As a #nonprofit, you know the importance of personalized #directmail. Most likely, you are already personalizing your #mailers by the donor’s name, giving history, and often household income. But are there other data points that could help? Here are some exciting statistics that, while they may not all apply to your organization, illustrate how important it is to know as much as possible about your donors. You never know what data might be vital to increasing their support. S

Despite the meteoric rise of digital marketing, consumers still have a love affair with #print. From direct mail to packaging to signage and in-store displays, print continues to be critical to marketers’ success. It’s not that marketers need to focus on print to the exclusion of digital media, but for best results, it needs to remain a key part of the mix. According to a recent study by Smithers Pira, the global print market is expected to reach $821 billion by 2022 (“The Fu

If you want to sell a kid a toy, invite him to play with it in the toy store. Once the child pushes the buttons, pulls the levers, and engages the gadgets, your chances of making a sale go way up. The same concept applies in print. When people receive printed pieces that encourage interaction, such as pull tabs, pop-ups, and lifting pages, they are more likely to respond to its message. If you can get them to “create” the piece themselves, so much the better. It’s why campaig

In a world infatuated with digital, print marketers have a secret in their pockets—print. Here are three reasons why print still packs a wallop, even in a digital world. 1. Digital channels aren’t as inexpensive as you’d think. Just because there isn’t a print and mail cost doesn’t mean that digital channels are less expensive than print. Digital channels have constant churn in addresses and profiles, for example, so lists require constant management and updating. Email also

Which marketing technique works better? Communicating everything to your prospects all at once, or feeding them pieces of your message over time? It depends on your marketing goals, but in many cases, the latter (called “drip marketing”) can be highly effective. Let’s look at the experience of one marketer that illustrates how drip marketing works. Three-Phase Campaign This marketer wanted to increase sales to affluent customers. To maximize response, it devised a three-phase

Want to get the most out of your direct mail budget? Want to get the maximum return on your investment? Here are five ideas that, while simple, can bring great results. 1. Be relevant, not complicated: Personalized communications do not have to be complicated to be effective. If you are a roofing company, for example, you do not need to know someone's household income, the presence of children in the home, and favorite hobbies to create an effective mailing after a wind storm

What’s Your Plan to Re-Engage Lapsed Customers? You’ve worked hard to obtain great customers, and you have an ongoing direct mail program to help retain them. But what happens if those customers stop buying from you? Do you have a strategy to get them back? Here are three reasons direct mail is a powerful tool for doing just that. 1. Unlike email, mail always gets through. Direct mail doesn’t have to worry about spam blockers. As long as your addresses are accurate, you’re go

Are you planning an event? If so, marketing needs to go beyond direct mail and email. It requires a comprehensive strategy that ensures that your audience has a positive experience and spreads the word after it is over. Here’s a checklist that you make the event the best it can be. 1. Direct mail. Consider a drip strategy: one mailing well in advance and one (or more) closer to the date to nudge them to respond if they have not already. People are busy. Get on their calendars

Is direct mail a life hack? According to LifeHack.org, the answer is yes. At least, it’s a marketing hack every company should know. Here are 10 reasons direct mail needs to be one of your marketing hacks. 1. Increases branding and keeps your company top of mind. 2. Is one of the most inexpensive, yet most effective marketing strategies. 3. Is seen by 98% of recipients the same day it is delivered. 4. Evades the spam filter. 5. Can serve a variety of marketing goals, from sh

At Lexinet, we work with the United States Postal Service every day to ship and mail thousands of pieces. Many are not aware of all the countless services offered by USPS. These services are not only valuable to us at Lexinet, but also to various other businesses and consumers across the country. The USPS has more than 200 federal laws that protect and ensure the mail they ship is trusted and secure*. This allows us and millions of others to relax and rest assured that our le

Whether you are using direct mail, email, mobile, or signage, you have likely heard people talking about the importance of the “omnichannel” experience. New data from ForeSee shows us just why this is so important. Today, the customer’s purchase journey is often non-linear. Customers may learn about your product via email but end up purchasing in-store rather than online. They may learn about your product through direct mail, and even with a physical coupon, they may end up b

When it comes to boosting response rates, there is nothing like combining direct mail with email. Even better when both are personalized. We don’t mean just personalizing by name. We mean personalizing based on customer behavior. This is referred to as “triggering.” According to Clevos, an email marketing platform supplier, using personalized, trigger-based email can triple your revenue over generic email. It’s easy to see why. By triggering off customer behavior, you make th

More and more, we are hearing about print personalization, or variable data printing, to achieve higher response rates and better ROI. But does personalizing by name, geographic location, or demographic information really make that much difference? Can’t you just achieve higher response rates with a better offer? An over-sized postcard? Or a really great design? These things do increase response rates, but they aren’t replacements for a personalized approach. Consider these r

You’ve probably heard that bad addresses can kill the ROI on a direct mail campaign. But what are the numbers behind it? Just how costly can bad addresses be? In a webinar sponsored by Epicomm, the Association for Leaders in Print, Mail, Fulfillment, and Marketing Services, the presenter told us just how much impact they can have. Mark Rheaume, national postal affairs director for AccuZIP, provided some eye-opening numbers: On average, 4% of organizations’ mailing lists are u

Looking to build or expand your mailing list? If so, you have more options than the standard approaches of purchasing a targeted list or purchasing data to append the list you already have. Here are five ways to build a great direct mail list that you might not have thought of. 1. Purchase a trade show attendee list. Trade shows attract a very specific target audience, and they generally attract the decision makers in the company. Attendee lists from key trade shows in your m

If your mailing is over-sized, personalized and relevant, it stands out. People want to read more. Here are some techniques for maximizing the effectiveness of your mailings. 1. Narrow down and target the recipients. Custom mailings can include addressing your customer and providing them with content that is useful to them. Utilizing a targeted list for these types of mailings will help you create the best message for your recipients. 2. Leverage the envelope for more marketi

There are key essentials you will need when marketing your company. Here are a few tips on pieces to complete the marketing puzzle for your business. Website- Have a professionally built, high-functioning site; it is vital to your marketing. You want your site to be user and mobile-friendly so customers can learn about you efficiently. A visually appealing, well put together, and easy-to-use site lends itself to customers trusting you and your business. Social Media- Quality

Hitting the right window can make the difference between recipients saying, “That’s me!” and the piece being rejected out of hand. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in this tale of two campaigns. Here are the similarities between Company A and Company B: Both sell snow-clearing services to businesses, schools, and other professional organizations. Both use free ice melt as an incentive to grab attention and encourage responses to their marketing messages. Both mailed sh