November 24th, 2008 | by Cynthia Fedor
Oh man, I recently came across a funny blog post on Gizmodo. It commented on a road sign from Swansea, 
Wales, where all official road signs feature both the English-language and Welsh-language version of the message. Apparently, the sign maker printed the Welsh-language translator’s auto-reply email message on the sign: “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.” Oops!
Ken Magill of Direct Magazine blames the translator for the mess up:
“While it’s certainly tempting to blame the government sign maker for this snafu, I blame the Welsh translator. After all, if the sign maker could understand the auto-reply, he would have no need for a translator, would he.”
When I worked for a well-known Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer, I saw so many failed attempts to translate printed user manuals, brochures and POP displays from Japanese to English. That resulted in piles of unusable inventory, a waste of money and a good laugh.
Cited in a BBC article regarding the translated sign mishap, Dylan Lorwerth of Golwg Magazine offers this advice:
“It’s good to see people trying to translate but they should really ask for expert help… Ideally, they [the marketing messages] should be written separately in both languages.”
Really, take his advice if you’re marketing your products and services to multiple cultures and/or countries. If you don’t, you might end up on sites that make fun of your failed attempts.
November 24th, 2008 | by admin
The Direct Marketing Voice: Going Postal AND Going Green
“When I hear statements like, ‘[Junk mailers] are cutting down trees willy-nilly, and that has got to stop’ from a consumer, I feel obligated to address this issue. As a person that is (obviously) very entrenched in the direct marketing industry and aware of the situation, I’m proud to say that we at QuantumDigital take the environment very seriously and encourage our customers to conduct a ‘greener’ direct mail campaign.”
Ecopreneurist: Ways To Eliminate Direct Mail Waste
“Are you ready for the holiday mail season? Maybe this is the year to trim your DM waste. The fundamental problem is that direct mail marketing is inherently inefficient. 44% of all direct mail is thrown in the trash without ever being opened and that which is opened only yields an average of a 2.77% response. So, if you want to get 1,000 customers to respond to your direct mail piece, you have to mail, on average, 36,101 pieces of mail. Multiply that by millions of customers and millions of companies and you can see the problem. The good news is that a March 2008 Aberdeen Group study found that direct mail waste reduction is an area where ‘environmental concerns and shareholder interests coincide.’ But, you may already know this. They also found that 40% of companies said direct mail waste reduction was one of the top two areas being focused on for improving eco-friendly business practices.”
The Daily Green: 5 Ways Marketers Can Help the Environment
1. “Get your direct mail marketing materials printed on recycled paper.
2. Get your marketing materials printed with environmentally friendly ink.
3. Make sure that you and the companies you hire recycle.
4. Use targeted direct mail advertising.
5. Go digital.”
The Ballantine Blog: USPS Move Update Reminder
“We wanted to remind all readers of this blog that the new USPS Move Update regulations go into affect on November 23rd.”
B2B Magazine: 64 B2B Marketing Tools and Resources
“Marketo serves up ‘a whopping 64 eBooks, whitepapers, webinars,
podcasts and blog posts’ focused on b-to-b marketing. The copious
compendium covers topics such as lead nurturing, demand generation, and
sales and marketing alignment.”
November 21st, 2008 | by Freddie Baird
When I hear statements like, “[Junk mailers] are cutting down trees willy-nilly, and that has got to stop” from a consumer, I feel obligated to address this issue. As a person that is (obviously) very entrenched in the direct marketing industry and aware of the situation, I’m proud to say that we at QuantumDigital take the environment very seriously and encourage our customers to conduct a “greener” direct mail campaign.
Yes, I will be the first to admit that direct marketing relies heavily on paper supplies, which makes it all the more important that companies involved in the process be very conscious about taking the correct steps and work with other environmentally conscious companies such as Stora Enso, an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company AND… the Postal Service.
According to Newsweek,
“The Postal Service lost $1.1 billion in its latest quarter. That number would be even larger if it weren’t for direct mailings, which now constitute 52 percent of mail volume, up from 38 percent in 1990.” So now the DMA and Postal Service have decided to team up because they can both agree that, “direct mail is a key source of customers for small businesses.”
Well, I couldn’t agree more.
I encourage everyone to check out the Mail Moves America coalition.
Just some food for thought, brought to you by the Mail Moves America coalition: “Advertising mail… creates $686 billion of economic activity annually that would be adversely affected by even just one bill becoming law.” And to all of you postal workers out there, in the words of my two adorable children (and Buzz Lightyear), “you’ve got a friend in me!”
November 20th, 2008 | by Jamie Matusek
I’m a working Mommy, so believe me, I know budgets. I recently read an article on MSNBC from Entrepreneur Magazine about 21 low-cost marketing moves that really caught my attention. Considering two main features of my life are marketing and budgeting, I was intrigued to find out more about how to market on a budget. An excerpt from the MSNBC article:
“6. E-mail about it
Once you’ve gathered information about your customers to look for purchase patterns, seasonal needs, product preferences and the like within your internal database, put it to good use, suggests marketing consultant Scott Cooper. From this information, you can create targeted e-mail, direct mail and in-store promotions that will have a higher likelihood of success because they’re based on historical data, says Cooper, co-author of Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business. The Maupins, for example, review their online customers’ ordering patterns and tailor their e-mail marketing to customers’ preferences.”
E-mail about it!? Why didn’t I think of that?! Oh wait, I did. E-mail is a crucial element to our every day communication, so why wouldn’t we use it to promote a product? It’s an ideal, in-expensive solution. I know I’m a Mom – and for those of you kiddos out there, yes of course Mom’s don’t know anything – but what I do know is that, E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS WORK.
November 19th, 2008 | by Luis Paez
I recently came across a post on the real estate blog, Active Rain, that posed the following question:
“In 2008, What Has Been Your Most Successful Marketing Strategy?”
This really got to me thinking about how big a year 2008 has been for the direct marketing industry. Even before the economic “crisis” that’s currently happening, email marketing has vaulted into the limelight as an affordable, quick and personalized way to touch your customers and prospects. In fact, our own direct marketing expert, Eric Cosway, recently wrote an article for DM News highlighting “The Big Benefits of E-Mail Marketing.”
Let us know what you think!
Wales, where all official road signs feature both the English-language and Welsh-language version of the message. Apparently, the sign maker printed the Welsh-language translator’s auto-reply email message on the sign: “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.” Oops!
