Let's start with the bottom line first: Your customers and prospects can't respond to your direct mail piece if they don't receive it. Sounds simple right? The good news is that it is, as long as you take the proper steps to ensure your addresses are correct, complete, and updated.
Most of us get tripped up on the 'updated' part. Since every piece of mail that doesn't reach your intended audience is wasted money (on postage, on printing and mail prep), commit to updating your mail list at least 3 times a year if not more.
What does this mean? Pay attention to the obvious: accurately entering new addresses by including all elements of the address: street number, proper spelling of the street name and city, secondary addresses such as suite numbers, and the most important is the zip code.
When you are trying to get a presorted postage rate, 'quality addresses' are rewarded with the deepest automation postage discounts.
The most common data entry errors that prevent my clients from getting the presorted rates are: wrong or missing abbreviations in the address, street name misspellings, missing the N,S,E or W in the street address, and transposed or missing numbers in the primary address number.
The biggest money waster if you've always kept your list 'clean'? They're the things you couldn't possibly know about: address changes. Forwarded mail is delayed, which may cause customers to miss the timeliness of your mailing. Making sure you have the most current addresses before you mail is simple, and the answer is NCOA. Make sure your mail house applies NCOA to your list, as it taps into a USPS database containing change of address notices submitted within the last 48 months. NCOA matches your mailing list against this file before your mail pieces are sent. When a match is identified, records with new addresses are updated and those listed as moves without a forwarding address are deleted. The result? A list with the highest chance of accuracy, timely delivery and minimal wasted postage.
I've found the most sophisticated mail houses include NCOA at no additional charge. But you MUST ask the question.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Movement Towards Small Agencies Ring Truer Than Ever
People have been predicting the shift to small agencies forever. Well maybe not forever, but forever in media time. But now, with IBM, Wrigley and many more companies reaching out to the smaller agencies, the shift is happening and it is public.
Of course my vote is for the small agency that can not only execute highly technical creative projects, but also leading some to wonder whether the biggest digital players are becoming a thing of the past.
Small agencies are faster, there's not doubt about it. We are not organized like the big companies we work for. We don't have the traditional cascade approach, where strategy flows to production to design to technology, we have different people with one vision handling all three at a time.
Basically, large agencies have huge infrastructures and have grown so large that they don't have the creative capabilities the small agencies have. Or they take forever. I'm making the argument that small agencies can not only do banner ads and press releases, they can also provide comprehensive deliverables like digital media.
There is no 'time' anymore to speak of. Big agencies are costly and slow. So there's my argument for the small agency. Small agencies can not only do what big agencies do, but they can do it in half the time b/c there aren't eight departments involved.
That's my case for the small agency.
Of course my vote is for the small agency that can not only execute highly technical creative projects, but also leading some to wonder whether the biggest digital players are becoming a thing of the past.
Small agencies are faster, there's not doubt about it. We are not organized like the big companies we work for. We don't have the traditional cascade approach, where strategy flows to production to design to technology, we have different people with one vision handling all three at a time.
Basically, large agencies have huge infrastructures and have grown so large that they don't have the creative capabilities the small agencies have. Or they take forever. I'm making the argument that small agencies can not only do banner ads and press releases, they can also provide comprehensive deliverables like digital media.
There is no 'time' anymore to speak of. Big agencies are costly and slow. So there's my argument for the small agency. Small agencies can not only do what big agencies do, but they can do it in half the time b/c there aren't eight departments involved.
That's my case for the small agency.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Tie-In Collaboration That Worked: Windows 7 Meets The Whopper
Quite fascinating indeed. Take a product like Windows 7, which buzz tells us is hard to install and not worth the money. What to do? Partner with Burger King in Japan? Yes, they did it and they did it well.
I always like to share these stories because they provide us with inspiration -- no matter how weird it sounds, it just may work.
Microsoft--in efforts to publicize the release of Windows 7--teamed up with Burger King's Japanese unit to sell a seven-patty hamburger at the burger chain's outlets in Japan. Weird right? It was a major success: It was first going to be a 7 (get it?) day promotion and they extended the offer because the Windows 7 Whopper sold out each day at all15 Burger King outlets for $8.60 each. After that, the price is $16! For a Microsoft Burger. Genius.
Social Marketing worked without Microsoft having to lift a finger: YouTube videos customers posted trying to get their mouths around the 2120 calorie burger were posted immediately.
Not only did the campaign serve Microsoft, but Burger King raised profits and they got great publicity. That equals a great campaign. Now, how to get one from Japan?
I always like to share these stories because they provide us with inspiration -- no matter how weird it sounds, it just may work.
Microsoft--in efforts to publicize the release of Windows 7--teamed up with Burger King's Japanese unit to sell a seven-patty hamburger at the burger chain's outlets in Japan. Weird right? It was a major success: It was first going to be a 7 (get it?) day promotion and they extended the offer because the Windows 7 Whopper sold out each day at all15 Burger King outlets for $8.60 each. After that, the price is $16! For a Microsoft Burger. Genius.
Social Marketing worked without Microsoft having to lift a finger: YouTube videos customers posted trying to get their mouths around the 2120 calorie burger were posted immediately.
Not only did the campaign serve Microsoft, but Burger King raised profits and they got great publicity. That equals a great campaign. Now, how to get one from Japan?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Inspiration from Hulu: Money Well Spent on Advertising
Am inspired by an article I read in Fast Company this morning regarding Hulu.com, the main representative of what is considered "Web TV" today.
Lessons that can be learned from their strategies to give more value to companies advertising on their site:
1. Let viewers control part of the ad experience: Viewers can choose which commercials to watch--from BlackBerry to Fancy Feast cat food. Even better for viewers, they can choose between one glob of ads before a movie or several segments that are shorter.
2. Viewers can vote with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on each ad. THIS IS THE GENIUS PART. Viewers get satisfaction of providing feedback and lets Hulu customize their ads from that feedback. Moreover, as we can all argue about advertising, how to gauge it, etc.--we do all know that it works. With viewer feedback, advertisers can truly know if they are going in the right direction with their ad campaign or not. Businesses value ANY kind of feedback (hence the popularity of Twitter), even the bad so they can change course and stop wasting money on something that doesn't entice viewers.
3. Users of Hulu supply demographic information--all of this enables advertisers to achieve far more precise targeting than our regular 'ole TV provides. I must include my friends that love Hulu as a lot of them are in the creative industry and use Hulu to pass time while huge files are uploading, etc. "I have a big belief that if you don't have children under the age of 2, you don't need to see a Pampers commercial," Kilar of Hulu says. "That's not money well spent for an advertiser."
4. Example: In launching their new search engine Bing, Microsoft ran a "Bing-a-thon" which in a nutshell was a 72-minute telethon parody that was truly funny and featured actors from SNL. Every Hulu ad that day was a Bing-a-thon clip, and the infomercial was the day's 4th most watched program. An ad being a top program? Get out! THE GENIUS OF THIS: Viewers could do a Bing search within the Hulu screen and tell friends about it. There is no other platform within TV that allows you to do that right now. And, viewers tuned in for approximately 30 minutes--the equivalent of nearly 60 30-second spots.
While Hulu needs to grow it's advertising dollars to make money, as they offer a free service, I think they are on the right track. Anything from here can only be better. They are truly tuned in and I admire their strategy.
We can all learn from this, and apply it to our own advertising dollars spent.
Lessons that can be learned from their strategies to give more value to companies advertising on their site:
1. Let viewers control part of the ad experience: Viewers can choose which commercials to watch--from BlackBerry to Fancy Feast cat food. Even better for viewers, they can choose between one glob of ads before a movie or several segments that are shorter.
2. Viewers can vote with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on each ad. THIS IS THE GENIUS PART. Viewers get satisfaction of providing feedback and lets Hulu customize their ads from that feedback. Moreover, as we can all argue about advertising, how to gauge it, etc.--we do all know that it works. With viewer feedback, advertisers can truly know if they are going in the right direction with their ad campaign or not. Businesses value ANY kind of feedback (hence the popularity of Twitter), even the bad so they can change course and stop wasting money on something that doesn't entice viewers.
3. Users of Hulu supply demographic information--all of this enables advertisers to achieve far more precise targeting than our regular 'ole TV provides. I must include my friends that love Hulu as a lot of them are in the creative industry and use Hulu to pass time while huge files are uploading, etc. "I have a big belief that if you don't have children under the age of 2, you don't need to see a Pampers commercial," Kilar of Hulu says. "That's not money well spent for an advertiser."
4. Example: In launching their new search engine Bing, Microsoft ran a "Bing-a-thon" which in a nutshell was a 72-minute telethon parody that was truly funny and featured actors from SNL. Every Hulu ad that day was a Bing-a-thon clip, and the infomercial was the day's 4th most watched program. An ad being a top program? Get out! THE GENIUS OF THIS: Viewers could do a Bing search within the Hulu screen and tell friends about it. There is no other platform within TV that allows you to do that right now. And, viewers tuned in for approximately 30 minutes--the equivalent of nearly 60 30-second spots.
While Hulu needs to grow it's advertising dollars to make money, as they offer a free service, I think they are on the right track. Anything from here can only be better. They are truly tuned in and I admire their strategy.
We can all learn from this, and apply it to our own advertising dollars spent.
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