Better response for marketing campaigns!

GURLs, CURLs, and PURLs

So, why are some of us still reluctant to use PURLs as an ingredient in our direct marketing mix. Does it not generate higher response rates than GURLs or CURLs ? Is it not cost efficient? Implementation is difficult and time consuming? If you nodded and/or answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably haven’t done your homework.

There has been sufficient proof that PURLs generate higher response rates than GURLs and CURLs do… Google it! Yes, personalization does come with a price tag, but it may not be as costly as you think. The key is to consider other alternatives before committing to “out of the box” solutions. Do some research on SaaS (software as a service) solutions… they are more likely to be more cost and resource efficient.

I strongly believe the true barrier is the perception that implementing PURLs is difficult and time consuming. Perceptions are not always true. There are solutions that enable users to quickly implement PURLs into their direct marketing initiatives with very little effort. What I am speaking of is not a myth. Take a few minutes and check out the clip below and witness how PURLs can be created and published in just minutes. Just a side note, the presenter (Doug) did this on his laptop, while waiting to tee off at the 16^th hole. 

(don’t be too concerned with all the technicality, this is just an example of how easy and quick PURLs can be implemented)

For general definitions of GURLs, CURLs and PURLs, check out the Insight Forums

Will V.

“A cowboy rode into town on friday and left 3 days later on friday. How did he do it?”

I assure you the quiz question is relevant and it all has to do with the channel. It’s the same in marketing!

Elizabeth Gooding, the Digital Nirvana, recently discussed personalized URLs and how it should be used in conjunction with email and direct mail.

We’ve been touting the same message almost all year but we’re finding that the channels you use to reach your customers and how you put them together are becoming more important this year. Especially when more than ever, marketers need to show results and find a way to get the same response at less cost.

In her article, Elizabeth quotes a statistic provided by podi.org which indicates that

“Relevant campaigns generate, on average, 300% better response than those that are simply personalized”

Now imagine what that boost in response will be if it is personalized, relevant and continuous.

You may have a great campaign idea for a direct mail piece, complemented by a purl, but it is not enough until you have a plan for a multi-touch campaign. This means involving everything from email, purl, direct mail, reminder emails, sales calls, maybe even SMS that continues the two-way conversation between your brand and your customers.

Yes it may look more expensive adopting this multi-channel process, but remember when you have a way to track response down to the individual, you will be able to make sure you spend 80% of your budget on the 20% of customers that give you the most business!

For more on the multi-channel process. View this video about “Climbing the Multi-Channel Mountain (without falling off!)” to see how you can get started!

By the way, the horse’s name was ‘friday’.

Aren’t you tired of struggling with poor campaign response rates? Can’t find that pot of gold?

If you’re getting poor results and ROI, not getting value for your marketing dollars (even if it is just the cost of emails) and are feeling bummed about your marketing ideas chances are you’re not alone.

Arguably, marketing has never been as challenged as it is during this economic period. With marketing budgets often the first to be cut, your prospects and customers even more determined not to respond and spending at an all time low. You need to make your marketing stand out! With this post, I want to help you do that and lift the lid on some of the secrets to doing better.

1) Implementation matters

Your marketing ideas are not bad. Likely it is the implementation of the idea that is lacking. Marketers need to warm up to the fact that a campaign is not just a single email/ direct mail message. Instead, it is putting together a message across multiple channels with multiple touches across time with different messaging across your central theme.

Your ideas are like the central theme for a movie. What you need to do is put together around it the CGI, talent, script to complete the cinematic experience.

2) Brand matters

If you work for an already established brand, then in general, you are privy to higher response rates. But if most of your campaign recipients do not really know you. Then you need to stand out with your campaigns. Yes, the message and offer does matter but just as important is how you present it. Do it in a way that adds humour, pulls the heart strings, makes economic sense or just entertains and your recipients will remember you for it.

3) Relevance matters

I said once, sending a direct mail/ email personalized to an individual but getting their name wrong is bad. But just as bad is sending a message that is not relevant to the individual. Make sure you are targeting each customer segment with appropriate messages and if a large number of people unsubscribe from your message from a particular segment, refine your message and keep it relevant!

4) Design Matters

Will V is the expert on this. If you’re like me and think well, if the message is right, the offer is right, the implementation is well-planned then that’s enough to make a successful campaign. You’re missing the key to the treasure chest. You’re missing the design!

As Wrich frequently points out to me. We’re first visual people. And if you’re getting high email open rates but poor response,  maybe this is your achilles heel.

Finding out detailed information about your prospects is made easier everyday. If you are currently using services like Hoovers, Linked In, Jigsaw etc.. You should check out TheOfficialBoard. This new service will provide users with the organization chart to the largest companies. It is basically a report of who the executives are, who reports to them, who they work with directly etc…There are currntly over 20,000 executives listed in the system.

Their database is build upon information contributed by members, but extra efforts are made to ensure accuracy. For example, all executive emails entered into the system are checked and verification is requested from the named executives. Like Jigsaw, members gain access to information by contributing information. Members also have the option to pay for premium access.

TheOfficialBoard provides a visualization of power relationships within each organization. You can find out who is related to who, what the key positions are, who holds each position etc… It also provides alerts when an executive or members of the organzation chart changes job positions.

If personalized marketing is in the mix of your initiatives, I encourage you to check it out. www.theofficialboard.com

Will V.

Harness the power of Fuse for effective multichannel, interactive campaigns

The conversion rate, in marketing terms, is not rocket science. Simple formulas can equate to the optimal conversion rate. Depending on the initiative and objective, there are multiple formulas that will give you the conversion rate you are looking for. I cannot say which formula works for which objectives, but I can tell you a formula that has been proven to be effective  is: multi-channel + interaction = conversion.

Multi-channel

Multi-channel is simply communicating the same message to your target through a combination of channels. For example, your target may receive an email, direct mail and/or SMS with the same message. The objective is to get their attention.

Interaction

Are you “just telling” your target about an offer or did you start a conversation about the offer? Create an opportunity for your target to find out more about the offer. The latest trend in motivating response is the use of a personalized URL. Try sending emails with a personalized URL attached to it. The target will receive the email with an appealing offer and they can click on the their personal URL to do more research on the offer. With proper analytics, you will be aware of who has visited their personal URL and have sales initiate the follow up contact.

Conversion

Once you have gotten your target’s attention through a multi-channel strategy and created a relationship through encouraging interaction, conversion is just a couple of variables away.

As you are reading this post, you may think is this is easier said than done. Well, I did not intend on teaching anyone how to put the formula together. I only wanted to share a formula that various organizations have received success in. The latest success story is from One2Won of the Palmer Printing Company. Palmer Printing  is one of the largest and most reputable print organizations in the industry. Read how One2Won of Palmer acquired successful results for some of their biggest clients through the use of this simple formula.

curious about how a personalized URL works? Play with this test application

Let me know what you think. Feel free to agree or disagree ( i am open to any challenges).

Will V

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, the digital nirvana, today posted initial comments to a survey she’s been conducting.

Take the survey here…

Most of the reasons for not using personalized URLs involve not understanding the technology or having the right provider to implement personalized URLs.

“PURL campaigns are too difficult, time-consuming to set up”

“Don’t know how to design the creative”

“Too expensive/ costly to test”

Perhaps in this economic climate some might feel that this is the wrong time to try out a new technology even if it promises to significantly increase campaign response and ROI if implemented well.

Then again, if you’re streamlining your business, personalized URLs integrated with your other marketing channels (email, direct mail, print, ads) can be something that is more cost-effective compared to mass marketing yet help you better target customers with the right products/offers.

Contact me ( RLou@L2soft.com) if you need a referral to an agency/ printer that can help you implement personalized URL campaigns. Of course, contact us if you need to provide personalized URLs to your clients.

The current economic conditions, intensity of rivalry and reduced consumer spending makes all marketing initiatives seem like uphill battles. As veterans of marketing wars, you are all probably accustomed to fighting uphill battles. Fighting under the overcast of massive media clouds and content contamination, maybe uphill battles are the only battles in a marketing war. This is assuming you are not Apple, Google, Wal-Mart or in possession of brand equity that is worth millions.

Even as veterans of uphill battles, the ROI does not always equate to victory. The biggest mistake in fighting an uphill battle is always taking the same and only one trail up the hill. Ever thought of taking more than one trail up the hill? You will be surprised that victory might just require less effort.

Tony Wilcox, founder of Atomic Media Works, has recently claimed victory in one of the most intense industries. The DPS Magazine has recently posted a story about his success. Tony demonstrates the effectiveness of a multi-channel strategy by combining direct mail, pURLs and emails. Read about it! Maybe we can all be inspired to take different approaches in the next battle.

The Article

Can your prospects hear what you have to say?

Marketing is often mistaken as “just” a function in a business’s value chain. As marketers, we all understand that “marketing” is “communicating.” What some of us don’t understand is effective marketing, like effective communication, is a two way system that requires the delivered information to be received. This blog post is might mean something to you or it could also be just a bunch of text displayed on your monitor.

As individuals, if we really tried, we are extremely good at communicating and getting our point across. We may verbally express it, blog about it, display an emotion, exhibit a gesture etc… The key here is we never just stick with one channel of communication, but a combination of multiple channels. Think about a time when you were going through emotional distress. You were probably not as talkative as usual (cahnge in behavior), vented about it with some friends and posted it as a facebook status update.Several methods were used to communicate your distress.

As marketers, we can also apply the multi-channel approach to communicate with our prospects. We are often frustrated when we do not get the response rate we want. It does not always mean the offer is of no interest to the prospect. Ever considered that they just didn’t get the message or forgot about it?  Do not expect miracles to happen with a single email blast or a single direct mail campaign. Try combining emails with pURLs, direct mail with pURLs, email and direct mail… better yet, do all of it.