By Keith Ballard, FCi Production Scheduler and Kentuckiana PCC Programs Director
What is a PCC you ask? Founded in 1961, the Postal Customer Council is a group of USPS Officials and industry leaders who serve to bridge the communication gap and foster educational and networking opportunities between the Postal Service and the mailing community. There are more than 200 local PCC chapters with approximately 100,000 members across the nation. You can bet there is one in your area that would welcome your participation.
I have been involved with the Kentuckiana PCC since 1990 and more recently as Special Events Coordinator and Programs Director on the Executive Board since 2008. Our goal has been to take the PCC to new heights and give our 800+ members value and the education needed in the tough economy we are all facing. Due to the never-ending amount of USPS changes and new regulations, we are increasing our general meetings to 6 per year and have added additional programs to the traditional 2 seminars per meeting. Our next meeting will be PCC day on 9/15/10 and will include 3 seminars from USPS Headquarters. Most of our seminars are custom designed by our Industry members or USPS presentations only offered at the National Postal Forum. You will be allowed time to socialize and network with your peers while being served a catered lunch from Bootleg BBQ. We will wrap up with a webcast of Postmaster General Jack Potter spelling out his challenges and plans to transform the Postal Service, and end the day with tours of our local USPS facility. This is a great way to see the USPS machines in action and know what happens to the mail after it leaves your hands. Our Annual Membership is free and everyone is invited to attend this action packed event at a cost of $25.00 per person.
The PCC is beneficial to FCi and everyone who mails and could not exist without your involvement. So I encourage you… PLEASE BE INVOLVED. Every member makes a difference to refine, change, or voice your opinion to the USPS industry. FCi, as a member, has been able to keep up with major USPS changes to remain postal compliant through the PCC’s education programs. FCi also maximizes the best postal discounts and efficiencies from mailpiece creation to output with our participation in many other workshops and key PCC events. Please visit our website at www.kentuckianapcc.com or contact me at kballard@fciusa.net for more information about the Kentuckiana PCC. Other areas may contact your local post office for a chapter nearest you.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Lowest Hanging Fruit May Already Be On The Ground!
By Don Eger, Sales Representative
Business development efforts more often than not focus on “low hanging fruit”. Time and time again savvy marketers identify key business segments that are ideally aligned with the goods and services that a respective company has to offer. While it is strategically sound to pursue new business in this manner, all too often companies tend to lose focus on what helped make them successful in the first place…their current customer.
One of the most commonly overlooked sources of increased revenue has already “fallen from the tree”. Just look at your own current client base. Sure, you’re knocking yourself out on a daily basis jumping through hoops and making sure that everything you do contributes to a high customer satisfaction rating. But, when was the last time you sat back, took a deep breath, and asked yourself…”What more can I being doing for my client? How can they additionally benefit from the services in which my company has demonstrated expertise? Have I looked at every possible perceived client need and properly aligned it with each and every capability my company has to offer?”
Here are a three simple ways to grab “ripe fruit” that is just within reach…
1. Proactively strategize about programs that are consistent with ones you are already implementing in your client’s behalf. This doesn’t need to be anything formal. Brainstorm with your current account group, it may be as simple as saying to your contact at the next meeting, ”have you ever considered…?”
2. Meet with primary contacts and ask how you can reach deeper within their organization. In most cases, and particularly if they are a well-satisfied client, they’ll be more than happy to put you in touch with influential decision-makers in other departments.
3. Schedule semi-annual reviews. This can be an effective new business tool for sales personnel, regardless of the industry you represent. Discussion can lead from “how are we doing” to “what else can we be doing”.
Sure, it’s all a common sense approach to building business relationships, but client satisfaction and increased revenues go hand-in-hand. Remember, the first day you acquire an account, you are one day closer to losing it, so make every day count!
Business development efforts more often than not focus on “low hanging fruit”. Time and time again savvy marketers identify key business segments that are ideally aligned with the goods and services that a respective company has to offer. While it is strategically sound to pursue new business in this manner, all too often companies tend to lose focus on what helped make them successful in the first place…their current customer.
One of the most commonly overlooked sources of increased revenue has already “fallen from the tree”. Just look at your own current client base. Sure, you’re knocking yourself out on a daily basis jumping through hoops and making sure that everything you do contributes to a high customer satisfaction rating. But, when was the last time you sat back, took a deep breath, and asked yourself…”What more can I being doing for my client? How can they additionally benefit from the services in which my company has demonstrated expertise? Have I looked at every possible perceived client need and properly aligned it with each and every capability my company has to offer?”
Here are a three simple ways to grab “ripe fruit” that is just within reach…
1. Proactively strategize about programs that are consistent with ones you are already implementing in your client’s behalf. This doesn’t need to be anything formal. Brainstorm with your current account group, it may be as simple as saying to your contact at the next meeting, ”have you ever considered…?”
2. Meet with primary contacts and ask how you can reach deeper within their organization. In most cases, and particularly if they are a well-satisfied client, they’ll be more than happy to put you in touch with influential decision-makers in other departments.
3. Schedule semi-annual reviews. This can be an effective new business tool for sales personnel, regardless of the industry you represent. Discussion can lead from “how are we doing” to “what else can we be doing”.
Sure, it’s all a common sense approach to building business relationships, but client satisfaction and increased revenues go hand-in-hand. Remember, the first day you acquire an account, you are one day closer to losing it, so make every day count!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Are you mailing JUNK MAIL?
By Joe Leist, Sales Director
Have you ever wondered why so many companies use direct mail marketing for customer acquisition? The answer is quite simple. It works! This week I received over 15 direct mail pieces at my home address here in balmy Louisville, KY. Offers came from local companies such as realtors, auto dealers, and insurance agents. A few mail pieces were received from national retailers such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Macy’s, and Justice (you’d have to have a 10 year old daughter to know that one!). And lastly, I received some very aggressive offers by credit card industry giants, Chase Bank and PNC.
While most of us consumers get somewhat annoyed by the many offers being provided through the direct mail marketing channel, (maybe you’ve heard the term “junk mail?”), some of the offers seem to be right in line with my needs. How is it that some mail is considered junk, while other pieces might be golden? That's the million-dollar question marketers face every day, and one that can be avoided with a simple understanding of direct mail marketing basics.
If you are considering utilizing direct mail for customer acquisition, you might be interested in better understanding the top 5 mistakes marketers make when building direct mail campaigns:
1) The wrong list: Oftentimes marketers use either out-dated house files or have done a poor job in securing a great list. As postage rates continue to increase yearly and as consumers continue to get bombarded with a wide variety of marketing messages on a daily basis, it’s imperative to target an audience that meets your ideal customer profile. Why mail a furnace replacement offer to a new-home buyer if that buyer won’t be replacing a furnace for at least 8 years!
2) Poor copy: Whether you use self-mailers, or the often-used 9 x 12 with buck slip in a # 10 window envelope, copy sells. To see what others are using in their copy, either start collecting your own direct mail pieces, or consider joining “Who’s Mailing What”, which is simply a direct mail database of thousands of direct mail pieces in PDF, which is searchable by industry. If you’re not interested in subscribing, feel free to call me and I can pull some industry samples for you to review.
3) Not enough testing: It’s imperative to test, test, and then test some more. Rule number one is never to mail just one copy of anything, but instead test multiple pieces in the same mailing. You just might be surprised at which copy is working and often times it is not the piece you thought would garner the higher response rates.
4) No relevancy / No personalization: In the old days, direct mail was created on commercial printing presses and every piece delivered the same message using the same graphics regardless of age, race, income, and other demographics ultimately resulting in poor response rates. Today’s marketing service providers use data-driven technology that allows every direct mail piece to be unique to the recipient. A great example in relevancy can be seen from one of the regional grocers here in the Midwest whom uses their member base house file list for up-sell opportunities. Have you ever wondered why you received a Bonny Bell ice-cream coupon when you purchased another brand’s ice cream just three weeks ago? Data drives the offer and is easy to accomplish with today’s technology being used by marketing service providers.
5) No plan for following up: 10,000 mail pieces delivered, 1.29% response rate (or 129 responders), and no follow up plans. Yikes! It’s true, and we see if every day whereby marketing and sales continue to operate on separate floors with no follow up game plan, especially in the B-to-B marketplace. Do yourself a favor and plan your follow up processes before you launch your next marketing campaign.
Good luck to those embarking on an excellent customer acquisition marketing strategy using direct mail and always remember: build or purchase a targeted list, write copy that is compelling with a good call to action, test, test, and test some more, use personalization and data driven content to more closely communicate with your prospects interest, and always remember to build a follow up strategy prior to launch. Otherwise, you might just be adding more junk mail to the postal stream.
Have you ever wondered why so many companies use direct mail marketing for customer acquisition? The answer is quite simple. It works! This week I received over 15 direct mail pieces at my home address here in balmy Louisville, KY. Offers came from local companies such as realtors, auto dealers, and insurance agents. A few mail pieces were received from national retailers such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Macy’s, and Justice (you’d have to have a 10 year old daughter to know that one!). And lastly, I received some very aggressive offers by credit card industry giants, Chase Bank and PNC.
While most of us consumers get somewhat annoyed by the many offers being provided through the direct mail marketing channel, (maybe you’ve heard the term “junk mail?”), some of the offers seem to be right in line with my needs. How is it that some mail is considered junk, while other pieces might be golden? That's the million-dollar question marketers face every day, and one that can be avoided with a simple understanding of direct mail marketing basics.
If you are considering utilizing direct mail for customer acquisition, you might be interested in better understanding the top 5 mistakes marketers make when building direct mail campaigns:
1) The wrong list: Oftentimes marketers use either out-dated house files or have done a poor job in securing a great list. As postage rates continue to increase yearly and as consumers continue to get bombarded with a wide variety of marketing messages on a daily basis, it’s imperative to target an audience that meets your ideal customer profile. Why mail a furnace replacement offer to a new-home buyer if that buyer won’t be replacing a furnace for at least 8 years!
2) Poor copy: Whether you use self-mailers, or the often-used 9 x 12 with buck slip in a # 10 window envelope, copy sells. To see what others are using in their copy, either start collecting your own direct mail pieces, or consider joining “Who’s Mailing What”, which is simply a direct mail database of thousands of direct mail pieces in PDF, which is searchable by industry. If you’re not interested in subscribing, feel free to call me and I can pull some industry samples for you to review.
3) Not enough testing: It’s imperative to test, test, and then test some more. Rule number one is never to mail just one copy of anything, but instead test multiple pieces in the same mailing. You just might be surprised at which copy is working and often times it is not the piece you thought would garner the higher response rates.
4) No relevancy / No personalization: In the old days, direct mail was created on commercial printing presses and every piece delivered the same message using the same graphics regardless of age, race, income, and other demographics ultimately resulting in poor response rates. Today’s marketing service providers use data-driven technology that allows every direct mail piece to be unique to the recipient. A great example in relevancy can be seen from one of the regional grocers here in the Midwest whom uses their member base house file list for up-sell opportunities. Have you ever wondered why you received a Bonny Bell ice-cream coupon when you purchased another brand’s ice cream just three weeks ago? Data drives the offer and is easy to accomplish with today’s technology being used by marketing service providers.
5) No plan for following up: 10,000 mail pieces delivered, 1.29% response rate (or 129 responders), and no follow up plans. Yikes! It’s true, and we see if every day whereby marketing and sales continue to operate on separate floors with no follow up game plan, especially in the B-to-B marketplace. Do yourself a favor and plan your follow up processes before you launch your next marketing campaign.
Good luck to those embarking on an excellent customer acquisition marketing strategy using direct mail and always remember: build or purchase a targeted list, write copy that is compelling with a good call to action, test, test, and test some more, use personalization and data driven content to more closely communicate with your prospects interest, and always remember to build a follow up strategy prior to launch. Otherwise, you might just be adding more junk mail to the postal stream.
Monday, August 9, 2010
How to Maximize Digital Printing Efforts
By Gary Sublett, Data Processing / Docutech Specialist
Have you read Rachel's article, “The Power of Paper”? This is absolutely true! I hope you are looking at the possibilities of a marketing plan that includes a digital color press produced component as time and time again it has been proven that this is the way to get the most return on your marketing dollar.
You may wonder, why use a digital color press produced component? Below are the economies of a digitally produced color piece:
· Relatively endless personalization possibilities with variable data print (VDP).
· Quick turn around.
· Economical short to medium runs.
· Near linear cost per piece produced.
· Real proofs produced by the exact workflow that generates the final product.
· Print-on-Demand. (POD)
· In-line finishing. (Trim, score, stitch, fold, etc.)
All of this sounds great, but there are even considerations one must make when planning a digital color print component. Attention to a few details at the creative design phase can go a long way to maximize the benefits of digital print. Here are a few key areas that we have found to be critical:
· Get your printer involved early in the design phase. If your ideas involve a mail piece, coordinate with your printer to ensure your design complies with postal standards and regulations.
· Proof early and often. Proofing on a digital press is significantly more economical, quicker, and allows for an interactive creative process.
· Determine the most appropriate color space to use (RGB vs CMYK) during the design phase and when to convert to CMYK.
· ICC profiles used and why.
· Image formats, resolutions, compression. (JPEG, TIFF, EPS, etc)
· Optimizing large areas of solid and gradient tints to avoid mottling and banding.
All things considered, digital printing (especially color printing) can go a long way and still remain cost effective. Use these tips on your next digital printing campaign and save yourself time and money in your marketing strategy. There isn't a more opportune time to do more with less.
Have you read Rachel's article, “The Power of Paper”? This is absolutely true! I hope you are looking at the possibilities of a marketing plan that includes a digital color press produced component as time and time again it has been proven that this is the way to get the most return on your marketing dollar.
You may wonder, why use a digital color press produced component? Below are the economies of a digitally produced color piece:
· Relatively endless personalization possibilities with variable data print (VDP).
· Quick turn around.
· Economical short to medium runs.
· Near linear cost per piece produced.
· Real proofs produced by the exact workflow that generates the final product.
· Print-on-Demand. (POD)
· In-line finishing. (Trim, score, stitch, fold, etc.)
All of this sounds great, but there are even considerations one must make when planning a digital color print component. Attention to a few details at the creative design phase can go a long way to maximize the benefits of digital print. Here are a few key areas that we have found to be critical:
· Get your printer involved early in the design phase. If your ideas involve a mail piece, coordinate with your printer to ensure your design complies with postal standards and regulations.
· Proof early and often. Proofing on a digital press is significantly more economical, quicker, and allows for an interactive creative process.
· Determine the most appropriate color space to use (RGB vs CMYK) during the design phase and when to convert to CMYK.
· ICC profiles used and why.
· Image formats, resolutions, compression. (JPEG, TIFF, EPS, etc)
· Optimizing large areas of solid and gradient tints to avoid mottling and banding.
All things considered, digital printing (especially color printing) can go a long way and still remain cost effective. Use these tips on your next digital printing campaign and save yourself time and money in your marketing strategy. There isn't a more opportune time to do more with less.
Monday, August 2, 2010
The Point of No Returns
By Bryan Robison, Senior Data Specialist
So you’ve just wrapped up your direct marketing campaign and are confident that new & existing leads will be beating down your door. Think again…
The United States Postal Service estimates that 10% of all mail is undelivered because of incorrect or outdated addresses. Moreover, approximately 40 million Americans change their address every year. So how do you hit these “moving” targets?
FCi has helped numerous clients significantly increase their ROI on direct mail campaigns. We employ leading Move Update technology, NCOAlink , to ensure that our clients’ lists are current. Our clients’ address data is matched to the USPS’s National Change Of Address (NCOA) database that contains 160 million permanent change-of-address (COA) records filed over the last 4 years. With this broad access to recent move update information, we’re confident that your DM mailpieces won’t be branded “Return To Sender”.
By reducing returned mail or UAA’s (Undelivered As Addressed), you will get more bang for your postage buck & realize the following gains:
· the postage wasted on these UAA’s is eliminated
· printing costs are reduced since we’re mailing to only known addresses
· The campaign will be delivered faster and with greater accuracy which, in turn, translates into an increase in response rates
FCi can perform an ROI analysis to estimate how much you’ll gain by transforming your outdated lists into ones that contain current & relevant address information. Let FCi get you to the point of No Returns!
So you’ve just wrapped up your direct marketing campaign and are confident that new & existing leads will be beating down your door. Think again…
The United States Postal Service estimates that 10% of all mail is undelivered because of incorrect or outdated addresses. Moreover, approximately 40 million Americans change their address every year. So how do you hit these “moving” targets?
FCi has helped numerous clients significantly increase their ROI on direct mail campaigns. We employ leading Move Update technology, NCOAlink , to ensure that our clients’ lists are current. Our clients’ address data is matched to the USPS’s National Change Of Address (NCOA) database that contains 160 million permanent change-of-address (COA) records filed over the last 4 years. With this broad access to recent move update information, we’re confident that your DM mailpieces won’t be branded “Return To Sender”.
By reducing returned mail or UAA’s (Undelivered As Addressed), you will get more bang for your postage buck & realize the following gains:
· the postage wasted on these UAA’s is eliminated
· printing costs are reduced since we’re mailing to only known addresses
· The campaign will be delivered faster and with greater accuracy which, in turn, translates into an increase in response rates
FCi can perform an ROI analysis to estimate how much you’ll gain by transforming your outdated lists into ones that contain current & relevant address information. Let FCi get you to the point of No Returns!
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