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MailWays
A free newsletter offering direct mail marketing tips from
Bi-County Mailing & American Mail Communications
June 2007
Copyright © 2007
888-MAIL-888
IN THIS ISSUE
- Drip Marketing
- Power of Press Release
- Boosting Direct Mail Effectiveness
- Data Basics
- Press Box
- Our Favorite Charities
- How Are We Doing
- Hold That Thought
The Press Box
Find out what's new at:
LI Center For Business & Professional Women
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
LaMantia Gallery
Get FREE publicity for your company/organization. Send us news about your events, promotions, awards, important changes, achievements, etc. We will post the information on our website through a link in this space. Email your information
in a Word document
to Phyllis Abrams at filisa@optonline.net.
Be sure to put
“Bi-County Press Box”
in the subject field.
Deadline: the 15th of each month
This FREE service is only for clients. Space is limited. We will make every effort to accommodate all submissions. Posting will be at the sole discretion of the publisher.
Go to www.americanmail.com
& www.bicountymailing.com
Click on “Our Favorite Charities”
It's our way of supporting good people
who do good things.
Every little bit helps.
Please visit their sites.
They could use your support!
How Are We Doing?
Check out our clients' testimonials on www.americanmail.com
About Us - Direct Mail References page. We've included their company logos, as well as links to their websites when possible.
If you're a client, and would like to be listed on our testimonial page with your logo and a link to your website, tell us how we've helped you improve your business, email
HOLD THAT THOUGHT!
People who are constantly killing time are really killing their own chances in life.
Arthur BrisbaneJournalist & Editor
Drip - Drip - Drip 
A Powerful Direct Marketing Strategy
Drip marketing is a potent direct marketing tactic designed to build and sustain a steady flow of business. The strategy involves distributing different promotional/informational pieces over a period of time to customers and prospects and to subsets within these groups.
The goal: To keep your name in front of your audience so that you develop a steady flow of business coming through your pipeline. Here’s how:
- Develop a plan to contact your targets every month.
- Tailor your message to each group. (A customer you haven’t heard from in a while should get a different message from one who buys from you regularly, and prospects need a totally different approach.)
- Use a combination of printed materials (postcards, letters, newsletters, brochures, email and follow-up phone calls.)
- Deliver real value in your communications. Don’t simply promote your company. Send messages that are unique and useful. (New product benefits, tips, sales, discounts, special offers.)
- Be patient and persistent. Drip marketing works because it sends consistent, well-timed messages.
The following is NOT considered drip marketing: Returning a telephone call, making a collection call or general advertising. Drip marketing should deliver valuable, relevant information directly into your audience’s hands.
Press Releases are Not Only for the Media
If you’re a small business owner who believes the media won’t pick up a press release about your new product/service, you may be right, but the game is far from over. Press releases can, and should be sent to clients and prospects to communicate company news, new products/services, awards, accomplishments. Here are some topics worthy of press-release announcements to your audience:
- You’ve just hired an executive well-known in your industry.
- You’ve promoted a staff member to a more important position.
- You’ve created, or you’re distributing a new product/service that will have an important impact on your target market.
- One of your client’s has had great success using your product/service.
- Your company is moving to new or larger quarters.
Study Shows Discounts and Great Offers Increase Direct Mail Effectiveness
A new study by market research giant Vertis Communications shows that marketers can increase the success of their direct mail efforts by including exclusive offers and coupons.
According to the report, 72 percent of those surveyed said they have responded to a direct mail piece that included a buy-one-get-one-free offer; 63 percent said they responded to direct mail offering a discount.
Don’t Forget Your Data Basics
While direct mail can quickly adapt to changing opportunities and target audiences, success depends largely on how well you handle your data. Here are some tips that will improve your chances.
Reduce Waste – Keeping your list current, clean and accurate are fundamental to achieving your direct mail marketing goals. You should know that the latest figures show that more than 43 million Americans move every year. If you don’t update your address lists, a substantial percent of your file can become undeliverable every year. To avoid this:
- Update your data as you learn of changes.
- Clean your list twice a year using the National Change of Address (NCOA) Process.
Segment Your Database – Don’t mail everything to every customer or prospect. Segment your database. Here’s one simple way to start:
- Quantify customers’ relative value by creating a simple Recency, Frequency,
Monetary (RFM) index. Arrange your information by transaction dates,
the number of transactions and transaction amounts.
- Analyze your index to determine who your best customers are.
- Use your RFM index to tailor your resources so that you focus in one way on your best customers and in another, more appropriate way on dormant clients.