In today’s frenzy to broaden our marketplace, reinforce our brand and reach out to new prospects using the web, e-mail and a rapidly-growing array of social media (all high-priority initiatives for our company and most certainly many of the companies we serve), I found it particularly refreshing to see an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the effectiveness, staying power and familiarity of direct mail as an irreplaceable piece of the overall marketing effort.
WSJ Article - Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing (1/12/2010)
Eric Anderson, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, says in the article that “…business owners are trying to figure out how to integrate Web marketing—such as email campaigns, banner ads and social-networking sites—with direct mail. ‘The introduction of new media has forced [business owners] to go back and revisit the whole playbook on what’s the best way to communicate with customers.’”
Recently, we began our own integrated campaign to introduce our Trade Customer Discount Program to printers and mail centers, starting with a direct mailing that included several print samples of our products available online (something you just can’t convey with electronic media) and offering a deeper-than-trade discount for all orders placed in the first month after account registration, along with the web address to our registration form. Following up with an individual e-mail message from our CEO thanking each registered contact for joining us, reminding that contact about the “reward” (the deeper discount) for taking immediate action and inviting questions/feedback about our site and services deepens client engagement and interaction, as a majority of those clients respond to the follow-up e-mail and place orders.
In future blog posts, we’ll continue to explore meaningful ways that print and direct mail enhance web, e-mail and social media marketing efforts and keep you posted on how we are doing with our own integrated efforts.
Most successful businesses are extremely competitive. Their views are long-term. They are innovators and early adapters. These organizations know that in order to stay competitive they must leverage every tool available in their sales, marketing and distribution toolkit. Leading organizations in their respective space also realize that everything they do has to be customer centric and focused. This means that our business success depends on the value we provide to our clients. Customer engagement and satisfaction means everything.
Web 2.0 is as much about business perspective as it is about technology. With the emergence and adoption of Web 2.0 strategies, customer interactions are dynamic and collaborative. Web 2.0 leverages social networks and media, chat, blogs, wikis, content management systems (CMS),folksonomies, videos and the like. Customer acquisition and retention strategies are empowered with the ability to communicate with our customers the way that they want to be engaged. Conversations are duplex. There is however one major omission or potential disconnect with the Web 2.0 model, that is print and fulfillment.
Print 2.0 goes beyond traditional concepts and connects a customer’s virtual world with the tangible. Print 2.0 allows for highly personalized communications with prospects and customers. No more “Dear valued customer” correspondence. With variable data and on demand printing building even stronger personal relationships with customers is a reality. In this model print extends web functionality and one to one communications. Prospects and customers can have in their hand, on their desk, their kitchen or coffee table brochures and mailings that are personalized. Information on these print communications can include name, previous purchases, up-sell and cross-sell offers all based on the customer’s individual profile and history. With these strategies your business is able to increase customer loyalty and increase sales dramatically.
Our new blog will discuss business best practices. We will show you how to improve your sales and profitability with solid proven methods. SuperEZprint.com will provide examples of how leading companies achieve spectacular results in all ways, not just with print. We will talk about new and innovative approaches and ways of thinking. Our approach will be inclusive of both process and technology. We invite your feedback. Tell us what you think. Tell us what you would like discussed. Thank you.
