Marketing consultant Robert Bly has isolated 8 factors that can help keep you from making costly mistakes that could destroy the selling...

Copywriter Peter Fogel reports in DM News that many advertisers fail to take simple but vital steps that turn readers into buyers. Astute...

Your advertising offer is simply your statement of what you propose to do for sales prospects in exchange for what you want from them —...

“Each product or service has natural strengths and weaknesses” to stress or downplay in your advertising, New Jersey consultant Robert W....

One direct-marketing “expert,” unnamed here in order to protect the guilty, recently advised mail advertisers that letters and reply...

Florida writer Robert Warren suggests five techniques that will help muscle up the effectiveness of your advertising copy: Shun word...

Direct-response expert Lee Marc Stein pinpoints eight common writing mistakes that hurt response: Neatness Writers of...

Consultant Deborah S. Ramstorf asks 9 questions that she says show how well you know direct-mail advertising copy. What percentage of...

Choose laser-compatible paper stocks Uncoated offset stocks from 50 pound to 9 point usually work well. — If using a coated stock, use a...

A Creative Brief establishes goals and objectives for your marketing efforts. It helps bring clarity to all participates and ends...

Furniture Store Reminder Campaign When a shopper visits an American Signature home furnishings store and does not make a purchase, they...

Mail advertisers have achieved response lifts of 200% and more by using database-generated messages tailored to the history and interests...

UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering case study Client Information UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is a...

First, determine your objectives Effective use of personalization starts with the goals you are trying to achieve. Know your audience and...

Meher Montessori School case study Client information Founded in 1972 by Executive Director John Page, Meher Montessori School is an AMI...

Marketing Basics With modern variable printing, the text and graphics on each sheet of a press run can change to reflect the...

Many years ago, Newsweek magazine was one of the first advertisers to send out a mailing featuring personalized (variable) printing. Its mailing addressed recipients with a variable fill that repeated the addressee’s name six or seven times in different areas of the mailing. Unfortunately, the Newsweek mailer often misspelled the recipient’s last name. Which effectively cancelled out the power of personalization to pull in orders. The lesson to be learned: technology does not

Variable-data printing, a form of digital printing, is a data-driven application that consistently delivers better results than conventional direct mail, reports Mark Kolier of Connecticut’s Canterbury Graphics, Inc. According to a CAP Ventures study, he notes, VDP generates: 36% higher response rates 25% increased average orders 47% more repeat sales 32% better profits 34% faster response time Variable-data printing works The only question is whether its category — which inc

More Apt to Read Relevant Mail And what makes what you receive in the mail relevant? Having your name and the name of your organization integrated into it. Castle Press Variable Data Printing is a state-of-the-art digital color press system that allows you to personalize every piece you print with whatever information you’d like. The most common use is to customize each piece in a direct mail program with the name of the person you’re mailing to. Using Castle Press variable d

Forty percent of the success of any direct mail package is dependent upon the quality of the mailing list. The post office delivers an average of 6.7 pieces of mail to your household every day. Which ones go into the trash and which are set aside for possible opening at a later date? The mail pieces you set aside share several characteristics: They are from companies or organizations with which you have had a previous relationship. The information on the envelope hints at a p