A Direct Mail Marketing Campaign can fail for two reasons: A weak call to action that does not entice motivation, and poor targeting in which the mailing did not drop into the right places. If 50% of an unsuccessful mailing is due to targeting, it is imperative that the direct mail piece is mailed with the most advantageous mailing routes that will deliver them the best outcome through the mailing list that is generated.

Knowing about your best customers is a key factor in targeted direct marketing. Once you understand your customers you can use this information to build a targeted list of potential new leads. Mailing lists reach people that will buy and respond, so it is important not only to know your customer but to choose the best route to reach them.

According DMNews & Pitney Bowes, close to 40% of respondents say they have tried a new business for the first time because of information received via direct mail. Nearly 70% report renewing a relationship with a business because they received a direct mailing or promotional item. Talk about return on investment! This local awareness attracts new customers and encourages repeat business.

Ways Direct Mail Can Benefit Your Company

1. Promote an upcoming event or special.
2. Announce a grand opening of a new location.
3. Customer Retention- Send out scheduled reminders to prevent inactivity, promote loyalty, and grow sales.
4. Introduce a new and exciting product.

Call Specialty to help with your Demographic Target Mailing Lists!

Every industry has a set of principles that hold true despite years of change, innovation and disruption. Direct mail marketing is no different. Although there is an expanding array of channels, when it comes to the overall marketing mix, direct mail is still fundamental to marketing. It’s the flour to bread, the grapes to wine, and the apples to pie. It is the workhorse within direct mail marketing, and it absolutely should be the cornerstone of your marketing channel strategy. These four principles of direct mail set the foundation for any successful campaign:

1. Goals:  Know what you want to sell or what your specific goal is. Before you begin any campaign, it’s important to know what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you acquiring new clients through selling a new product or service and targeting existing clients for retention?  Your goal will determine who you send to, how you craft your message and will set your overall creative direction.

2. Target Audience: Knowing to whom you’re selling is the most important fundamental to get right. Luckily, there are many great sources to get that valuable data today. Focus on the demographics and/or behaviors that fit the type of customers you are trying to attract.

3. Design & Call To Action: Creative design is what gets the prospect to open the piece and pay attention. Focus on how the mail piece looks and a call-to-action to creates a sense of urgency to your goals.

4. Track & Analyze: One huge benefit of direct mail is that it is quantifiable. Its performance is easily tracked. By constantly testing new variables and finding new ways to tweak and improve your data, message, creative, etc. you are also improving your ability to provide better ROMI for you and your company. After all, you are not living to mail; you’re mailing to live. Use this fundamental to improve how you use direct mail as part of your overall marketing efforts.

These principles of direct mail remain relevant and stand the test of time because they work. What will change and is already changing is how they will be used across multiple channels. Today there is growing evidence that tying pairing direct mail to other channels, such as email or social media, can dramatically impact the effectiveness of those channels! It will be exciting to see how this continues to unfold in the future.

Specialty Mailing is a full service lettershop that can take care of your organization’s mailing needs. We offer the latest technology in laser printing, inkjet addressing, folding, inserting, data management, and many other aspects of direct mail. We also provide the personal service you expect. We can process projects of any size, and focus on providing the quickest turnaround possible to help you reach your customers in a timely manner. When you call, you will speak with a live person, not a recording. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Specialty Mailing is dedicated to saving you money while providing superior service. For your next mailing, please call us.

“Love is in the air”… That means Love Letters are in the Air!

Jewelry, chocolate and candy are Valentine staples for your honey. -Perhaps a stuffed animal, too. But, they aren’t complete without a romantic card that exclaims your profound, undying love! Fortunately there are many written ways you can express your love and you can break the boundaries of cliché Valentine cards.  (Not that there is anything wrong with the classic card).

The most important part of a gift, card or letter on this particular holiday is the genuineness of it. Printing a sweet, tailored card is wonderful by itself. Being original and different on the delivery is just an easy way to gain some bonus brownie points.

One creative form of a love letter is to create a love note puzzle by gluing a love letter to a thin piece of cardboard and cutting it out into individual puzzle pieces, according to the Reader’s Digest article, “40+ Creative Romantic Ideas.” Mail your special someone the puzzle to put together or create suspense by mailing one piece at a time.

A second creative way is to print a custom certificate, award or ribbon for your significant other. Congratulate your wife for things such as being “The Best Wife Ever” and gal for “Best Kisser.” Acknowledge your man’s patience and understanding when you’re cranky sometimes.

Since a love letter is not something you write and send all the time, you may consider nixing the plain paper in favor of decorative stationary or paper in that person’s favorite color. Don’t forget to buy an envelope, too. Ladies, sealing the envelope with a kiss in your favorite lipstick is a great finishing touch (S.W.A.K.).

Writing these letters and cards by hand is the most personal way. If you must type it, choose a romantic font. Nobody wants a love letter in Comic Sans or boring New Times Roman.

Keep in mind that Valentine’s Day isn’t just for you lovers. Tell other special people in your life how much you love them. Do you have a younger sister who adores you? An older brother that always watches your back? A best friend who knows everything about you? The best mom and/or dad ever? Send them your love.

 

 

 

 

 

Inspiration for all: http://www.thedatereport.com/dating/love/the-10-best-love-letters-ever-written/

Extra Help for Men: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/06/27/30-days-to-a-better-man-day-28-write-a-love-letter/

“You have to spend money to make money.”

Mailing and printing services are an imperative company expense that is easy to overlook when creating your fiscal calendar for the year. Why are these services essential to your business’ success? Because, they’re great MARKETING tools! In an earlier blog we wrote (Direct Mail vs E-mail), we talked about how direct mail still makes a huge impact in marketing and that you can’t just rely on email and internet networking. Social Media can only go so far.

And, guess what? Ads that you run in newspapers, magazines, direct mail campaigns, brochures, flyers, car wraps, catalogs, give-away items like pens aren’t free as well as production costs.

How do you make a marketing budget for mailing and printing for a WHOLE year?

The first step is to review 2015. How did you do managing your finances in 2015? Hopefully you did well, but there is always room for improvement. If something didn’t really work for you, cut out that cost and focus on something that did. If you really like sending brochures, but car wraps were a bust – cut car wraps out and spend more money on brochures. Also, if something like catalogs are really working for you, invest more money and increase the margin of success. Shift the money around as needed.

You do not have to set an exact monetary amount like $1,000 for marketing. A popular method that works especially well for a smaller business is to use a percentage of your sales towards marketing. On average, 39% of small businesses use about three to six percent of sales on marketing and 40% less. Newer businesses tend to have to calculate a higher percentage into their budget because they haven’t established a name, brand or audience yet.

Free template and downloads: http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/budgeting/create-marketing-budget

Are you ready for New Year’s Eve? Make the end of 2015 memorable.

Remind your clients and customers what a great year you had in 2015 so they look forward to sharing 2016 with you.

One option is to make a collage or flipbook of Success Stories and Testimonials by clients from the year 2015. Specialty Mailing can also print high quality images if you want to highlight photos of happy customers with your products or their testaments (with their permission, of course). You can even get quotes from happy customers about how they’re looking forward to shopping with or obtaining services from you in 2016. This establishes a sense of trust and security since these people have made a commitment to your company. Sharing success stories and testimonials from your clients is also a humble way to brag about how great your company is.

Secondly, a great sales method for New Year’s Eve used by many corporations is to offer and promote “close out deals” or “end of the year specials.”  You can send coupons to everyone and/or VIP discounts to preferred customers with these limited end of the year specials. It’s also a great opportunity to clean out the stock or services you don’t want to carry into the next year.  Consumers rush to grab things that are limited and may not be available to them in the future.

The third option could be to throw a shindig! Open “houses” with snacks and a chance for networking will entice visitors to your humble abode. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.  Send your party invitations with custom postcards that have your logo on it. You could print some VIP passes or tickets to send as well. People will have to hang on to those and be reminded of your company and it also gives them a little souvenir to keep. Things like VIP passes and tickets make people feel special and elite.

Basically, shower your customers and clients with how positive the year 2015 was and show how special they are so that they roll into 2016 with continued patronage.

For many of us, writing a letter to Santa was the first letter we ever wrote as children. Christmas is a pivotal time in a kid’s life because Santa knows if you’ve been naughty or nice. Good kids get rewarded with things they want. I bet you’ve been good this year. But, how will Santa know what good kids want unless they write him? How can you make sure you stand out from the crowd and he gives you that ultimate present you’ve been eyeing all year?

Besides exemplary behavior, you can add a little pizazz and pop of color to your letter.  Pick out unique stationary, festive envelopes and top them off with holiday stamps. An eye-catching piece of mail won’t be lost or forgotten by Santa.  A little elf told me he appreciates the effort. You can also ask Santa few questions about Mrs. Claus, the reindeer or the North Pole and he just may reply!

Make sure Santa gets your letters in time. As well as other loved ones, such as family and friends, of course. Shipping Guidelines & Deadlines:

Holiday cards and packages going to military addresses in the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and all other military addresses is Thursday, Dec. 10. The U.S. Postal Service offers a $2 discount on its largest priority mail flat rate boxes for military mail.

For other international destinations, mail-by dates started Tuesday and run through Dec. 11 depending on the destination. Global Express Guaranteed service is available through Dec. 19 for most countries. Suggested mail-by dates for cards and packages destined for U.S. addresses are Dec. 15 for standard post, Dec. 19 for first-class mail, Dec. 21 for priority mail and Dec. 23 for priority mail express. More information is available online at usps.com/holiday.

Dec. 18 is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select packages to be delivered before Christmas Day. The last day for FedEx Ground delivery is Dec. 16. Both companies offer two-day and next day air shipping services.

Unless your name is Scrooge, you probably want to spread holiday cheer!

Like the old saying goes, “Out of the mouths of babes”. Nobody writes a funnier letter to Santa than a kid does. For a good laugh, check out the various hilarious letters on these sites:

Some Ecards

List25

Little Things

Huffington Post

Thanksgiving is around the corner. While it’s always important to show your clients and customers gratitude for their patronage to your business, Thanksgiving is always a great excuse to go a little over the top. You can simply send them some form of card-postcard, greeting card, etc.- telling them that you’re grateful for them and just wishing them a wonderful holiday.

OR, you can step it up a notch. You can implement a great marketing strategy to really show you appreciate your clients and customers. Why not take a chance to say “THANK YOU” with a special coupon or discount for being so great? Make them feel special and emphasize this coupon or discount is specifically for them.

It’s not imperative that they receive your thanks by Thanksgiving, but rather that you send it and it’s postmarked before Thanksgiving so the message is sincere. You don’t want them to think it was an afterthought on your part or just a marketing scheme. While it boosts your sales and services and that’s a benefit of these actions, you really are thankful for these people. You wouldn’t be anywhere or successful without them!

The designs can be intricate or simple. For a minimalistic approach, top off your mail with custom Thanksgiving stamps. A touch of holiday spirit goes a long way.

 

Thanksgiving also paves the way for Black Friday. Millions of companies participate in Black Friday and offer special products and deals. Consumers get in a frenzy over participating in one of the (THE?) biggest shopping days of the year.  It also creates a sense of urgency that Christmas is around the corner and this is the BEST time to grab those Christmas presents for your loved ones. Why not be one of those companies and cater to clients and customers.  They’re expecting it.

The holiday season is approaching fast, and mailing services are hit hard with the influx of cards and packages that are time sensitive. Here at Specialty Mailing, we don’t want you to miss a beat, which is why we’ve gathered together all the important dates you should mark on your calendars so that your holiday mailings get to their destinations in time!

Mail-by Dates (Domestic Services)

Dec. 15 – Standard Post
Ground service for less-than-urgent deliveries and over-sized packages.

Dec. 19 – First Class Mail
Service for standard-sized, single-piece envelopes and small packages weighing up to 13 ounces with delivery in 3 business days or less.

Dec. 21 – Priority Mail
Domestic service in 1, 2, or 3 business days based on where your package starts and where it’s being sent, variety of Flat Rate options.

Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express
Fastest domestic service, guaranteed overnight scheduled delivery to most locations. Some restrictions and exceptions apply. Please note, Priority Mail Express postage refund eligibility is adjusted for shipments mailed Dec. 22 through Dec. 25.

 

Mail-by Dates (International Services)
Customers mailing internationally during the holidays are advised to review the chart below for specific deadlines based on the locations they are mailing to and the service they are using. When mailing and shipping internationally, customers must also follow necessary customs guidelines.

International Mail Addressed To	Global Express Guaranteed® (GXG)***	Priority Mail Express International™ (PMEI)	Priority Mail International® (PMI)	First-Class Package International Service™ (FCPIS)
Africa	Dec-21	Dec-8	Dec-1	Dec-1
Asia/Pacific Rim	Dec-19	Dec-15	Dec-8	Dec-8
Australia/New Zealand	Dec-19	Dec-15	Dec-8	Dec-8
Canada	Dec-22	Dec-17	Dec-11	Dec-8
Caribbean	Dec-21	Dec-15	Dec-11	Dec-8
Central & South America	Dec-21	Dec-11	Dec-1	Dec-1
Mexico	Dec-22	Dec-15	Dec-8	Dec-8
Europe	Dec-21	Dec-15	Dec-11	Dec-8
Middle East	Dec-19	Dec-15	Dec-11	Dec-8

***GXG Notes: 1) Cutoff date does not take into account time needed for customs clearance. 2) Should allocate extra transit day(s) for delivery outside major cities.

To ensure timely delivery of holiday wishes by Dec. 25, the Postal Service recommends that cards and packages be sent to military APO/FPO/DPO addresses overseas no later than the mailing dates listed below.

Military Mail Addressed   To and From	Priority Mail Express Military Service (PMEMS)1	First-Class Mail Letters and Cards	Priority Mail	Parcel Airlift Mail (PAL)2	Space Available  Mail (SAM)3	Standard Post
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 090-092	Dec-17	Dec-10	Dec-10	Dec-3	Nov-25	Nov-7
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIP   093	N/A	Dec-03	Dec-03	Dec-3	Nov-25	Nov-7
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 094-098	Dec-17	Dec-10	Dec-10	Dec-3	Nov-25	Nov-7
APO/FPO/DPO AA ZIP   340	Dec-17	Dec-10	Dec-10	Dec-3	Nov-25	Nov-7
APO/FPO/DPO AP ZIPs 962-966	Dec-17	Dec-10	Dec-10	Dec-3	Nov-25	Nov-7

 

If you stay on track with these dates, your holiday cards and packages should arrive in time! Of course, mailing and shipping services cannot control the weather, which can delay traveling time. It is a good idea to get your packages and cards shipped as early as possible to avoid unforeseen circumstances that may delay your mailings.

As always, remember that those people who work in the mailing services have families and loved ones they want to spend their holidays with, too! They work hard, often long hours, to make sure your loved ones get their packages and cards on time this holiday season. Be courteous when interacting with them and make everyone’s holiday a little brighter!

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) plays a huge part in marketing all across the world.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) did not invent Direct Mail. Direct Mail was born in the late 18th century and beginning developed slowly but surely during the 19^th century. In the 20^th century, direct mail evolved and escalated quickly, thanks to the DMA.

Here are some quick fun facts about the birth of Direct Mail:

1. Direct mail was born in 1774 when Benjamin Franklin created the first American mail-order catalog that sold scientific and technical books.
2. Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out the first modern order catalog in 1872 that was simply a piece of paper with a price list and merchandise for sale.
3. The coupon was invented by Philadelphia pharmacist Asa Candler in 1895 when he offered free Cokes in a local newspaper.

The DMA has helped revolutionize Direct Mail. The Direct Marketing Association was founded in 1917 to represent the direct mail community. Its mission is advancing and protecting responsible data-driven marketing. For nearly a century, the DMA has inspired marketing professionals in their quest to learn, grow and collaborate for the betterment of the marketing industry. Today, the association has nearly 3,600 members and is the leading global trade association for all direct marketing tools and techniques. This year, direct mail represented 34% of the total advertising and marketing revenue for direct marketers. Hundreds of millions of pieces of mail are delivered every day to more than 141 million homes and businesses in the United States by the USPS.

What makes the Direct Marketing Association so successful? The association offers their members every opportunity for success through advocacy, networking, education, insight, and business services. The DMA helps consumers manage their marketing preferences and messaging. The members speak out in global debates for advocacy of marketers and the association holds events and conferences. The DMA also provides online curriculum from industry experts who apply what they teach on a daily basis. Go to their site at thedma.org to further educate yourself and learn more about direct mail.

 

Which method of marketing is better?

In the modern day and age, where people (particularly Millennials) are glued to their phones, tablets and other electronic devices, one might think E-mail would be more effective than Direct Mail.  This is not the case. The truth is both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, but what it boils down to is this: E-mail will not be replacing Direct Mail for a long time.

Recipients are more receptive to direct mail than email and will most likely spend more time reading a post card or letter than an email.  An eye-catching piece of material that a person takes out of his/her mailbox is more memorable and noticeable than another email in your inbox. It is easier to reach your intended audience with Direct Mail- you know where you’re sending the mail and who’s going to receive it. With the time and thought taken to build a good mailing list, your sales will undoubtedly increase as your materials land in the correct hands. You’re less likely to make mistakes with Direct Mail, by spending more time on the pieces, proofreading and editing copy several versions before sending it out. E-mails, while being quick and less expensive initially can be a pro, can be a con by being put out less thought out pieces with a higher margin of error in their copy. It can be harder to target an audience with E-mail, although you can track it and it has the potential to reach more eyes. Your target audience is your most likely candidate, despite how many people see it. And, as much of a shock as it may be to the Millennials, there are a number of people without email.

The most effective method of all is to use BOTH Direct Mail and E-mail.  The combination of Direct Mail and E-mail creates one of the most powerful tools to use in a marketing plan and leaves less of a chance of leaving anyone out.