Having been in the social networking arena ourselves for a mere 2 years, we found this Forbes article to be particularly interesting. Social Networking has become a “must” for most businesses, but there are still some myths on how to best incorporate social media into a company’s overall marketing campaign. Here are the Ten Myths according to Forbes Magazine. We’d like to know, how has your company been using Social Networking?
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Customer retention in the digital age
Marketers spend a lot of time talking about how to acquire new customers and, perhaps, not enough time talking about keeping them. However, as the economy continues to struggle companies are starting to really value the business they do have, and are looking for ways to maintain relationships. You have a sales force that is working the phones and pounding the pavement trying to find new business, so they probably aren’t spending enough time on maintaining relationships.
Recently I read an article about the most hated companies in America. There were few surprises, banks, airlines, and utilities. But when you read why they are so hated, there is one common theme, communication. The companies on this list seemingly all do a bad job of communicating with their customers. The travel and banking industries are highly competitive, so it’s not too surprising that most of their resources go to customer acquisition. The utilities, well, what can you say about them? Their customer service is usually pretty bad, but I just think people resent having to pay so much for bad television and overpriced phone plans.
As a side note, you may want to read the list of the best-liked companies. To no one’s surprise, we Americans like food and cars!
So how can you maintain a relationship with your customer base while keeping your sales force focused on new business?
In the b-to-c world social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter work well. You can create fun content, apps and things for your customers to share. Subway is a good example of a company that does this well. They are constantly having contests that require you to signup online and share content with your friends. Their Facebook page is well designed and promotes their brand. They have 7.9 million “likes” and over 250,000 people have “checked-in” at one of their stores.
For b-to-b companies, engaging your customers is a bit more difficult. Marketers have to deal with strict company policies on accepting prizes and sharing company information, so social networking doesn’t work quite as well. Furthermore, many large companies restrict access to these sites in the office.
Direct mail is a highly effective way of communicating with your customer base. Automotive companies have used high-impact direct mail to send their dealer networks information about new car accessories and services. Recently, a large insurance provider sent a highly effective campaign to insurance agents who used to carry their product, but no longer do. The integrated campaign included a high-impact direct mail piece that drove people to a landing page. The site included tons of resources for the agents including information on how their business could benefit from carrying this insurance company’s products. Another insurance company used a similar campaign to help their agents learn how to market their businesses. The response was overwhelming and it helped solidify the relationship between the agents and the insurance company.
I was recently talking to my brother-in-law that owns a small restaurant in upstate New York. He was showing me a nice box of fine foods that one of his food purveyors’ recently sent him. It was an elegant looking box that simply said “we appreciate your business”. The box itself was probably pricy to print, and the products were all sold by the company, so it was as much a sales effort as it was a customer retention effort. But just in talking with my brother-in-law I know for sure that it was worth its weight in gold. He felt appreciated by the company, and there is no lack of food purveyors in his area.
My guess is you do business with at least one of the companies on the least-liked list. How do you feel as a customer of that company? Is it the same way your customers feel about your company?
Four Designs that Offer a Grechrome-extension://ohhcpmplhhiiaoiddkfboafbhiknefdf/TMToolbar/image/tooltip/webicon_green.pngat User Experience
When I think of the term user experience I tend to think of product and software development, which is the context in which the term was coined. However, the principals of good user experience (UX) design apply just as well to marketing and campaigns. When you’re designing a direct mail piece, a landing page, or even a print ad, the user experience is a crucial consideration. This is especially true when these components are put together in an integrated campaign.
User experience is always top-of-mind in the Structural Graphics design department. How will the recipient interact with the piece? Is the message of the mailer clear and focused? Is it interesting and engaging? And, of course, does the online experience flow smoothly from the printed piece in a way that makes sense to the user?
One aspect of an integrated campaign that can be easily overlooked is the strength of the messaging on the direct mail piece. Usually the goal is to drive the user to an online asset, but consider the fact that some users won’t have immediate access to a computer. Or perhaps they just don’t want to visit the landing page. Is your messaging strong and compelling enough to stand on its own, without the assistance of online component? Is there an off-line call-to-action like a BRC or a phone number?
Below are four dimensional print designs that offered great user experiences. They are all strong performers and proven designs. They can stand on their own as a powerful direct mail piece, or as part of an integrated campaign.
The Flapper® is a classic performer and a brilliant storyteller. When the user first picks up the piece they immediately recognize that there is something more than just a flat postcard. Its four selling panels fold in succession to keep the user engaged and interested.
The 4-Window Pull™ is a highly interactive and 
effective design. The story begins when the user picks up the flat piece and notices the four tabs. Each tab pulls out from each side instantly providing twice the copy space. It immediately distinguishes itself from all of the other mail in the pile. Simple and engaging.
The Flipbook is a truly interactive design with a wide range of applications. It’s a natural story teller that keeps the user engaged as they flip through the pages. With tons of options and sizes, the Flipbook can be used as a great sales aid, catalog, or promotional mailer that requires a large amount of selling space. It ships virtually flat but the user experience is anything but.
The Book-Cube™ is a favorite amongst marketers. It provides 
such a unique user experience that you really can’t get anywhere else. The piece ships flat, but when opened by the user, it jumps into shape. Using a set of hidden rubber bands, this will grab anyone’s attention. It provides ample selling space and can be highly customized. You can include a little booklet carrier, or an attention-getting tab that folds out.
Above are just four of the many examples of great user experience we can demonstrate. In fact, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention, touch. Many of our clients have used touch to create an engaging and interesting direct marketing piece. We can use beautiful premium paper stocks to create a high-value feel; think, glossy, rugged, soft – the possibilities are limitless. Furthermore, we can use a really neat “fuzzy” finish like we did for this Tide magazine insert.
Direct Mail Still the Silver Bullet for B-to-B Marketing
Every year the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) releases a Response Rate Report. The results come from their research and polling of various marketers across various industries. The 2010 report doesn’t hold too many surprises, but does confirm that direct mail continues to be the silver bullet for b-to-b marketers.
When you look at Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising in the b-to-b space, the average response rates were 5.27%. However, the average cost per click was $4.59. So while the average response rates for PPC campaigns were not that bad, the cost is pretty high.
Email marketing faired a little better. The average open rate is a surprising 19.85%. However, those are just people that opened the email. The average click through rate was 7.26%. This percentage isn’t really a measurement of response, however. An email response is actually when someone not only clicks on the link, but also performs some sort of call to action.
The study found that the average response rate for a letter-sized mailer to a house list was 4.28%. For respondents that used dimensional mail, the average response rate shot up to 8.51%.
It seems that each of three most popular direct marketing methods have their strengths and weaknesses. Direct mail continues to provide consistent, reliable results. That being said, I would argue that the most effective method is in combining all three into an integrated campaign. Bridging digital with high-impact dimensional mail has resulted in incredible ROI for our clients, in both the b-to-b and b-to-c space.
To read more about the study click here.
Top 200 Brands by Ad Budgets
In the AdAge Blog section there is a great feature on the top 200 Brands based on ad spend. There were not a lot of surprises on this list for me, but check it out.
Designed by Marketing Degree, for information on the research, click here for full report.
Great article on QR Codes and Marketing
Though QR Codes have been around for a long time, there acceptance by marketers has come about fairly recently. A lot has been written about QR Codes, not just by us, but by most everyone in the industry.
However, just like anything, you can get it all wrong. Since few people or agencies can really claim to have years and years of experience with QR Codes and marketing, there are a lot of poor executions out there.
In this recent article posted to the Direct Mail Insider, the author asks the question; can’t anyone get this right? It’s worth a quick read.
“Learn More” is not a Call To Action
There is something sort of obnoxious about being hit in the face with a solicitation the minute you walk into a store, especially at the membership wholesale clubs that cost money to shop in. I suppose it’s like television ads before movies; you’re paying to be there but you’re a captive audience, so why not try and sell you a car? Recently I was walking into our local club to buy diapers. I find the shopping experience at these large stores irritating, but that’s the cost of saving a lot of money on expensive necessities like diapers. I wasn’t but ten feet into the store when someone yelled to me, “Sir, would you like to learn more about satellite television?” I managed an uncomfortable smile as an acknowledgment, but walked past him.
The experience got me thinking about calls to action, and how weak the sales person’s approach was. If you insist on bellowing at me the second I walk in, why not ask me something a little more engaging? “Sir, can I show you how you can get rid of your cable company?” Or, “Would you like to save money on cable?” Something along those lines and it becomes a little bit harder to ignore.
Surprisingly, you’ll find this same approach in direct marketing campaigns all of the time. It’s darn near an epidemic with online campaigns, but can also be seen in print.
With integrated campaigns it’s especially important to have a compelling reason for your recipient to get online and respond. Asking a recipient if they would like to learn more about your product or service may not be the best approach.
Include a benefit in your call to action
It’s really easy to include a benefit in your call to action, regardless of the medium, offer, or product/service. Suppose you are selling an insurance product. Instead of “Learn more about Acme Insurance”, try “Let us show you how to save 25% on your premiums”, or “Visit our site to claim your personalized premium reduction offer.” Ok, that might not make it past legal review, but you get my point.
A lot of online advertisements and landing pages include the “Learn More” link. I suppose it’s just easier or somehow feels more user-friendly, or perhaps seems less “sales-ish.” I would argue that the risk of turning off some prospects with a more aggressive call to action is mitigated by the risk of boring the heck out of them and driving them into inaction or page abandonment.
Next time you’re planning a campaign, remember that “Learn More” is NOT a call to action. It is an invitation to ignore your offer, just like the sales guy at the wholesale club. I may actually want to learn more about satellite television, but nothing sounds worse to me than knowingly engaging in a sales pitch in front of a busy store as I’m trying to remember where, in this one million square foot customer-trap, the diapers are.
USPS QR Code Promotion – Limited Time!
This summer the USPS has approved a 3% discount on First Class Standard and Non-Profit mailers that include a QR Code or MS Tag. The promotion, lasting from July 1st – August 31st, 2011 is designed to promote the use of new mobile technologies.
QR Codes have long been a topic of discussion here at Structural Graphics. With smart phone use at an all-time high and showing no signs of slowing, marketers are enjoying higher ROI by adding this additional response method to their mailings. Though BRC’s and 800 numbers are still delivering responses, you need to have an additional way for the tech-savvy on-the-go person to interact with your offer.
To read more about how we use QR Codes to increase client’s response rates, click here.
To get more information about the USPS promotion, click here.
Your company’s brand ambassadors
One of the more memorable Pepsi ads in recent years was the commercial with two truck drivers running into each other at a truck stop. The Coke driver and Pepsi driver bond over a good song and soon the Coke driver is enjoying a Pepsi Max. Once the Pepsi driver tries to capture the moment with a picture on his cell phone, the love-fest ends and a fight ensues.
It reminds me of something my brother told me when he was working for Pepsi making deliveries. He told me that if he was ever caught drinking a Coke while wearing his uniform or driving the truck, he would be immediately fired. I found this really hard to believe, after all, this is the land of the free. While it seems a bit harsh to be fired for drinking a competitor’s product, I guess it does make sense on some level. When you consider the millions of dollars most major companies spend each year on supporting their brand, why wouldn’t they be strict about protecting it?
At the Cupertino, CA headquarters of Apple there is a store just for employees. Every Apple employee, from the maintenance team to senior developers, are able to purchase Apple products like Macs, IPods and software for about 75% off retail. It’s not a profit center but rather a place to create and reward their greatest brand ambassadors, their employees.
I began to think about brand ambassadors this past week when I was trying to replace our cable company. I called one of the satellite service providers hoping to get more information about installation and how satellite TV services works. Instead, I was given an extremely aggressive sales pitch. The goal of the sale person was clearly to get me signed up to have a rep come out and evaluate our location for service. He said that the installer would come out and answer all of my questions before installing anything. Oh, and the only way that he could send a rep out was if I signed up for the service and did a credit check. I explained that before I had the installer come out I wanted to get some questions answered. No luck, it wasn’t going to happen. It was all or nothing. Now, regardless of their branding efforts, their millions of dollars in ad spending and what have you, I will always think of them as the aggressive, unfriendly brand.
Other than marketing, your sales team needs to be your best brand ambassadors. Knowing that they are probably in front of your customers and prospects most often, what are you doing to ensure your brand is being protected and represented well? Here are a few things to consider.
Emails
I am sure you have received emails from someone where the font is a script of some sort and it is in purple or red. Or maybe the email signature has a smiley face or seasonal graphic of some sort. This may be cute when emailing grandma, but they don’t reflect well on your brand. Companies should set standards for email use that apply to all employees with an email account, including the CEO and the shipping manager. Font styles, size and color should be consistent. Furthermore, the email signature should be consistent in style and layout.
Presentations
When your sales reps give a presentation, who is writing it? Many companies do not have sales support staff, so they often write and create their own presentations. Be sure to have a consistent Power Point presentation template for everyone. The layout, colors and general branding should be the same to ensure brand continuity.
Messaging
Similar to the last point, all communications need to be consistent in style and messaging. Be sure everyone talks about your product and service in a similar way. Letters to your clients and prospects need to include the same language, i.e. tag lines, benefits/features, quotes, whatever. A sales person once asked me to proof a letter she was sending to a group of prospects. The letter was on the wrong letterhead, used a bold-script font and had inconsistent spacing. It was a mess and didn’t look like any of the letters we send out.
Your sales team has one goal in mind, to sell. They don’t want to worry about branding, presentation styles, fonts and letter spacing. This can all be easily done for them with templates. That being said, it’s important your team is as passionate about your brand as you (hopefully) are. I doubt very much the CEO of the satellite company I called wants his prospective customers to be pressured and to have what can only be described as “stressful” sales experience. But if he does, shame on him.
Ann Nyberg Visits Structural Graphics
We were so excited when we found out Ann Nyberg was coming to visit our headquarters in Essex, CT. Ann is a bit of a local celebrity, well really, state-wide celebrity. She has been anchoring the 6pm and 10pm news for WTNH (New Haven) for 24 years. She is not only a news anchor but also an investigative journalist. She reports on stories here in Connecticut, but has also covered several stories that have taken her to places like Cuba and Europe. She could easily pull off one of those “I’m Sort of a Big Deal” t-shirts, but that’s not her style.
So what brought Ann to our little town by the sea? Well, nothing as dramatic as drug busts or political conspiracies, just pop-ups. Ann writes a great blog “Network Connecticut” about local people, places and things. She writes about everything from good food to interesting people and places in the Nutmeg State. We were fortunate enough for her to show interest in our company that has been creating high-impact marketing solutions for more than 30 years. She was really interested in the core of our business, our dimensional print solutions, “pop-ups” as they are usually called.
Ann, we appreciate your visit and your terrific article! Next time you’re in town we’ll take you to our favorite lunch spot, assuming you’re okay with a brief boat ride.
