also in this issue: Using QR Codes to Bridge the Gap to Video • Get the Most out of Your Mail

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ISSUE FORTY-TWO

MARKETINGADVISOR

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Want to maximize your production cost and efficiency?

Let us look at your print and document

What types of videos make sense for integration with print? Start with packaging and catalogs.

While in the retail aisle or flipping

pages, the consumer scans a QR

Code of the package, print ad,

or point-of-purchase display and

is connected directly to a video

containing product demonstrations

and consumer reviews. Nothing

says, “Buy me!” like a customer

raving about a product. Or reduce

tech support and customer

service expenses by using QR

Codes to connect customers

to “how to,” troubleshooting,

and installation videos.

The “show, don’t tell” principal

applies to fundraising too.

Nonprofits are pointing QR Codes

to videos showing donors how

their donations are being spent.

Samaritan’s Purse has done a great

job of adding QR Codes on the

outside of its mailing envelopes to

share videos not only with donors

but also with anyone who comes

into contact with the envelope.

There are all sorts of creative

applications. Australia Post is urging

gift senders to shoot a 15-second

video of themselves speaking to the

recipient, which can be viewed via

a QR Code on the package. You can

imagine creative applications for

holiday and other gift cards, as well.

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Some tips for creating great marketing videos...E Know your audience. Create content that will be relevant and

engaging to them.

E Don't be boring. Whatever you do, don’t have someone

standing in front of a camera reading the text

of your corporate brochure!

E Keep it short. Consumers have very short attention spans,

especially on mobile devices.

E Make sure it works. Make sure that the video is playable on a

mobile device.

E Make it readable. If you are using text and graphics, ensure that

they are large enough to be readable on a

V ideo is the darling of marketing, and for

good reason. Video content is engaging,

exciting, and memorable. It is also highly

relatable. People can connect with video in a way

they can’t with other media. Think YouTube and Vine.

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Using QR Codes to Bridge the Gap to Video

If you want to catch someone’s eye, use video. But how do you follow this principle in print?

Use QR Codes.

What will your creative application be?

Here are some risks to disconnected data:

Reduced customer satisfaction. Every time mail

gets lost or delayed,

every time a mail piece arrives

with the wrong or outdated

name, or every time you offer

to sell a long-term customer a

product they already own, you

risk alienating that customer.

Elevated costs. The average cost

of every piece of

returned mail is

$4. This is not just

the postage and printing. It’s the

cost of the piece coming back

to you, the cost of figuring out

what went wrong, and the cost of

taking the time necessary to fix it.

Lost sales. How many

marketing

opportunities

are being lost

because data on customers’

preferences and behavior are

siloed in different departments?

That translates into lost revenue.

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DON’T IRRITATE YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH

DISCONNECTED MAIL

Connect inbound mail to outbound mail

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Centralize data capture2

Get the data out of there!

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Look and learn4

Put it to use! 5

Build in tracking mechanisms that allow your clients to connect the

incoming to outgoing mail. This is as simple as adding a barcode

unique to each participant. When the response envelope comes

in, the barcode is scanned. This connects the incoming mail to

the outbound file, linking the customer information together.

Centralize all of the mail processing in one location. Capture

mail coming in from marketing, sales, customer service,

Web forms, and anywhere else in your company.

Your mail contains lots of important details that can be useful to

your print marketing. Extract all the data you can, including names,

addresses, channel preferences, transaction history, and data from

customer surveys. Input it into a centralized database that can

be accessed throughout the organization. This way, no matter

which department accesses the database, they get a 360-degree

view of the customer and the most current information.

Assign someone with a strong marketing and data

background to look at your database to understand what it

is telling you. Contained in there are critical nuggets about

customer behavior, channel preferences, and more. Need

help? We can recommend third-party services that will

do data analysis and profiling for a reasonable cost.

With a closed loop on your mail communications and a

centralized, up-to-date database accessible by all departments,

you have a powerful marketing tool at your disposal. Take what

you can learn and use it to improve your targeted and personalized

direct mail marketing or other customer communications.

What’s the solution? Let’s look at five steps commonly discussed in the mail industry for closing the loop on the document lifecycle.

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MAIL!

If you’re like most companies, you have customer

data in many places, but these communications

are siloed. Each department or business unit

does its own thing, so end users get bombarded

with different, disconnected mail pieces. This

not only wastes your marketing dollars, but it

can irritate your customers too. Closing the

loop on your inbound and outbound mail can

result in benefits you don’t want to miss.

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KEEP THE CONVERSATIONINTERESTING

Have you ever gotten stuck on a

train, an airplane, or a long

car ride with someone who

is incredibly talkative but also

incredibly boring? You might be

unable to think anything but, “Are we

there yet?” You don’t want this to be the

way your customers think about you!

Print marketing doesn’t have to

be dull. When developing copy for

communications such as postcards,

mailers, and customer newsletters,

think beyond the product promotion.

Mix up the writing style to capture

interest and create engagement. Sure, you

are trying to sell products and services,

but you’re also trying to deepen customer

relationships and reinforce brand image.

So break out of the mold when it

comes to content. Mix humor, education,

shock value, social

conscience, and

unique content into

your print marketing

and watch

your customer

engagement soar.

PRINT MARKETING

DOESN’T HAVE TO

BE DULL!

SHOCK VALUE Shock value can grab attention and increase retention, as well, but it has to be handled carefully. One milk company has gotten some attention for printing the back of its delivery trucks with, “In case of accident, bring cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.” Not only does shock value capture attention, it’s a great way to get people talking about you.

SOCIAL CONSCIENCE Most consumers want to think of themselves as good neighbors. Content that reflects brand marketers as environmentally sensitive, good global citizens, and concerned about social issues creates positive brand image and brand association.

TRULY UNIQUE Create content that is truly unique—content readers won’t

get anywhere else. Angry Orchard, an adult beverage company, did this when it added QR Codes to its packaging that takes customers to an animated Talking Tree app. There they can

select a tree (complete with eyes, nose, and mouth), be asked a question, and after typing in the answers, the tree will speak it

back to them in hilarious accents. Each tree represents a different product line, and as customers access the

app over and over again, it reinforces brand awareness and exposes them

to different products they might not have been previously aware of.

EDUCATIONALThis is straight talk on products and services that most marketers are familiar with. This includes

case studies, customer testimonials, and tips and tricks.

HUMORIn addition to breaking up the

“same old, same old,” humor increases retention. It’s why brand marketers use it so often. Alka-Seltzer wins smiles with its print ad of a man, bleary-eyed and hair a mess,

trying to wash dishes with a kitten instead of a cloth, with the tagline, “Hangover is dangerous.” So does Bose with its ad for its noise-reducing headphones, showing a man jamming to tunes as he pulls the oars on a rowboat, blissfully unaware that he’s

about to back himself over Niagara Falls.

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Copywriter’s Humor: What did 0 say to 8? “Nice belt.”

5 Styles of Marketing Content You Can Use in Your Promotional Mix:

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MARKETINGADVISOR

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The more you know your customers, the better you will be able to develop relevant marketing campaigns. So how well do you know your customers?

The starting point for any good targeted, personalized

campaign is knowing the make-up of your audience. If you

don’t have this data, send out a direct mail questionnaire,

blast an email survey, or conduct a focus group. Set up

survey forms on your website or append your list with

data from a third party provider to fill in the gaps.

But don’t stop there. Ask yourself what you might not know

about your audience that would help with your marketing later.

When the National Hockey League started 1:1 communication with

its customers, for example, it kicked off by asking

them to fill out a survey that indicated,

among other things, where they lived

and their favorite hockey team. The

NHL discovered that 40% of its fan base

lives outside their favorite team’s home

market. Imagine the marketing

opportunities for the league!

DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS?

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS BETTER:

There are an infinite number of questions

you can ask, but they all start with knowing

who your customers are in the first place.

WHAT’S THEIR DNA?Know your customers from the

inside too. If you already have a

marketing database, you might want

to invest in basic database analytics.

Identify your top 10% of customers

by frequency, volume, and revenue.

HOW DO THEY LOOK?Take into consideration

what your customers "look" like.

Then create a profile.

HOW DO THEY MEASURE UP?

What do they have in common (age,

income, marital status, ethnicity,

purchase habits)? In a B2B environment,

you might look at vertical market,

employee size, and annual revenues.

WHO'S LAST? You should also know your bottom

10%. What do they look like? Are they

customers you think you can woo back? Or

should you focus on the ones that are the

most profitable for your company instead?

SURPRISING EXAMPLESLet's look at professional sports fan demographics:

AFFLUENCE. When we think of hockey fans we

might think of demographics such as age, gender,

and region of the country in which the fan lives.

But did you know that National Hockey League (NHL) fans

are also the richest sports fans in the country? Out of all of

the major league sports, the NHL has the highest percentage

of fans earning more than $100,000 per year (33%).

RETIREES. Which sport attracts the most

retirees? While we might expect Professional

Golfers’ Association (PGA) fans to have

the highest percentage of retirees, did you know that

half of Major League Baseball (MLB) fans and nearly

half (49%) of NASCAR fans are retirees, as well?

WOMEN. Which sport has the highest female

fan base? 37% of NASCAR fans are now women!

Q: WHICH NATIONAL

SPORTS LEAGUE HAS THE

YOUNGEST FAN BASE?

A: The NBA. Nearly

one-third (32%) of its fans

are 18–34 years old.