marketing. Make sure you choose them carefully!
Here are some common associations for each of the following colors:
- Red: stimulates appetite, commands attention, alerts us, creates sense of urgency, considered sexiest, symbolizes heat, fire, blood, love, warmth, power, excitement, energy, strength, passion, vitality, risk, danger and aggressiveness, associated with debt
- Orange: associated with vibrancy, tropics, warmth, contentment, instills sense of fun and excitement, implies health, suggests pleasure, cheer, endurance, generosity and ambition, makes product seem more affordable, appeals to a wide range of people, both male and female
- Yellow: sunshine hue, spiritual color, represents warning, happiness, warmth, creamy and warm shades most preferred, bright shades can be irritable to the eye in large quantities, speeds metabolism, often used to highlight or draw attention
- Green: money, nature, olive shades with health and freshness, environmental concerns, suggests fertility, freedom, healing and tranquility, represents jealousy, businesses use to communicate status and wealth, is calming, refreshing, easy on the eyes
- Blue: favorite color of businesses, suggests sanctuary and fiscal responsibility, inspires confidence, most popular and second most powerful color, darker shades are authoritative, dark and bright shades represent trust, security, faithfulness and dignity, paler shades imply freshness and cleanliness, although they can imply weakness
- Purple: represents royalty and luxury, darker shades wealthy, suggests spirituality and sophistication, paler shades, such as lavender, feminine and romantic
- Pink: very feminine, represents gentleness, romance, well-being and innocence
- White: associated with innocence, purity, peace and contentment, considered clean and sterile, cool and refreshing, can have a calming, stabilizing influence
- Black: ultimate power color, suggests strength, potency, authority, boldness, seriousness, stability and elegance, distinguished and classic, great for creating drama, more weight than other colors, too much can be ominous
- Gold: suggests wealth, considered very classy
- Gray or Silver: associated with conservative qualities and considered traditional, business-wise symbolizes high-tech and suggests authority, practicality, earnestness and creativity
- Brown: associated with nature and the earth, dark shades represent wood or leather, associated with warmth and coziness, suggests richness, politeness, helpfulness and effectiveness, solid, credible, mature and reliable, light shades imply genuineness
Not sure what colors work best? Test them. Split your list and use one set of colors for each split. Then afterwards you can analyze what colors worked best and with whom. Also, don’t forget word choice. Click here to read all about the words you should be using to get the best response. As you can see, there are many ways to look at colors. Keep these in mind when designing your campaigns and have fun with it!
If you have any questions please call us in San Digeo at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Mobile is where you need to be, from coupons that have a 10 times the redemption rates as printed ones to mobile donations. Marketing needs to meet where people are. Today they are on their phones. When was the last time you were more than 3 feet from your phone?
So how can you use mobile marketing for your business?
- Apps: Is this right for you? Not every company can benefit from an app. Make sure to consider all the pros and cons, including the cost before going this route.
- QR Codes: These are easy to create and easy for the user. Make sure that your landing pages are mobile optimized.
- SMS (Short Message Service): Text only message and you need people to opt in.
- MMS (MultiMedia Message Service): This can be pictures and text, make sure you have opt ins for this one as well.
- Mobile websites: These can be a great benefit for you and your users. Create simpler sites that have click to call, click for directions and click for ordering. Ease of use here is key.
- Display ads: Usually sold as cost per click or per thousand can be bought through a number or agencies. The most popular are Ad Mob from Google and iAd from Apple.
- Augmented Reality: This is by far the most creative form of mobile marketing. The sky is the limit here. From illustrations that come to life and allow for integration to videos, you can really make your printed material come to life with the mobile phone.
- NFC (Near Field Communication): This a new player and not all phones are NFC enabled yet, however in the future this can be a great tool to push display and SMS messages to you when you are close to a product or service.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Design with the device in mind: Most mobile phones have small displays and limited keyboards. Make sure you design with that in mind so that you do not frustrate your users.
Stay on the right side of the law: Make sure to send messages to people who have opted in. You can create campaigns to get people to opt-in. Create sign up forms on your promotions. You can even offer a giveaway to entice them to sign up.
Limit the amount of data you are sending: Most people pay for that, so you want to limit the amount your message will cost them.
Create compelling reasons: People need a reason to scan your codes, make sure you give them a good one. Keep the user in mind, what’s in it for them?
Who is your target: Remember, this is like all other forms of marketing you need a target audience to make sure that you get a good response. All the messaging as well as where you are posting need to be focused on that target.
Mobile marketing can really help you with today’s consumers. You just need to make sure that you are using best practices and really focusing on not just your goal but how you are targeting to reach that goal.
Would you like more information on mobile marketing? Click here.
If you have any questions call us in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
We all know by now that social media, when done correctly, is great at building loyalty. It is also a great tool for customer service. However, it can be a great way to win customers too. Social media is an open forum that shows anyone who is looking all about your company. Not just what you put out there, but also what others are saying about you. Social media heavily influences people’s perception of a company and its brand, make sure you are there to actively engage them.
To leverage Social media to your advantage most effectively you need to do the following:
- Constantly create content and monitor responses: It is best to have a social media team to maintain this presence effectively through daily posts and responses. Everyone expects answers immediately to questions as well as complaints. Make sure that everything is integrated well with your other marketing efforts. You want your branding to be seamless between all channels.
- Create your social marketing plan: Your team needs to know the direction you want your social marketing to go and what your expectations are. Having a plan to follow that includes not only what types of posts you want created, but also how to respond to complaints and angry people, will really save you a big hassle.
- Pictures: Use pictures whenever you can. Social media is very visual and you will get more responses and interactions when pictures are involved.
- Build Stories: Use real life experiences with your brand to build human stories. We relate to a brand that is human. One that can reach us emotionally. If you find those stories that really touch people you will find your content going viral and your engagement will dramatically increase.
Social media marketing is very different than other channels. You need participation from your followers in order to be effective. One of the best benefits of this is when people have a great experience with your company and then share that with others. Make sure to thank them and of course share their thoughts with your followers. Consumers listen to what other people are saying about your company so both positive and negative posts need to be addressed by you. Actively cultivating responses continually builds your social network and influences people to buy from you.
For more social media information click here.
If you have any questions, call us in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
We all make mistakes, even when we try our hardest to eliminate them, they sometimes slip through. So what should we do when that happens? Don’t panic! Take the time to really look at the issue and then develop a plan to fix it, if need be.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you are taking that deep breath:
- What was wrong? Simple or complex?
- How did it impact your prospects and customers?
- Do you need to reach out to them with a special offer?
Not all mistakes will require a response from you. So when should you send a follow up email? Well, if the only error is the subject line, just leave it alone. There is no need to send a correction. If you have bad links in your email, it would be best to resend with a short explanation at the beginning as to the issue and the fix. Keep the subject line the same, just add corrected to it. If you had a limited time offer and because of your mistake people were not able to respond, sending them a special onetime offer just for their trouble is suggested.
Keep in mind that too many emails in a short period of time can increase your unsubscribe or opt out rate. So, really think about the impact of the mistake and how you would feel if it were sent to you. Only by addressing issues in this way will you be able to keep them happy. (The walk a mile in their shoes cliché)
Now, the last thing you need to do is put a plan in place so that this mistake will not happen again. What could you have done differently beforehand to avoid the problem? Sometimes just creating a test group to proof read your emails before you send to you entire list can really help in finding errors. Also, make sure to examine the emails in several programs from Gmail to outlook and Firefox to IExplorer. Many formatting errors will be caught this way. We all make mistakes, just make sure you don’t make the same one twice!
Need more tips for email marketing? Click here.
If you have any questions call us in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Are you looking for ways to integrate your direct mail with some of the latest technologies? Bring your marketing to life? Why not use Augmented Reality? Augmented Reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment with elements that are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. So how do you integrate this with direct mail marketing?
When using AR in direct mail marketing, you can drive people to online offers, information, videos and more. AR is created with specialized barcode marker that is linked to a digital AR application. The user must have the application installed on their phone or tablet. Once installed they access the AR thru their camera lens. The value of this technology is in the amount of information that can be included. What was once just a 6 x 9 postcard can now become a vast database of information, videos and more.
There are some very important things to keep in mind when creating AR in your campaign. Make sure that your AR is easy to use. Provide the barcode link for the user to download the application and make sure to provide good reasons for them to download it. Also, you need to create a “wow”. This will allow you to impress and connect with the user. The stronger the connection the more likely they are to buy.
Check out some examples of creative AR:
Check out a fun way to drink your coffee. Starbucks: Click here
A great way to have people play along is the following game. You do not even have to have a smart phone, you can play on your computer. Orville Redenbacher’s Pop game: Click here
Check out a new way for kids to play. Sesame Workshop: Click here
AR can enhance your direct mail and bring it to life! Let your imagination run wild and inspire your users to explore the fun of AR. If you need any help with your campaign feel free to give us a call.
Would you like to see more direct mail tips? Learn ways to reduce your postage costs. Click here.
If you have any questions call us here in San Diego at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Have you considered using the emerging NFC (Near Field Communication) technology for your mobile marketing? This growing technology needs to be a part of your future mobile marketing mix. NFC technology gives you the ability to transfer data to mobile devices through a wave or tap above an imbedded sensor.
The benefit of this technology over QR Codes is that it does not require an application to be downloaded by the user. This allows the user easier access to your information and will increase your interactions. Remember that you need to keep your mobile marketing relevant. People’s phones are very personal. If you send information that they deem irrelevant, you will lose them to an unsubscribe or push them to social media to complain.
One current drawback of NFC is that many smart phones today do not have the technology in them. However, as the newer phones are manufactured they do have the technology installed. It is such an easier experience for the user, you really should consider adding it into the mix. Since engagement is the goal, making it easier to use is a great way to keep the users coming back. It is generally thought that NFC will have large adoption rates within 2 years. Are you going to be one of them?
If you have any questions call us 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Did you know that 70% of tweets to brands go unanswered? Why should that matter to you? They are your prospects and customers who have questions or issues. If you respond and resolve them you are the hero and get the business. Twitter is an open forum. That means that people can see when you respond or not. They are less likely to buy from a company that does not respond to complaints. One of the best things about social media is how inexpensive it is to provide customer service and have the whole world see how great you are at solving problems. The people you solve the problems for, become your external champions. They tell everyone they know how great you are. The reverse of that is true if you are not responding.
Keep in mind that most people don’t look to see whether your company has actually set up a Twitter account to provide support. They just go to Twitter, post their issues and expect a direct response from you. You need to be monitoring what they are saying about you, even when it’s not posted directly to your account.
The key differences between social media marketing and social media customer service are:
- Maximize positive interactions versus maximize customer satisfaction
- Monitor and listen versus resolve issues
- Shared interaction versus one on one
- Focus on retweets versus complaint resolution
Make sure you have a well-defined plan for both. They are not interchangeable. Capture, prioritize and assign social interactions to the right team. This will insure you have the most success. There are times when you will need to take a conversation private in order to resolve it appropriately. Make sure you have a plan in place to take this action. The key take away is to respond in real time to events with a thoughtful resolution based answer.
Need more social media tips? Click here.
If you have any questions call us 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!
Do you send business or courtesy reply mail? If so, you can save $0.02 per piece on the reply postage. The USPS is offering this $0.02 per piece discount between April 1st and June 30th. Here are the details:
- You must register on the USPS website by March 31st 2013 Click Here
- Valid for business reply or courtesy reply mail with IMB barcodes that contain an MID
- The IMB must contain correct barcode ID, service type ID, and zip+4
The USPS will scan all the business reply mail between April 1st and June 30, 2013, compile the data and present the full credit after June 30th. The credit will be applied to the registered permit.
The USPS’s intent is to show the value of business reply mail.
If you have any questions call us 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We are glad to help!