October 9, 2012
Getting Economic Value Out of Your Direct Mail Strategies
Stephanie Miracle
Agenda
Transforming Changes into Opportunities
Unleashing the Power of the IMB
Improving Deliverability
Testing for Fun and Profit
HOW TO TURN INDUSTRY CHANGES INTO OPPORTUNITY
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Enables print production from white stock
High customer impact, cost effective all color, high speed, 4-Up printing
Electronic sorting capabilities with diversion to physical commingling for best postage
White Paper Factory
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Variable Digital Print (VDP)
Merging database information with digital imaging technology
Printing unique content on each page
The end result is a unique, highly relevant message to each individual in a marketing campaign
Innovation: Variable Data Printing
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Color Document Template
Standardized high impact color template
Uses onserts, in-line inserts to enable uniform production
Layout accommodates standardized windowed envelopes
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2013 promotions calendar expected with new rate adjustment (early Nov).
Leveraging the second ounce in First Class Mail
Addressing solutions and requirements
USPS considerations
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Improve Deliverability to Increase Response Rates
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The Undeliverable Mail IssueI am your customer
How quickly can you find me before . . .
You suppress me You discontinue my service You don’t collect from me You move me to collections I miss an important legal notice I don’t respond to your offer I call you and complainI am lost forever
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Non ZIP+4 coded: 50% to 70% reduction in response.
Missing apartment number: 30% to 40% reduction in response.
Invalid apartment number: 15% to 25% reduction in response.
Mailing to an old address: 20% to 100% reduction in response.
Vacant address: 40% to 60% reduction in response.
Deliverability Issues to Consider When Determining Which Records to Mail
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Successful Database ManagementGet It Clean
Postal Experts correct and Standardize addressesClean up undeliverable / suppressed addresses
Keep It Clean
Continually maintain addressesPostal Experts develop and maintain a best-in-class addressing / return mail process
Keep It Current
Establish a confidence level for the delivery of each addressEnable the mailer to determine if the mail piece will get delivered and decide if the mail piece should be printedPerform address quality functions to maintain postal discountsImprove mail delivery
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Unleashing the power of the
IM® BC to impact your bottom line
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Identify mailstream objectives Automation incentives Address Quality: OneCode ACS® / Full-Service ACS™ Mail Tracking: IM BC Tracing™ service
Unleashing the Power of the IM® BC
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Identifying Business Needs
Group ApplicationIMB Data Confirm
Delivery Predict ACS
Job # Name
Acct #
Doc Data
Remit IMBC
Remit $
Discounts Job Tracking Job Delivery
Campaign Mgmt Call Center Plan
SVS Piece Queries LEGAL Proof of Mailing
Cash Flow Collections
Cancellations UAA reduction
Data Required
MKTG
FIN
BUS
Busin
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Keep your IM® BC unique for at least 6 months
Know who didn’t get your mail: ACS
Use the IMb to help automate processing of responses
1 in a 1,000,000
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In-home delivery projections
Staffing
Multi-channel marketing
How can tracking data be beneficial to business?
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Revenue anticipation
Critical mail alerts
Postage savings
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Coordinate additional touch points such as email or mobile messaging around in-home dates
Identify responders at the time of reply
Compare and trend delivery times for different classes of mail
Analyze response times based upon in-home dates
Manage staffing
IM® BC tracing:
Tracking Outbound and Inbound Mail
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Differentiated IM® BC
Implementation Solutions
Composition Post-Composition
Pre-Production
Post-Production
Document Composition
SoftwareApplied to address
block during composition
Distributed Output
ManagementSoftware
Applied to address block after
composition
Distributed Printing
Management Software
Applied to address block in output
management system
Hardware Based Sorters, Inserters
Generate, print and verify IM®BC
on envelope;Piece-level tracking
Considerations: Printing environment must support new IM® BC graphic (drawn or fonts) Sequence number must be managed and associated with “keys” (full) For outsourced mail preparation, keys and sequence numbers must be associated
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Getting The Most From Your Direct Mail Plan:
Testing and Measurement
Get the RIGHT message to the RIGHT person at the RIGHT time
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The Plan… In writingWhat is the goal of your campaign?
Generate leads? Close sales? Raise awareness?Donations? Drive traffic to your store or Web site? Once you decide on your goal, establish a baseline and track responses against that baseline.
The Mailing List - Who are your best customers? Identify who they are and then get lots more exactly like them and market to them.
The OfferWhatever your direct mail campaign offers the target audience – a free premium, a gift for visiting a trade show booth Sell the benefits of responding and receiving the offer.
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The Plan….. In writing, cont’d
Your Mailer Testing really plays a crucial role. Without testing your mailing list, your offer, or your mailpiece design,
you will never know if the campaign’s success was due to a compelling offer, eye-catching graphics, and enticing copy with a strong call to action, or a great list.
Campaign Cost Divide total cost of your mailing (including creative, printing, postage
and labor) by the revenue generated from an average sale
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Direct Mail Basics
The DM Formula 20%
40%
40% Creativity
The Right List
The Right Offer
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What to Test
Product or servicesMedia (list, print, broadcast, electronic)Offer (the proposition)Package/format/creativeReply device
BRE vs. CREStamped vs. No StampSingle Stamp vs. Multiple
Fundraising PremiumsAddress labels, greeting cards, calendars
Copy platformTiming of promotion
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How many elements should you test at a time?
Lastly, remember to reserve
a sample that won't receive
a promotion at all for
control-analysis purposes.
One. Testing more than one element will make it impossible for you to know what makes a difference in results.
Of course you can certainly have more "cells" in your test to test other elements simultaneously. But each cell must only test one thing.
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Valid Sample Sizes
Have some idea of the level of response you expect or need.
Decide what confidence level you will live with in testing.
Decide what level of variance you can live with in the test generated responses.
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Calculating ROI
Quantity of Mailing Return On Investment Survey25,000
Total Production Costs Total Developmental Costs Quantity of Mailing Campaign Costs PRODUCTION ADMIN
12,500$ 12,500$ 25,000 25,000$ 12,500$ 12,500$
or or
List Acquisition (per 1000) Administrative and Planning
-$ -$ -$ -$ 25,000
Printing (per 1000) Creative Projected Response Rate 1%
-$ -$ 1% -$ -$ 250
Seperation and Proofs Photography Conversion to Sale 1%
-$ -$ Profit per Sale 1% -$ -$ 3
Data Processing Legal 5,000$ 5,000$
-$ -$ -$ -$ 12500
Lettershop Other
-$ -$ -$ -$
Postage Costs Net Profit ROI %-$ -$
Shipping Costs 12,500$ 50%
-$ TOTAL CAMPAIGN COSTS -$
25,000$
-$ -$
12,500$ 12,500$ 25,000$
Production Worksheet
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Results
The goal in testing should be to try new testing elements to beat the tried and true “Control” package..
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Control Group Creative 1 Creative 1 Creative 2 Response Response Response ResponseList/Segment No Action Offer A Offer B Offer A Rate Rate Rate Rate
Group 1 + - - - 28%
Group 2 - + + + 13% 15% 11%
Group 3 - + - - 12%
Group 4 - - + - 14%
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Direct Mail testing Tips
Add the word “FREE” to your outer envelope teaser copy.
Put ad headlines in quotation marks.
Test a phone follow-up to non-respondents.
Offer a free sample to overcome the “I don’t believe it” objection.
Say “thank you” to gift-buyers with no-strings-attached gift certificate for them to use.
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Direct Mail testing Tips
Use the flap side of the envelope as the address driver
Put your deadline on the outside the envelope.
Change the color of the outer envelope.
Include a deadline in your offer
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Questions?Thoughts?Comments?
Questions and Answers
Stephanie MiracleEnterprise ConsultingPitney Bowes Management Services816-778-9408 [email protected] | www.pbmanagementservices.com Every connection is a new opportunity™
THANK YOU.
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