As creative agencies and marketing professionals gear up their printing and promotional programs for the holidays, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami printer, Rex Three, recommends marketers to use a combination of print and digital tactics to hit targets with a “One, Two Punch.”

Rex Three goes beyond printing typical promotional pieces. Rex continuously expands its capabilities to provide marketers with more creative ways to market more and increase sales. Personalized direct marketing is an effective tactic many marketers do not take advantage of. Rex makes it easy for customers to tie personalized URLs with a simple direct mail campaign to increase online sales.

By using Rex Three’s state-of-the-art variable printing technologies, marketers can print direct mail programs to drive traffic to a personalized landing page containing a personalized offer. Personalized landing pages allow promotions to be fully customizable to the audience with a call to action that is irresistible.

Marketing in the Hospitality Industry

If you are in the hospitality industry and you know that your guest prefers Asian dining and an ocean view suite, consider your direct mail campaign golden when your mailer can direct your prospect to a personalized landing page playing the soothing sounds of ocean waves hitting the shore, while showcasing images of fine Asian cuisine.

Many Rex customers in the hospitality industry have seen as much as a 43% return on investment from using this form of direct mail.

Technology has allowed printed brochures and direct mail campaigns to achieve more with minimal costs. In the example above, the customized direct mail component served as the “One Punch” and the landing page as the “Two Punch”. Leaving out one component over the other could mean the difference between a slam-dunk deal.

To learn more about how to personalize your printed marketing communications, or how to tie printing with a personalized landing page, contact Vincent Sita, our Chief Technology Officer.

Rex Three is a commercial printer offering a wide range of printing services in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Naples. Our team of printing professionals has over 20 years of commercial print, mailing, and fulfillment experience to support the promotional and communications needs of any industry, including hospitality, manufacturing, automotive sales, education, home interiors and design, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, and more.

There are no posts related to Make More Sales by Printing Smarter Direct Mail Programs.

That’s right! It’s that crucial period when your reader gets his first look at your message. In those brief 30 seconds (at most) he either decides he’ll read on (still with no guarantee of action, though) or he’ll toss it the card in the trash.

Which is it going to be?

And how can you ensure that he’ll hang on to it?

No one can say with extreme confidence that if you as the mailer do A, B and C that he, as the reader, will keep on reading. But there are several steps you can do to increase the odds that those crucial 30 seconds move in your favor.

1) Make it memorable.

Do what it takes to make your copy and your postcard stand out. One writer has called this the purple cow effect. When you drive in the country you’ll pass cow after cow. And every single one of them is black and white, brown or some variation of that. But when you pass a purple cow, you’ll stop your car and say “Wow!”

You want your mailing to be the “purple cow” of direct marketing. That may mean you take the idea of personalization to a whole new level. Instead of typing out a long letter, use a black felt pen, write a quick “personalized” note and then get it reproduced at you local office store on card stock. Guaranteed your postcard will stand head and shoulders above all the others out there. Poof! Instant purple cow.

2) Make your offer convincing.

You can be that purple cow, but if your offer fails to convince your reader of your sincerity and the effectiveness of your firm, it won’t mean a hill of beans (or even a hill of purple cow dung!). So once you’ve decided how you’ll be memorable, decide exactly how you’ll be convincing.

3) Remember that enthusiasm is contagious

You’ve probably heard me talk about this before. But it’s so true and so essential, I just have to mention it -at least briefly – again. If you can’t write with enthusiasm about your service, don’t expect your customers to feel any enthusiasm for it. And if they aren’t stirred -even a little – they’ll never pick up that phone to call you for more information.

That’s a tall order to fulfill in the first 30 seconds of a mailing. But among the various elements you’ll use – the headline, the P.S. and well-placed and well-written sub headlines, you can discover that 30 seconds is long enough to keep ‘em reading.

Yes, you can get your reader’s attention in this short of time. And once you have it, then you can knock their socks off with your valuable – indeed, one-of-a-kind – service.

Go ahead. Go be the purple cow of direct mailing!

I almost forgot, I would like to invite you to claim your Free X-Factor profit files and 15 Free web 2.0 blogs a $375.91 value. Mark Bradley – The Real Estate Web 2.0 Guy and The X-Factor Real Estate Web2.0 Secrets

There are no posts related to The Most Important 30 Seconds of Your Mailing.

Direct mail is sent to businesses and consumers every day and is used by a very wide range of organisations and industries. A mailing in the post, often accompanied by a letter, has become a proven and accepted way of targeting your audience, with consistent conversion rates of about 1-5%. However in recent years direct mail has attracted criticism over the environmental impact it can have, and the annoyance caused by misdirected mailings.

Email marketing using opt in data is less widely used at the moment, but is growing more rapidly in popularity than almost any other direct marketing tool. A growing range of good quality opt in, and in some cases double opt in lists are becoming available, as are a wide range of email broadcast services. But this new marketing medium has already been tainted by abuse and association with the practice of spamming or junk mailing.

So what are the relative merits of each of these contrasting direct marketing methods?

The Benefits of Email Marketing

Email marketing is direct marketing at its most impactful. Your message lands directly in the inbox of your recipient, your message can be personalised, and even targeted to individual recipients.
Email marketing can be timed not just to the day, but to the hour and minute, in order to reach consumers just when they are likely to make a buying decision. Email marketing can also be tracked in detail, even to the amount of people who open and read your email, or who forward it to a friend.
Because it is solely a digital medium, email marketing is more environmentally friendly, and has a far lower carbon footprint than other marketing methods.
Email marketing can be very cost effective as it does not need costly mailing houses, production, postage and so on. However data costs can be higher that traditional list rental for direct mail, and email campaigns also require the use of a broadcasting partner.
Email marketing is highly effective in growing online sales for e-commerce sites – in just a few clicks the recipient can act on impulse and buy from your site. It can also be used to drive traffic to b2b sites that aim to collect leads and enquiries.

The Benefits of Direct Mail
Direct mailshots are a tangible and physical representative of your brand, which can be held in the recipient’s hands. A mailer with high production values can say much about your brand, just through its size, feel and texture.
Direct mail is well established and proven as a marketing tool. Consumers and businesses are used to sending and receiving marketing messages in the post, and are receptive to the messages they convey.
Direct mail can also be used to increase your online sales from your website – increasing numbers of mail order companies are finding that their offline catalogues sent in the post are becoming increasingly effective at driving consumers online to order, instead of by mail or phone.
Quality direct mail data is generally more affordable and more widespread, and does not come with fixed broadcast costs and fewer issues over the opt in procedure. The direct mail industry is also far more mature with a wider range of lists and suppliers available.
Direct mail does not have to fight its way through complex spam and junk mail filters used in many email programs.

One fact is universal – any direct marketing campaign using direct mail, email marketing, or for that matter telemarketing, needs great quality data that is accurate and well targeted.

There are no posts related to Direct Mail or Email Marketing?.

Imagine yourself in a very small metal room with 10 other people. The doors close and you have no way of escaping this room for a minute or two. While locked in with these strangers you are exposed to various commercials for different products appearing on a video screen right in front of you. The doors finally open, and you are allowed to leave.

Sound like a nightmare (or Marketing Executive’s dream, perhaps)? Well, it’s actually reality; it’s your experience if you use an elevator in any one of a few hundred buildings across the United States.

Captivate Network has installed over 3,000 flat-panel video monitors in elevators across the country. Business professionals use these elevators every day and while in that big metal box with nothing to do, a video screen flashes to life and sales pitches fill the room. After all, what are they going to do? Haul up 60 flights of stairs? Likely not.

This mix of “marketing through a necessity” isn’t restricted to affluent business-people inside of office towers, however. The television network Comedy Central has placed over 500 advertisements in bar bathrooms in order to promote one of their new shows. Talk about a captive audience! When nature calls, advertisers listen …

Advertising above urinals might be a rare occurrence, but the trend of advertising and transportation is becoming more evident and technology is playing an ever-increasing role. If you’ve ever been on a subway or seen a bus, you’ve no doubt seen a billboard as well. Cars are often plastered with graphics for any given local company or even a simple bumper sticker with a website. And now, in over 400 taxicabs in New York City, the passengers are treated to a video monitor as the meter runs and they are transported to their destination.

Does the concept of captive marketing frustrate you almost as much as sinking a little white golf-ball into a tiny hole 400 yards away? Then you should avoid the nearly 25,000 golf carts across the United States outfitted with video monitors touting all sorts of products to help increase your frustration and mock your futility ENHANCE your game.

So how do you escape all of this advertising if you just can’t take it? Next time you’re golfing, just walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or ride a bike instead of taking a cab.

And if you’re in a bar at 1:00AM and you’ve got to go?

Well, they pretty much got you on that one!

Direct Mail Marketing: Is It Your Choice?

Direct mail marketing is a system of marketing that is directed at specific people. In direct marketing, the advertisement is directed to a specific individual. This is unlike marketing that is open ended such as a billboard or a television commercial. Direct mail marketing is a very effective means of communication in virtually any environment and for most businesses. But, there are some things to be wary about when it comes to direct mail marketing.

One of the benefits of direct mail marketing is that you can measure your success. If you send out direct marketing materials to 100 people and 50 respond, you can see just how well your marketing has worked. Where as in banner advertising there is no way to judge how many people saw versus how many reacted to your marketing technique. This can help you to measure your success rate quite simply.

But, there are a few things to protect your business from when it comes to direct mail marketing. For one thing, many people hate to get junk mail. And in this we mean email and postal services. Spam is quite common on the web. There are even laws and regulations regulating marketing techniques that employ the use of spam or spam like marketing. Steering clear of such avenues is quite important.

So, should you invest your advertising budget in direct mail marketing? It is quite necessary in most cases to consider the use of this type of marketing. And, regardless of the hassles, it is one of the most beneficial ways to advertise.

There are also many information portals now devoted to the subject and we recommend reading about it at one of these. Try googling for “direct mail marketing” and you will be surprised by the abundance of information on the subject. Alternatively you may try looking on Yahoo, MSN or even a decent directory site, all are good sources of this information.

Incoming search terms:

• Powered by Article Dashboard 20 television
• Powered by Article Dashboard classroom
• Powered by Article Dashboard direct tv receiver
• Powered by Article Dashboard television repair
• Powered by Article Dashboard letters in nature
• Powered by Article Dashboard indian head
• Powered by Article Dashboard tv show episodes
• Powered by Article Dashboard discount television
• Powered by Article Dashboard direct tv internet services
• Powered by Article Dashboard bulb

There are no posts related to Captive Marketing & Direct Mail Marketing: is it Your Choice?.

“What are the most common Direct Mail Mistakes and how can I try to Avoid them?”

Successful direct mail doesn’t depend on fancy, four-color design or “creative” copy.

Mistake No. 1: Not renting the right mail/email list for you.

Do you know what the most important part of your direct mail campaign is? It is the mailing list. No matter how beautiful your graphic design is, no matter how slick your ad copy is, if you mail to the wrong mailing list, your mailing is doomed to failure. Remember, a mailing list is not just a means to reach your prospects, it IS your prospects!

The best list available to you is your “house” list—your list of customers and prospects who previously bought from you or responded to your marketing efforts.

Typically, your house list can pull double the response of an outside list. When renting outside lists, make sure to consult with the list provider to make sure you are getting the most up-to-date names available and are renting the best possible list segment or segments of the targeted list.

Mistake No. 2: Not having an offer.

An offer is what the reader gets when he responds to your mailing.

To be successful, a direct-mail package should sell the offer, not the product itself. For example, if you have a Kick boxing Gym, don’t sell that you are a kick boxing Gym, sell your offer—Free Introductory class. The offer is the free class the benefit to the Gym is the opportunity to convert satisfied class participants into members.

Make sure you have a well-thought-out offer in every mailing. If you think the offer and the way you describe it are unimportant, you are wrong.

Here are some effective teasers: free brochure, free analysis, free consultation, free demonstration, free trial, free sample, free catalog…it doesn’t always have to be free.

Your copy should state the offer in such a way as to increase the object reader’s interest to respond to whatever it is you offer.

Great Mailing Lists

There are no posts related to Two Common Direct Mail Mistakes... and How to Avoid Them.

And the phones are silent.

It’s a mortgage broker’s nightmare. You invest in direct mail marketing, and the responses don’t come in when you expect they will. Experience tells you that once the letters are mailed, you have no way of predicting when they’ll arrive in mailboxes, much less where they’re stuck at this moment. The success of your campaign is at the mercy of a system that appears to send mail through a time warp with variable results.

Lucky for you, there’s actually nothing so mysterious about the U.S. Postal Service. It works as a well-oiled machine that efficiently delivers billions of pieces of mail each year. The system tracks the location of each piece of mail from the time it is dropped by the sender until it lands in the local mail carrier’s hands on the way to its final destination. Working with a direct mail provider who understands these systems and puts them to work for you can help prepare you for the times the phones actually start ringing. And when you are prepared, you will have the ability to maximize your profits.

Method in the madness

The USPS works much like the hub and spoke system of major airlines. Business mail enters the stream at Bulk Mail Entry Units (BMEUs). It is then sent to one of 26 Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs), the equivalent of a hub for an airline, or directly to one of 450 Sectional Center Facilities (SCFs). Generally speaking, each SCF handles mail for which the first three digits of a zip code match. From the SCF, mail is sent to one of 115,000 local post offices, or DDUs (Destination Delivery Units).

As with airlines, you can pay more to have your mail travel “first class.” Though it will travel on the same planes, trains and automobiles as standard class mail, the first class designation means the mail will receive priority handling. If postal workers run out of time to sort all the mail that comes to them in one day, then it’s the standard mail that must go on standby for a delayed trip. Still, the USPS requires standard mail to be processed within a certain timeframe, so it won’t be stranded with an indefinite layover.

Built-in accountability

Two key reporting documents can help you track your direct mail marketing pieces. The USPS provides the 3602 postal receipt when mail is dropped by the sender at the BMEU. This stamped receipt, provided either in electronic or paper form, will show the total number of pieces that were accepted into the facility as part of your mailing, the date they were accepted, and the exact amount of the postage. The 3602 receipt is given to your direct mail provider at no cost, and it should be passed along to you without extra charge.

Many direct mail providers also create tracking reports that contain important information to help you maximize the return on investment in your direct mail campaign. Each piece of mail handled by the USPS is stamped with an intelligent bar code, which is scanned at each step in the delivery process, from initial drop off to the DDU. (Individual carriers scan mail only when delivery confirmation is requested.) Direct mail providers can access the information to locate direct mail pieces in the system and to predict when they will arrive at their destination.

Knowledge is power

The receipt and the tracking reports will help you in two primary ways: you can confirm that your direct mail provider printed and mailed the correct number of pieces and you can plan your mail drop so that delivery occurs at a convenient time for you.

By using First Class mail, you maintain greater control over when your direct mail marketing piece will be delivered. Standard mail is 10 cents cheaper, but it may sometimes be delayed by several days. You should choose the latter option only if you have the ability to take customer calls every day that mail is delivered.

A knowledgeable and experienced direct mail provider will have discovered clear trends in mail delivery speed based on the day mail is entered at the BMEU. He or she will help time your mail drop so that it arrives on days when your office is open and you can plan for sufficient staffing to handle the extra calls.

Experienced direct mail providers will also have gathered enough data [r1] from their mail tracking reports based on USPS daily postal scans to estimate varying delivery times in different states. If you know ahead of time that delivery is likely to come a day earlier in the Eastern time zone than in the Pacific, you can schedule extra morning phone center staff early in the week and more evening workers later in the week. With valuable tracking information and experienced professionals at your side, you will avoid dropped calls and increase your sales.

First Class All the Way

If you’re choosing first class for your mail, why not give yourself an upgrade with a knowledgeable and reputable direct mail provider? Many mortgage brokers choose a provider based solely on the final cost per piece, but it’s worth the extra time be certain you’re working  with someone who services your account beyond the basics.

Before you undertake your next mailing, consider the added value of a direct mail provider who will:
Time the mailing of your piece for maximum results;
Consult with you on the staffing of your call center based on the expected delivery rate of your piece;
Provide a stamped postal receipt to verify completion of the order; and
Track the delivery rate of your mailing to help you meet the needs of your prospects, measure your success and plan for future direct mail marketing campaigns.

In many cases, the cost to receive these “extras” may be the same or only slightly higher than the competition. However, in the end you will gain a strategic partner with the potential to improve your results exponentially. And you can’t get more “first class” than that.

[r1]gathered from their own mail tracking reports based on USPS daily postal scans.

Incoming search terms:

• Powered by Article Dashboard first class travel
• Powered by Article Dashboard riddles

There are no posts related to Maximize your Mortgage Direct Mail Results by Increasing Your Postal IQ.

When done correctly, direct mail is one of the most effective marketing tools available to small businesses, regardless of industry. Unfortunately, many first-time mailers–and even some experienced ones–overlook some of the basic “rules” for creating an effective direct mail campaign. Here are some proven thoughts to heed when planning your next mailing.

The success of your campaign relies on the following:

1. The accuracy of your mailing list

2. The perceived quality of your offer

3. The appeal of your mail piece .

Many experts speak of the 40-40-20 rule. It states that the mailing list makes up 40% of the success of a mailing, the offer makes up another 40% and the package itself (paper, design, copy) is responsible for the remaining 20%.

Buy a good list

Understand who your best customers are. Select a qualified mailing list provider.

Work with your list supplier to develop the most effective prospecting list for your needs and budget.

Create a powerful offer that will make people want to respond

Make sure your offer is clearly spelled out and easy to understand. Offer something with high perceived value. Don’t underestimate the power of the word FREE. Make it easy to respond–via website, email, telephone, mail and/or fax. Offer a money-back guarantee if appropriate. Repeat your offer, response options and guarantee as often as possible.

Create an appealing mail piece

Your mail piece should reflect your company’s positioning and sales strategy. If you are perceived as exclusive, unique or high-end your mail piece should reflect it. If customers buy from you primarily based on low pricing, your mailer should have a “budget” look and feel to it. Keep your copy simple by using clear, short and descriptive sentences.

Personalize the piece. Use a call to action ­ tell the reader what you want them to do and by when they must do so.

www.GreatMailingLists.com

There are no posts related to what are the Direct Mail Basics?.

Listguy:

If you asked people if they like to get “junk mail”, most people would say “no”. But don’t worry – people really don’t hate direct mail. $250,000,000,000 worth of goods and services are sold through direct mail each year in the US alone. And the total continues to grow. According to the Direct Marketing Association, it is growing at 8.6% a year, several times more than the growth rate of the economy. And it’s not just a few people. Last year over half of all American adults ordered something through direct mail.

And if you think about it, direct mail—first used by Benjamin Franklin—is a marvel of the modern age. It allows people to buy goods and services from all over the world from the comfort of their own home.

Incoming search terms:

• Powered by Article Dashboard junk mail

There are no posts related to “does Direct Mail Work?”.

It has to target the right prospects. You’ll get far better results by sending your direct mail to the people most likely to have a need for what you offer. Instead of sending it to a list of 10,000 prospects, narrow it down to a list of 1,000 prospects who are:
1. The most likely to need what you offer right now

2. The most likely to be able to afford what you offer right now

3. The most likely to place a larger than average order

4. The most likely to refer new business to you
It has to be consistent. People are constantly being exposed to marketing from hundreds if not thousands of companies, so in order to make be noticed and remembered, you’ll need to execute your campaign on a regular basis. People don’t care about what you’re offering until they actually need it, so the idea is to increase the likelihood of your message being in front of them at that time.
It has to be followed up on. In just about every B2B scenario, some follow up is going to be needed to convert your prospects into clients. Direct mail is usually most effective when it’s used to initiate the sales process, leaving the actual presentation and the close to a live sales person, or at the very least, your web site. Plus, by following up, you’re adding a more personal touch and even if your prospect isn’t ready to move forward, they will remember it when they are.

There are no posts related to Making Direct Mail Work for your Business.