Cross Media marketing for the Little Guy

Tweet Any business owner knows about economies of scale – the increase in efficiency of production that occurs as the number of goods being produced increases.  Typically, a company that achieved economies of scale lowers the average cost per unit through increased production since fixed costs are shared over an increased number of goods.

Economies of scale bring down the costs of all sorts of things, like printing and mailing if you are a large national corporation or nonprofit organization. 

But what if you are a little guy? Little guys still have profit margins and marketing goals to meet and along with those, the need for affordable marketing solutions.

Thanks to advancements in technology, direct mail driven cross media campaigns can be an affordable solution for small businesses and nonprofits.

Cross media campaigns reach an audience via traditional offline and online channels including direct mail, e-mail, personalized URLs (pURLs), landing pages, QR codes, and mobile messaging.  They feature personalized, relevant, and highly targeted messages.

Acculink is now the primary manufacturer of the InteliMailer formally called Transformailer.  This product transforms marketing messages into a complete cross media marketing campaign.  The InteliMailer offers small businesses and nonprofit organizations a unique way to increase response rates and achieve their marketing goals. 

According to a study by InfoTrends, marketers reported response rates of 20 - 35% when using cross media marketing campaigns over single channel print or email campaigns.   In addition, marketers reported an average lift of 50% in response rates using personalized, relevant and highly targeted cross media campaigns over static print-only campaigns.

Other research shows that combining direct mail with pURLs and well-designed landing pages, as well as QR codes and mobile messaging means higher response rates.  With the InteliMailer employing cross media marketing techniques, we are seeing lifts of 35 – 50% in response rates.  We are able to achieve this by offering a unique direct mail piece that gets noticed, opened, and acted upon thereby multiplying the results even further with personalization and variable data and then tapping into the power of the WEB and mobile marketing.

Until now, creating full color, personalized direct mail letter packages tied to cross media campaigns has been a time consuming and expensive undertaking.  Only large companies with big budgets could afford it.

With InteliMailer, now small businesses and nonprofits can send incredibly effective letter packages supported by pURLS, landing pages, WEB sites, and even mobile messaging in small quantities without any extra work and for only a few cents more than a postcard or self-mailer.

Because the InteliMailer can be produced in many versions, it is very versatile.  It can be a simple letter and outer envelope, both personalized and in full color. It can just be the outer envelope personalized with variable maps, coupons, or other relevant content without any inside sheets.   It may contain up to three personalized sheets and a reply envelope or reply card inside the outer envelope.  A membership card, affinity or loyalty card can also be part of the InteliMailer.  It can be produced in many different versions depending upon its intended use.

Unlike static marketing campaigns, the InteliMailer is supported by integrated on-line and mobile media.  It can be precision targeted, highly relevant, and personalized to a smaller list while yielding higher results than mailing to a much larger list.

For more information or samples please contact Ed Glaser, CMO at Acculink.  He can be reached at (252)321-5805 or at ed.glaser@acculink.com.

Marketing 101 with direct mail:

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Direct mail, direct response, whatever you name it, still provides one of the most guaranteed methods of reaching a prospect. Email marketing is completely over sold, unless - UNLESS - it's an opt-in program. SPAM email marketing is dead.

Therefore, this is a great area to invest. Multi-channel, targeted, individualized communications will reach their recipient (not so with email necessarily) AND if done correctly, will generate a response. If the value is there, they will take action.

However, one fatal mistake print customers make is to underestimate the number hits it takes in order to solicit the response they are looking for. One postcard with an offer may not be enough (and generally isn't) to capture the attention and achieve the behavior necessary for the prospect to take action. I see this happen all the time.

There are many other factors, here are a few:

• Of course value is key. Does the recipient understand and recognize the value that you are offering? Is the message clear? Is there an action that is required?
• Targeted messaging. Is the offer something that the recipient can use, IE: is it valuable to them? EX: Selling a skiing trip to a retired senior versus selling a cruise. EX: Selling a Minivan to a single man versus selling a Mustang. EX: Selling life insurance to a teenager versus selling life insurance to a 40 something father of three. Does your communication piece 'speak to them'? If mailing to seniors, you need to have larger fonts, easier to read layout, images that relate to them... etc. Younger people want to look at younger people and have designs/fonts etc. more to their likes/dislikes. One set of content/layout/design templates will not be as effective.
• Timing. This is almost always overlooked. For maximum response, the message has to be timed correctly. If you send me a coupon for my oil change right after I just had my oil changed, then the likelihood I would respond would be low. However, if I am supposed to enroll in my 401K prior to July 31st then a 'campaign' of communications perhaps beginning as early as May and continuing through early July in order to have the forms filled out, the payroll withdrawals set, etc. would be effective. Other things that relate to timing include frequency of communications and seasonal opportunities.
• Preferred method of communication. If you can capture this, it is extremely valuable. Would the recipient prefer an email? a web link? a postcard? a phone call? This can really dramatically improve the response rate and close percentages of business. I found very few mailing campaigns captured this type of information.
• Response tracking, recipient validation and follow up. This is an obvious one. Who responded to the mailing? What action did they take or not take? Did you give them a chance to update their contact data? Did you give them a chance to request a follow up call?
• Couple direct mail with cross media tools such as opt in landing pages (GURLs) and personalized landing pages (PURLs) and you have the ability to add metrics to your campaign. These tools allow for a two way conversation with your prospect by collecting information voluntarily such that future communications are refined to topics relevant to their interests.
• QR Codes also allow for measurable data as well as access to the “Holy Grail” of personal contact...the Mobile Phone. QR Codes can link printed documents to all sorts of social media sites, opt in landing pages and even video messages. This is an exciting connection between the physical world of print and the virtual world of the internet.