Once again, the USPS’s magazine “Deliver” never fails to impress me.  I have been sharing their most interesting articles on my blog since it started.  This month they did a section on how color can help to achieve certain results in your direct mail efforts.  They gave a nice summary of some of the top used colors and how they make recipients ‘feel’.  Here’s what they had to say:

Blue-based reds: associated with expensive proudcts.

Yellow-based reds: downplays an expensive price.

Orange: screams affordable.

Yellow: Powerful and easy to read when combined with dark colors.  Yellow is the first color the eye sees.

Green: Hope and possibility.

Blue: Confidence and safety (they note its a great choice for medical and financial mailers)

Purple: Not the best choice for direct mail.  Unless you are selling something like high fashion or luxury items.

Black: Power, promise.

White: Sophisticated, high end price point.

Their summaries got me doing a little more research on color.  It turns out that all the sources on color I read had slightly different interpretations of the psychology each hue invokes.  What does this mean?  Well to me, color conveys different results depending on the context it is used in.  For instance – Blue. I think…

sky, oceans, tears, aquamarine, birthday, bedroom (it’s blue), eyes, my sister’s blue jetta, pool, baby boys, first prize, USA, blue suit, etc. etc.

All of those words invoke different images in my mind which trigger a variety of emotions.  I think it’s how we combine color with our message that makes the difference.  When dealing with the promotion of a product, think about how you want the product to make people feel. Use color to help it happen by positioning it alongside relevant words and objects.

That’s my two cents!

The results are in!  (Well,  actually they were in a month ago, but I was MIA).  We received an overall 8.2% response! Here is how it broke down:

8.2% visited the PURL landing page and updated their contact information.

5.6% gave a referral

Get this – nearly 70% of the people who gave a referral chose Dunkin Donuts OVER Starbucks for themselves and their referrals.  I was really surprised by this – I thought it would have been the other way around.

I learned a valuable lesson – people WILL take advantage of a free offer.  Some of the referrals were definitely a little suspect.  My other lesson, direct mail does work.  Using personalized printing to engage an audience will definitely increase response rate.

Below is the artwork we will be using to promote our Clean Data Experiment.   We are starting out slow and only mailing to 200 customers at a time.  The pURL (personalized URL) is set up to track results.  If you would like to test it out, go to www.mwrefer.com/Pam9999   Each postcard is customized to the recipient with their own personal website. We will be able to track who logs onto their site even if they don’t submit results.  This is a very valuable direct mail marketing technique and results in a higher ROI. Check out the artwork here:

Refer & Receive Artwork

Notice that we chose a 6×11 postcard design. This is the largest postcard you can create that still qualifies at the “Letter Rate” for third standard postage. It stands out in the mail yet is still cost efficient. Postage will cost approx. $0.27 per piece.  If we went any larger than the 6×11, the postage rate would nearly double at $0.49 per piece.  Following simple design principals can result in effective direct mail advertising campaigns.

We will report the response rate after the campaign has mailed.  It will be going live today.  Stay tuned!

A clean relevant mailing list is the key to a successful direct mail campaign. Ironically, The Mailworks has one of the WORST databases known to the civilized business world. We preach the importance of good data everyday, yet our list is a hot mess! Now we have to pay to practice what we preach.  We are going to risk $35,000 to clean up our list of 3,500 recipients.

I’ve come up with a rather costly experiment to update old data and get back some new relevant leads.  We will offer to buy our mailing recipient and a friend breakfast! The catch?  Log onto your pURL (personalized website), refer a friend, update your data, and we will mail both of you a $5 gift card of your choice (Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks).  We will also provide them with the option to opt out of our mailing list for good (but sorry, no free gift!).

It may seem like a drastic measure, but it’s a huge challenge to clean a business database.  With high turn-overs and small companies popping up and going under, it is difficult to keep up on what and who is current.  Usually we suggest NCOA (National Change of Address) as a cost effective solution to update old records.  We match your database with what’s on file with the United States Postal Service to get the new changes of address.  This is great for residential mailings lists,  but not for businesses!  The post office has no clue who works where.  This makes B2B correspondence and maintaining an in-house database a great challenge for any direct marketer.

I’m excited to see what the response rate will be.  I’ll share the results once the experiment is complete!

Retail companies have relied on catalogs to tell sell products for decades.  As far back as the Sears catalog being used as toilet paper, consumers love the visual appeal of being able to gaze over a plethora of products.  Nurturing a longing to have or own something you see in a picture is one part of the selling process that people actually enjoy.  Think about it, there is nothing like curling up (or sitting down in other less mentionable places) and enjoying a good product-promoting piece of print.

I get dozens of catalogs a month – Potterybarn, JCrew, Restoration Hardware, etc.  I also get a few magazines – People, Real Simple, Vogue.  But my friends,  I only get ONE Magalog  (Lush) and I must say it’s my favorite.

Q. What’s a Magalog?

A. A catalog magazine hybrid.  A magalog communicates brand like a magazine and sells products like a catalog.  It’s a powerful communication tool that inspires the consumer and reflects how modern audiences interact with media across multiple platforms.  They get the magalog in the mail, read it, then go online to purchase.  Yes, a catalog works the same way, but a magalog communicates image and brand by telling the story behind the product using magazine-like techniques.  A catalog tells you what the fabric is made of. A matalog explains how it makes your look and feel.  The result is a more emotional connection to the products being sold. Brilliant!

Here are some companies using magalogs:

Lush

Mark

Zappos

Rumors (this is more of a newspaper format but is a local non corporate example I enjoy)

A recent Custom Publishing Council poll shows consumers are increasingly attracted to magalogs because they contain useful information:

68%

say custom publications help make better purchasing decisions

74%

prefer getting information from an interesting collection of articles rather than traditional ads

59%

read print custom publications as opposed to the 39% who will look through an electronic custom publictiion.

Today our company received a letter from Empire State Development that was printed and mailed out of Texas!  Ironically so, the letter was promoting a focus group of business owners “who provide the types of goods and services that the State of New York routinely purchases”.  The purpose of the meeting is to rally up business owners and learn how to participate in the New York State bid process.

Empire State Development is utilizing the services of NERA Economic Consulting to host the focus groups.  NERA is based in NYC.

Our taxpayers fuel Empire State Development and similar state agencies.  When they use vendors outside of New York it is a slap in the face to the state’s workers and our economy.   It’s good to know that our tax money is being spent in the Lone Star State. There are hundreds of vendors who could have printed and mailed this letter right here in New York – and I’m one of them!