January 26, 2012
Posted by Crystal Uppercue
Although the move to online channels of communication continues to grow, direct mail still plays an integral part in fundraising efforts. Of course, the need to control your fundraising budget using these multi-channels is more important than ever. In fact, the direct mail campaign that drives your audience to the online channels should be the most cost-effective.
Here are three ways to help reduce your direct mail fundraising costs.
- Focus on the Big Donors
If you have a donor database of 10,000 and mail to every one of them every time, you may be able to recoup your costs. However, if you focus more consistently on the 2000 donors that traditionally give the most, you’ll generate a better return for the dollars spent.
By focusing direct mail efforts on your biggest donors, you can cut the number
of pieces mailed without dramatically cutting the amount of money raised.
You can still mail to the balance of your donors, but also consider combining mail with less expensive channels like email and social media.n>
- Keep Lists Up to Date
People move, they change jobs, they prefer other outreach methods, or they just
want out altogether. This might lead to a few dead letters in one mailing, but over time it adds up and so does the cost.
So make sure your packages aren’t lost in the shuffle. Keep your lists clean. Use the National Change of Address (NCOA) database to update old addresses or scrub undeliverable addresses from your list. Run regular updates to look for duplicates or incomplete addresses. If someone requests information through another channel like email, mark the name for use in your next communication. And when someone asks to opt out, respect their wishes and stop sending mail. They won’t like the intrusion, and you definitely won’t get a donation.
- Streamline Your Mail Package
If you’re mailing the nicest, information-packed package possible, you could be spending much more on your direct mail than necessary. Expensive stock and lots of materials are impressive, but they may not bring in enough donations to justify the costs.
You can slim down your package and still provide the same information. A basic direct mail package might include a letter with graphics depicting your cause, a reply form, and a reply envelope. Test the effectiveness of providing options for responding, both through the mail and online. Include your website address as a means to donate and offer additional materials for download as well.
Reducing the size and weight of your package by eliminating additional pieces lowers your printing and postage costs. Saving just a few pennies per package will add up quickly if your mailing thousands of pieces.
With a few adjustments to your next direct mail fundraising package, you could see more donations at a much lower price tag.
For more information on reducing costs, download our FREE resource: 6 Tips to Cut Cost in Direct Mail Programs.
Posted in Direct Mail Production, Package Improvement
Tags: direct mail fundraising, direct mail production, package improvement, postage savings
January 19, 2012
Posted by Crystal Uppercue
The core of any marketing campaign is the data. Poor data leads to poor results; good data leads to improved response rates, which translates to a higher ROI, and ultimately, business growth through true lifetime value of your customers.
A recent article published in EU Services’ News & Insights newsletter describes the Customer Lifecycle and the importance of leveraging data throughout that process. Phase 1 is the Customer Acquisition Phase where you acquire high-value customers cost-effectively. Phase 2 is the Customer Development Phase that concentrates on converting and developing customers using knowledge. Phase 3 is focused on Customer Retention which uses all the accumulated knowledge to continually respond to customer needs, cross-sell, up sell or reacquire customers that have been lost to the competition.
The starting point is raw data which is continually enriched through a series of processes that leads to segmentation: grouping customers; grouping attributes and variables; and predicting response and future group memberships. The result of all of this analysis provides true targeted marketing that gets you in front of the right contact at the right time with the right solution or need.
Of course, the benefits are enormous to your organization. As mentioned initially, you generate better returns and business growth while achieving cost savings by reducing wasted marketing dollars. No matter what your industry may be, data-driven direct marketing should be at the top of your “to-do” list when you plan your next campaign.
For more information or reprints of the full article please email us at marketing@euservices.com.
Posted in Custom Data Solutions, Direct Mail Production
January 13, 2012
Posted by Crystal Uppercue
Any organization trying to make money in the last few year’s has had trouble reaching their goals. This is especially true for nonprofits – as people worry about their own financial stability, they’re more reluctant to give money to others. Add to that consumers that want more from their spending, and you get fundraisers feeling the pressure to attract donations and yield good returns – often with fewer resources.
In other words, warm and fuzzy isn’t enough anymore. Nonprofits must show that they’re worth the donors’ time and money.
More and more nonprofits have adopted marketing strategies used by for-profit organizations, which are included in a few trends that we’ll see in direct mail fundraising in 2012.
More Integration
Nonprofits still mail letters to donors and prospects, but they’re often supplemented with emails, tweets, website pages, and texts. Mobile plays a huge role in this. Fundraising Success says smartphone adoption increased 50% in 2011 and is expected to grow another 50% by 2012.
Whether a campaign revolves around a specific program or general funding, it should span multiple marketing channels. This expands the number of prospects, and it engages current donors. Plus, since it typically takes seven contacts before people respond, an integrated multi-channel strategy will speed up the process.
More Segmentation
Direct mail fundraising is like any other marketing campaign – one message doesn’t fit all audiences. That’s why you need to segment your database to create a more relevant pitch for each recipient.
A typical fundraising campaign might look like this:
- New donors learn about the organization or cause.
- Current donors are thanked for their generosity, reminded of what they’ve given and asked to consider giving more.
- Lapsed donors are reminded of their past giving and asked to resume it.
- Individual donors hear a different message than foundations and corporations.
This is just one example, but it shows how segmentation helps you create more resonant messages for each segment, which makes the whole campaign look less cookie-cutter.
More Personalized Engagement
Personalized messaging is a big priority in the for-profit world, so nonprofits have adopted it as well. According to Direct Marketing IQ, 60.3% of all fundraising mail was personalized in some way in 2011, and there’s no reason to think this will stop in 2012.
So start doing it! Personalize each fundraising letter with the recipient’s name. Add that name within other portions of the direct mail package. Remind current donors how much they’ve given before and use that to deepen their engagement.
Personalized messaging is the first step to building a relationship with your donors. The stronger the relationship, the greater the support – financial and otherwise.
Greater Accountability
Cost efficiencies are a priority for your organization, but they also matter to your donors. Direct mail fundraising campaigns still tell heartbreaking stories and plead for donations, but they’re also adding cost breakdowns and other “bottom-line” talking points.
This might seem callous to some agencies, but donors want to know what nonprofits do with their donations. Talking about your finances makes your organization look more efficient and effective, which is always attractive to donors.
To show donors you’re spending their gifts responsibly, do one of two things:
- Tell them how much of each dollar goes directly to the cause; show them they aren’t funding excess administrative costs.
- Talk about how much more you can do with their donations. Donors like giving to nonprofits that do as much as possible with every dollar they raise.
In 2012, nonprofit marketing will look more like marketing in the private sector. That’s a good thing, because donors look more favorably on nonprofits that engage them personally, reach them wherever they are, and spend their generous donations as they were meant to be spent.
Posted in Direct Mail Production
Tags: direct mail solutions, Fundraising, fundraising appeal, multi-channel marketing, Non-profit organization
December 21, 2011
Posted by Danielle Epstein
The rapid adoption of smartphones has led to an explosion of QR codes as a convenient way to link the physical world of print to the virtual world of immediate information.
A recent statistic, based on a data collected by The Direct Mail Man stated that, “Even though QR Codes are meant to appeal to people on the go, nearly 60% of QR codes are scanned at home”.
This offers a huge opportunity for marketers to start integrating QR codes into their direct mail campaigns, if they have not done so already.
Direct Marketing IQ cited a study, conducted by a Maryland based marketing agency MGH, that found offers and calls to action are the No.1 reason recipients scan QR codes. To purchase and read the full report visit: www.directmarketingiq.com
When developing a QR code advertisement or campaign, some standard questions need to be asked:
- What’s in it for the recipient?
- How will the recipients experience with the company, brand and product be enhanced?
In addition to the above questions being answered it is important for a QR code campaign to be thoroughly tested prior to launch. A variety of code reader apps and mobile devices should be used to ensure the code scans correctly for the recipient.
Go beyond the press sheet and give the recipients of your advertisement or direct mail campaign a QR code experience that will live up to its expectations.
To read more about QR code best practices, download EU Services free resource, Bridging the Gap with QR Codes: From Direct Mail to Mobile Marketing.
Posted in Cross Media, Package Improvement, Promotional
Tags: Communication, Direct marketing, Marketing, QR Code
December 16, 2011
Posted by Crystal Uppercue
According to a recent survey conducted by Portada, the leading source on Latin marketing and media, the U.S. Hispanic Advertising Market is expected to grow by 5% in 2012. Even with the continuing economic recession, the Automotive, Insurance, Telecom and Political industries were targeted by survey respondents as the strongest Hispanic categories in the coming year. The 2012 presidential elections will factor into this growth.
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Posted in Cross Media, Custom Data Solutions
Tags: Hispanic consumers; Hispanic market; Latino market; direct mail marketing;
December 2, 2011
Posted by Dave Loudon
In our blog of October 26, 2011, we announced that the U.S. Postal Service had filed a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission for a proposed postage rate increase for January 2012. This increase was approved by the PRC on Tuesday, November 22nd and will go into effect on January 22, 2012. For your convenience, we’ve prepared an updated Postage Rate Chart for 2012.
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Posted in Direct Mail Production
Tags: Mail, Postage stamp, United States Postal Service
November 28, 2011
Posted by Sara Fox
Some marketers consistently have issues with their print vendors whenever they send in an art file for an upcoming project. They either receive a myriad of questions from their client services representative before the proof is produced, because the art files don’t match the job quote or, once the customer receives the proof, it is not what the marketer initially wanted. So, what are some reasons for these issues?
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Posted in Direct Mail Production
Tags: direct mail production, fonts, graphics, page size, print-ready files, proofs
November 23, 2011
Posted by Cindy Kilgore
As a fundraiser, if you apply the concept of “giving” by including a small item in your annual appeal package over the holidays, the recipients will most often respond by “giving” to your organization in return. The holiday gift from “your company name” can be alluded to in the outer envelope teaser, reinforcing the need to open your package. Why not give it a try this holiday season?
this year
Posted in Direct Mail Production
Tags: Christmas and holiday season, Label
October 26, 2011
Posted by Dave Loudon
On October 18, 2011, the USPS filed for a general rate increase with the Postal Regulatory Commission. If approved by the PRC as meeting the statutory requirements, the increase would go into effect on January 22, 2012.
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Posted in Direct Mail Production
Tags: First-Class mail, mail processing, postage cost, postage increase, postage rates, Standard Mail
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