42 ■ October 3, 2010 • GRAPH EXPO
Official Show Daily • Cygnus Graphics Media
Contrary to conventional wisdom among customers and even some print- ers that direct mail is “junk” mail, or “old” technology, or incompatible with environmental stewardship, print and mail remain an important part of any effective marketing program. Skeptical? Consider the results of a 2008 study of 1,000 American con- sumers (split 50/50 between men and women), age 18 and up, from 10 major metropolitan areas. The results, pub- lished as the DM News/Pitney Bowes survey, showed these findings: • Nearly 94% of consumers report- ed taking action on promotional offers received via direct mail.
Print and Mail are Alive and Well I
By Nancy DeDiemar
t is about time that printers got some good news, and here it is: Print and mail are alive and well!
mailing or promotional item.
• Respondents stated that informa- tion received via direct mail often led to a contribution to a non-prof- it organization for the first time. The surveyors concluded that: “Direct mail induces the consumer to touch the offer—recipients of direct mail are receiving, sorting, reading, and using direct mail to make purchas- ing decisions.” In 2009 Target Analytics published
the Index of National Fundraising Per- formance, which analyzed giving via direct mail marketing for 79 of the largest non-profit organizations in the U.S.
Study results show that direct mail
• 20% of consumers reported that more than 10% of the offers or coupons they received by mail led to a purchase.
• Almost 40% of respondents said they had tried a new business for the first time because of informa- tion received via direct mail.
• Nearly 70% said they renewed a relationship with a business because they received a direct
was responsible for 78% of donations received, or about $8 of every $10 con- tributed. This made direct mail the top source of fundraising—ahead of the Internet (9%) or telemarketing (3%). One particularly interesting finding is that in 2009, 89% of all new donors to the non-profits in the study were acquired via direct mail and only 12% were acquired online.
Local targeted marketing Knowing the national trends in direct mail marketing will help keep you from having to agree with your cus- tomers who insist that email marketing
MAILING & FULFILLMENT
AIMED .................................................5225 Anchor Software, LLC .........................4718 ASMARC ..............................................5313 Atlantic Zeiser.....................................4507 Axode ..................................................5119 B&W Press ..........................................4719 BCC Software......................................4012 Best Graphics .....................................4514 Best Osako .........................................4514 BOWE BELL + HOWELL .......................3612 Bri-Lin, Inc. .........................................4323 Buskro USA Ltd ...................................4015 Clear Image Technologies ...................5409 Collins Ink Corp...................................4625 Compart North America ......................5209 Document Data Solutions ...................4611 ESN/GIC-Omegher ..............................5309 Fannon Products, LLC .........................5226 Formax................................................5116 Frimpeks .............................................4325 Garrido Printing Equipment ................4023 GBR Systems Corporation ..................4503 Gunther International ..........................3608 IBF Corporation ...................................4805 Imhoff Technologies LLC .....................5216 InLine Solutions Inc. ...........................5213 Inspectron Inc. ....................................4816 Kirk-Rudy ............................................5112 Label Source Ltd.................................4913 Lake Image Systems ..........................4307 Longford International Ltd ..................4603 Lorton Data .........................................5218 Magnets 4 Media ................................4623 MAIL: The Journal of Communication Distribution .........................................5123 Mailers Haven, LLC .............................4717
Mailing Systems Technology ..............5310 MCS ....................................................4511 MCS Services, Inc. ..............................4318 Media Comfort Corporation ................5124 MFSA ..................................................4724 Milpak .................................................4819 MWV Meadwestvaco ..........................4618 Neopost USA .......................................4422 NPI ......................................................5220 Osako & Company ..............................4514 Peachtree Data, Inc. ...........................4624 Pitney Bowes ......................................3601 Plockmatic International AB ...............4414 Postmatic Inc. .....................................4616 Precision Finishing Systems Inc. ........5214 PrintStream.........................................4417 Prism ..................................................4018 Redi-Data ............................................5413 SAP America, Inc. ...............................4919 Satori Software, Inc. ...........................4810 Secap ..................................................4813 Sherlock Tape, a M&C Specialties Co. 4320 SmartLinc, Inc. ....................................5020 Superior Paper Handling Solutions ....4608 Taneum ...............................................4716 Think Ink Inc. ......................................5217 Thompson Direct, Inc. .........................4419 Tompkins Printing Equipment Co. ......4622 Tritron USA, Inc. ..................................5019 Univenture, Inc. ...................................5125 Videojet Technologies .........................3623
Waferseals.com ..................................5211 Walco Systems LLC ............................5223 Whittier Mailing Products ...................5410 Window Book, Inc. ..............................4722
is superior to traditional direct mail. Trends may be pointing in that direc- tion, but as shown by numerous stud- ies, direct mail still dominates results. This is even more apparent when thinking about marketing locally. An obvious example of successful local marketing using direct mail is a politi- cal campaign. For local campaigns, direct mail remains the most effective way to introduce a candidate or an issue, largely because the marketing can target specific blocs of voters. Likewise, direct mail remains an
effective and economical way to reach a small geographic division such as a neighborhood. Many mail list pro- viders now offer online tools to pin- point a small area such as a one mile radius around a restaurant, or offer list enhancement services such as add- ing demographic information to enable even better targeting of the audience. In fact, the ability to target a specific audience remains a primary strength of direct mail versus other communica- tion channels, including email.
Direct mail vs. email Cost alone is not a sufficient mea- sure to compare direct mail to email because using email introduces other factors that do not apply to direct mail. For example: • With email, the sender has incom- plete control over how the mes- sage appears to the recipient. A printed piece does not change based on the type of reader the recipient is using.
• Email depends on a variety of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to deliver the message, each with its own blocks and filters for email. The USPS delivers all the mail unless the address is faulty. There are also tools such as National Change of Address (NCOA) processing and delivery point validation (DPV) to identify undeliverable addresses.
• A sender of email risks having his Internet Protocol (IP) address being blacklisted by ISPs. While blacklisting is a useful tool to cut down on spam, the decision on whether a message should be blacklisted rests with the ISP, not with the message recipient. With traditional direct mail, the recipi- ent decides whether to put himself on the “Do Not Mail” list.
• In its 2009 Global Email Deliver- ability Benchmark Report, Return Path, an email deliverability com- pany, found that 20% of email ads directed at consumers were undelivered. More than 20% of business emails were undelivered. Traditional mail list providers will guarantee a deliverability rate of 88% or higher.
So, next time someone tells you that direct mail is dead or dying, tell them that it is actually alive and well.
Nancy DeDiemar is the president of Printing Resources of Southern Cali- fornia and a contributing columnist for Quick Printing.
Saturday Kick-Off for AIMED’s Fall Conference
EXPO’s Mailing & Fulfillment Center. The Association of Independent Mailing Equipment Dealers (AIMED) held its fall conference yesterday, Sat- urday, October 2, at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. “We felt that since so many of our members would already be attending GRAPH EXPO, bringing our 2010 Fall Conference to the show would afford us the opportunity to conserve resources, bring an even greater num- ber of our members together for specif- ic industry education at minimal cost, plus it’s the perfect venue for expanded industry networking,” says Barbara Price, AIMED Executive Director. The conference is designed to let attendees exchange information on cur- rent issues impacting today’s mailing,
T
he Association of Independent Mailing Equipment Deal- ers event was a perfect pre- view complement to GRAPH
shipping and office automation special- ists. The educational sessions focused on sales and marketing techniques, fea- turing noted speakers Georgine Trujillo, Marketing Consultant; Ursula Mentjes, Sales Coach Now; and Ruben Estrada, Estrada Strategies. Tod Ratcliffe, OkiData Production & Graphic Arts Sales Manager, also highlighted new product opportunities. AIMED is the leading association for independent dealers in the mailing, shipping and office automation indus- try. The association provides members with industry specific benchmarking, education, information plus opportuni- ties to network and learn how to grow their businesses. AIMED’s legal, finan- cial and affinity programs enhance and protect dealer members’ businesses. For more information about AIMED visit
www.aimedweb.org or contact Barbara Price at email: Barbara@
aimedweb.org or phone: 909/444-9680.
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