Here's a current customer upsell piece we just completed for eBay Motors using digital variable printing and a clear poster tube. Note that the entire piece was printed digitally on both sides, so each version was fully customized to the recipient.
We personalized the target's name and company name in the piece and rolled it so it shouted right out of the tube to the recipient. They couldn't ignore this one! And in fact they didn't call volume shot up 25% when we dropped this.
I don't typically recommend digital variable printing for any quantity over 10,000 unless I believe the response rate will be so significantly more to justify the additional expense. As digital printing is cheaper than going on press for small runs, but it has a pretty even cost per piece rate while there are gigantic economies of scale when printing much larger quantities.
Note that my 'breakeven rule of thumb' was 5,000 last year and this number has increased as digital printing presses improve and the cost drops.
You spend a lot of money attending a conference or trade show. From the booth to travel, attendance fees and dinners in Vegas. The events are full of prime targets and you want to reach them, but so does everyone else at these shows. Everyone is screaming for attention before, during and after the show. So how do you break out of the crowd?
Before the last DMA show, I had two boxes overflowing with direct mail pieces sent to me before the show. As I was busy getting ready for the show, I only read two pieces. One was a innovative three-dimensional piece, the other was a brown paper lunch bag mailed via USPS.
We try to remember this lesson when designing trade show direct mail for our clients. We also try to ensure at least one of the following: a great offer, 3-D design that will stand out from the pack, and using personalization to attract attention.
Here's one we did for Intuit's Portfolio Minder product at a conference for Personal Financial Managers. Every year, Intuit attended this conference and gave out a free copy of their Quicken software. But they didn't promote it. If you've ever attended one of these conferences, you will know how many pieces of mail you get both before and after the event - begging you to come to their booth. We decided to make the free product give-away the star. And then used digital variable printing to stand out from the pack (notice the headline: 'John, come to booth....')
Here's another one we recently completed for eBay. They wanted to get Dealers to sit down with them at the conference. So we created a robust package that included a save the date card similar to the one you get at the dentist. The recipient could call an 800# to make an appointment and write down the details on the card. Then instead of carrying a bunch of collateral around the event, they just carried the card in their wallet. We sold out of spots before the event even happened!
The piece unfolded to tease the reveal
And here's a third one we did for Torani Syrup. Our Client, Torani, the maker of flavored syrups, wanted to introduce a new type of flavoring for industrial chefs at the annual industry trade show. We knew that most trend-making chefs are also into the music scene, so we produced a CD with songs 100% by Chefs in bands. We then sent the CD cover to attendees before hand – they had to visit the booth to pick up the CD. The CD included music by the bands and innovative recipes based on the new Torani syrup. The event was packed and we gave away all of the CDs.
"What would you estimate average Direct Mail response? .05%? 1%? Don’t you think a 2% response rate from a LIST BUY (not our own list) is aggressive?"
Oh, how many times have I been asked this question? Thousands. And here is my typical answer:
"Response depends upon your list, offer and creative - in that order. I've received a 95%+ response rate on a DM campaign. For my wedding. We had the right list 200 closest friends & family), the right offer (free food and booze), and the right creative (my sister is the wedding invite producer for the stars). I've also done successful campaigns for clients that achieved a less than 0.5% response rate. (because each sale was worth $20K)."
Asking what the response should be is asking the wrong question. You should first back into it. Figure out what each lead is worth to you. Then back into what response rate gives you positive ROI. Then you'll know whether that response rate seems achievable or not.
I went to the DMA Conference last week in San Francisco to see what was new in Direct Response Marketing. Everything I saw has been around at least in the idea stage, for several years now, the difference today is that large companies are really starting to take advantage of and push the envelope on the technology.
Blogs
6% of Fortune 500 companies now have Blogs (and so does Swirl!) and 35% plan to start one this year! One of our clients, Intuit, makes sure they have a blog for each and every one of of their products. Notice that these blogs are official, but unofficial. They are written by the engineers or product managers. They don't have to go through levels of lawyers and PR. Companies are getting real.
Wikis
User generated content is the Web 2.0 rage. It’s free, it’s honest, and it turbo-charges search engine optimization. Our clients eBay, Shopping.com, and PayPal all have their own wikis now. They use them internally (like the eBay Marketing Wiki) to share information amongst themselves, but also externally - to engage their community. Of course, the natural search listing increase doesn't hurt ;)
I get SPAM everyday. I also get emails from companies that I actually look forward too. Last minute flights to Mexico from United - Yes! Two for one dining at my favorite restaurant - Give it to me! I've signed up for these emails and I'm interested in having a dialogue with the company that is sending them. Here are some tips so you can be one of those companies.
Subject Line
Links
Offers
Programming
From Line
Content
Here are some example emails we created for Intuit's Quicken product. We were trying to get their customers to upgrade to the newest version of Quicken. Notice how many of the tips we used - not all of them of course, sometimes, you gotta break the rules (or clients ask you to).
"It depends". I hate saying these two little words, but end up saying them almost every day. So much in Direct Marketing, as in life, depends. So when clients ask me 'Which is a better: a sweepstakes or a discount' (or a rebate, or gift with purchase, or a buy one get one free, you get the idea) I have to say 'it depends'. But a little info gathering helps point you in the right direction as "it depends" upon your objectives and the the size of your audience and budget. Let's break these down:
Sweepstakes are a great way to add an incentive to a program without spending a lot of money. The problem with them, of course, is that they are far less compelling to consumers than a guaranteed return (e.g. rebate, $ off, gift with purchase, etc.). In a chance to win vs a guaranteed to save face off, consumers will always go for the guaranteed.
In addition, sweepstakes can add complexity to your message that a discount doesn't do. That is one reason that when I run a sweepstakes, I always try to make the product the prize. This helps ensure that entrants are more likely to be interested in your product and not just win a trip to Hawaii (unless of course, your advertising for Suntrips).
And finally, there are many landmines with Sweepstakes - all of which are surmountable - but can be legally challenging. You cannot make a consumer spend $ or 'work' for a chance to win. If you do, it becomes a lottery and those are only legal for our State Governments to run. This is why there is "no purchase necessary"
Net. A guaranteed savings is always going to win a chance to win in terms of response. That's why there are so many more coupons and instant discounts than sweepstakes at retail (e.g. Think of Safeway or Macys). Rebates can be more expensive, but the good news is that you only pay the rebate to people who are in the program. You only pay if you are successful!
Good Creative
Bad Timing
Best Practices for Testing
Rules of Thumb
Memorize this order. Then use it the next time you are evaluating direct mail creative. Here is the motivation sequence all direct mail (and all advertising really) should follow.
It's really that simple. So the next time you are looking at a piece of creative for feedback. Remember this list and get to it.
Here's a self-mailer we created for Intuit's QuickBooks product. As you can see, we got attention by tailored the image on the cover to match the industry of our target (in this example, Construction versus Manufacturing). We then identified the problem with the headline copy. We positioned our product as the solution to the problem on the inside of the piece, and then proved that we had the best solution with data points and testimonials. The last panel asked for the order.
Letters
Postcards
Self-Mailers
Three Dimensional Packages
Here's a Three-Dimensional Package we ran for eBay Motors. There was a map in one box and we tested it against a magic trick (that made your money 'disappear').
I've created a lot of letter packets over the years and have developed a few 'rules of thumb'. Hopefully you can use them to help you creating your own successful direct mail packages.
Envelopes
Letters
Here's a letter we did for Heald. Showing the personalized letter and the tear-off reply card.
Here's another version of this letter that was a survey. The survey was printed on the back of the letter.
About the USPS
Ah, the United States Postal Service. Love 'em and hate 'em. It's still pretty unbelievable to me that I can ship a letter across the country for less than a cup of coffee - even with half their workforce on jury duty.
I have to say, I give them credit. They innovate. I met the Postmaster General, John E. Potter, at last year's eBay Live (our client's customer love fest event) and was very impressed. Great speaker - really gave the crowd what they wanted.
Anyway, here are some rough guidelines for you to help decifer the USPS.
I try to run a test in EVERY campaign I run. This way even if we lose, we win. We learn which variables have the greatest impact and apply results to future campaigns. Whether it is a list, an offer, or some part of the creative - I test. You should too.
One thing I've learned over the years is to never test ‘whispers’. Clients often want to test something that really won't make a difference or something that you can't rollout. Don't do it. Test only things that have a big impact. Test lists first, then offers, then creative – as this is the order of impact.
There are two types of tests, A/B and Multivariate. A/B is testing only one thing at a time. Multivariate is testing multiple things at once. Multivariate is more complex, but generates learning faster. Basically you make a grid (like an excel chart) and test one thing along the x axis and another on the y axis.
As you can see in this example, I'm testing two different lists against two different offers. I've split my 40k file into equal parts of 10k each. We then sent the direct mail piece to each cell. When the replies came in, we found that List 2 and Offer 2 both outperformed List 1 and Offer 1. In fact, the best result comes when we combine the two efforts. We will rollout our direct mail to the second list with the second offer.
Now of course, what we should really be looking at is the return on investment (ROI) from the cells (as the second list and offer may be more expensive than the first list and offer) but that is a lesson for another day.
Of course, there are always times to break the testing rules. Here is an example of one we ran for Intuit's QuickBooks Point of Sale Software. The wanted us to come up with a piece of creative they could run against another company's creative and their current control package. I'm not a fan of these types of horse races, because 1) I believe they are testing the least controlable factor (list and offer being first) and 2) They are not letting the agencies learn from the past.
You can get samples of competitor direct mail ads by paying third party collection services.
Direct Mail:
Web:
Email:
The number one factor to direct response success is your list. Send an offer for snow tires to a Grandma in Florida in Summer, and you have zero chance of success. Send the same offer to a Canadian who drives a four wheel drive and who last bought tires a couple of years ago, and your chance of success jumps.
There are two types of lists: House Lists and Rental Lists.
House Lists
Most companies have customer, lead, and/or prospect information in a database and want us to maximize the revenues from these people. These lists are free to use, but this internal data gets old quick.
We can fix a lot of these data issues by running our lists through NCOA (National Change of Address), FASTforward, and CASS. Most mail houses will do this automatically to help you save money. Also, don't forget to run your list by your "Do Not Mail" File and check for duplicates before you mail!
Rental Lists
There are many lists available to us –both compiled and subscription lists. Compiled lists are summary lists from multiple sources. Subscriber lists are lists directly from one source (e.g. a magazine). Some lists are better than others. That is why we test them against each other. We once found that ~30% of eBay’s prospecting list was junk.
Each list has a total Universe Size and a Base CPM (cost per thousand) of about $50-250/ thousand names. But this Universe can be narrowed through selections (such as number of employees). These selections increase the list rental expense.
About Data Cards
Each list source has a corresponding Data Card. These Data Cards include additional information on the list source(s) and information on available selections and the additional expense related to that selection. Unfortunately there is no standard selection criteria and the selections available vary by list source.
Did you hear about the recent Agency / Auto Account debacle? It appears that a local agency ran ads with the wrong phone number. I can't blame them, this has happened to pretty much every agency. Luckily, we have Joppo's Production Tips to save us. A former producer once created this list of production tips to help our creative and account people ensure that we don't face the same fate. For your own good, follow his advise.
{FName} {LName}
{Address}
{City}, {State}, {ZIP}
It's funny. Although the most important factors that contribute to Direct Mail or Email Success are the list and the offer, 90% of your effort will be focused on the creative. Trust me.
So, here is my cheat sheet, if you will, of rules that I'm reviewing while reviewing creative.
Direct Mail Sample
Here is a sample Direct Mail piece that we created for Intuit for their ProSeries Tax software. Our target was tax professionals. Notice the Kraft envelope that looks like something the IRS might send you. Also, the tear off reply card that is pre-printed with the mailing address (so it shows through the outer-envelope and ensures that the contact information comes back correct so Intuit can fulfill the offer and ensure 100% tracking.
From a MarketingProfs Article.
Everybody's a Winner in Car Promotion
Thursday, July 19, 2007 14 :49 PDT Roswell, N.M. (AP)
--Everyone's a winner after a direct-mail marketing company hired by a local car dealership mistakenly sent out 50,000 scratch-off tickets to residents — all
of them declaring the ticket-holder the $1,000 grand prize winner.Just one of the tickets was supposed to be the grand prize winner.Jeff Kohn, Roswell Honda general manager said a typographical error by Atlanta-based Force Events Direct Marketing, which printed the advertisment, had given all 50,000 scratch-off tickets grand prizes.
"Unfortunately, they missed it in the proofreading," said Kohn, who was able to stop an estimated 20,000 direct mailers from being sent.
Kohn said the dealership is "making a full-faith effort" to investigate the mistake, which he said is "not how we portray ourselves or our community."
In a statement, Force Events apologized "for any inconvenience this may has caused car shoppers in the Roswell market" and asked that any questions and concerns be directed to the company.Force Events representatives are expected to be in Roswell on Thursday to sort out the mess, Kohn said.
Meanwhile, the names, addresses and phone numbers of "winners" who arrive at the dealership were being taken down. Kohn said they will all be invited back to the dealership."
At this point, I don't know what exactly the company's solution is going to be," Kohn said. "We are not sure how Force Events is going to handle this matter. That's why they are flying out to Roswell and that's why I'm taking down people's names."
