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We Predicted The Future Of Cross-Media. Or Did We?

May 6, 2010 10:00 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ Easypurl Team

We predicted the future of cross-media 20 months ago. Read it here.

We decided it was time to evaluate the accuracy of our prophecies. And boy, are we feeling smug!

What we said then:

• Personalized URLs – “…Personalized URLs are more than a gimmick,” we urged, explaining how Personalized URLs and Cross-Media Services are the future of direct marketing. Well, they are now the present. Marketers we speak with call us because they want Personalized URLs now, and not because they are considering a Personalized URL campaign sometime in the distant future. Personalized URLs have come of age and are here to stay.

• “Marketers are looking for programs with quantifiable ROI,” we said. This prediction is now truer than ever, as marketers are now looking for programs with quantifiable ROI ONLY. In fact, it’s a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for most campaigns. During the recent downturn, this trend accelerated. Why? Because with marketing budgets slashed companies were forced to do more with less. Now that the economy is recovering and many new opportunities are emerging, the good old days of “spray and pray” are ancient history. Marketers today are searching for solutions with demonstrable success.

• We also predicted a trend where commercial printers would “transition to a solutions provider, and offer higher value services…” That transition from old-school to new-school direct marketing is in progress, and if anything, has accelerated in recent months. Printers today have changed and are now acting like real marketing companies. In fact, our recent trip to Philly for the OnDemand Conference showed us just how far many of these innovative firms have come.

• “Imagine having the ability to take your clients’ direct mail list and append it with Personalized URLs and IMBs [Intelligent Mail Barcodes] that enable direct mail tracking with the United States Postal Service…,” we asked then. No more imagination needed. IMBs are a reality and are commonly used across the industry today. What’s more, by combining email triggers and IMB delivery data, many marketers are sending out triggered email communications to mail recipients the same day their mail has been confirmed to be in-home. This approach has been shown to boost response by as much as 30% in some cases. Click here to learn more about this interesting technology.

Okay, we’re now wiping the smug look off our face, because there are a couple of things we didn’t point out at that time. 1. Mobile marketing has taken off after a long delay. In fact, we feel this year is the year that mobile marketing finally comes of age, and it is definitely has a bright future in the world of Cross-Media Marketing. Recent technology advances such as QR Codes are definitely playing a big role in this trend. 2. Big advertising agencies have now begun to adopt Personalized URLs and other cross-media tools into their clients’  campaigns. They might have come late to the Cross-Media party, but many large agencies – including Wunderman, BBDO, Draft FCB, G2, etc. – are getting into Cross-Media in a big way.

Stats update: We said in the article that “broadband penetration in the country surpassed the pivotal tipping point of 51 percent last year. So, it isn’t surprising that according the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), 43 percent of all consumers prefer to respond to direct mail promotions online…”
The updated stats now say that broadband penetration is 62 percent, and 52 percent of consumers now prefer to respond to direct mail promotions online.

Can think of a million more points that could burst our “smug bubble”? Hit the “Comments” button and knock yourself out.

img:wikicommons

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SWOT Analysis Of The Print Industry

May 4, 2010 12:18 pm ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅ Easypurl Team

Here is a SWOT analysis of the print industry by our VP Sales & Marketing, Rio Longacre. (Remember him? He’s the dude who recently gave you guys a lowdown on OnDemand.)

For those of you who don’t know what it is, a SWOT analysis breaks down the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing an industry or organization.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to printing companies; opportunities and threats are external, and companies have no control over them. The key is to leverage your strengths to cash-in on the opportunities and overcome threats. (How do you do that? Watch out for our next post.)

(Click image to enlarge)

What you should take away from this diagram is that many PSPs should now find themselves in an advantageous position. The economy is emerging from a long downturn, and the print industry finds itself in a much different place than it was only three short years ago. To start with, their has been a fair amount of consolidation, leaving fewer but stronger players. Additionally, new technologies have been adopted – such as Cross-Media and Web2Print software – and many PSPs have radically altered their sales and marketing strategy / practices to be more solution-centric. As such, the companies that have emerged from this recession are not only leaner, meaner and smarter, but better able to deliver effective marketing solutions to their clients. In today’s environment, marketers are looking for solutions that include a high degree of personalization (1:1 Marketing) and measurable results. With the economy improving, the newly evolved Printer/Marketing Solutions firm should be poised for several years of sustainable growth in this new paradigm, which plays to its strengths. And, as marketing budgets increase along with the economy, companies offering more personalized and relevant communication will receive the largest slice of this growing pie.

For more information, write to Rio at rlongacre@indrosgroup.com

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Web-To-Print Or PURLs?

April 30, 2010 5:08 pm ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅ Easypurl Team

What is the better way to upgrade your business – move-up to Web-to-print, or add cross-media services?

Decisions, decisions. Let’s see if we can help.

You have ask yourself why you are upgrading your business. If it is to build better customer relationships and increase margins, Web-to-print can help you do that. But, if your goal is to increase sales and drive-up revenue, cross-media tools are what you need.

Here’s why.

Web-to-print helps streamline your ordering process and the time spent on each order. It makes it easier for your customers to do business with you. But, it has a long set-up period. It takes substantial time and effort to set up individual storefronts for each customer and train them to use the system. This means it can take months and even years to start seeing any ROI.

A PURL is a customer acquisition tool. It is used to drive new sales, quickly. It is a stand-alone feature that generates ROI within weeks. While web-to-print is a feel-good feature that makes your current customers happier, PURLs are aggressive sales and marketing tools that generate sales.

Ideally, progressive companies will ultimately have both Web-to-print and cross-media tools. It’s just a question of which one first.

You’re totally welcome.

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Deep Engagement Campaigns – The Right Way To Leverage Customer Information

April 28, 2010 5:05 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ Easypurl Team

How can you get very personal, but not too personal? How do you super-customize marketing campaigns for your customers without looking like a stalker?

As convoluted as this seems, it can be done.

There are two kinds of direct marketing that a company can carry out – Shallow Engagement campaigns and Deep Engagement campaigns.

A Shallow Engagement campaign is a regular marketing campaign where the only information available about the customer is name, address and other easily available data.

A Deep Engagement campaign is one where the marketers – owing to the nature of the business they are in – have detailed information about the target audience. Examples are insurance companies, banks, and other financial services companies. These guys are sitting on a treasure of information about their customers’ health and money habits, which if, (BIG IF), used intelligently, can help them retain customers and grow their businesses.

While these companies have been entrusted with intimate information, and have a responsibility to protect (and not abuse) it; there are ways they can use the information to accelerate a marketing campaign, without violating the customers’ rights.

For example, if an insurance company sends out a direct mail piece to a customer with specific information about diabetes, it’s a violation of his privacy.  But, if the company uses the information to customize a landing page for the customer, that is an effective marketing campaign.

There is a thin line between an effective message, and abuse of information. But once you master the art of walking that line, you master your target audience.

img:Chettimar

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Print HAS Changed – What 2010 On Demand Expo Taught Us

April 26, 2010 4:08 pm ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅ Easypurl Team

OnDemand 2010 LogoThe print industry has changed. Yes, it’s not going to change. It’s no longer in the process of changing.

This is our biggest takeaway from this year’s expo. (This, and “always carry an umbrella,” and “you can never have enough free tote bags.”)

The country is emerging from a recession and it has not been easy for many industries.  The print industry went through substantial contraction and consolidation, and it emerged from it a very different looking animal.

  • The industry has become leaner; but also stronger, more agile and more diversified.
  • Many companies have upgraded their businesses and attitudes. They have begun offering multi-channel services and are embracing the new wave of direct marketing.
  • Printers are acting like real marketing companies. The transition from old-school to new-school direct marketing is in progress.
  • Cross media marketing is no longer an option. No one we spoke to said they were considering cross media services. That decision has been made, and the only question was “When do we get started?”

We are past the tipping point.

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Common Mistakes In Cross Media Production

April 20, 2010 3:07 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ easypurl

Here are few mistakes that we frequently see first-time cross media marketers make. Again, guys, the keyword is “common.”

Poor list hygiene: A squeaky clean list is the first step to a successful campaign. Incorrect formatting, or data in the wrong columns will make it difficult to generate PURLs, landing pages and emails, or will generate them incorrectly.

Bad Data: Incorrect, incomplete or outdated data is fatal to any campaign. Sending out a direct mail piece to a non-existent address, or an incorrect email address just makes your direct mail piece junk. Watch out for list providers who supply bad lists.

Excuse me, but is anyone working on the creative?: A lot of marketers focus so much on the data and other technicalities, that they neglect the creative aspect of the campaign. The look, feel and content of the mail piece is as important as getting the data right. It is what drives people to respond.

Failure to purchase a domain name: We know, this is kind of hilarious. But people do forget to buy the campaign domain name, especially when a new one is needed for a specific campaign. Ideally, you check the availability of the domain name, and buy it, before going ahead with your production.

Any of these sound familiar? Feels good to know you’re not alone, right?

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Questions To Ask Your Customers (Hint: It Pays To Be Nosy)

April 16, 2010 10:33 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ easypurl

Remember the good old days when all you needed to know from your customers was card color, type and quantity? Sigh.

They’re gone. With today’s cross media marketing campaigns, the more questions you ask your customers, the more likely you are to succeed.

We have spoken about how, to price a campaign, you need to “begin at the end.”  That just means – begin with finding out the campaign’s ultimate objective or target, and you do that by asking the right questions.

Questions like:

-Who are your customers?
-How many customers do you currently have?
-How many are active?
-How do you communicate with them?
-What is the universe of potential customers is in your local area?
-What is your margin on the services you offer?
-How much are you willing to spend for a customer?
-What is the lifetime value of a customer?

You get the drift.

Your aim is to think beyond pricing and costs, and look at the big picture – the marketing campaign. Ask the right questions and define an achievable objective, and you won’t miss your target. When you are armed with more (relevant) information, you are able to design smart campaign that has a high chance of success.

img:Orin Zebest

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QR Codes Shorten The Distance Between A Man And His PURL

April 13, 2010 3:00 pm ⋅ 10 Comments ⋅ easypurl

You send out a direct mail piece with a personalized URL. You’ve done your best with it, and it’s as perfect as it can get. There is one more thing you can do to increase the response rate – add a QR code to your mail piece.

What is a QR code? “QR is short for Quick Response (they can be read quickly by a cell phone). They are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone…” Read more at Search engine land.

It looks like this and can be scanned by most camera phones.

img:intergalacticalrobot

Scanning the code will open up a PURL (or any URL that you want). So the recipient does not need a computer to check out his PURL. We love QR codes because they shorten the distance between a person and his PURL. And because they are so cool.

img:wikicommons

They help increase a marketing campaign’s response rate because they:
-Eliminate the need to type
-Make PURLs portable – people are not always at a computer, but almost always have their phones with them

Other benefits:
-A QR code can be read with a mobile phone, opening up a new channel of communication
-QR codes can go anywhere, in any size – from a business card to a billboard

A QR code is a logical extension of your PURL, it fills the gap that other cross media marketing tools cannot.

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93% Of Marketers Will Increase Digital Marketing Spend, Says Survey

April 9, 2010 8:36 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ easypurl

img:quinn.anya via flickr

Good News!

A Datran Media survey found that “93.6% of respondents will increase their budget for digital marketing channels this year, and 72.8% will use audience measurement tools to assess the success of their digital efforts,” DM News reports.

73.6% of survey respondents said they expected advertising revenues to go up this year.

So, those of you worrying about the shrinking print industry, look on the bright side – marketing budgets are expanding, and marketers are spending more on digital campaigns. If you stop sulking and upgrade your business to offer cross media services, you can grab a chunk of those dollars right away and expand your customer base.

Now, let’s see that smile :-)

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Five Myths About Cross Media Services

April 9, 2010 7:26 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ easypurl

A lot of us are just getting acquainted with cross media services, and this means there a quite a few misconceptions flying around. Here are our favorite five:

img:philosophygeek via flickr

Only companies with multi-million dollar marketing budgets use cross media services.
Not really. A cross media marketing campaign can be launched with a few hundred dollars.

Only big advertising agencies care about analytics.
Absolutely not. Today, every marketing manager – regardless of company size – worries about ROI, and wants to track, measure and analyze every stage of a marketing campaign.

For printers, taking on cross media services requires adding new staff.
No. Selling cross media services requires a change in the sales process. You’re moving from product-centric selling to solution-centric selling. You engage more closely with your customers, find out what their pain points are and help them solve the problems. You can train your current sales people to do this. And, on the the production side, using advanced web-publishing technology (such as Easypurl.com’s Canvas Designer) existing pre-press operators should be able to build projects.

Personalized URLs or PURLs are not compliant with HIPAA, FISMA and other acts.
Not all PURL services are compliant with these security requirements, but THERE ARE SOME that are compliant. We definitely are. Don’t discard PURLs assuming they are not secure, find out.

Using PURL software means your creative boundaries are limited to chunky fonts and ugly templates.
Who told you that??? Sophisticated software like Easypurl let you customize pages and emails to match your corporate website, or specific ad campaigns. It is possible to create pages that look just like your corporate website.

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