“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

Choose a good list Your mailing list can generate more than 40% of your total responses to a mailing, according to the Direct Marketing Association. The best offer in the world—if not aimed at the right people—will fail. To find the best type of list to rent, look at the characteristics of the customers who make up your own in-house mailing file— and build outside lists accordingly. Test various offers The second most influential factor in determining your success in direct m

Marketing consultant Robert Bly estimates that your house file—customer names and addresses—will pull double the response of any external list. Yet many direct mailers penalize themselves by not assembling such a customer list. And some shoot themselves in the foot by failing to keep their house files up to date. Recessionary times, when your phone may not be ringing off the hook with orders, is a great time to put your house file in order. Start by taking the job away from c

List selection determines 60% to 80% of the success—or failure—of a direct mailing, according to veteran New York marketing consultant Lee Marc Stein, who urges mail advertisers to assign top priority to list choice. “Start with the list,” Stein advises. First, he says, identify your recipients. Only then, put together a mailing package designed to appeal specifically to them. Many businesses—to their considerable cost—neglect to learn what the various kinds of mailing lists