continued on page 7 Publication of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington February 2012 Vol 51 | No 2 MARKETING AdVents Which channels are attracting customers this winter? Black Friday shopping statistics offer clues. See page 11. What's New? Integrated / Multi-Channel Marketing continued on page 11 The Perils of Email Appending ...... 2 DMAW Calendar ................................ 2 President's Perspective .................... 3 Innovate and Grow ........................... 4 Social Media & charity:water .............. 5 News Notes ......................................... 6 In Memoriam: Ralph Ives ................ 7 Production ...................................................... 8 Marketing Ideas Galore ............................ 9 Quality… It’s Critical .................................10 DRT Media Time .........................................12 Mobile vs. Online Advertising ..... 13 Good Riddance ............................... 14 DMAW 2011 Rising Star ................. 15 W hether you are raising money for a po- litical candidate or charity, or generat- ing new clients for your own business, multi-channel marketing is essential to ensure you capture higher and more frequent donations or sell more products and services. Telemarketing data is still a vital touch point for many organizations. There are many phone-data sources and best prac- tices to append and use the data. Depending on your project and budget, having a conversation with your telephone-data provider will ensure you achieve your expected outcome. Chances are you have a customer, prospect, or do- nor file that already contains phone numbers. But Five Ways to Use Phone Data for Multi- Channel Campaigns BY KELLY IDOL when was the last time you updated that information? Area codes continue to change, people and businesses move, and consumers are dropping landline phones in favor of cell phones. In fact, about 17 percent of the U.S. population moves each year, and according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Na- tional Center for Health Statistics, more than one in four U.S. homes are now cell phone only. What can you do to ensure that you have accurate con- tact information? Append and verify numbers on your custom- er, prospect, or donor file. If it has been a while since you performed any data hygiene, a good first step is 48-month NCOALink® processing. This will capture moves reported to the U.S. Postal Service. If you are a consumer marketer, you W hen you are a print and mail production com- pany, new technologies can often be intimidating. Your first thoughts are often: Will we have to invest money in order to provide this service? Or do we even have the knowl- edge to operate this service? The pressure increases when your core customers are calling you asking, “Are you ready to X?” or “Do you have the capability to Z?” Of course you want to say yes and you want to continue to help your customer move forward. But you also have to balance this with honesty! The fact of the matter may be that you have simply never used the technology before and you are uncertain how to proceed. New Technology Can Be Easy, With Help! BY DAN RINALDI Looking back at all of the changes over the past few years, you start to realize that you have already suc- cessfully accomplished so much. The Intelligent Mail barcode! Track- ing Mail! U.S. Postal Service Merlin Testing! All of these subjects at one point or another kept me up at night. But one by one we have conquered them all and moved on to another challenge. In each case we’ve found that we can quickly tackle new technolo- gies if we take a few easy steps: 1) Be honest and realistic! Every- body involved must understand that this is a new technology and we need to be patient with one another. Don’t be afraid to tell even your customers that you are learn- ing as you go.
Transcript
continued on page 7
Publication of the Direct Marketing Association of WashingtonFebruary 2012 Vol 51 | No 2
Marketing AdVents
Which channels are attracting customers this winter? Black Friday shopping statistics offer clues.See page 11.
What's New?
Integrated / Multi-ChannelMarketing
continued on page 11
The Perils of Email Appending ...... 2DMAW Calendar ................................ 2President's Perspective .................... 3Innovate and Grow ........................... 4Social Media & charity:water .............. 5News Notes ......................................... 6In Memoriam: Ralph Ives ................ 7Production ...................................................... 8Marketing Ideas Galore ............................ 9Quality… It’s Critical .................................10DRT Media Time .........................................12Mobile vs. Online Advertising ..... 13Good Riddance ............................... 14DMAW 2011 Rising Star ................. 15
W hether you are raising money for a po-litical candidate or charity, or generat-ing new clients for your own business,
multi-channel marketing is essential to ensure you capture higher and more frequent donations or sell more products and services. Telemarketing data is still a vital touch point for many organizations.
There are many phone-data sources and best prac-tices to append and use the data. Depending on your project and budget, having a conversation with your telephone-data provider will ensure you achieve your expected outcome.
Chances are you have a customer, prospect, or do-nor file that already contains phone numbers. But
Five Ways to Use Phone Data for Multi-Channel CampaignsBy Kelly Idol
when was the last time you updated that information?
Area codes continue to change, people and businesses move, and consumers are dropping
landline phones in favor of cell phones. In fact, about
17 percent of the U.S. population moves each year, and according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Na-
tional Center for Health Statistics, more than one in four U.S. homes are now cell phone only. What
can you do to ensure that you have accurate con-tact information?
Append and verify numbers on your custom-er, prospect, or donor file. If it has been a while
since you performed any data hygiene, a good first step is 48-month NCOALink® processing. This
will capture moves reported to the U.S. Postal Service. If you are a consumer marketer, you
W hen you are a print and mail production com-
pany, new technologies can often be intimidating. Your first thoughts are often: Will we have to invest money in order to provide this service? Or do we even have the knowl-edge to operate this service?
The pressure increases when your core customers are calling you asking, “Are you ready to X?” or “Do you have the capability to Z?” Of course you want to say yes and you want to continue to help your customer move forward. But you also have to balance this with honesty! The fact of the matter may be that you have simply never used the technology before and you are uncertain how to proceed.
New Technology Can Be Easy, With Help!By dan RInaldI
Looking back at all of the changes over the past few years, you start to realize that you have already suc-cessfully accomplished so much. The Intelligent Mail barcode! Track-ing Mail! U.S. Postal Service Merlin Testing! All of these subjects at one point or another kept me up at night. But one by one we have conquered them all and moved on to another challenge.
In each case we’ve found that we can quickly tackle new technolo-gies if we take a few easy steps:
1) Be honest and realistic! Every-body involved must understand that this is a new technology and we need to be patient with one another. Don’t be afraid to tell even your customers that you are learn-ing as you go.
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Deadline for registration: 48 hoursbefore the event, space permitting.Registrations received after thatwill be charged the onsite rate and are subject to space availability. Cancellations must be received 48 hours in advance. No-shows will be billed. Register online at www.DMAW. org.
3rd Thursday of every monthDMAW Monthly Luncheon Series 12:00 - 2:00 PMSEIU 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NWWashington, DCMetro: DuPont Circle
February 16How to Successfully Position and Design Your Organization's Online BrandPresenter: Dina WasmerPresident, Incite Creative
April 192011 Index of National Fundraising Performancepresenter: Carol Rhine, Target Analytics, a Blackbaud Company
Young Professionals Networking Happy Hour
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 5:00 pm – 8:00 pmRFD, Chinatown
Wednesday, May 9, 2012Cross-Channel Marketing Symposium8:30 am – 5:00 pmGannett/USATodayMcLean, VA (Tysons Corner)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012List Bazaar Summit8:30 am – 4:30 pmThe Heart HouseWashington, DC
Wednesday, June 27 | 5:30 - 8:30 pmThursday, June 28 | 8:30 am - 4:30 pmSocial Media SummitCapital Conference CenterArlington, VA
1st Tuesday of every monthAnnapolis Direct Marketers Social Club6:00 pm - ???McGarvey’s Saloon & Oyster BarAnnapolis, MD
August 7-9, 2012 7th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising ConferenceGaylord National Hotel National Harbor, MD
CaleNdar
A mong other things,
the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 pre-vents marketers from sending un-solicited emails to those with whom they do
not already enjoy an existing relationship. Moreover, the law also makes clear that you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law by hiring another company to handle your email marketing. If your name and logo are in the message, it’s your responsibility, legally speaking.
But …You should note, however, that there are no restrictions against a company email-ing its existing customer base or anyone who has inquired about its products or services, as these messages are classified as “relationship” messages. If you decide to email customers or qualified pros-pects, though, be prepared to provide proof of the relationship in the event of a complaint. Penalties for non-compli-ance with CAN-SPAM are quite steep, as each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000. Each one! Anyone who has worked in the email marketing business almost certainly has firsthand knowl-edge of lawsuits, both real and frivolous, against both marketers and list owners.
Append, Yes, But Caveat MittensThis brings us to email appending. Over the past four or five years, a plethora of companies has emerged offering or claim-ing to offer this service. Email appending essentially refers to the act of merging a database of email addresses with a marketer’s existing customer or qualified-prospect list to add email as an additional point of contact. In other words, email ap-pending takes advantage of a huge loop-hole in CAN-SPAM that enables marketers to send commercial emails to existing customers or prospects with whom the marketer has a pre-existing relationship -–
even though these recipients have never opted in to receive email communications from the marketer. As such, email append-ing is a gray area and, not surprisingly, is fraught with risk. In other words, caveat mittens, or sender beware.
Not Sure-Fire, Not Even CloseAnother issue with email appending is accuracy. Not surprisingly, append rates tend to be quite low. According to Me-lissa Data, the typical append rate is 5 to 15 percent, which, according to them, is the industry standard. And keep in mind that after you append the emails to your customer list when you send out an email broadcast, most (at least 80 percent) re-cipients won’t even open your message – and among those who do, many will opt out from receiving more in the future.So in other words, don’t count on email appending as a sure-fire way to beef up your email database in a big way. It’s a great tool for adding incremental email addresses to your house file. Period. It should not replace or supplant other tools in your arsenal.
What, Then?Now how can you reach out to those many prospects and customers for whom you don’t have an email address or per-mission to send email? This is where direct mail comes in. Indeed, for the vast majority of your customers and prospects, direct mail is the only viable channel you can use to communicate with them.
Think of Direct Mail as the Rolls Royce Of Direct MarketingOh, but direct mail is so expensive, many marketers groan. Not if used correctly. And there are many ways you can contain costs. On the data side, make sure that your list is properly scrubbed using stan-dard mailing services techniques, such as CASS Certification, NCOA, presorting, etc., so you can avail of the most competitive rates offered by USPS.
Additionally, just because you have 100,000 records to send to doesn’t mean you need to mail each and every one. Have you done any real analysis on your database? How many of those compa-nies have filed for bankruptcy? How many don’t pay their bills on time? How many don’t fit the profile of your ideal
The Perils of Email Appending
By RIo longacRe
continued on page 14
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dMaW executive Committee & Board of directors 2012
Executive Committee President—Hilary Baar The Lukens Company 703-845-8484 ext. 296 [email protected]
DMAW Executive Director Donna Tschiffely, [email protected], fax 703-481-DMAW
PrEsiDENT's PErsPECTivE
DMAW Marketing AdVents: (ISSN 0896-4742) is published monthly by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, Inc., 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon VA and at additional mailing offices.
Postmaster: Send address changes to DMAW Marketing AdVents, 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501; email [email protected] • website www.dmaw.org
T he start of a new year is always very busy for the DMAW Board of Directors. This year, however, launched with a bigger bang than usual.
By HIlaRy BaaR
You may have noticed that the board elections were moved up from December to November. This will be something we continue in subsequent years. This slight shift in board elections allows us to get the new board members “up to speed” before they have to hit the ground run-ning in January. Additionally, these new board members also had the opportunity to participate in the annual board retreat. Not only does the board benefit from ad-ditional input on strategic planning, but the board retreat also served as a great training session for the newest members.
This year’s board retreat was a full day packed with idea generation and stra-tegic planning for our committees. Our “ice-breaker” exercise served as a great analogy to DMAW. We were given paper clips and asked, “What else could you use a paper clip for besides holding papers together?” There were a lot of interest-ing answers, including earrings, a zipper pull, as a way to repair a torn hem, and to pick a lock (hmmm). DMAW and a paper clip may not have a lot in common in functionality, but in the same way that we took a fresh look at paper clips, we also need to remember to take a fresh look at DMAW in terms of how we deliver benefits to our members. And, the paper clip exercise had another layer –- many different types of paper clips were included, some plastic, some
oversized, some in the shape of a circle -- but all had the same objective (to hold pa-per). The analogy here is so spot on with DMAW. We all represent different sectors and functionality within the direct mar-keting community. But, in the end, we are all focused on the same thing – response, response, response!
And, as your DMAW board we are also focused on response –- response to our programmatic events, response to the articles contained in this publication, and response to the continuation of your membership. During the retreat, we dis-cussed all these items and more! Program-ming is always a top priority because de-livering relevant and timely content to our members is a key part of our mission. The process of delivering great programs is a lengthy one from securing speakers and locations to providing this information to our members. I will share with you that we are already in the midst of the develop-ment of the Q1 2012 sessions. We are also looking at adding other types of programs to the mix in 2012 – including webinars. And, programming will also take the look of social events because we’ve heard from members that these networking events are needed and welcomed.
So, please keep those comments coming in! And, as your board, we’ll keep looking at other ways for DMAW to deliver for you!
2 0 1 2 C r o s s - C h a n n e l M a r k e t i n g S y m p o s i u mMay 9, 2012 | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PMGannett/USA TodayMcLean, VA (near Tyson’s Corner)
Is your organization using cross-channel marketing to successfully reach and retain customers, donors, or members?
If the answer is "not as effectively as you could be," then the DMAW Cross-Channel Marketing Symposium is a great opportunity for direct marketers in every sector to learn best practices and current techniques. there will be something for everyone to learn!
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L et’s face it, inno-vation is
not what imme-diately comes to mind when you think of fundrais-ing. We work in a mature market in a mature medium and, as industries
go, fundraising is fairly risk-averse. I think the best practitioners –- that includes nonprofits as well as service providers –- could be described as fast followers. We copy. We copy a lot. However, my concern is that copycat strategies, while safe, do not build any type of brand differentiation for our clients and their missions.
Frankly, it isn’t hard to brainstorm new ideas. The issue becomes whether those ideas create significant innovation and real competitive advantage, and the hard part is making the process sustainable.
At Barton Cotton, we believe that that you need to try a lot of things (and accept that some things will not work). And so I thought I would share with you a process we are using to not just generate new ideas but get them into a review process and then into the marketplace.
Let’s start with a FedEx practice. Innova-tion is part of their DNA; they created a new market more than 30 years ago when they began providing next-day delivery service. All employees are tasked with innovation, but they also have a cross-dis-cipline team aimed at identifying emerg-ing customer needs and technologies. Likewise, at the 3M Company, it was dur-ing his “innovation time” that a scientist developed the unique glue that created the Post-It Note®.
At Barton Cotton we have created an In-novation Initiative led by John Thompson, our chief creative officer, to help develop new fundraising ideas and products. Our innovation process features two teams, the Red Team and the Blue Team,
innovate and GrowBy RogeR HIyama
comprised of members from across our company –- including those in production (meaning they know what the equipment can do); those who talk to our clients (they know our clients’ preferences and desires); those who watch what mailers are doing (strategists); those who know how much everything costs (purchasing); and, of course, the creative people who bring ideas to life. We created two teams for two specific reasons. Namely, we wanted to have two independent groups that would “ideate” differently because of inherent group dynamics, and, more importantly, we wanted each team to “vet” the other group’s ideas in an objective yet critical manner.
Our innovation process is built around refining ideas and separating personal fa-vorites from the process. We start with the traditional brainstorm regulated by five simple rules:
Rule No. 1: No idea is a bad idea.Rule No. 2: Nobody can say “We tried that once and it didn’t work.”Rule No. 3: Quantity of ideas drives the brainstorming sessions.Rule No. 4: Have fun!!Rule No. 5: No cell phones or smart-phones allowed!
Both the Red and Blue teams have sepa-rate brainstorming sessions. Their ideas are documented and then go to the second team for vetting, culling, and en-hancement. The updated list then goes back to the originating team for further input. The surviving ideas then go back to the other team for the all-important execution considerations like pricing, positioning, and efficient production. The idea then goes to the executive team for
approval. As part of the process it is im-portant to identify internal and external obstacles/threats so that the approving team is well informed.
In order to get as many things into the marketplace as possible, it is also impor-tant to test as fast as possible. We are proponents of the fail-fast process – test fast to get feedback and then determine if there is potential to rework or reject. Ad-ditionally, because we run the process in duplicate (by having two teams), we are potentially generating twice the number of viable ideas.
We realize that sustainability is a key part of making innovation part of our culture. We believe that our Innovation Initiative will help formalize our process in a man-ner that focuses on bringing the best ideas to market quickly. All too often great ideas die because there isn’t a strong vet-ting process or, more importantly, a “re-finement” or “execution” step embedded in the process.
In 2011, Barton Cotton’s fundraising divi-sion experienced over 50 percent growth. To continue on that path for years to come, we’re confident that our Innova-tion Initiative will generate new ideas and products that will help us sustain our suc-cessful growth. In the past two months, we have successfully implemented three new product tests that we’ll be able to read very soon. Stay tuned!
Roger Hiyama, president of the Barton Cotton fundraising division, has more than 28 years of successful database marketing and agency experience. He can be reached at [email protected].
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MMS Advent2 1/9/11 9:21 PM Page 1
I heard a fascinating talk by Paul
Young recently. Paul is director of digital en-gagement for charity:water, a nonprofit orga-nization bringing
clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
This charity is going gangbusters. In five years, they funded more than 4,000 proj-ects serving more than 2 million people around the world. They raised more than $10 million dollars through 60,000 donors in their first three years of existence. And the astounding thing is, charity:water spends only $0.08 for every $1 raised!!!
This is an amazing testament to the power of social media and the power of one man’s vision. Scott Harrison, a former pho-tojournalist, founded charity:water after taking pictures of sick people in Liberia for two years. Harrison’s goal was to create his own transparent charity that put 100 percent of public donations to work.
Its donor base includes millionaires and kids. One recent heart-warming donation success story came from a birthday cam-paign, which NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff wrote about recently in an article about a very special girl named Rachel Beckwith. Kristoff wrote:
“Then, when she was 8 years old, (Ra-chel’s) church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organi-zation called charity:water. Rachel was aghast when she learned that other chil-dren had no clean water. So she asked to skip having a ninth birthday party. In lieu of presents, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to charity:water for water projects in Africa.
CAsE sTUDy
social Media & charity:waterBy donna BaIeR SteIn
Rachel’s ninth birthday was on June 12, and she had set up a birthday page on the charity:water website with a target of $300. Alas, Rachel was able to raise only $220 — which had left her just a bit disappointed.
Then, on July 20, as Rachel was riding with her family on the highway, two trucks col-lided and created a 13-car pileup. Rachel’s car was hit by one of the trucks, and al-though the rest of her family was unhurt, Rachel was left critically injured.
Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page — charitywater.org/Rachel— and dona-tions surged past her $300 goal and kept mounting. As family and friends gathered around Rachel’s bedside, they were able to tell her — even not knowing whether she could hear them — that she had ex-ceeded the $47,544 that the singer Justin Bieber had raised for charity:water on his 17th birthday.”
Check out the website: https://www.char-itywater.com. It’s a gorgeous, engaging website devoted to an extremely worth-while cause. In September 2009, the non-profit also launched https://www.mychar-itywater.org. In its first 11 months, 2,800 people started campaigns to celebrate their birthdays and other special events. They helped raise $3 million, at an aver-age of $1,000 per personal campaign.
These are phenomenal numbers! Scott started his nonprofit after promoting high-end fashion and other events. He then faced what he calls “spiritual bank-ruptcy.” What a terrific job Scott has done changing his personal focus to serving others!
Donna Baier Stein is a direct marketing copywriter with 30 years’ experience in generating millions of dollars for clients like CITRIX, The Nature Conservancy, Times-Mirror, IBM, Hallmark, Smithsonian, Time-Life, GEICO, AARP, and many others. She is the creator and current presenter of DMA Copywriting Seminars at national and international corporate and academic organizations, as well as the author of books, columns and articles on copywriting and writing, and an award-winning short story writer, poet, and novelist. Reach Donna at [email protected].
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NEWs NOTEs
with membership cards that are environmentally friendly
Go “green” …
MEMBERSHIP CARDS ONLY, LLC1-800-77CARDSFor more information, visit our new website: www.earthkards.com
Level 1 EarthKard Go “green” without spending any more money than for traditional cards!
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• David Cordell Cich died suddenly on Saturday, December 24. Dave worked as a provider of database services to non-profit organizations, retiring from Saturn Corporation in 2010. Dave was a longtime DMAW member and volunteer. He and his wife Judy worked on the prejudging preparation for the MAXI program for many years. Barbara Armentrout, former executive director of DMAW said, "DMAW owes a huge debt of gratitude to Dave for his hands-on help, his wonderful smile, and his willingness to do more than was asked. We could not have made it through MAXIs quite a few times without Dave and his lovely wife Judy.” Dave Wallace, DMAW president in 1990, echoed the sentiments of many who had worked with Dave over the years. “Dave's passing makes me so sad. I have known him for at least 40 years. He was always a very positive and funny guy socially, while quite professional in a business setting. I am honored to have known him.”
• Austin Kiplinger received a Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from The Writer’s Center. In a Gazette.net in-terview in which Kiplinger was asked if he had been “destined for journalism,“ he said, “I was determined, not destined … the heroes of my young life were great ed-itors and authors… my main [interest] was always reporting, editing, and writing.”
• Allison Porter has been named presi-dent of Avalon Consulting Group. Since co-founding Avalon with Ann Herzog in 1997, Porter has played an integral role in Avalon’s growth and development. She is recognized across both the nonprofit and fundraising industries for her direct marketing expertise, creative fundraising strategies, and integrated, multi-channel approach to client programs. Herzog will remain involved as chair of the board and will continue to consult on special proj-ects. Visit www.avalonconsulting.net.
• DMW Direct hired Catherine (Cathy) Carleton as director of data analytics and Sean Clark as senior art director. Carleton served most recently as director of data-base marketing at Yellowbook. Clark was
creative director at Strata Company, where he was responsible for daily administra-tion of the art department. In other news, DMW Direct has won five MarCom Awards, administered and judged by the Associa-tion of Marketing and Communication Pro-fessionals (AMCP). Visit www.dmwdirect.com.
• Three Dog Logistics was listed by the Baltimore Business Journal among the top 10 fastest-growing private firms Around Baltimore and named to the 2011 Inc. 500-5000 list of “Fastest Growing Private Com-panies” for the second year in a row. Also, Three Dog president John Kennedy was among the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalists in Maryland. Contact [email protected].
• Dan Smolen, author of Tailoring the Green Suit, was interviewed for PM Network. Smolen was quoted in the December 2011 issue discussing how project profession-als can benefit from sus-tainability. Visit www.thegreensuits.com.
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Ralph Newland Ives, 95, died December 14. One of DMAW's earliest leaders and a lifetime member, Mr. Ives served as president in 1961 and was named DMAW Man of the Year in 1965 (an honor later renamed Professional of the Year and, more recently, the Award for Distin-guished Achievement in Direct Marketing.)He served as President in 1961, and was a life-time member.
He had been vice president of sales for McAr-dle Printing Company, retiring after 30 years of service.
Upon learning of his passing, Professional of the Year Sherry Marshall (1997) wrote, “I re-member him as a true gentleman who always had a kind smile and a funny joke.” Sherry helped gather other remembrances, including these comments:
“Word of Ralph’s death is not happy news. But his life was. And I’m inestimably proud that
he shared a small corner of it with me.” – Kate Petranech, 1981 DMAW President
“Ralph Ives, such a gentlemen, such a gift to a then-young DC direct marketer to be honored to know.” – Ginny Daly, 1983 DMAW President
in Memoriam: ralph ives, A True Gentleman
Ralph and
Gunny
Family and friends celebrate Ralph's 90th birthday at the Wayside Inn in Middletown, VA
“The wedding of Dottie and Jim is one of my best memories of my early days in Washington. I remember how nice Ralph looked that day and what a good friend he was to so many people. A true gentleman.” – Jean Gianfagna, 2003 Profes-sional of the Year
“Ralph was a friend, a mentor and best man when I married Jim. One could not ask for a nic-er human being. I’ve been missing him for some time – but it is sad to know it is now permanent.” – Dorothy Kerr, 1971 Professional of the Year
“And I will add my voice to the chain. For many years I knew Ralph mainly as someone to see at DMAW events. Then, five or six years ago, the CART group had a 90th birthday party for him at a place near Winchester. I got to sit next to him and [his wife] at that lunch and got to know what a fun, knowledge-packed and cool guy he was. That’s how I’ll think of him as I lament his loss.” – Denny Byrne, 2007 Professional of the Year
Phone Datacontinued from page 1 (top)
may want to consider adding Proprietary Change of Address (PCOA) processing. Only 65 percent of consumers report their change of address to the Postal Service, and you can capture an additional 5 to 15 percent of moves by using PCOA. If you do the math, you may find that retaining those additional customers or donors is well worth the investment.
Once you have updated and cleansed postal addresses, the next step is to run a phone append. Depending on your budget, you can use premium direc-tory assistance data or standard white pages data. Premium will give you an added lift in matches and accuracy as it includes new connects and disconnects, and is updated daily.
Another consideration is the “confi-dence” level of the match. Do you need a match on exact name and address, or is a match to an address sufficient? Your data provider can advise you on the options for confidence-code match levels that will provide the best results. Confidence coding also allows you to customize your touch points and mes-sage based on the confidence level.
Make sure you are not calling cell phones without permission. Flag cell numbers and get permission through an-other touch point for permission to call or send mobile messages.
Do you have missing information for your customer or prospect? You can fill in the blanks so you can communicate effectively whether you are missing a complete address, a phone number, or complete name.
Another telephone number resource is new connects, available for both consumers and businesses. Reaching new movers and new businesses first can provide you with a big advantage. New connects are available within 24 to 48 hours of the phone connection and are an excellent resource for “must have” services.
Enhance records with a pre-built model to target and segment records effectively. Relevate offers Response Performance Indicator (RPI), a model that effectively scores records into one of 10 deciles. Decile one records are more like-ly to respond but less likely to pay. De-cile 10 records are less likely to respond, but more likely to pay. Depending on your offer, you may wish to segment
offers by using RPI or a model offered by your data provider.
Two last considerations when you up-date your phone data:1. Delivery: How would you like to receive your data? Do you need real-time sub-sec-ond response during online transactions, delivery on a regular schedule, or simply on a project-by-project basis?2. Remember that unless your organization is exempt you must subscribe to the FTC National Do-Not-Call Registry and provide your SAN number to your data provider so that phone records can be scrubbed prior to delivery. Depending on the state in which you are calling, you may need to sub-scribe to individual state DNC lists as well.
Communicating via phone continues to be an important component of multi-channel campaigns. Make sure you have the best contact information possible before you start your next marketing or fundraising project.
Kelly Idol is vice president regional sales at Relevate (formerly Telematch), with over 20 years experience developing custom-fit data solutions for associations, universities, financial services companies, market research organizations, and others who need to communicate with customers, constituents, and prospects through accurate and current data. She currently serves on the board of the Potomac Chapter of the American Teleservices Association. You may reach Kelly at [email protected].
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AMi Direct...• Data Management • Printing • Personalization • Direct Mail • Convention Bag/Kit Assembly • Logistics • Special Projects and Programming
30+ Years Experience Experienced, Knowledgeable Staff Meticulous Production Accurate, Timely Results Personalized Service
Our success is mutually intertwined with our clients. You will find AMi to be an excellent business partner who dedicate our employees and resources to achieving your goals and objectives.
T hese days, we no
longer ask, “Should we market through multiple chan-nels?” but rather, “Which channels should we market through, and how
often?” Simply providing attractive printed collateral pieces or promotions doesn’t work anymore. The array of confusing me-dia choices and higher expectations has changed the marketing landscape.
Use Data Better: Today, marketers need to be more efficient in utilizing data-driven marketing programs. Winning the response requires examining personal
Multi-Channel? Don't Ask if, Ask When and How Much.By mIlt oleKSon
motivations and matching them with cre-ative graphic communications. Leveraging your data to target the right prospects, communicating your value proposition, and integrating your campaigns build opportu-nities that direct mail alone can’t achieve.
Technology Is Just the Beginning: How-ever, creating an integrated multi-channel campaign takes more than technology and an understanding of how to use it. As with any traditional direct mail campaign, integration takes strategy and planning. Ac-cording to an academic study described in the Journal of Marketing’s article, “Enough is Enough! The Fine Line in Executing Mul-tichannel Relational Communication,” by Andrea Godfrey, Kathleen Seiders, and Glenn B. Voss, customer response to email, phone, and direct mail promotions varies with volume. When an organization exceeds its market’s “ideal level of communication” in a given marketing channel, not only does consumer spending decline but attitudes sour, driving customers away from a com-pany instead of toward it.
How Much Is Too Much? How can you cre-ate the right mix of mediums? Determining just how many text messages, phone calls, and emails you can send before turning off your customers requires careful test-ing and analysis of your audience. Are your
customers and prospects tech-savvy? How do they contact you? How do they prefer to be contacted? What kinds of information do you have for your customers (phone, email address, mobile phone)? What response are you asking for? Reaching out multiple times through multiple channels is a smart way to keep your organization and its message fresh, but first study how your market wants to be marketed to.
Direct Mail Is Still the Fundamental In-gredient: With so much technology to play with—including smartphones, QR codes, websites, and personalized URLs—it would be easy to forget or minimize the impor-tance of direct mail. Don’t. Direct mail remains a tried-and-true method, a highly accepted form of communication that helps organizations attract new followings and serves as a springboard for other mediums and technologies. As stated in Print in the Mix, Volume 4, Issue 1, printed material “gets shoppers in the store,” and “digital tactics reinforce and reward loyal shoppers.”
Milton “Milt” Olekson is president & CEO of AMi Direct, a top-notch direct-marketing service provider located in Alexandria, VA. AMi has successfully partnered with non-profit, commercial, and governmental clients since the early 1970s. AMi provides data management, fulfillment services, print and logistics management, personalization, mailing services, convention bag/kit assembly, special projects & programming, and more! You can reach Milt at 800-663-2415 x122 or [email protected].
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Y 2012D MAW tried a very successful and
clearly popular meeting idea at its recent Associations Day
by transforming the lunch into a produc-tive, practical part of the training. Each table was tasked with determining their associations’ best breakthrough market-ing ideas of the year and then presenting those ideas to the whole group.
Carolyn Spaw, marketing director at the Urban Land Institute, called an invita-tion to a highest-member-level event “our most successful method of outreach to lapsed members.” Carolyn explained that ULI offers exclusive, high-end program-ming in conjunction with its semi-annual national conferences that includes a study tour, information session, and network-ing reception with top-shelf bar and hors d’oeuvres. “We send a letter from our CEO as well as a formal invitation reminder,” she said. “In October, we had an over-whelming response of almost 500 mem-bers in Los Angeles, and several members of lower levels even heard about the pro-gramming and upgraded on site in order to attend.”
Bill Carney, executive director of the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain, reminded attendees not to forget the fax machine. “In the past couple of years, with the proliferation of emails and the tendency for busy people to keep their
phones on voicemail, I’ve found that if you really want to get someone’s attention, send them a fax!” Carney said, explaining that messages sent by fax are so rare they command attention. “This is particularly true for healthcare professionals and oth-ers who do not sit at a desk all day with ready and continuous access to the com-puter,” he added.
Cynthia Rosso, marketing team leader for the National Association of Elementary School Principals, shared “1+1= 42,000,” their group’s new take on a member-get-a-member strategy using social media. Cynthia said the low-cost and relatively low-maintenance program uses postcards, email, social media postings, articles, and ads to send members to a web page where they can register their commit-ment to participate and access ideas and resources to help them recruit new mem-bers. Participants can win one of five valu-able prizes, ranging from full registration at the annual conference or a year’s dues to a $100 gift card.
Becky Rice, marketing director for In-side NGO, presented “speed dating” (or more accurately, speed networking) for new participants, which offered them an opportunity to meet each other as well as board members, authors, and other member dignitaries. Betsy explained, “The speed networking we introduced this year was a success because it gave participants a predetermined window of time to focus on networking, which is something partic-ipant surveys showed is a very important element of any conference for the mem-bership (largely solo and small-practice attorneys)… It gave newer members and first-time participants a less intimidating way to meet new colleagues, so they felt more engaged overall.” Inviting board
members, authors, and other special members expanded networking outside the usual circles, she added.“It became so popular, people didn’t want the session to end and requested additional timeframes for speed networking at future annual meetings.”
Raylene Kershaw of Marketing General, Inc., discussed a new-member kit for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association that matches membership-campaign language to member type and identifies the benefits of membership in a passport format. Raylene said the new kit “has helped reinforce the value of membership and builds on a finding of the annual MGI marketing study that established that on-boarding practices have among the high-est correlation with improved retention.”
Polly Karpowicz, director of the Ameri-can Political Science Association, touted a plan to subsidize graduate-student memberships. “APSA, on a whim, sought sponsorship for a subsidized graduate-student membership to encourage stu-dents to become more familiar with the political science profession, sample the benefits of association membership, and ultimately, to encourage students to con-tinue their membership when they enter the profession as faculty,” Polly explained. “APSA shares the cost, but the student qualifies for one-year of membership under this program, and the department may sponsor an unlimited number of students.”
Joel Poznansky is the publisher of Association Trends and the president of Columbia Books & Information Services. Reach Joel at 301-875-5644 or email [email protected]. Reader bonus: Joel has arranged for DMAW members to visit the Association Trends website for a complimentary look at the full article with photos, as well as other association-related material published there. Check out http://www.associationtrends.com/dmawlunch.
Marketing ideas Galore from DMAW Association DayBy Joel PoznanSKy
“The CMO job has changed, so I’m more of what I’d call an activist CMO. So probably much to the agency’s chagrin, I will write my own
copy on occasion. As you have all of these different touch points with consumers, it’s harder to integrate everything you’re doing. ...You’ve got to have points of integration inside, and sometimes that ends up being me.”-- Subway CMO, Tony Pace (Ad Age)
Seen and heard
“There are three basic types of marketing people in an organization, and where the CMO fits in depends a lot on the viewpoint of the CEO,” says McCombs School of Business Professor Vijay Mahajan, who has studied the CMO phenomenon extensively. “You’ve got marketing, sales, and communications; they are not all the same, obviously. How the CMO is positioned within the organization has a tremendous impact on his or her power to influence major decisions in the firm.”-- Texas Enterprise, “Chief Marketing Obstacles” by David Wenger, May 2011
“While email marketing can be highly effective, employing an email-only strategy is both limiting and shortsighted. Contrary to popular belief, direct mail is not dead yet. In fact, direct mail remains a highly effective and powerful tool in every direct marketer’s arsenal—and is not going anywhere anytime soon.”-- Rio Longacre, How Target Marketing, November, 2011
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T he cross-media
market is dy-namic, growth-oriented, and a major contribu-tor to the future of the printing industry. In-foTrends recently
completed a study entitled “The Evolu-tion of the Cross-Media and Marketing Services Provider,” which surveyed more than 280 print service providers (PSPs) to understand the current state of cross-me-dia and the evolution taking place in the graphic communications market. The first key message is that service providers as a community understand the critical impor-tance of getting into cross-media services. Of the 285 total respondents, over 58 per-cent are currently offering some level of cross-media services.
The second key message is that compa-nies taking a leadership posture in cross-media are growing revenue from both cross-media as well as expanding digital print. Respondents offering cross-media services indicated that offering cross-media marketing services increased their digital printing volume by an average of 13.7 percent.
Participating in the More Lucrative Cross-Media Revenue StreamThe marketing executive is the key decision-maker in cross-media services. These marketers are facing a number of challenges in the transition to cross-channel marketing, from strategy to design and deployment to tracking and measurement. The sheer scope of the
cross-channel marketing model and new innovations make it difficult for marketers to keep up.
Marketers are reaching out to their tradi-tional print service providers and agency partners for assistance. To date, they are primarily doing this selectively for specific functions. No single partner fits the bill for a wide range of services.
During an October 2010 study entitled “Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Mar-keting Opportunity,” InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketers. These respon-dents reported working with a number of different external service providers to ex-ecute cross-media marketing campaigns. Almost 42 percent of respondents work directly with a commercial printer. Over a third of respondents reported working with an advertising agency, a direct mail-er, or a graphic design firm. Since market-ers work with commercial printers and agencies the most, it would make sense
Quality… it’s Critical to the selection of a Cross-Media services Provider
By BaRB Pellow
that these service providers are well posi-tioned to offer new cross-media services to their existing clientele.
The key question is this: What selection criteria are essential to the marketer? How do service providers move to the top of the list so they can participate in the more lucrative marketing value chain and the incremental digital-print revenue associ-ated with cross-media services?
Barb Pellow is a group director at InfoTrends. She helps companies develop multi-media strategies that ride the information wave. She has been a senior marketing executive at a number of different digital-print centered organizations including Xerox, IKON, Indigo, and Kodak. She also held the Gannett chair in integrated publishing sciences in Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) School of Printing Management and Sciences (SPMS). She started her career at in IBM’s Data Processing Division. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and a recognized author as well as ongoing contributor to the Océ WOW! Monthly Newsletters. Sign up for these newsletters and more of her articles by visiting www.OceWow.com.
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New Technology Can Be Easycontinued from page 1 (bottom)
2) Get help! We are vendors for our cus-tomers. We also have a team of support-ing vendors ourselves. They have vested interests in our company advancing in new technologies. Involve them in your task and simply ask them for help.
3) Proceed with caution! Find a way to test your work. I’ve found that most people want to help you succeed and if that means helping you double-check your work, they are happy to help.
Here are a few examples of how we were able to conquer new technology on the fly.
We had just recently heard that the post office was going to offer a 3-percent dis-count for mailers printing a QR codes on their mailing. Later that very same day, our customer calls and asks if they could participate in the sale for their upcoming project scheduled two weeks out! We’d never printed a QR code on a mailing, but of course we wanted to help. First, we told them this was new to us and we would need some time to make sure we had it done right. Of course they understood as it was new to them as well.
Secondly, we contacted the companies who support us. The company who pro-vides us our laser printing software was very helpful and supportive. They assured us that we could laser a QR code image with no issues. Lastly, we printed samples and brought them right to the post office so they could advise us and test them. Thanks to a patient customer, some sup-portive vendors, and the post office test-ing we were able to print the QR codes and mail on time. The customer gained a discount and used the technology successfully.
A few months ago we were asked: “Can you personalize a variable image of a state for each record?” Sure enough it was a test for an upcoming mailing on schedule. Each record would have a small image of their state next to their address on the envelope. We knew that we could assign a graphic image to each record. We also knew that we could print the image on our inkjet. But we had never actually put the two together and accomplished what the cus-tomer was requesting.
Again we were very upfront about our ca-pabilities. We told them that we thought we could, but had never actually done it. We worked quickly to contact the com-
pany who maintains our inkjet equipment and software. They explained to us how to link the image files with the records. We found reliable “clip art” site that could supply us with acceptable images of the 50 states. From there we used some of the custom-ers sample data to produce samples for them. Once they received these samples they were confident that we could pro-duce the mailing. This was a new idea for them and it was a real success for us to produce the mailing.
In each case, we were confronted with a fear that we would not be able to produce a new technology. That fear subsided as we talked through each issue with our customer. We made our concerns known to them. Then we asked for help from companies who were in business to help us. Lastly, we took whatever steps were available to test our work for accuracy. Hopefully the next big technological chal-lenge is coming up soon. I know we are ready!
Daniel Rinaldi is senior account manager at SMS Direct, which has been serving the Washington, DC, nonprofit market for 27 years. SMS Direct is a full-service print and mail production company. Daniel has been at SMS Direct for 16 years. He can be reached at 703-392-0123 x 225 or [email protected]. Visit SMS Direct at www.smsdirect.com.
The following are among 26 Black Friday tidbits offered up by HubSpot. Why these? Because, in the aggregate, these trends broaden our understanding of the scope and shifts required in today’s integrated/multi-channel marketing universe.
What’s New: shopping statistics spotlight the Trends
1 Almost 85 percent of retailers will send an EMAIL TO CUSTOMERS about Black Friday deals, up from 80 percent last year. (Source: Shop.org)
2 Twenty-six percent of those surveyed planned to SHOP ONLINE on Thanksgiving Day. (Source: Deloitte).
3 Nearly three-quarters of RETAILERS will use FACEBOOK pages to reach out to shoppers, up from 57.1 percent last year. Only half of retailers will utilize their website’s home page to promote Black Friday deals. (Source: Shop.org)
4 More than 74 percent of frequent online shoppers plan to look for ONLINE COUPONS and COUPON CODES this
year, compared with 63 percent last year. (Source: Offers.com)
5 SOCIAL MEDIA will play a big role in consumer behavior, with 17.3 percent monitoring retailers’ Facebook pages. (Source: National Retail Federation)
6 Half of all shoppers surveyed plan to keep track of holiday sales and promotions via ADVERTISING CIRCULARS throughout the holiday season.
For more tidbits, read the HubSpot blog post titled “26 Mind-blowing Black Friday Statistics.”
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S o you want to produce
a direct-response TV commercial to sell your product or raise money for your charity. At some point, you’ll face the decision
of how to buy media time, where to buy it, and when to schedule it.
Unlike many media buyers, here at The Media Mix we don’t recommend buying DR short-form commercial time through a traditional ROS (run of schedule) plan. For those who may not know, ROS is unallo-cated advertising time that the television station “fits into” other programming. Nat-urally, ROS’s lower rates are constructed to reflect the uncertainty of when a segment will air.
So does ROS have its place? Yes. But the ROS option also has clearance problems. Too often, advertisers are counting on direct response returns daily and are hearing “the schedule didn’t clear” or “the schedule got bumped out.”If someone tells you that it’s no problem because you aren’t paying for it, that usually doesn’t fly. You’ve got product to move and people to pay and call center staff waiting by the phone and inventory to control. You had a budget because you wanted to spend the money … and pro-duce sales.
It boils down to this: While we can’t share all our planning and buying secrets of the trade, our greatest success in direct response media buying is to build a suc-cessful model by testing and then expand. (As a direct marketer, no doubt you “get that,” right?).
Start with the BasicsLay a base of paid position programming
in carefully selected programs (by time period) to “anchor” the buy. Thorough research and “win-win” negotiating skills are needed in working with sales reps to achieve a balance between the most effi-cient buy and one that will air as planned. Many factors come into play: timing, inventory load demand, seasonality, nego-tiating experience, budget levels, volume buys, etc.
Lead-time factors play an important role, as does your media buyer. The timing of when the buy is negotiated versus when it will air factor in. Often a longer lead time is best, though sometimes a short turnaround will fall when lots of inventory is available, etc. An experienced media negotiator will know how to judge this and when is the right time to “order” the schedule.
It’s important to research VPH (viewers per household) and demographic ratings to take advantage of audience skewing of programs (age, gender).
Also, buy efficient ROS schedules to fill in and work with the stations to clear as many units as possible. Use strict make-good requirements and act quickly to re-place the weight lost when bumped. Even if it cannot be replaced that week, having placed a base schedule, you know the phone will ring everyday you air.
When feasible, build opportunistic funds into your budget to give buyers the flex-ibility to act quickly on “a great deal” that needs to be decided within 15 minutes. Called fire-sale inventory, this sometimes occurs when an advertiser pulls their spots and cancels at the last minute. Other times a station or network is count-ing on a network special selling out. If it doesn’t, they are scrambling for advertis-ers. Buyers who can be highly flexible are in for some substantial bargains.
The Buying PlanBegin testing efficiency of media in spot television markets; smaller cable net-works; and national syndicated program-ming offerings. Look for opportunities that:1) Are efficient against your target demographic;2) Are smaller and less expensive;3) Represent your national market;4) And are geographically diverse.
CPM (cost per thousand) efficiencies can best be determined during testing. Media is sold on the basis of audience impres-sions it is expected to deliver. However, markets are not comparable in their per capita pricing. Some television markets are just not efficient and should not be used during testing. You pay a premium to reach their audience … and you should not be paying a premium at this stage. Audience size and demographic makeup of a spot television market are used to de-termine cost efficiency. In testing, we can readily see the CPM goal that produces an effective cost-per-sale ratio. We translate program or ROS costs into CPM goals. If a program doesn’t fit into the criteria, we don’t buy it. If none of the programming offers fit into our proven “model,” we don’t buy the station … or perhaps the market. There are too many options available to ever “need to buy” any one program, any one station, or any one market. Work with someone who has their fin-ger on the pulse of your direct response results. We require daily log times and request both pre-logs and post-log clear-ance reports. We can tell immediately what’s working and what’s not. With daily review of the Call Center Report we know if spots are clearing and meeting our CPL criteria. We know if a program, time pe-riod, network or market is viable … and can respond quickly.
Advanced TestingOnce you know the model works, you can select three test markets at one spot-load level and another set of comparable test markets at different levels to determine patterns in your Cost Per Lead rates.
Testing of “High Spend Levels” and “Low Spend Levels” are invaluable. With a work-ing model in place, you can also then test different price points if there is any ques-tion about product pricing.
In summary:• Test at each point in the process.• Set up control systems and procedures.• Shore up areas that need attention early.
Linda E. Yarbrough is owner of The Media Mix (www.themediamix.com), a national media planning and buying company. The Media Mix touts a unique approach to buying direct response short-form commercial time. The system produces 30-to-300 percent better results than many traditional DR buys. The Media Mix also offers Direct Marketing Web Solutions and SEO. Reach Linda at 817-910-9000 or [email protected].
How to Buy Direct response Television Media TimeBy lInda e. yaRBRougH
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T he vast new profit
streams of the mobile world can become an im-portant opportu-nity for direct re-sponse advertis-ers. The creation of successful
mobile campaigns requires a combination of the knowledge that has already been accumulated in the world of result-based online marketing together with a thor-ough understanding of the differences, limitations, and options provided by the mobile platform. Here are some issues to consider:
Early StageResult-based marketers have only recently begun to expand into the relatively unde-veloped mobile realm. The scale is much smaller than online, and there is little data available regarding the whys and hows of campaign success. There are few reliable measurement technologies -- including only limited tracking -- and CPA/CPL pric-ing methods are rarely employed. The situation is similar to the early days of online advertising -- a decade ago -- when tracking results and ROI were new and unfamiliar concepts. However, as hap-pened with online advertising, mobile is developing into a profitable channel based on the principles of measurement and accountability.
Unique ConsiderationsUnlike the online environment, mobile presents an ecosystem that contains a mix of device types and operators -- creating a greater challenge for mobile marketers. To optimize their campaigns and achieve maximum ROI, direct-response advertisers
Mobile vs. Online Advertising: Leveraging the Differences for Maximum Mobile Profitability
By InBaR cHaP
need to focus on these diverse param-eters, ensuring optimal campaign delivery through the addition of multi-parameter optimization layers.
Controlling ROI through TechnologyMeasurement is possible in mobile adver-tising but still at an early stage and can be found on only a few network platforms. Even pixel implementation, a standard method for measuring results in online advertising, is not easy to integrate into mobile platforms. However, new solutions enable the management of mobile met-rics in ways similar to those used in the online environment.
Conversion Tracking enables a view of the entire campaign value chain as well as all aspects of the process, helping to achieve control and ROI in mobile campaigns.
Unified Reporting consolidates campaign data into a single, unified report that includes real-time knowledge of specific creative/landing page and publisher performance.
Customizing the CreativeMobile marketing requires: matching the creative to the device’s smaller screen size; designing messages for creative and landing pages that are short, instantly un-derstood, and effective; creating a call-to-action with minimum steps and a simple registration form; and selecting correct ad formats.
Surprising Results from the FieldMobile campaigns are yielding excellent results. According to a recent report by performance-based advertisers running both online and mobile campaigns --- for the same product, advertised in the same country --- both their click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates were higher with mobile advertising.Note: For the CTR results, a possible explana-tion is the smaller number of banners com-peting for the users’ attention (usually only one per page). For conversion rates, it’s likely a result of mobile’s shorter user process.
Pricing ModelsWhile online advertising provides multiple pricing options -- including CPA, CPM, CPC, dCPM (dynamic cost per mille), and hybrid -- mobile advertising options are decidedly more limited. The low/no risk CPA and CPL are still relatively rare. While this is another manifestation of mobile’s
early stage, in the final analysis, these are only pricing models for buying media. What is of more importance is the fact that results can be effectively measured and high ROI can be achieved, even with mobile’s limited range of pricing models.
Maximizing Limited TrafficMobile has both fewer advertisers and more limited traffic. Most publishers have not yet completely transitioned to using a separate or integrated ad server that is fo-cused on today’s mobile user. Also, many publishers have not yet incorporated technology to track and properly deliver content to mobile users, and therefore of-fer only limited exposure for advertisers. However, volumes can be maximized by supporting WAP, smartphones, and a wide range of devices.
SummaryBy enhancing existing online skills with an understanding of online/mobile differ-ences, advertisers can effectively create new channels of profitability and expand their reach into the mobile realm. Visibility and control achieved over the entire mo-bile campaign will allow selection of the best media sources and creative for each campaign, enable the right choices, and help to rapidly achieve ROI goals.
Inbar Chap is the CEO of DMG (DSNR Media Group). DMG is a global provider of result-based online and mobile advertising solutions. Utilizing proprietary technology and methodologies -- and aggregating media for significant global reach -- DMG delivers a complete campaign value chain optimization from impression to conversion. Reach Inbar at [email protected].
Non-PC Devices Cover the Net
A growing amount of Internet traffic is originating with non-PC devices (TVs, tablets, smartphones, and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules). In 2010, only 3 percent of Internet traffic originated with non-PC devices, but by 2015 the non-PC share of Internet traffic is predicted to reach 15 percent. PC-originated Internet traffic is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 33 percent, while TVs, tablets, smartphones, and M2M modules will likely see growth rates of 101 percent, 216 percent, 144 percent, and 258 percent, respectively.
Source: CiscoVisual Networking Index
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customer? Do you know what your ideal customer even looks like? Maybe you need a Customer Marketing Profile creat-ed for you? These are all important ques-tions you need to be asking before you send out the mail.
Today’s Direct Mail Is All About TechnologyAbove and beyond the data, another important thing to keep in mind is how direct mail has evolved in the age of the Internet. Today’s direct mail is not the
same as your grandfather’s or father’s – it’s grown up. Over the past 10 years or so, several fantastic new technologies have emerged that improve mail tracking (Intel-ligent Mail barcodes), response rates (1:1 communications with variable data print-ing), and connecting direct mail seam-lessly to the Internet (personalized URLs or pURLs) and the mobile channel (QR codes). All of these cool new technologies have breathed new life into the channel, giving it staying power in a multi-channel world.
It’s Not Your Father’s Direct MailGetting back to the issue of cost, direct
mail may be more cost effective than you think. In fact, I used to work for a B2B technology company that sold hybrid marketing automation and campaign management software. We tried to rely on email as much as possible, but at the end of the day we discovered that the cost per lead was far closer than you would ever imagine when comparing direct mail and email. In fact, when factoring in lead qual-ity, we sometimes found that direct mail campaigns had better ROI in the long run.
Rio Longacre is principal consultant, sales & marketing solutions, Dun & Bradstreet. Rio blogs at tobeggardescription.wordpress.com. Reach him at [email protected].
C orpo-rate case
studies are a fix-ture of the sales process, particu-larly in business-to-business (B2B) situations. But they’re also a rat’s
nest of wordsmith-ing, approvals, and CYA disclaimers. For-tunately, social media is putting them out of business.
The traditional value of corporate case studies has been peer validation. Refer-ence accounts are a critical part of the B2B sales process, and the willingness of customers to put their imprimatur on a product or vendor has traditionally been as good as gold.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of cor-porate case studies are terrible. Getting clients outside of the government and nonprofit spheres even to agree to them is nearly impossible. Multiple outlines and drafts are usually required, and once the legal and public relations depart-ments have taken turns eviscerating them of any potential negativity, what’s left is little more than saccharine nonsense. Like the children in Garrison Keillor’s Lake
Good riddance to the Corporate Case studyBy Paul gIllIn
Wobegon, corporate case study subjects are all above average.
Prospective customers know this, and that’s why they’ve never taken case stud-ies very seriously to begin with. In the age of search, blogs, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they now disregard them entirely. Who needs carefully crafted testimonials when they can contact real-life customers and ask the questions they want answered?
These aren’t the kinds of questions you’d ever read in any corporate case study. They’re questions like:
• What alternative products did you con-sider and why did you make the selec-tion you did?
• What was the negotiation process like and how much did you end up paying?
• How good is customer support?• Was the vendor deceptive or evasive in
the contracting process?• What don’t you like about the product?• If you had to do it over, what would
you do differently?
Today, it’s easy to find answers to ques-tions like these. Have a look at the topical discussion groups on LinkedIn and see how many questions relate to people’s experiences with or recommendations of products and services. Touchy questions are easily taken offline, and customers are more than willing to freely share their experiences in the expectation that others will do the same for them.
Yet the traditional corporate case study, with its sanitized language and endless approvals, perseveres. Why? I think part of the reason is corpo-rate communicators’ unwillingness to
acknowledge that the rules have changed and that they no longer control the mes-sage to the market. The reality is that their customers can now easily find each other or share their opinions anonymously via third-party ratings services. So how about rolling with that new reality instead of fighting it?
Some new technology companies are beginning to challenge the corporate case study tradition. They’re adopting a slimmed-down, just-the-facts approach that provides a few basic bullet points and assumes that prospects will contact their most enthusiastic clients. They may have less control over the message, but nobody really believed the message in the first place.
Instead, they’re spending their time culti-vating their best customers, giving them incentives to share their experiences and making them easy to contact. The idea isn’t to control the message but to make it as simple as possible for prospects to reach the people marketing wants to reach.
The corporate case study is a 20th-century artifact that isn’t long for this world. I won’t miss it a bit.
Paul Gillin is a writer, speaker, and online marketing consultant. He specializes in helping business-to-business marketers use social media and quality content to reach customers. His books include The New Influencers (2007), Secrets of Social Media Marketing (2008), The Joy of Geocaching (co-authored with wife Dana in 2010) and Social Marketing to the Business Customer (co-authored with Eric Schwartzman, January, 2011). Paul is a veteran technology journalist with more than 25 years of editorial leadership experience. His website is gillin.com and he blogs at paulgillin.com Reach him at [email protected].
eMail Appendingcontinued from page 2
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Publisher : Direct Marketing Association of Washington, 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501 website www.dmaw.org.Executive Director : Donna Tschiffely, [email protected] Editor : Nancy Rathbun Scott, Liberty Communications, 703-496-3259 [email protected]: Terri Jones, 703-471-4902Production StaffDesign: Liberty Communications, 703-496-3259Printing: Mount Royal Printing,Marketing AdVents is published monthly by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington to bring its 1,300+ members news of DMAW’s varied activities and information of professional interest, including postal-related news. Columns, such as in this and other issues, represent a vital member service. Members with industry-related educational information they wish to share are encouraged to submit articles. A helpful memo explaining guidelines for features is available from the editor.
FAST-ACTION DIRECTORY
DMAW Headquarters email: [email protected]: Nancy Rathbun Scott, Editor, 703-496-3259, FAX 703-310-7640, Email: [email protected] Advertising: Terri Jones, 703-471-4902 [email protected]: must be related to DMAW events; contact DMAW Headquarters to inquire or schedule.Job Exchange: Submit by email to [email protected]; you will receive a reply confirming cost prior to posting. Deadline for print version is 15th of month preceding publication; electronic version posted to website within 24 hours. Cost: MEMBERS: "positions sought," free; "positions available" at $100 for first 50 words. $1 for each additional word. NOT-YET-MEMBERS: $200 for first 50 words, $1 for each additional word.[Note: If the nonmember advertiser chooses to join for $199 for 12 months, then the ad being placed and all subsequent ads are billed at the member rate, plus the advertiser receives print and electronic copies of AdVents and all other benefits of membership.]News Notes: Send to Nancy Rathbun Scott, Editor. Items of professional interest or significant personal news about members.Deadline for Articles and News Notes: 15th of the second month preceding issue date (e.g., deadline for May issue is March 15).DMAW Educational Foundation: Send correspondence or charitable donations to DMAWEF, 4414 Walsh Street, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; Attention Karen Depew, Executive Director; [email protected]
Erin Price, DMAW’s Rising Star, was honored at the Best of Direct cere-mony on December 1. We asked Erin
to give us her outlook on direct marketing. Here’s what Erin told us.
1. As DMAW’s 2011 Rising Star, we’re interested in your view on what it takes to build a career in direct mar-keting today. What can you tell us? It takes drive and determination. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the oppor-tunity to do direct marketing for a variety of causes that I am truly passionate about. Being able to wake up everyday and know that your work is doing good is a great feeling.
2. How would you describe your typi-cal day at a busy and growing direct marketing agency? I would say there is no typical day. Every day presents new challenges and keeps me on my toes. Its great because I hate to be bored.
3. If somebody you knew were sched-uled to graduate in five months and wanted to go into the direct marketing field, what counsel would you have for them?
I would tell them to look toward nonprof-its and agencies for opportunities. There are a lot of great internships out there that can help lead to a career. And of course it never hurts to become involved with the DMAW early on.
4. Staying on top of technol-ogy changes in direct marketing is a challenge for all of us. How do you approach staying educated and informed about what’s happening in the industry? This is such a fast pace industry and the technology is always evolving. In order to stay on top of it, I really rely on the DMAW to keep me informed of changes and ad-vances. The DMAW monthly luncheons are a particularly great forum for learning and socializing with peers in the industry.
5. Nobody accomplishes what you have without help. Whom would you like to credit in your career path so far? I have had quite a few amazing mentors throughout my career. I particularly want to thank all of the strong women mentors who have taught me so much about how to carry myself and grow my career. They have been a true inspiration to me.
