How to choose the right envelope for your direct mail campaign, part 2

In part one of our two-part blog series, we examined quite a few important aspects about how to choose the right envelop for your direct mail campaign including the importance of using the plain white #10 window (most commonly opened envelope in the U.S.) and more. So, without further adieu, here’s part two of our blog series dedicated to helping you choose the right envelope for your direct mail campaign.

The postage imprint on your envelope should look like metered business mail. Although you will likely be using standard mail, it should look like first class business mail in order to increase open rates and credibility among other factors. The envelope should also not give the city and state from where the mail was dropped, only the zip code. You want the recipient to assume it is local, first class mail.

It is also very important that you do not write anything on the envelope—especially not mortgage, insurance or whatever your campaign may involve. Your first priority is to have the prospect open your mail piece. Don’t blow it on the envelope! If they see the word mortgage or anything else written on the envelop they might throw it away before they see your fantastic offers inside. Let them open the letter and read all the great reasons to call you.

Another element that many companies tend to spend unnecessary amounts of money on is fancy envelopes. There are few scenarios where an envelope with a soaring eagle or a flag will result in higher opens rates as compared to a plain white #10 window envelop—which costs significantly less. If a regular white envelope will get your mail opened, save the extra 5-7 cents those expensive envelopes cost and send more letters. For the same money you can send around 15 percent more mail and reach 15 percent more customers or prospects. Spend your money wisely!

Finally, always keep in mind that in order to win customers, you must develop a level of credibility and trust. If your envelope is deceptive you are throwing these aspects away and losing a potential customer. The job of the envelope is to get your letter opened, so keep it simple, safe and professional, and know that you always have help from industry leaders like SKM Media Group when you need it.

SKM Media Group’s turn-key direct mail campaigns include data, creative design, print, envelope, postage and a free call-tracking system. If you’d like more information about our turn-key direct mail programs or would like to get your campaign started today, call 888.488.2918 or visit http://www.skmdirectmail.com.

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

How to choose the right envelope for your direct mail campaign, part 1

During the initial phase of your direct mail campaign, there are numerous aspects that you need to take into account that can mean the difference between a moderately successful venture and a highly effective campaign. The right creative and the right mailing list are certainly two very important aspects that are normally top of mind when planning a direct mail campaign. Yet if the centerpiece of your campaign is a standard 8.5 by 11 letter, one aspect that you must never overlook is the type of envelope you should use.

In post one if this two-part blog series, we’ll break down the envelope choosing process and provide valuable insight into one of the most important and under considered aspects of a highly effective direct mail campaign: choosing the right envelope. 

The most commonly opened envelope in the United States is the plain white, #10 window envelope. All of your bills, bank statements and other important mail pieces come in this kind of envelope, and there’s a good chance that you (and most others) open them all. As such, the #10 window has developed a level of credibility and familiarity, and is the envelope you want to use. 

Now that we’ve selected the right envelope, we can get into the details. The postage imprint on your envelope should look like metered business mail. Although you will likely be using standard mail, enhancing the appearance of the envelope to make it look like first class business mail is a simple and cost friendly way to increase the open rate. However, the envelope should not include the city and state from where the mail was dropped, only the zip code. You want the recipient to assume it is local, first class mail. 

The first thing on the envelope your prospect will likely read is their name showing through the window. Because of this, it’s important to consider printing a customer account number directly above their name. It should look official and read, Customer Account # SKM012412- 6579, or something similar. When your prospect sees an account number they are much more likely to open the letter. In addition, by assigning each prospect a unique account number, you can easily look them up when they call, have their information immediately in front of you and track your response rates. 

Stay tuned next week for part two or our blog series “How to choose the right envelope for your direct mail campaign.” If you’d like more information about SKM Media Group’s turn-key direct mail programs or to get your campaign started today, call 888.488.2918 or visit http://www.skmdirectmail.com. 

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

Paul and Gingrich lead pack in first ever ‘Social Primary’

A recent study from social media consultancy Sociagility indicates that Republican primary candidates Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich are using social media more effectively than other GOP candidate hopefuls.

The study also suggests a “close correlation between candidates’ social media profiles and voting intention, in Iowa and nationally,” effectively creating what Sociagility and others are calling the first ever ‘Social Primary.’

To reach these conclusions, Sociagility analyzed a number of factors across multiple social media channels including popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach and trust of each candidate.

According to the study, Paul’s YouTube channel and campaign website, and Gingrich’s Facebook and Twitter profiles proved to be “most effective” as compared to the efforts of fellow Republican primary candidates. Further, Paul ranked highest in interaction, trust and network, and Gingrich ranked the highest in social media receptiveness.

Here’s a full breakdown of the study’s results:

 

	Rank	PRINT Index(TM)	Popularity	Receptiveness	Interaction	Network	Trust
Ron Paul	1	145	87	50	279	164	145
Newt Gingrich	2	109	92	195	46	107	106
Michele Bachmann	3	84	76	108	66	67	102
Mitt Romney	4	79	86	38	69	98	105
Rick Perry	5	78	170	94	-21	148	-2
Rick Santorum	6	70	66	102	70	37	75
Jon Huntsman	7	64	64	78	17	80	82

Source: Sociagility

About SKM Politics:
SKM Politics is a division of SKM Media Group, a data services and marketing company based in Boca Raton, FL. SKM Media Group specializes in creating customized direct mail, email and data packages for our clients that help them achieve a high return on investment, acquire new customers, create company awareness, retain existing customers, enhance current initiatives, and reduce costs. 

For more information, visit skmpolitics.com or call 888-488-2918. 

Ron Paul Tops Social Media Scorecard in First Ever 'Social Primary', Says Sociagility -- By Sociagility

Politicians Are Starting To Embrace Social Media…Now What? -- By SKM Media Group

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

Is Black Friday a thing of the past?

Each new holiday shopping season seems to bring with it more and more creative promotional efforts. From Cyber Monday to T-Mobile’s “Magenta Saturday” to American Express’ “Small Business Saturday,” companies seem to be creating named events for each weekday of the holiday shopping season.

While Black Friday has been the shopping day of the year since the 1960s, it seems to be facing stiffer competition each year from these and other clever promotional events. And as Black Friday continues to develop a reputation of being crazy, crowded and even disorderly at times, will the seemingly endless stream of new promotions eventually make Black Friday a shopping phenomenon of the past? In short: maybe. Here are some reasons why and why not. 

Since the adoption of its moniker in the 1960s, Black Friday has consistently been the busiest shopping day of the year. According to the retail data analysis firm ShopperTrak, Black Friday sales from this year totaled roughly $11.4 billion, up 7 percent (around $1 billion) from 2010. Stats such as these don’t lie: Black Friday is still a force to be reckoned with. 

Alternatively, because Black Friday continues to become a victim of its own success in terms of the coinciding stigma of chaos and long lines, more people are beginning to take advantage of Cyber Monday sales or the slew of new and/or up-and-coming promotions such as AMEX’s “Small Business Saturday” or T-Mobile’s "Magenta Saturday." If you’re not a Black Friday type shopper, it’s becoming easier to find comparable deals a few days later or before, or sales such as outdoor retailer Gander Mountain’s “Camo Thursdays” that run each Thursday through Christmas. The consumer is still king and promotions such as these prove that point. 

Many companies are also beginning to integrate social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare into their promotions. For instance, in order to take advantage of certain Small Business Saturday deals, American Express requires users to sync their AMEX card to their Facebook or Foursquare accounts (in addition to submitting basic information such as name, address, etc.) in order to find or add deals in their area. Industry experts anticipate that social media and smartphone apps will spark a new era in the coming years in terms of holiday marketing and promotions. 

So is Black Friday a thing of the past? As of right now, the answer is: probably not. But who knows…perhaps Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and all of the other promotions can all live in peace and harmony together. Only time will tell! 

If you want to create your own holiday marketing promotion, we want to help! To learn more about how SKM Media Group can help your business stand out from the crowd, please visit http://www.skmmediagroup.com or call 888-488-2918. 

Social Media, American Express Helping Holiday Shoppers Get Good Deals -- By Christina DesMarais, PCWorld 

Online Retailers Promote Cyber Monday -- by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (via NPR.org) 

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

Politicians are starting to embrace social media…now what?

Anyone who follows politics can likely relate to the notion that it takes a long time for politicians to embrace changes to the status quo. While the same old, same old routine may still reign supreme in many areas of politics, it certainly doesn’t seem applicable when it comes to the amount of politicians and campaigns that have quickly embraced social media.

According to the Associated Press, 80 percent of House and Senate members have social media accounts. Not even so-called millennials, young people between the ages of 18-29, have that high of a social media account percentage. 

Here’s another surprising fact, this time from the Pew Research Center: 81 percent of the House and Senate’s 433 members use Twitter versus only 18 percent of 18-29 year-olds. This percentage is interesting at least for two reasons: one being that it shakes the perception that young folks dominate the Twitter landscape; two, that politicians seem much more willing to use Twitter instead of Facebook and/or other types of social media as their platform of choice. 

So great, politicians and their campaigns are quickly embracing social media. Now what? How does President Obama use his nearly 24 million Facebook page likes to his or his campaign’s advantage? How will Herman Cain benefit from his nearly 160,000 followers on Twitter as the presidential race heats up? Good questions indeed. 

A recent article from AdAge delves into this issue and offers the following step-by-step breakdown to politicians hoping to cash in so to speak on their social media presence: 

Step One: Build a Constituency

Step Two: Create Momentum, Drive Discussion

Step Three: The Home Stretch [Calls to action]

Is it that simple? Now that many politicians and their campaigns are using social media, will they be able to transform their audience members into voters or donors? What do you think? Click here to share your opinions.

Elections Will Turn on Which Candidates Use Social Sharing Most Effectively – By: Gurbaksh Chahal, AdAge.com

Romney hits Perry with social media 1-2 punch – via SKM Media Group blog

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

How to make social media work for your small business – part 3

In the third and final segment of our blog series How to make social media work for your small business, we’ll focus on using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to attract new customers to your business.

In terms of using social media to grow your customer base, it’s always important to consider a basic tenet of social media strategy (or any business strategy for that matter) in that you need to understand several key factors before you get started. These include having a thorough understanding of who your customers are, the industry(ies) in which you do business, and the goals you hope to accomplish (e.g. the number of customer or leads you hope to generate through social media, the number of sign ups you receive, etc.). You certainly don’t need to be a social media master to utilize its power to grow your business, but it’s a good idea to have a solid understanding of the social media you wish to use, or the willingness to learn at least about the major players such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. So, let’s run through a few examples of how you can use social media to increase your customer base. 

Say you own a restaurant and you want to develop a Facebook contest that requires people to like your page in order to possibly win a free meal. You can promote the contest through a Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn ad, and through additional social media you have a presence on (or wish to develop a presence on). This is a cost-effective way to achieve several ends: generating brand awareness, building your social media presence, and most importantly enticing current and potential diners to eat at your restaurant. And if you do things right, hopefully you’ll have a long-term customer who not only frequently dines at your restaurant, but visits your Facebook page on a regular basis for new and exciting promotions or info. All in all, such a promotion could easily turn into a win/win for your small business. 

A promotion such as this, cross-promoted and/or advertised through your other social media channels and even through a direct mail or email marketing campaign, can have very positive impacts on your small business. This method may not work for every company, however, so here’s another example.

You own a small business that sells cleaning supplies. Instead of giving away a free meal for two, you can create a Facebook campaign in which everyone who likes your page enters to win free cleaning supplies or some type of product or service you provide. In this case, it’s important to consider utilizing the power of LinkedIn Ads to draw attention to your promotion, which will also hopefully lead to a dedicated following on your company profile as well. In terms of corporate social media, LinkedIn is no longer just for personal promotion. It now plays a huge role in company promotion as well, particularly for B2B businesses, and we strongly suggest considering this social media as a channel for promoting and growing your business. 

So, is it that simple to generate leads through social media? Well, the answer depends on a number of factors such as the target audience and placement of your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn ads (specifically, how much money you’re willing to invest in an ad), the creativity of the “contest” or “promotion” content/artwork used in relation to the promotion or contest, and many other factors. A good eye always helps when it comes to creative marketing, but sometimes it may be necessary to contact the experts for a bit of help if you don’t want to go it alone. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed our three-part blog segment on how to make social media work for small businesses, and we welcome any comments or feedback you may have!

How to make social media work for your small business – Part 2 

How to make social media work for your small business – Part 1

© SKM Media Corp. www.skmmediagroup.com

Study reveals direct mail leaves longer-lasting impression than digital media

In a world dominated by digital everything – digital marketing, smartphones, digital advertising, digital you name it – it’s often easy to forget that we still live in a physical world. It wasn’t long ago that physical media such as newspapers and magazines were the primary means not only for reaching customers, but also for learning and absorbing information.

With the rise of technology, however, it seems that more traditional media run the risk of going extinct. Yet in spite of the digital takeover of all-things marketing and advertising, direct mail continues to thrive and the following study examines the reasons why. 

The study, conducted by Millward Brown last October, revealed that physical media like direct mail left a “deeper footprint” in the brain, as opposed to digital media absorbed through some sort of technology. Titled Using Neuroscience to Understand the Role of Direct Mail, the study sheds light on the fact that our brains react differently to digital vs. physical media, and makes a strong argument for why direct mail and other “tangible” media remain powerful marketing tools with superior resonating quality. 

A recent article from Forbes.com breaks down Millward Brown’s study and examines some of its additional findings relating to physical media: 

• Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for memory and brand associations 

• Physical materials produced more brain response connected with internal feelings, suggesting greater “internalization” of the ads

• More processing is taking place in the right retrosplenial cortex when physical material is presented. This is involved in the processing of emotionally powerful stimuli and memory, which would suggest that the physical presentation may be generating more emotionally vivid memories 

Just like everything else in business and in life, there's nothing wrong with a healthy balance of all-things effective. The use of direct mail in conjunction with digital media such as email marketing or social media like Facebook and Twitter will most certainly increase your chances for marketing success.

What do you think? Share your comments and opinions here.

In This Land Of Digital, Let's Not Forget The Physical – By Steve Olenski, Contributor, Forbes.com

© SKM Media Corp. | www.skmmediagroup.com