The Direct Marketing Voice » Direct Response Marketing

Direct Mail Strategy: JCPenney’s New Postcard Campaign

by Cynthia Fedor | April 17th, 2012

Last month when I read about JCPenney’s new integrated marketing strategy I was excited to see how the retailer would execute on the direct mail component of their plan. Through the approach described in the article, JCP seemed to understand the value of highly targeted and personalized direct mail as part of an integrated mix and the role it could play in getting people into physical store locations.
JCPenney Marketing

“We’re focused on targeting our customers through an integrated marketing campaign, and direct mail is a key component to this outreach strategy,” says Kate Coultas, spokesperson for jcpenney. Source: Deliver Magazine

This month, I received my first direct mail postcard from JCPenney. The oversized square format along with their bold new logo caught my eye; however, they failed to keep my attention and motivate action. In this post, I’ll outline a few things they can do to make future direct mail touches more effective.

Deconstructing JCPenney’s April Marketing Postcard

Upon review of JCP’s direct mail postcard, I noticed several missed opportunities to:

provide relevant content
track the performance of offers and channels
collect key data that could aid in refining future messages

Weakness: Poor Targeting and/or Lack of Personalized Content

The front of JCPenney’s postcard features a large, colorful photo that fills the entire frame. Images that are colorful, simple, and direct—like the one on their postcard—often work well for conveying a message quickly. However, this image did not resonate with me. It was a photo of a yawning baby. The back of the piece included the message: “Don’t let another precious moment go by without making it memorable. Capture their smiles, the surprises and event the sleepy times that fill your heart.”

I do not yet have children or grandchildren. There are no small children living in my house.

Recommendation #1: Segment your mailing list. Use demographic selections to narrow down your list to target recipients that more closely match your service offering or message. By doing so, JCPenney could have saved money, reduced waste, and realized better return on investment.

Recommendation #2: Personalize mail pieces and include relevant content that matches the interests and/or needs of the target audience. JCPenney could have easily increased the efficacy of their direct mail campaign by using variable data printing to swap out images and copy. Rather than include a photo of a baby, they could have advertised their “business portraits” service to me or let me know if I could get a portrait taken with my pet (my husband and I have two dogs and a cat).

Pets

Weakness: No tracking mechanisms to measure campaign response

If you were JCPenney, wouldn’t you like to know if you were generating more business due to a direct mail piece vs. newspaper ad vs. online ad vs. social media campaign, etc? Digital technologies available today—like PURLs (personalized URLs and landing pages), QR codes, and SMS text elements—make it possible to track responses to traditional media. The call to action on JCPenney’s postcard directs recipients to a general website and generic telephone number. Read More »

The Quick and Dirty Way to Generate QR Codes and Track Response

by Cynthia Fedor | February 21st, 2012

For small business owners that are investigating new ways to optimize and track local marketing initiatives, QR codes can be intimidating. QR codes are high-tech looking. They’re kind of ugly. And, worst of all, they force marketers to examine how traditional media, like direct mail and print, can work with digital media and digital platforms in a seamless way. A lot of small business owners I know are very savvy and open to learning about new technologies. Even so, many are not sure how to actually generate a QR code, when and where to use one, and how to tell if consumers are even scanning them.

This post is dedicated to the do-it-yourself small business owners out there. For you, I’ve outlined a quick and dirty way to generate QR codes and track responses. Read More »

Campaign Case Study: QuantumDigital’s Agency Envision Campaign

by Cynthia Fedor | January 31st, 2012

Every now and again, we like to share examples of the marketing campaigns we’ve developed to achieve our business goals. By doing so, we hope to shed light on ways you can optimize your own campaigns and integrate digital technologies with traditional channels to get revenue-generating results. Below is a case study of one of our recent campaigns, the Agency Envision Campaign. Feedback and questions are welcome. Enjoy!

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of the campaign is to nurture existing agency leads while showcasing how new digital technologies could help them streamline, track, and grow their clients’ direct mail activities. Additionally, QuantumDigital needed to break any existing assumptions that positioned their company as simply a direct mail fulfillment and print facility. The target audience was comprised of key decision makers within the advertising/marketing industry who develop direct mail campaigns for enterprise-level clients.

CHALLENGE:

The challenge was to develop an integrated, multi-channel lead-generation campaign to capture the attention of target prospects, generate awareness of QuantumDigital’s technology driven direct marketing capabilities, and secure strategic brainstorming sessions. Furthermore, direct mail and web components of the campaign needed to demonstrate the variable-data personalization technologies, tracking abilities, and exceptional quality of QuantumDigital’s products and services.

COMPONENTS:

The campaign included 11 personalized touches—alternating between direct mail, email, and phone calls. QuantumDigital used the latest digital technologies, including unique QR codes and advanced variable-data printing, on mailed campaign pieces to attract interest, track individual responses, and demonstrate service capabilities. Read More »

3 Ways to Use Direct Mail Postcards for Building Leads

by Cynthia Fedor | January 10th, 2012

Direct mail isn’t what it used to be—boring and impersonal. Thanks to digital printing capabilities, new marketing technologies like QR codes, and an integrated multi-channel approach, direct mail today can be interactive and meaningful. As a result, marketers are recognizing this medium as a critical part of lead-generation campaigns.

Here are three ways savvy marketers are using direct mail to build, qualify and nurture leads while saving time and money.

Spreading the Word Offline to Get People Online

Social Media Postcard Businesses are quickly starting to realize that social media marketing is not a passing trend but a valuable way to find prospects and nurture leads. Participating in conversations with consumers online is now a necessity for influencing the public’s perception of brand and their purchasing behavior.

With this in mind, how do marketers capture the attention of new prospects that aren’t already online and get them to join the conversation? They use targeted direct mail to drive new leads to websites and social networking profiles. Read More »

Direct Mail Growing in Popularity Among Young People?

by Cynthia Fedor | November 1st, 2011

According to survey results published in the Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Statistical Fact Book, 18 percent of young people between the ages of 22 and 24 say they will respond to direct mail. That’s up from numbers published last year.

How could this be? Direct mail is often seen as an old (and not so sexy) marketing channel. Why are direct mail postcards, catalogs, and other mailed print formats increasing in popularity—especially among young people—when activity on digital, mobile and social media platforms are thriving?

They don’t want their friends to know their really, really personal business.

Last year, a study conducted by ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting, found that a lot of people between the ages of 18 and 34 preferred to receive certain marketing communications via direct mail rather than through online media. An overwhelming percentage of those surveyed wanted messages relating to personal care, food or cleaning products, medicine, and sensitive health products to be delivered via direct mail.

I think that people recognize the fact that most things posted online, or exchanged via email, are not necessarily private. Even if profiles are restricted and passwords are strong, there’s a chance that someone or something can potentially gain access to personal details and preferences. Sure, this can happen with direct mail too. But online, if sensitive personal information is exposed, the audience that could have access to it is potentially much larger (and content is searchable online).

Better targeting and deeper, more relevant personalization

Gone are the days where marketers can get away with distributing mass mail featuring generalized messages. Consumers today demand personalization and, above all, relevancy. Past surveys by organizations like the Winterberry Group, Prospectiv, and the DMA highlight that the top factors in driving response rates included timing, relevance and personalization of marketing message.
Read More »

Direct Mail Strategy: JCPenney’s New Postcard Campaign

3 Ways to Use Direct Mail Postcards for Building Leads

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