The video stresses the value of trustworthiness that people place in paper – you don’t need to fear a virus or hacker will manipulate or erase your important files.  In recent studies, a printed medium, newspaper, was listed as the most trustworthy form of communication; with forms of digital communications, email and online ads, as some of the least trustworthy channels of communication.

Print and paper will continue to be powerful communication tools.  As digital media grows, the print and paper industry evolve with it – from QR codes, to pURLs, to variable data printing, the print industry continues to be an integral part of our communication mix.

To view the video, click they play button below.  We hope you enjoy the USPS video as much as we did! 

For more information on the power of print, click here.

Happy Friday everyone — Enjoy your weekend!

Personalized URLs enable you to create a unique digital landing page for each person in your target audience.  The convenience of variable data printing allows you to print these unique pURLs in one print-run of your direct mail piece.

One of the many benefits as a marketer to including personalized URLs is that you’re able to track and measure precisely who in your target audience visited their pURL and what they clicked on when they were browsing within the pURL.  Using this information you can follow up with each individual in your target audience with more personal messages based on what they showed the most interest in when they visited their unique URL.

Another benefit of using pURLs is they tend to generate a higher return on your investment.  According to an emarketing report, direct mailings that include a pURL have about a 5 to 6 percent return on investment, while generic messages have a typical response rate of about 2 to 3 percent.

For more information on including personalized URLs in your cross media marketing mix, click here.

Create Relevant Content for Your Landing Page.  Once you generate your printed message be sure that your digital landing page encompasses key factors from your printed content.  The two mediums should complement each other – allow your printed message to be a ‘teaser’ for your digital message; enticing your audience to scan the code for more information, discounts or a full product or service description.

Incorporate the Code with the Printed Piece’s Design.  Just as your print and digital content correlate and communicate a harmonious message, so should the design of the QR code and your printed piece.  Avoid just placing it in some free space near the bottom of your piece.  Instead, have your graphic designers ensure the 2D code looks as though it belongs with your printed message and is not just an ‘after-thought.’

Use Mobile-friendly Landing Pages.  If you want to increase engagement with your audience after they scan your code and visit your digital landing page, then we strongly suggest using mobile-friendly landing pages.  Desktop landing pages are hard to navigate on a small phone screen and take longer to load.  Both of these factors decrease the amount of time your consumer will spend with your digital message.

Test the QR Code before Publishing your Printed Piece.  This one is plan and simple.  You wouldn’t send out a news release before you proofed it, so don’t send a QR code out until you test it on multiple smartphones with multiple scanner applications.  By doing so you ensure that regardless of the phone or app your target audience is using, that they will have an enjoyable experience with your brand’s message.

For more information on using QR Codes to enhance your printed messages, click here.

Print is alive and well and continue to proves its incredible value in the marketing industry.  Today we are going to share with you a few reasons why print continues to drive traffic and business for our brands. 

1. Print breaks through the digital clutter. In a recent study from Alan Sharpe, it was shown that 75 percent of a nonprofit’s new donor base is driven by direct mailing – its digital counterpart, email, has only shown to drive about 16 percent.  Furthermore, a Print in the Mix study showed that over 60 percent of people surveyed not only preferred to receive direct mailings over digital messages, but they liked receiving mail to learn of new products, deals and promotions.
2. Print generates awareness. According to www.the-cma.com a study from Emarketer shows that while social media is a great tool to send instant messages to your core audience, that printed messages such as magazines and newspapers are still where people report learning about new products and services from brand’s they like.
3. Print is tangible. Unlike digital media, print can be touched and held in the hands of your consumer.  Print cannot be deleted from an inbox or removed from a screen with one click of a button.  Print must be handled by your target audience.  If you send relevant, personalized messages you’re more likely to gain the attention of your target audience through direct mailings.

Print will always have value.  As digital media grows, the print industry evolves with it – with technology such as VDP, pURLs and QR code print becomes interactive.  Print is alive and well – how are you incorporating the benefits of print in your marketing campaign?

Click here for more information on cross media and print marketing.

Over 60 percent of the energy and materials used in the paper industry are recycled; compared to the 10 percent of recycled energy sources the majority of the U.S. uses.  The print and paper industry is making environmentally-friendly practices an important part of the industry.

One popular myth is that harvesting trees to create paper is bad.  In fact, in the United States, more trees are planted annually than are harvested for production.  As long as the demand for paper stays high, tree farmers will continue to nurture and harvest their land instead of selling their land to developers.  Unfortunately, if the demand drops, around 20 million acres – or 2.7 percent of our nation’s forests – can be expected to be lost in the next 50 years due to the development of the land rather than harvesting the trees (Source.)

Below is a video that helps to explain the process of harvesting trees for production – the importance of understanding the environment and only harvesting certain trees during specific seasons.  This video is courtesy of Twosides.us.

For more information on printing, click here.

The first tip is personalization.  The more personalized and unique you can make your message the more likely the recipient will respond to your call to action.  To do this, segment your database into groups of like-minded people with similar demographics and/or purchasing habits.  Once you have these ‘mini-groups’ create messages that are relevant to them – what head line would make them most interested in the rest of your marketing piece, what have they purchased in the past, how often do they purchase?  By answering all of these questions you’re able to have a more targeted, personalized message and increase your response rate.  Below is an example of a direct mailer that uses VDP to print the recipient’s names and an individualized URL address.

Secondly, get creative and stand out.  Sending a 5 x 7 post card is great, but consider something that does not conform to the convention of rectangular shaped mailings.  By doing so, you’re ensuring your mailing will stand out from the rest.  Below is an example of a direct mail piece that chose not to use a standard rectangular post card.

The most important factor when creating your mailing is to know your audience and understand what they expect from your brand.  Meeting the expectations of your target audience will help to increase the number of responses and ultimately increase your overall return on investments.

Finally, don’t forget to record your responses and follow up. Measure how many of your recipients scanned your QR code or visited the personalized URL – what did they click on once they entered your brand’s digital landing page?  How many people followed up by contacting you once they received the mailer.  It is important to understand the success of your mailing so you cannot only follow up with your audience, but also so you can use the information collected to create more personalized messages in the future.

For more information on direct mail marketing, click here.

Furthermore, when people unfollow or unlike your brand they have a tendency to then associate a negative connotation with your brand, according to the Revelation Research study.  Social media is still a relatively new marketing frontier, but consumers are already negatively responding to certain social media marketing tactics.  The reasons for unfollowing or unliking a brand, reported by the 1,500 surveyed, are as follows: 

-          Too much.  Too many posts, tweets, messages, etc.  People are constantly hit with messages from friends, family, employers and other brands so it is important to limit your messages on social media to ones that are most relevant and most likely to interest your target audience.

-          Failure to follow through.  Maybe you offered coupons and discounts for people who like your brand, but you’re only posting about your new products and services.  People quickly catch on and then take action to disassociate from your brand for not following through with promises.

-          The last reason is one that is hard to control. The user simply loses interest in your message topics.  Sticking to relevant content is important, but unfortunately you’re probably not going to please everyone and may lose a few followers here and there – reevaluate your posts or tweets when the number drops drastically.

It is important to respect the expectations your audience has of your brand after they like your page as well as before.  Be sure to include information that is relevant and try not to flood their minifeeds with too much ‘promotional-sounding’ messages.  The key to social media is engagement – try not to use it as a sounding board only.

For more information about social media marketing tactics, click here to visit our website or contact us directly.

Today we are going to discuss the benefits of creating mobile-friendly consumer landing pages. 

Increase in Consumer Engagement.  By creating a mobile landing page you’re ultimately helping to ensure people will spend more time on your brand’s mobile pages.  When desktop layouts are viewed from a mobile screen the words are generally hard to read, the links are hard to click and to really see a photo you have to zoom in.  With mobile-friendly website the user is brought to a landing page with a few (large) hyperlinked buttons that allow them to navigate your information with ease – not to mention no zooming in necessary.

Less time waiting for a screen to load.  Because desktop website are larger, they take a lot longer to load onto a phone’s screen.  This could pose a big problem for your brand if it takes too long to load.  We live in an extremely fast-paced society that wants instant everything – so if your brand’s website slows them down they just close the screen and never read your digital message.

SEO.  This one is simple.  Studies are showing that companies with mobile-friendly websites and landing pages rank higher on Google and other search engines such as Bing.

Finally, by including mobile-friendly landing pages for your QR code’s landing pages, website and other mobile messages, you’re given the opportunity to brand yourself.  Currently, mobile-friendly websites are still consider newer and more innovative.  If your brand offers a mobile-friendly site, the consumer is more likely to remember their positive experience with your brand’s mobile sites and revisit.

For more information on mobile-friendly landing pages and QR codes, visit our website!

To personalize your message, it is important to have a current and up-to-date database of your customer and potential customer’s buying habits.  This information can and should be collected every time your consumer interacts with your brand –whether when they make a purchase or an inquiry every interaction should be recorded for future use.

Your personalized message does not have to be just your printed message.  By including a personalized URL or pURL, you can send the user to a unique and individualized landing page.  Variable Data Printing allows you to create a variety of different messages all in one print run, because of this technology you’re able to create individual URLs, such as www.Dispatch.com/JohnSmith.  Within each landing page you can include information that is relevant to your audience and offer a quick and efficient way of making a purchase or responding to a call to action.

As we enter the ‘age of the consumer’ it is more important than ever to offer unique content that meets the interests of individuals in your target audience.  Customers are changing, they are no longer satisfied with generic messages from brands.  They are demanding messages that are personalized and fit their buying needs.

For more information on creating a personalized marketing campaign, visit our website.

An important factor to consider when creating a QR code is the content of the landing page.  The digital content should relate to both your brand’s overall message and your printed message. We found a few good examples of QR code landing pages that are both engaging and interactive. 

Chili’s QR Code Campaign –  This restaurant teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to create a QR code landing page with a cause.  Chili’s printed the Quick Response codes on napkins, placemats and children’s coloring sheets; when the code was scanned by the restaurant’s patrons they were given the option to donate directly to St. Jude’s via their smartphone.

Saks Fifth Avenue QR Code Campaign –  This retailer let the person who scanned the code pick the digital content they desired to view.  Using their storefront windows, they placed QR code window decals.  When a shopper scanned the code they were brought to a landing page that asked them what they wanted – to see a video of Saks’ latest fashion show or to shop directly from their phone.

Taco Bell’s QR Code Campaign – Taco Bell has become heavily involved with the use of QR codes in their marketing tactics and for good reason – it has been working well for them.  Taco Bell’s most recent QR code landing page is primarily to promote their new Doritos Locos Taco.  When the user scans the code on the taco’s packaging, they are brought to a “Feed the Beats” concert video.  Each week, a new video is posted from the concert – allowing everyone to experience the “Feed the Beats” concert without being at the show; all you have to do is purchase one of their new tacos and scan the code.

A few pointers to remember when creating your own QR code campaign – Your audience is unique, so treat them that way.  Use your consumer database to understand what makes your audience interested in purchasing and develop your content based on that database information.  Secondly, be sure to use a mobile-friendly landing page.  Desktop landing pages on a small, mobile screen can be hard for the user to navigate and, in return, reduce the amount of time the user spends with your brand’s digital content.  Finally, TEST!  Don’t forget to test your code before having it printed on your flyers, mailers, storefront windows and anywhere else.  Scan the code from multiple smartphones using multiple QR code scanner applications to help ensure everyone has a positive experience with your brand’s message.

For more information on QR codes or cross media marketing, click here or contact us.