URLs and qr codes

One of the most popular ways of tracking your direct mail responses are through the use of URL’s and QR codes. When using a QR code or URL is it important to make a URL that is being used specifically for this campaign. For example, if you want to send people to your website use something like www.example.com/mailer instead of just your normal homepage URL (www.example.com).

Nothing needs to be visually or functionally different on this page, just the URL so you can accurately track your visits on Google Analytics or whatever other analytic site you use. Then, you can look back after you have sent our your mailer and see how many people scanned your code or viewed your site.

call-in response

Another way to track your responses is from the amount of calls you receive as a result of your mailer. If you are planning on using this method it is smart to use a designated temporary number that can be forwarded to your main office or whoever you’d like it to be sent to. This way you can set up a call tracking service to count the amount of people who call your business from the number on your mailer.

A more tedious way of tracking this can be to have your staff simply ask “where did you hear about us from” and they can keep a record. This method of course has an element of human error that may skew data.

offer codes

Offer codes are a simple, low-tech way to track your mailing campaign. All you have to do is come up with a short word or phrase that will be associated with that specific mailing campaign and ask your recipients to use it. This method allows for your recipients to choose if they want to call, email, or reach-out in person.

This method of tracking will need to be tracked in a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) service. In addition, it is important to let all of your customer service reps know that this promotion is going out and what phrase/word they should be keeping an eye out for. This method is easy to execute but can be more tedious and unreliable for tracking purposes.

Mail-back

One of the most popular ways of tracking your direct mail responses are through the use of URL’s and QR codes. When using a QR code or URL is it important to make a URL that is being used specifically for this campaign. For example, if you want to send people to your website use something like www.example.com/mailer instead of just your normal homepage URL (www.example.com).

Nothing needs to be visually or functionally different on this page, just the URL so you can accurately track your visits on Google Analytics or whatever other analytic site you use. Then, you can look back after you have sent our your mailer and see how many people scanned your code or viewed your site.

How to boost your direct mail response rate

Aside from choosing the appropriate direct mail response rate strategy there are numerous other factors that go into creating a successful mailing piece. Check our our our other posts including how to successfully design a postcard in 5 steps and the ultimate guide to variable data printing and PURLS.

Have more questions? Reach out to one of our mailing experts here.

A lot of what creates a successful mailing campaign is the frequency in which you send out mailers to re-engage with your audience. The frequency depends on a lot of factors including who you are mailing to, what you’re advertising, holidays surrounding your campaign and more.

What is direct mail frequency?

Direct mail frequency is the amount of times that a prospect is exposed to your marketing. With more exposure the more likely a prospect is to recognize your brand and follow through with your call to action. 

People get bombarded with advertisements and campaigns everyday through social media, email, text, tv, radio, etc. However, because print is tactile, you have already began to stand out from the clutter. 

While utilizing a physical communication technique already sets you apart from the crowd, you still must repeat your message in order for a consumer to take action. In fact, a consumer must see a message anywhere from 3 to 20 times before the they are ready to pay attention and take action.

finding your frequency balance

According to survey data from the Direct Marketing Association, 21 days is the optimum length of time between mailings. Of course, this is a general rule of thumb and not the perfect strategy for every campaign. 

The timing of your mailing may depend on holidays or relevant events/dates surrounding your campaign. For example, if you are selling back-to-school items  you may want to schedule your mailing to go out twice throughout the summer and once after schools have started. Or, if you are doing a direct mail and email combo campaign, you may want to send out a mailer, three weeks later an email, and then follow up with another mailer. Each campaign can be unique in ot’s timing and frequency.

All wrapped up

When it comes down to it, what is most important is that you are willing to test out different timing strategies and see what works best for your campaign. In addition, be patient with your campaign. You may not see immediate results with your first mailer but possibly two or three in you’ll see results skyrocket! It all depends on your audience, frequency, campaign structure, etc. 

When it comes down to it, utilizing any form of direct mail has already put your company at an advantage in comparison to those only utilizing digital platforms. So have fun with it, experiment and see what works best for you!

Still have some questions? Feel free to reach out to one of our mailing experts today or contact us here.

Common Types of Direct Marketing: 

Direct Mail: This is the most common form of direct marketing. Examples of these can include but are not limited to: catalogs, self-mailers, and postcards. Direct mail can be personalized, tested, and measured. You want to be sure to create the right mailing list for your intended audience, sending your direct mail to the wrong audience wastes time and money.

Email Marketing: Email marketing lets you create messages that are targeted and personalized to help form meaningful relationships with your customers. It is the process of sending promotional messages to people in mass quantities. 

Social Media: Marketing on social media allows you to know your audience and be able to craft a targeted social media campaign. Benefits to social media marketing include, brand awareness, the ability to provide fast and responsive customer service, increases website traffic, spark sales, and improve search rankings. 

Telemarketing: Soliciting potential customers to buy their product or use their service, usually marketed over the phone or through a face to face web meeting. 

Direct Selling: This is selling products directly to consumers in a non retail environment. This type of marketing relies heavily on salespeople getting in front of customers in nontraditional settings. 

What can you do to boost your direct mail marketing results?

Personalize your content, make your customers feel like you know them and their needs. Use designs and colors that will stand out and be memorable. Keeping it simple and not overwhelming tends to get you the best results. Target the right audience, you want to create the perfect mailing list that fits your business. Know what type of delivery your audience prefers. This can be tested and altered because there are a variety of ways customers will prefer to to receive direct mail. 

Why is direct marketing important?

Direct marketing helps marketers reach customers fast. It’s an efficient promotional strategy that can be customized and personalized to fit your business’ needs and the needs of your target audience. It also allows you to measure efficiency. The good thing is, there are so many different approaches to direct marketing that if one way doesn’t work you can switch to another way until you find what works best for you and reaching your customers.

Advantages of direct marketing

• Assists in building better relationships with new and already existing customers.
• Allows you to receive direct feedback from your target audience.
• Helps you determine and gives you more feedback on what is working for your target audience.

Now that you’ve read through different types of direct marketing and tips on how to improve your results, you can get started on your next project! We’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have! Click here to contact us. 

It’s obvious that direct mail is a marketing tool that should be utilized, but how do you make sure your campaign is designed to maximize return? Follow our simple steps below to ensure your marketing piece succeeds!

1. Understand the postal requirements

In order for your postcard to get to your audience, you must meet the USPS postal requirements, some basics to know are as follows:

• • At least 3 1/2”- 4 1/4″ high X 5”- 6″ long X 0.007”-0.016″ thick
  • Have finished corners that do not exceed a radius of 0.125”
  • Have adequate space for address, return address and indicia/stamp

For additional guidelines, the USPS has outlined them here.

2. have a clear call-to-action

What is the goal of your postcard? Visit your website? Use a discount code? Call your business? You need your call to action clear and easy to follow through with. Some examples of call-to-action are:

• Call XXX-XXX-XXXX to schedule your first appointment
• Scan the code to redeem your discount
• Reserve your spot before July 12th
• Download the app to start your free trial

3. relevant imagery

The images you use on your postcard need to be eye-catching and relevant. If you’re advertising a product, you should show it, if you want someone to visit your restaurant have a picture of people enjoying themselves at your restaurant.

Your image choice need to support your call-to-action while be visually appealing and relevant to your audience.

4. track your performance

Tracking the performance of your postcard is crucial in gauging your success and creating future campaigns! Using tracking information, you can tailor your next campaigns using the factors that worked and experiment with other elements to test what is more successful. There are several ways you can track your campaign:

• • Tracked phone number
  • QR code
  • Unique short URLs
  • A specific promotion code 

4. personalize

When people see a postcard with personalization, they are more likely to pay attention and follow through with your call-to-action. Personalization can be achieved through detailed databases and variable data printing (VDP). To learn more about VDP and customized mailing checkout this blog post. Some ways to include personalization include:

• • Inclusion of a first/last name
  • Differing offers
  • Differing images/designs
  • Different tracking links

Need additional guidance or want to use our design or mail team? Contact us here.

Fun facts about bella

1. In her 11 years in 4H & FFA she had the opportunity to raise and compete in shows with 7 different species of livestock, dairy and poultry. 

   

2. Bella still has many chickens from her 4H days and is a self proclaimed small scale chicken farmer. She hopes to someday acquire enough acreage here on the coast to begin an egg production operation and locally sell eggs.

   

3. She only has a few pairs of boring solid socks, as she likes to wear fun socks everyday. She has quite the selection of socks from avocados to bees and many pairs with cows and chickens on them.

   

4. Bella was the 4th place individual at the National FFA Agricultural Communications Contest in 2019 in Indianapolis out of over 100 competitors. Her team placed 2nd nationally.

Variable Data Printing, or VDP is a type of printing that allows for unique pieces to be printed simultaneously. What makes each piece unique from the next can be as simple as customizing the name that appears on the front or as detailed as alternating the images on the piece to correspond with the industry the reader is involved in. There are three main categories of VDP: basic customization, versioning, and full customization.

BASIC CUSTOMIZATION

Basic customization involves minimal differences from one piece to the next. In basic customization the name and salutation changes. No other elements including images, color, or messaging gets altered.

versioning

Versioning is essentially exactly what the name is! Versioning is made up of several different versions of a piece that is targeted at certain demographics. In versioning, the colors, pictures, messaging, etc. can all be different but everyone in a certain category or demographic that is predetermined will get the same piece.

full customization

With full customization, individual elements of the piece can be changed from one to the next. Each piece can be completely different from the next with multiple databases and criteria influencing the exact design.

variable data printing and PURLS

VDP can be used in combination with various other tools, including a PURL, also known as a Personalized Universal Resource Locator. PURLs are easier to think of as a personalized URL. The idea is that a potential client receives a VDP mail piece with a custom URL or QR code, then when they enter the url or scan the QR code they are brought to a landing page that is completely customized to them. The landing page can include the person’s name, special promotions, images and text that are all tailored to this person.

Why use Vdp and Purls?

So now that we know what VDP mailing and PURLs are, why would we chose this method over a normal mailer?

Choosing to go with a VDP mailer allows for endless customization to increase your chances of making an impression or getting a sale. In addition, VDP mailrs have shown to increase ROI. THe average mailer get a response rate of 2% while VDP mailers get an average of 6%, that’s a 300% increase!

As for PURLs it has been found that recipients are more than twice as likely to visit a PURL site versus a generic URL. In addition, PURL sites are proven to improve conversion rates, increase brand awareness, gather insights on visitors for additional marketing efforts, automatically initiate follow-up emails, and track which campaigns spark interest from customers.

Want to get your next mailing campaign started? Our design and mail experts can assist you with everything from designing VDP mailers and PURLs to putting together the perfect list of recipients!

For more information on VDP mailers click here

One of the most basic ways to increase the success of your mailing campaign is to segment your audience. Segmenting your audience is when instead of sending a mail piece to everyone, you focus on a specific audience and tailor the mail piece to them.

So why is audience segmentation helpful?

First off, by segmenting your audience, you are able to choose to send your mail to people who are more likely to buy your product or use your service. You can limit the amount of mail pieces that get sent to people who would have no interest and just throw the piece in the trash. In addition, you can tailor the message, images, or design of the piece based on what will catch the interest of certain segments. 

For example, if you are a retailer that sells all sorts of electronics, you could split your mail campaign into two segments, one being people/companies that typically buy phones and one that typically buys computers. You can then create one mail piece that focuses on the newest phones and accessories while the other shows off the newest models of computers and accompanying accessories. This way you aren’t wasting time and money advertising the wrong product or service to an otherwise interested customer. 

Four ways to segment your audience

1. Geographic: The first way you can segment your audience i through their geographic location. This can mean by state, city, zip code, or even by street and neighborhood. By choosing to segment through area, you can target your audience based on wants or needs shared in that location.

2. Behavior: This is one of the most reliable ways to segment and often gets the most responses. This way of segmenting is determined by what current customers and prospects have done in the past. Based on their past spending, how often they use your products/services, and how recently they have purchased from you. Tasking all of these factors you can cater your mail piece to each group for maximum response.

3. Demographic: This segmentation strategy includes a vast array of variables such as gender, age,ethnicity, income, occupation, and education level. By using this information you can target a product or service to these audiences based on their wants and needs.

4. Psychographics: This looks at the attitudes and values as well as interests. This is information that can be a little harder to find on an average list but can have positive results with successful mail campaigns. 

All wrapped up

Creating a direct mail campaign with targeted audiences can increase your sales, brand recognition, and overall campaign success! Need some help finding mailing lists or designing your perfect direct mail campaign? No worries, just ask some of our mail or design experts!

In an ever increasing digital world, print products are actually starting to make an even bigger impact. Online interfaces are getting cluttered with so many ads, emails, and posts, that it makes it hard to make a lasting impression. With everyone focusing on digital content, there is way more room to gain an audience with impressive print products.

Printed marketing also has a feeling of trust that digital marketing just can’t match. Why is this? Well, it’s because when we read printed text we use our deep-reading ability that allows information to sink in and trust the information given to us. So, there is already a higher likelihood that someone is going to positively react to your marketing just by printing it on paper!

By now you know a little about how important it is to include printed marketing materials into your campaigns, but what are some ways you can use print products in your marketing strategies? Check out our five print marketing ideas below!

1. Packaging inserts

Including postcard inserts to your packaging can impress your customers and increase brand loyalty. Packaging inserts allow the opportunity to customize the message you want to portray to get customers to purchase from you again. Since you know exactly what each customer has ordered you can target each packaging insert for a specific product or service they may be interested in. In addition, customers respond to brands that appreciate them, and packaging inserts are an excellent opportunity to make your customers feel special.

2. Window Graphics

How many times have you walked past a business and didn’t even give it a second glance? Don’t let that business be yours! Window graphics are a great way to stand out from other businesses all competing to get customers attention. A bright logo, an eye-catching image, or even clear business information can make the difference for a potential customer to come in or keep walking by. Window graphics are a cheap and long-term way to increase brand recognition. People who walk by your business often will find themselves recognizing your logo, colors, and overall brand, just by passing by!

3. Business cards

Business cards. The marketing bread and butter. It can seem like in such a digital age that business cards are going out of style, but their impact may be bigger than ever. As business communications are more and more online, there is an increasing distrust in brands. However, business cards create opportunities for a more personal interaction that comes off more genuine.

Business cards are also accessible ALL the time. You don’t have to worry about a bad service connection or slow loading times. They are consistently reliable and an easy way to make a positive first impression no matter where you are!

4. Notepads

Notepads a simple way to incorporate your logo, colors, and other branding materials into a nifty marketing tool. Creating a custom branded notepad for your business or organization radiates a sense of professionalism, organization, and brand pride.

Company branded notepads are not just efficient, they also reinforce brand recognition. Think of all the times you jot down a note, rip it out, and place it on someones desk, or all the times a customer comes in and needs something to write on. These are all opportunities for brand exposure. The more eyes that see your logo, the more likely people will think of your business. There’s no reason not to brand your notepads!

5. brochures

Brochures are an easily customizable and targetable marketing tool. Since brochures are usually handed out at events, meetings, networking events and more, you can easily tailor the message specifically to that audience.

In addition, if your brochure is attractive and high quality, people are more likely to keep it around for awhile, placing it on a coffee table, counter, or desk. Then every time they pass by they see your brochure and see it, they’re reinforcing your brand into their minds for when they need something you offer.

It is clear that there are so many opportunities to take advantage of when it comes to print marketing materials. Get creative and start your print project today! Need design, print, or mail help with your new campaign? Let us know and we’ll get one of our skilled experts on it!

Why use direct mail?

The average person receives around 120 emails per day! Keeping your email campaign from drowning under the ocean of other emails can be extremely challenging. That’s where using a direct mail campaign can help you out. Everyday people only receive a few pieces of direct mail, this enables them to be able to actually look though each piece of mail and take notice to what is being advertised to them.

Because direct mail is getting used less and less, people are getting more excited to check their mailboxes everyday to see what they get. Participating in this small boost of excitement can give you and your business a positive edge over all other businesses right away. 

Now that we’ve got you interested in the idea, here’s some tips to consider while planning your next 

1. consider a unique size or shape

The first thing someone notices while sorting through their mail is anything that is a unique shape or size. Just by holding a stack of mail in your hands, it’s easy to tell if there are some pieces that peak an interest. Normal postcards and envelopes are easy to ignore, but a abnormally small or large piece? What about an oddly shaped piece? Now that will stand out.

Considering what people will notice is so important!! It doesn’t matter what deals or special discounts you are offering if people don’t even bother to look at what you sent in the first place. 

2. make your design pop!

Just as important as the initial attention-getter of an interesting size and shape, is what your mail looks like once you open it! Be unique and think outside of the box. You only get a few seconds of someone’s attention, so use that time to intrigue them enough to where they want to learn more. 

Creating a unique mail item can include anything from attaching a customized business card, having an interesting fold out, including unique cut outs, or creating an interactive experience. Remember that just because you are sending direct mail, it does not mean that you cannot include other medias in the mail you send. Include a QR code that links to a video, an interactive webpage, or contest. Your options are endless, so don’t settle for an average postcard.

3. choose the right promotion

No amount of eye-catching envelopes and postcards will be effective if you are not offering a promotion, deal, or discount that is both worthwhile and relevant to the customer. Choose a deal that is special to those receiving this campaign. Make sure the offer is appealing to a wide audience so many people will find interest in what you are selling.

Through a combination of interesting visuals and a solid deal or promotion, you are able to attract an entire customer base you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to reach.

need help starting a direct mail campaign?

We can help with anything from affordable printing and mailing prices to setting you up with the right direct mailing list. Start off your campaign strong with our help. 

Send us an email, come in and see us at 2226 Beebee St., San Luis Obispo, visit prpco.com, or call 805.543.6844 to get a quote.