Today I came across an informative yet short and sweet article titled, “How Running a Small Business Has Changed,” on AMEX’s Open Forum site. It featured an interview with Jay Goltz, a 33-year veteran small-business owner and New York Times columnist. When asked, “Why is small business different now than ever before?” he answered, referencing today’s challenging economic climate:
“The interesting part about this one is you’ve got a recession and at the very same time you’ve got technological advancements that have changed the business environment. It used to be if the economy went bad, you suffered through it, cut some expenses, and, a year later, things went back to business as usual. Now… the fact is, you need to continue to spend money to stay up with the new technologies in the changing marketplace.”
For SMB’s to stay competitive, or even simply remain in business today, they need to utilize available technologies to streamline processes, uncover new efficiencies, and better connect with consumers whenever and wherever they can.
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Marketers—especially those who rely on direct mail and print marketing to reach audiences—are becoming more conscious of how they affect the environment. What can we do to reduce our ecological footprint? Should we stop sending direct mail postcards and printing marketing collateral altogether? No. We just need to learn about ways to reduce waste and make choices that benefit business and make less of a negative impact on the environment.
Here are a few things you can consider:
- Partner with vendors that use ‘green’ materials and processes and are chain–of–custody certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
- Use a micro–targeted approach to marketing: define a specific goal/objective, target audience, location, duration, and response metrics before starting a campaign.
- Ditch the spray–and–pray method of direct mail marketing. Use a targeted list, segment based on specific demographic characteristics, and cleanse your list throughout the duration of your campaign.
- Reduce waste and storage costs by printing marketing materials on demand. Digital printing allows you to print only the quantities you need precisely when you need them.
- Use direct mail and/or print to capture the attention of prospects. Then continue to nurture relationships online via email marketing or through social media.
Some call this awareness and approach ‘green marketing’. Honestly, I think it’s more than just being respectful of our environment and its resources. These are simple steps you can take to market smarter. You not only reduce the negative impact on the environment, but you also get better results from your campaigns.
Learn how QuantumDigital is doing their part to conserve.
Realtors® today are facing a daunting, multi–pronged challenge. Never before have real estate agents had to develop business while dealing with so many competing elements.
- How do I list/sell in a distressed housing market saturated with inventory?
- How do a find people willing to do business in a failing economy?
- How do I make prospects come to me when they have access to a wealth of information?
- Where do I concentrate my marketing efforts when there are so many options?
- How can I stretch my marketing dollars without compromising campaign performance?
- How do I stand out from the other agents that are targeting the same prospects?
These are just a few questions Realtors may be asking themselves on a daily basis.
Many real estate marketers are finding that the answers are in a targeted and integrated strategy that uses the best of both traditional and digital marketing channels.
Deliver Magazine recently published an article featuring an automated, turnkey program that helps Realtors do just this. TriggerMarketing®, an instant lead–generation program, combines digital technologies like unique QR codes, texting, and PURLs with targeted direct mail to motivate action, track individual responses, and provide lead information back to the agent. Agents just click a link from an email to launch a local direct mail campaign to prospects surrounding a property listing or recently sold property.
From the article…
Recipients can scan a QR code, text a unique phrase to a code number or visit a keyword-protected website to get more information. TriggerMarketing notifies the real estate agent via email when prospects seek property information, including details about each lead. And the system also includes links to the property listings on Facebook and Twitter to create social buzz.
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Jumbo postcards have the ability to stand out in mailboxes and get noticed. Simply due to their size, they demand more attention than a standard postcard and are less likely to get lost in the pile of mass–produced coupon mailers most consumers receive on a daily basis. Using this medium in unexpected and interesting ways can increase the probability that a business will make a lasting impression on existing and prospective customers.
Here are some ways you can use jumbo postcards as part of your local marketing strategy to positively affect business and foster customer loyalty:
Boost traffic to your website or social media properties online
Relying on digital advertising and search engine optimization techniques alone to drive business to your website can be an ineffective and costly endeavor. Direct mail postcards can help you target local prospects that are not finding your business online through search. Use jumbo postcards to invite audiences to Read More »
Quite a while ago I read an article that described the list woes of a mail-order gourmet brownie company. They ran into some issues trying to effectively manage and grow their mail catalogue distribution lists. Because the majority of their business, or all of it, depended on responses to their catalogues, the company decided to expand their customer mailing list by acquiring multiple purchased lists from an agency. The rapid growth of their mailing list caused them to increase catalogue production and, as a consequence, increase costs associated with their direct marketing campaign. The tough part for this company, though, was that they didn’t see a correlating increase in response rates. After investing all this money, the responses were not sufficient enough to recuperate the growing cost of catalogue production, let alone producing any bump up in profit.
So, what went wrong? A lot of people assume that if you increase your marketing campaign’s reach, the ratio of responses should grow at the same rate. Statistically, this theory might be true if you’re talking about something like playing the lottery – the more you play, the more chances you have to win. Unfortunately, this rule doesn’t apply in direct marketing. Success isn’t necessarily dependent on quantity, but rather on quality of your marketing message and the relevancy of it for the people that receive the message.
Proper list management is an incredibly important part of a successful and effective direct marketing campaign. The effort of reviewing and refining your mailing lists should be constant and should hold just as much importance as things like defining your marketing message or balancing your budget. Read More »
