February, 2010
Make the most of stable postal rates
The
"great recession" has dealt its share of challenges to the mailing
industry, and mailers are hard-pressed to find good news these days. Fortunately,
the US Postal Service delivered an early holiday present in December - there
will be no increase in first-class postage in 2010. Here
are a few ideas to help mailers take advantage of this gift:
Maintain
a laser focus on mail quality. One of the unsung benefits of the great
recession was the way it forced everyone to "reboot" their mailing
operations. Every piece of mail that went out in 2009 had to pass two tests:
was it relevant to the recipient and, if so, was it as high-quality a mail
piece as possible? Now that the economy has regained a fragile footing, mailers
must stay focused on these questions. With the tools and technologies available
these days, there is simply no excuse any more for poorly-addressed or
poorly-targeted mail.
Keep
hunting for bargains. It's great that the cost of a first-class letter remains
44 cents, but there are easy ways to knock that cost even lower through postal
discounts. If you are presorting your mail already, you are ahead of the game.
If not, consider making the leap to presort either in your own operation or by
partnering with an outsourced provider.
Don't
lose sight of the long term. Depending on the size of your postage budget, the
Postal Service's decision to hold rates can mean thousands of "found
dollars." Consider taking a portion of those savings and investing in
tools or technologies to make your operations more efficient for the long term.
As
the nation emerges from the downturn, mail retains its place as a crucial link
in the marketing and customer communications mix. Kudos to USPS for giving
mailers a new year of attractive pricing as an incentive to reinvest in this
vital communications channel.
THE TAKEAWAY: Saving money remains key. Fiscal
recovery is no reason to ditch streamlining strategies. --Source DMNews, January 2010 John Campo, VP Pitney Bowes |
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7 E-mail Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Virtually
every marketer uses e-mail, but not everyone uses it well. In fact, there are
several common mistakes marketers make in their e-mail communications
· Batch and Blast
"If you're still batching and blasting your e-mail messages to every member of
your list," writes author Megan Ouellet, Listrak's director of marketing, "it's
time to put that bad practice to rest." She suggests using event-triggered
messaging to build automated e-mail conversations or dynamic content to ensure
the messaging is relevant and of interest to recipients.
· Not Sending a Welcome Message
Sending a welcome message immediately after recipients opt in has two major
benefits, Ouellet says:
- It validates subscribers'
e-mail addresses, in case false addresses were given-hard bounces
negatively affect your reputation.
- It reaches subscribers when
they're most engaged with your brand; it's a missed opportunity if you
don't send one.
· Sending Separate E-mails Instead of a Campaign
"Stop thinking of email as a cheap way of blasting out whatever new message
comes to mind and start planning strategic email campaigns that work together
to deliver the right offers at the right times," writes Ouellet.
· Putting Important Messaging and Calls
to Action Below the Fold
Design your e-mails so the most important messages and your calls to action are
visible and prominent without scrolling, otherwise, they risk going unseen.
· Sending People to the Wrong Landing
Page
Consumers look to e-mail for its ease of use, and they expect you to make the
offers in your e-mail efforts easy to find once they click through to your
site. That means sending them to the right landing page, because if consumers
have to work to find your offer, chances are they'll simply click elsewhere.
· Not Including Social Links
A great benefit of e-mail is that it easily can be shared with others. Adding
"Share with Your Network" links for social media sites gives recipients the
chance to pass along your messages, thus reaching a wider audience.
· Treating E-mail as a Separate Channel
E-mail should be part of an integrated marketing strategy that works in concert
with social media, direct marketing, Web site, search and all your other
channels. Use a consistent strategy and messaging across every touchpoint,
e-mail included.
--Source Joe Boland, assistant editor, Target Marketing
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