Targeting the right prospect is crucial...

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In March 2009, AccuLink’s client approached them with a unique situation: How to successfully market a home for auction during a housing downturn. Although the house, located in Beaufort County, NC, was desirable waterfront property ‐ times were tight. The average time on market was 249 days. It was the middle of a recession. And, like the rest of the nation, housing prices were way off ‐ in nearby Pitt County, they had fallen nearly 25 percent.

The client’s initial plan was to obtain Beaufort County property tax records and send out a mass mailing.

“He wanted to mail to everybody,” said Tom O’Brien, co-owner at AccuLink.

At the same time, targeting the right prospect was crucial. An auction for luxury waterfront property needed to attract a very specific segment to be successful. “He was worried about getting the right people to show up and bid on the property,” said O’Brien.

Experience told O’Brien that there was a better way to target nearby luxury home buyers. “A general property tax list wouldn’t pinpoint the exact type of buyer he wanted.” After telling his client, “I don’t think I would do that,” O’Brien suggested a different approach ‐ a targeted mailing list from USADATA.

The Solution

Instead of a scattershot approach based on property tax records, targeted mailing lists allow companies to choose the exact demographic characteristics they want their mailer to reach. In this case, O’Brien recommended that his client target high income individuals in nearby Pitt County, rather than people already living in Beaufort County. Additionally, O’Brien suggested that they filter out people who already owned a second home, figuring that they wouldn’t be in the market to purchase another one.

They started the process by using USADATA’s online QuickPick targeting. QuickPick targeting allows customers to select a pre‐defined segment representing their best prospects in just one click. For additional mailing list assistance they contacted a USADATA Data Specialist. The Specialist worked with O’Brien to further refine the mailing list and develop the count and price quote.

“It’s important to work with a mailing list company who will spend time to help you make smarter choices,” said O’Brien. “It’s a much more personalized way of doing business.”

Together, with USADATA’s help, they created a highly targeted mailing list that targeted professionals earning more than $150,000 a year in neighboring Pitt County. Selection criteria included:
· Zip code area
· Age
· Net Worth
· Interest in real estate investing

Results

The auction was an unprecedented success: The house sold for more than $100,000 more than the owners expected. O’Brien was surprised at the auction price, but, then again he’s seen how successful mailing lists from USADATA have been for his clients.

Jon Rapkin, Senior Vice‐President of Sales for USADATA, is pleased with the campaign’s success. “This case study shows the power of a targeted mailing list,” said Rapkin. “This home auction’s success was helped by reaching the right people at the right time.”

Today, the client is thrilled with his results. He was so pleased with the success from his first mailing that he’s strategizing a new direct mail campaign with AccuLink ‐ and planning to work with USADATA for their mailing list expertise.

“They are a great group of people,” says O’Brien. “They give a darn about your success.”

USAData Case Study with AccuLink

R.O.I. Case Studies - Part 4

Tweet Today we bring you part four of a four-part series highlighting
successful cases from our portfolio of client work.

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Utility Company Looks For Unique Inserting Solution:

Challenge: A utility company was kicking off a new logo and image campaign while offering accounting services to the city for collection of city services fees with the utility statements. Afraid that rising city fees would jeopardize the image of the utility, the utility service sought out a statement rendering service that could provide high quality printing services, statement processing, and separate invoice insertion for city residents that required both a city bill along with a utility bill.

Solution: AccuLink teamed up with the IT and marketing staff at the utility company to develop the most streamlined and affordable solution possible. A web-based interface for uploading daily transactions was created by AccuLink that includes soft proofing of actual statements prior to imaging. The city and utility statements have noticeably different printed shells and are inserted together based on individual customer data into a billing envelope. Specialized software, digital printing and intelligent inserting equipment all work together to process approximately 4,000 statements every morning before 11:00 am.

Result: The utility company has managed to keep its identity (and billing) separate from the city while still managing the accounting services. Non-city residents do not receive the inserts while city residents do. AccuLink also has enabled the utility company to add variable marketing messages to each statement as well as custom printed inserts when desired. With CASS presorting the utility pays the absolute lowest postage and has complete verification by the post office for daily transactions.

R.O.I. Case Studies - Part 3

Tweet Today we bring you part three of a four-part series highlighting
successful cases from our portfolio of client work.

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Challenge: A large national retailer with 43,000 employees needed to distribute custom benefits packets to each employee announcing updated insurance enrollment information. The previous year the print provider had problems with improper inserts, lengthy delays and budget busting costs. The job consisted of variably printed booklets with perforated enclosures, custom statements and some generic booklets all inserted into 9x12 booklet envelopes. Inserting integrity was critical and all envelopes had to be presorted for maximum postage discount.

Solution: AccuLink utilized sheet-fed, digital and web offset equipment to produce the printed materials. Special software was incorporated to presort, map and barcode data on the variably printed sheets. Inserting equipment with intelligent barcode readers insured that each envelope received the correct inserts and all pieces were gathered in presort sequence to qualify for the lowest presort postage rates.

Result: 100% accuracy was maintained throughout the imaging and inserting process. The coordination of printing and mail inserting processes all in-house kept the production costs and time to a minimum. Print and postage savings amounted to over $10,000 and the project mailed 3 days ahead of schedule and three weeks faster than the previous year.

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Tune in Tuesday for part 4: Utility Company Looks For Unique Inserting Solution.

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The power, the benefits, and the effectiveness of VDP

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We work with many different types of clients – distributor partners, advertising agencies and customers who have worked with us for years as well as new ones we are forming relationships with. We have been given many opportunities to work with these clients on variable data publishing campaigns and often get asked about our rationale behind why we find value in these types of communications offerings. This can be summed up in three main categories – the power, the benefits, and the effectiveness of VDP:

The Power of VDP
· Design and production of customized messages is no longer time- and cost-prohibitive
· An exciting convergence of databases, digital publishing tools and digital output
· Resonates and motivates recipient to take action

Benefits of VDP
· More effective and profitable communications
· A value-added service
· Allows you to differentiate yourself
· Create long-term strategic partners
· An advantage in highly competitive environments

Effectiveness of VDP
· Raises response rates (36% over traditional campaigns)
· Increases customer purchases per transaction
· Increases customer retention
· Increased ROI on marketing investment

Through this rationale, we have been able to help our customers get their message across in new and exciting ways. Just another way ‘we put it all together’!