Get More for Your Money

Consumers love to hear how they can get the most out of their money. It is a great marketing tactic, and it is no different when it comes to your marketing budget. Here are a few ways get the most bang for your buck.

1. Use our "house" paper. Paper prices fluctuate often, so if you have not standardized on a specific paper, ask about less expensive options. If your piece does not demand a specialty paper, opt to use our house paper. We purchase this paper in high volume, so it is almost always the least expensive option.

2. Print four-color in gang runs. The most expensive way to print four-color is for us to run the job by itself on the press. However, with a “gang run,” we run multiple jobs at the same time, then trim them down to size. This can be a great way to get excellent results for less money.

3. Avoid bleeds. If color needs to go to the edge of the page, you can often get a similar effect less expensively by printing on colored paper. Without bleeds, your project might also require less paper or be able to be run on a smaller press.

4. Clean and de-dupe. It is not the most exciting job, but cleaning and de-duping your mailing list can drop your costs dramatically. With a clean list, you are only printing pieces that end up at their intended destinations. Thus, you are not sending multiple pieces to the same home or business.

5. Try new formats. Just because you have always done a brochure for a particular promotion does not mean it is the only option. Experiment with a postcard or other format and see whether you get a better response rate. A little creativity can go a long way toward saving money.

Need more ideas? Let us brainstorm ways to help you get great results and the most from your budget. 

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

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Are You Short-Sighted? Or Long-Sighted?

When you are calculating the ROI of your print, email, or multichannel marketing campaign, how long a view do you take? Do you stop tracking revenue after a month? One year? What about the lifetime of the customer?

Lifetime customer value (LCV) is an overlooked metric that should be part of how marketers measure success. Customers gained through personalized printing campaigns, in particular, tend not just to purchase more, but to be more loyal than customers acquired through traditional methods. Thus, real ROI should include recurring revenue as well as the immediate revenue generated.

How do you determine LCV? There are a variety of factors to consider:

•    Churn rate: How often do customers leave your customer base?

•    Retention cost: How much does it cost you to support, bill, and incentivize your customers?

•    Periodic revenue: Do you have recurring revenue streams? How much do customers spend during an average period?

You do not have to calculate out LCV indefinitely. Many companies estimate their LCV out for three to seven years.

Even if it is an estimate, LCV gives you a much better idea of what value your marketing campaigns are creating. For example, one small lawn care company sent out 300 personalized mailers, and based on the initial campaign revenue, found that the mailing barely broke even. However, the company’s customers tended to be loyal over time. For every new customer it gained, the company knew that it would have several years of recurring revenue. As a result, the owner estimated the campaign ROI at 8000% on an LCV basis. That is an entirely different equation!

How do you view your customers, on a one-off basis or over the long term?  

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

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Personalization Works—But You Have to Get It Right

Studies consistently show that personalization works, but you have to get it right. Get it wrong, and customers will move on.

This comes from Accenture’s “13^th Annual Strategy Global Consumer Pulse Research,” which surveyed more than 25,000 consumers around the world. Accenture found that 41% of U.S. shoppers said they have disengaged with a company because of “poor personalization and lack of trust.”

The cost to U.S. retailers is staggering: $756 billion in lost retail and brand sales.

Fortunately for print marketers, “poor personalization” tends to be associated with digital marketing rather than direct mail. Digital marketing can seem like a stalker — following you around the web and popping up at every turn. But direct mail is more transparent, and consumers’ reaction to it is overwhelmingly positive. In fact, InfoTrends found that 84% of consumers said they are “much more likely” or “somewhat more likely” to open direct mail when the content is personalized.

How do you get personalization right? Whether you are sending direct mail or email, the answer is simple: transparency. Let customers know that you are collecting data on them. Ask for their preferences so they can give information voluntarily. Position targeted and personalized communication as a benefit to your customers and one that they can participate in to make the experience better.

Need help developing your marketing database for more effective targeting? Let us help.

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

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