Deliver the Right Message with Variable Data

Direct mail is far from dead. Even Google sends marketing to the mailbox. However, "spray-and-pray" direct mail efforts are being kicked to the curb. In an era when ROI is demanded from marketing departments and agencies, there is a need for increased results. Couple this with technological advances in database management and digital printing, and you'll find variable printing and variable data are not only competitive with traditional direct mail campaigns, but they are more profitable.

It works like this. Your company has a database full of prospective or historical customer data. This is a gold mine of information (for your benefit) that can help you reduce print and postage costs and better target your message. So, your restaurant has a wine enthusiasts and beer connoisseur. Send a $10 off a bottle of wine with dinner purchase coupon to the wine enthusiast and inform the beer connoisseur about the tasting next week. This is not a breach of privacy. You aren't selling your customer information. You are simply sending them the promotions they want instead of inundating them with every promotion you have.

You pay attention when your mechanic sends you an update specific to the make, model and upkeep of your car, yes? Talk to your customers in the same way. The right message in the right hands can yield double digit response rates as compared to the measly two percent return on traditional non-targeted, direct-mail campaigns.

It's time to demand greater return and profitability from your marketing efforts. Call Marketicity if you want to learn about tailored strategies for your business.

Daring To Be Different Is Strategic

The VIA Group in Portland, Maine designed the Salvation Army "Cost Nothing" campaign for the Northern New England branch of the organization. Everything about this campaign stands out strictly because of its unexpectedness - from its locations to its message vehicles (literally). However, all the ads adhere to the organization's brand image and mission.

It is very easy to stick with traditional advertising avenues if they are part of the core marketing curriculum of a company. However, as you start in the month ahead to reassess your marketing dollars and advertising avenues, this campaign should serve as inspiration. The Salvation Army campaign is no-doubt creative and out-of-the-box but additionally it is well organized, strategic and brand savvy. Is your marketing plan meeting these objectives? If you don't know, answer the following:

- What is the mission and image of my brand?
- Is my advertising design, message and placement in accordance with this brand image?
- Are my branding touchpoints relevant to my brand image and my target demographic?
- Do I plan my advertising one-year out or month to month?
- What are my marketing goals and objectives?

Marketicity can help you strategize your marketing plan. We look at the whole picture, not just the pieces, to determine how each piece will work with and leverage the others to create an effective marketing strategy that is well planned and budgeted.

Rotnem: A Corporate Bridge Between Young and Old

"Younger employees help senior executives unlock social media mystery," reads the Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 Chicago Tribune. The story talks about the new trend in corporate America ... Gen Y is mentoring top executives in social media in a successful program called Rotnem - reverse mentoring.

The success of the program is not just in sharing knowledge, but in bridging the generational divide and corporate hierarchy in the workplace. In working with younger staff, business leaders are learning to appreciate and better understand their younger co-workers. Vice-versa, the young are reap the mentoring benefits of working with industry experts as well as seeing their leaders in more approachable and respectful light.

Rotnem need not be only for big business. It can certainly be applied at smaller levels. Even here at Marketicity, with each member of the staff from a different decade, we consult heavily with one another about how different generations will see an idea. More often than not, by pooling our thoughts and varied levels of expertise and experience, our ideas start to branch out into new arenas.

If your company is transitioning into the social media arena, incorporating a Rotnem program could be beneficial in equalizing the playing field ... and bridging the cultural divide.