Posts from October 2008.
Don’t Expect Results from Direct Mail without Consistency
Many organizations/companies start direct mail campaigns with unrealistic goals. Expecting a one-time mailing of a postcard or offer to return substantial profits immediately is idealistic, but impractical. The key to getting your return on investment is consistency and a time-commitment.
I’m assuming you’ve taken the time to hire a professional advertising agency to create a great strategy, offer, and design. I’m assuming too, that you have a great product/service and call-to-action.
You should expect on your first mailing a response rate of about zero.
3 Tips to improve ROI on your next Direct Mail Campaign
When times are tight everyone’s looking to get the most bang for their buck. It almost goes without saying that every business at this time is looking over their expenses (advertising too) to see where they can cut costs. Some companies are giving up direct mail marketing for the time being all together. This might be the only option for some, but will result in missed opportunities and lost revenue. Not everyone has a home phone number, or an email address, nor does everyone read magazines and newspapers. But everyone has a mailbox.
USPS releases Vision 2013 customer focused plan
The US Postal Service has released a five year plan to focus on and meet customer needs. At the heart of the plan, the USPS says, are 3 keys:
- Focus on what matters most to customers.
- Leverage our strengths to create customer value an profits to invest in continued improvement.
- Embrace Change in the way we respond to emerging customer needs and a rapidly evolving business environment.
Intelligent Mail Barcode, a.k.a IM Barcode (Part 1)
PART 1…
The mandatory implementation of the Intelligent Mail Barcode takes effect May 2009. It was originally planned to begin January 2009, but pushed back after concerns from the Mailing Industry. The intelligent mail barcode or IM Barcode was developed by the USPS to replace all other current barcodes for direct mail.
The Benefits of List Duplication Elimination
The first and obvious reason for identifying duplicate pieces of mail going to one person or address is saving money. You’ll save money on printing, postage, and preparation costs. The added benefit is avoiding upset customers or potential customers who receive multiple copies of the same materials.
There is also the advantage of being able to identify abusers of sweepstakes and offers. It gives you a means to enforce policies such as one per household. It will also improve your Mailing Campaign overall effectiveness. You have an advantage to evaluate list sources and determine the quality of those lists.
New Move Update Standards
NEW MOVE UPDATE STANDARDS – EFFECTIVE NOV 23rd, 2008
Starting in November the United States Postal Service will implement a new set of guidelines and requirements for Move Update standards. Previously the standards only required that 1st class mail be subject to the Move Update process. The Move Update process is using customer-filed change-of-address orders to match mailers addresses periodically to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail.
Welcome to Input Technologys Blog about Direct Marketing
Welcome,
This is our very first post on this blog. Actually this is our very first blog. You can expect to see industry related news and information here. We’ll publish articles we write related to Direct Marketing. Mainly we will be writing about Direct Mail and Data Processing / Programming.
