According to Harvard Business Publishing and Accenture, only 40% of consumers say companies frequently or always meet their service expectations, according to Accenture’s survey of more than 5,000 people in 12 countries. That’s down from 45% in 2008 and 53% in 2007, the consulting firm says.
Is this the time to put together a direct mail piece describing your customer service?
How would you describe success? I know that a mailing campaign that results in new customers and increased revenue is positively a great thing.
In thinking about a broader meaning of success it is a joy to think how many of us define success in individual ways. Sometimes outer signs and rewards are delayed, but the great feeling inside that the process was done well is still very real.
Do any of these words explain what success means to you: achievement, feeling good, living out your priorities, health, satisfaction, hard work, happiness, excitement, helping others, reaching goals, balance, passion, freedom, focus, …?
According to an extract by Harvard Business Publishing of a snapshot of Economic Conditions, by McKinsey Global, 69% of a global panel of executives surveyed during the second week of December 2009 said they expected their national economies to be at least moderately better by the end of the first half of 2010. In fact, 24% said that an upturn has already begun.
A majority of executives expect consumer demand for their goods to rise in the near term. Respondents offer relatively positive views of the economy and say they can now make longer-term strategic plans. Just over half of executives continue to say economic conditions are now better than they were in September 2008.
Creating and producing direct mail advertising can get very expensive. But that does not mean you have to spend a fortune. You just need to know how to make the most of your dollars.
Mail to your best prospects or customers first.
Don’t drop huge quantities all at once. If you are mailing 50 letters to sell more to your best customers, 250 cards to convert first-time buyers to repeat buyers, or thousands of pieces to find qualified prospects, it’s all direct mail, it is measurable and accountable.
Maximize your return. Whenever you invest in postage to communicate with your customers, increase your yield on that investment by also asking for referrals, offering an incentive for new product ideas, direct them to a special page on your website or give them a “Yes or No” option to respond (Yes, I’m ready to buy now … No, I’m not ready now but I do want to stay informed about new products and services).
“Pass-along”. Increase your total exposure without increasing your costs. Ask the recipient to give your mail piece to an interested friend or co-worker. Make sure to provide some kind of a “thank you” for doing it and create a way to track this response too.
Make the postage stand out. Use a different looking stamp or indicia to gain reader interest and attention.
Stretch your budget. Use a more expensive printed mailing piece to your best customers or prospects and less expensive postcards to your secondary targets.
Effective direct mail does not have to cost a fortune.
Practical Ecommerce tells about Fairytale Brownies’ online sales being primarily powered by printed catalogs mailed to approximately 1.8 million households annually. Fairytale Brownies expects to gross roughly $8 million in 2009, with around 60 percent of its revenue from online sales.
“The brownie gift catalog really drives a large portion of our business. Although we do most of our revenue through online sales, a lot of those customers find us through receiving our catalog, so I think there is still a big role for the printed catalog and direct mail pieces in the ecommerce business.”
“We did a total of six mail drops in 2009, and we printed multiple versions of the catalog that are mostly cover change-outs, like the September drop had the first few pages in a Fall theme and Halloween gifts; and the next drop featured Thanksgiving; and the next drop featured Christmas. But the core of the product pages remains the same because it’s less expensive to change out just a few of the outer pages.”
“A lot of the traditional mailing strategies still work very well for us, such as renting mailing lists and prospecting names. The more catalogs you mail, the more revenue you get, you have to be very careful to mail to targeted lists that are producing positive results, or you can over-mail and end up losing money.”
The financial results of Fairytale Brownies are excellent implementations of our suggestions of ways to save on printing.
In a prescient post by Harvard Business Publishing on November 19th of last year. They shared information gathered by an Adweek Media/ Harris Poll that found that among US adults 37% say business leaders, 21% say athletes, 18% say TV or movie stars, 14% say musicians, and 10% say former political figures, make the most persuasive ad pitchmen (or pitchwomen).
Maybe you, as a leader of your company, would make a great spokesperson?
Call us 602-272-2100 to talk to us about some ideas to implement this in your next direct mail piece.
Use postcards when appropriate. They’re fast, easy and affordable to produce.
If you plan to mail a series of postcards or self-mailers, print all versions at the same time, then mail them over time. The larger your print run, the lower the cost per printed piece.
Consider printing a year’s worth of four-color “shells” or basic templates (lower cost per piece for printing), then go back and do one-color imprints of specific messages or offers in smaller quantities throughout the year.
Consider one-color printing on colored or textured paper stock or other methods to save on printing.
Try two-color printing with screens to add visual interest.
Recycle an existing brochure or catalog by using a sticker, overwrap or other way to call attention to a specific product, service or offer inside.
Reactivate interest in a catalog that’s already in your customers’ hands by mailing out a postcard with a photo of the catalog cover on it and making a special limited offer.
Reduce printing and inserting costs by making your letter double as the reply device. Print the response information at the bottom of the letter and ask for the entire letter to be returned to you.
There are no filters removing printed mail from good old-fashioned mailboxes.
Nobody likes an empty mailbox! Mail volume has decreased, a really good offer to the right person has a great chance of standing out.