The Direct Marketing Voice

Tag Archives: MapMail

Landing Page Design Best Practices

Posté par Jamie Matusek le November 2, 2009 – 10:41 pm

Six Tips to Improve Conversion

In preparation for the “Leverage Search and Ye Shall Be found” webinar that I’m serving on this Thursday, I was on the hunt for tried and true best practices for landing page designs. Not just any tips, but landing page design tips to improve conversion. After all, isn’t that what all of us marketers are after?

Here are the 6 tips as stated by Interactive Marketing (rephrased just a bit) — all of which I agree with based on testing my own campaigns and capturing results.

1) Create a Strong Headline

Use headlines that clearly state the biggest benefit(s) that your product offers. Tell visitors exactly what they can expect to receive out of your landing page.

2) Compelling Offer

Your offer is the second opportunity to improve conversion. It is your “call to action” so make it bold and relevant.

3) Lead with a Strong First Paragraph

It must be written with strong benefits that capture your visitor’s attention and make them want to continue reading.

4) Product/Service Benefits

List your benefits in the order of your product’s “value hierarchy” to your target market. In other words, state your product’s strongest benefit first, and its weakest benefit last. I’d personally recommend leaving off the “weakest benefit.”

5) Relevant Imagery

The best practice is to use images that clearly portray the biggest benefit your product or service offers your customer (rather than generic “feel good” stuff like unknown logos and clip art). Studies show that product images usually work best when placed to the left of your product description (or lead paragraph) since it makes it easier to read your copy from left to right. Plus, people like to read “captions” under your images almost as much as they read your headlines. So, add powerful captions and make your images clickable to the order/sign up page.

6) Professional Look & Feel

According to a recent study by Stanford University, 46% of Web sales are lost on websites that lack the critical elements that build value and trust with website visitors. The number one reason the people indicated why they wouldn’t buy from a website was because it had an unprofessional “look and feel” that lacked credibility and did not “feel” trustworthy. Having a professional look, and trust building logos (such as VeriSign and BBBOnline certifications) help convert significantly more of your website’s qualified visitors into new customers.

Here are a few landing page examples that are proving to yield results for QuantumDigital:

Postcards

Business Cards

MapMail Targeting Tool

If you are interested in learning how to write for SEO success, gather highlights on paid search campaigns and more tips on landing page and campaign best practices check out the free webinar featuring Heather Lloyd-Martin, President and CEO, Successworks; Teal Murley, Client Services Coordinator, Oneupweb and yours truly.

Until then,

Jamie

QuantumDigital Receives Two Marketing Excellence Awards

Posté par Jamie Matusek le March 19, 2009 – 2:24 pm

dans News & Trends

I’m excited to announce that the QuantumDigital team has been awarded two NAPL marketing excellence awards. Read the full story.

The awards were received in two categories:
Digital Marketing: Bronze Award, Finding Your Perfect Prospect
Sales Support, Lead Generation: Silver, Finding Your Perfect Prospect

The entry highlighted the use of multiple media types to drive booth traffic to the 2008 Direct Marketing Association show and to drive response to an online survey where visitors could include valuable data as to how they are using direct marketing in their business.

Each year QuantumDigital attends the DMA show with the intent of driving qualified traffic to the booth. The challenge in the past has been to create a message that resonates with the variety of prospects that attend the DMA show.

We submitted the pre-show, at show and post-show marketing collateral to demonstrate the successful use of digital marketing with the intent of creating valuable leads for our sales staff.

We first developed the theme, “Finding Your Perfect Prospect,” based on a new product launch of a prospecting technology tool called MapMail^®. We themed our trade show booth around discovering the magic of MapMail and hired a magician, Lee Lentz, to generate on-site floor traffic. He had the amazing ability to weave the story of MapMail throughout his presentation-demonstrating to onlookers how technology can help businesses define their perfect prospects using demographic selections, viewing those prospects on a map and then sending direct mail pieces to them.

We also included an “on-show floor” traffic generator, an actor dressed as “Rex” – a 33-year-old personal trainer that lives with his mom – an obvious spoof on our perfect prospect technology.

Elements of the pre-show mail piece included variable data printing, an offer (visit our booth at DMA 08 for a chance to win an Apple iPod^® touch) and a clear call to action (visit quantumdigital.com/dma08 to learn more about MapMail, what we were featuring at the show and a quick survey.)

Elements of the pre-show mail piece included:

Use of variable data
Bold headlines
Clear call to action
Offer

Elements of the landing page included

The ability to schedule a meeting with us at DMA 08
The schedule of magic shows themed the “Magic of MapMail technology”
Video demonstration of the new MapMail technology
Offer to come by the booth and enter to win an Apple iPod touch

At-show Elements included:

Lee Lentz, magician tying in the magic of MapMail technology
Rex, our perfect prospect, attracted the attention of unsuspecting passers-by into the booth, tying in the message that QuantumDigital’s MapMail can help you pinpoint your perfect prospect.

Elements of the Post-show Email:

Provided a second opportunity to enter to win a prize – fill out a survey for your chance to win a $50 gas card
Continuation of the MapMail technology story
For those who missed the “magic” at the show, we included a magic trick video
Successful click-through rate of 7%

We were very thrilled with the results of the marketing campaign and even more excited to have been recognized for marketing excellence. I included a PDF of the entry so you can view the various creative pieces. Enjoy!

View Award Entry Creative

Creating a Neighborhood Association or Blockwatch Party

Posté par Luis Paez le March 11, 2009 – 2:16 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

Recently, my home was burglarized and after the grief of losing several computer and electronic possessions, I started to think about how I would prevent this from happening in the future. Immediately, I bought a basic alarm protection package – but the more that I read about the subject, the more I am realizing that my neighbors are really the best type of protection. Even some co-workers who live in Round Rock, and consider it the safest city in the U.S., had to bear a rash of robberies conducted during broad daylight, and could stand some neighborhood co-operation.

I found a neighborhood website that referenced a checklist issued by the local police department on what to do to form a “blockwatch” or “neighborhood watch” and here are the first 3 steps:

Talk with immediate neighbors and get their buy in as being part of a core group of people
Contact your police department district representative office. They may be available to speak or consult with concerns.
Design a flyer to promote the neighborhood meetings (but don’t place in the mailbox if it doesn’t have a stamp – the U.S. post office is touchy about this).

Reading those initial steps seem easy enough and at the very least will give neighbors more awareness of who you are and the existence of a neighborhood group. The thing that struck me as very “old world” was handing out flyers door to door. It would take 1/10th the time to just use a postcard and the MapMail product. Just draw out your neighborhood boundaries on a Google map and send a simple announcement card, completely online.

If you want to get a little more advanced, or just wanted to commiserate with homeowners about all the renters in your neighborhood, you could even set up a simple demographic filter like the one below, so you only contact homeowners.

After the first few meetings, you’ll likely have enough email addresses that you can just create a small email list to contact the active neighbors. But there may be a need to do new mailings every few months just to involve those new to the neighborhood or whose interest level changes. Anyway, knowing your neighbors is valuable not just in terms of security, but also in creating a sense of community for yourself and for your family. (Wow, can you tell I’m about to be a new dad? )

Direct Mail is Far From Dead

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le January 12, 2009 – 1:13 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

I was searching around on Twitter today for interesting commentary on direct mail when I came across a tweet by @Malayna. Her post simply stated ‘Yes, direct mail is dying.’ Of course, I was compelled to investigate why she was so convinced that this medium was on its way down. Her comment (misinformed, in my opinion) was in response to a blog post on HubSpot, an internet marketing company. That post outlined four reasons why direct mail doesn’t work: it’s too expensive; there’s no data (for tracking); people don’t like it; and, there are too many cheaper, more efficient options. Well, I say you’re wrong sir! Whoever wrote that blog is obviously ignorant of the facts about direct mail.

Before I throw down my reasons as to why I think direct mail is still alive and kicking, let me say that HubSpot’s post seemed to be ignited by an NPR article noting that the USPS is seeing less mail due to the crap economy. In the article, the Postal Service’s Senior VP of Customer Relations, Stephen Kearney, states:

Our mail volume had its greatest decline since the Great Depression… We may have losses (revenue) that are larger than the $2.8 billion we had last year.

Now, I need to mention that the ‘mail volume’ he’s referring to is not direct mail alone, as is assumed in HubSpot’s post. In general, people are sending fewer packages and letters via USPS for a number of reasons, i.e. – the economy, email, availability of other carriers, etc. To twist USPS’ declining revenues into proof that direct mail doesn’t work is misguided.

Ok, that being said, let’s run down their points as to why direct mail doesn’t work:

Direct mail is too expensive. First of all, HubSpot is grossly simplifying the cost comparison issue. There are so many variables to weigh for each medium (email vs. direct mail vs. internet marketing, etc) that it’s not always reliable to make this type of statement based on a per-piece cost. New tools and technologies are available today that will help businesses spend less while increasing the effectiveness of their direct mail marketing campaigns. For example, on-demand and variable data printing allow businesses to personalize mail for better response rates. And, tools like QuantumDigital’s MapMail^SM give businesses control over exactly to whom and where mail is sent. So, rather than blanketing areas with generic messages, businesses are able to pinpoint their perfect prospects and speak to them in a very specific way.

There’s no data. I’ll agree that direct mail does not offer real time data like internet marketing campaigns can. However, that doesn’t mean direct mail data is not available, that it can be received in a timely matter or that ROI can be gauged. There is a wide range of data that may be collected in a number of ways. For example, A/B testing on design, copy, promotional offers, etc. of a direct mail piece may be conducted that will give businesses data on what appeals to their audience and what may move them to take action. Also, technology like PURLS (personal URLs) may be printed on direct mail pieces to track response and behavior. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), 33% to 43% of consumers go online to respond to direct mail. This response rate is increased by 20 to 30% when PURLs are used. So, if you’re not seeing any data come back to you, you’re doing something wrong or it’s being overlooked.

People don’t like it. I call bologna! According to USPS’ The Mail Moment study, 55% of participants said that receiving mail is a real pleasure and that they look forward to receiving mail. Here, I will note that this includes not only commercial direct mail but other types of mail as well. Nevertheless, direct mail is part of what is originally a positive experience for people. If the direct mail piece is relevant to the recipient, then it too becomes a part of that collective positive experience. I have personally been happy to find relevant direct mail postcards in my mailbox. You may read my experience here.

Too many cheaper, more efficient options. There are plenty of direct marketing and advertising options for businesses to consider. Deciding which one to use and when depends on the audience, your strategy and the planned outcome. Direct mail – great for prospecting and customer retention – can be a fast, efficient and low cost way to stay visible in the marketplace, especially with on-demand print technology, web-based ordering systems and integrated companion marketing platforms available today.

In reality, a complete and integrated companion marketing approach works best – utilizing a variety of venues to market your message – including direct mail, email, internet marketing, social media, and whatever else works for your business. To make such a bold statement and outright deny the benefits of direct mail on all counts is just plain wrong. Am I right?

Making Your Direct Mail More Cost-Effective in 2009

Posté par Freddie Baird le January 2, 2009 – 12:10 pm

dans Direct Mail Marketing

With no signs that the economic slow-down is nearing a bottom, most companies are under considerable pressure to trim budgets. And retailers, real-estate agents and direct marketers are no exception. However, direct marketing media expenditures are forecasted to outpace general advertising in both 2008 and 2009 and, even during our economic slowdown, are expected to capture 53% of total advertising expenditures in 2009, according to The Direct Marketing Association.

(Click table to enlarge.)

While the tendency for smaller organizations may be to consider lowering their direct mail expenditures, the larger corporations are actually doing the reverse – but they are becoming more cost effective. In fact, lenders mailed approximately 8% more mortagage offers in Q2 2008, with Chase and Capital One increasing direct mail volume 90% and 140% (respectively) between quarters, according to Mintel Comperemedia.

So if you’re under pressure to cut your budget while being pressured to reach qualified prospects, the answer is – as Chase and Capital One undoubtedly know – as Eric Cosway stated last month, “… marketing budgets are dwindling so [marketers] have to be as efficient as possible with what they have.” While it’s certainly not a new strategy to plan a “low-cost-high-response” direct mail marketing campaign, it may behoove us to review the strategy and include some new tips you may not be privvy to.

Plan carefully. No more ”spray and pray…” You need to know exactly how to reach your target audience in a less expensive way. To review, according to the DMA for 2008, an investment of $1 in direct marketing advertising expenditures is predicted to return, on average, $11.63 in incremental revenue across all industries. This exceeds the $11.56 achieved in 2007 and is expected to improve further to $11.74 in 2009.
Unless you can meet face-to-face with your prospective clients, direct mail provides the next best form of personal communication- if you execute properly. Everyone knows that hand-written greeting cards mean more to your clients than mass-produced typed messages. Similarly instead of mailing “wall of word” letters, consider mailing a short, personal, picture-bearing, friendly, postcard with a personal recommendation on a local service, product or time-saving solution.
Use the latest technology …and save on your design and production costs. While we likely wouldn’t suggest that you spread your mailings out over an entire year, you might want to focus in on drops every 4 weeks to a highly targeted group of customers. You control your volume by specialized targeting, perhaps beginning by marketing to ‘new customers’ within your audience.

If you are one of us being asked to tighten our budgets, and you likely are, then what I am saying will make perfect sense to you. The idea now is to do your research, present some innovative ideas and help your leadership regain some confidence — at least until the consumers do.