Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The term Old Media and its companion legacy media refer to traditional ways of communication with customers. Printers are generally considered to be part of old media, along with other paperbased industries like newspapers, magazines, and books as well as radio, television and movies. In contrast, new media is digital and includes the Internet, websites and most computer-based forms of communications.
New Media is exciting because it brings new tools to the process of communicating with customers--tools like full color printing, highly personalized sales messages and interactive outreach--as well as empowering prospects and customers to quickly and easliy find reliable information about products, services and vendors.
One of the more exciting examples of new technology is the QR code. QR stands for Quick Response, aptly named because the contents of the code can be decoded at high speed by devices including mobile phones equipped with a camera, net books and laptop computers, desktop computers, cameras and televisions.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Is Direct Mail bad for the environment?
Contrary to what you may have heard from proponents of various "Do Not Mail" coalitions, direct mail is an environmentally responsible way to advertise. Yes, trees are harvested to create the pulp from which paper is made. But the harvested trees are grown specifically for that purpose on tree farms known as managed timberlands. The trees are an agricultural crop, like vegetables on a farm; the trees are not cut down from neighborhood parks or wilderness areas.
America's forestry and paper industries plant more than 4 million new trees each day (or 1.4 billion per year)-that's three new trees for every one harvested.
Recycling is another reason not to fear direct mail. Paper is one consumer product that is fairly easy and inexpensive to recycle. After first use, paper products can be made into corrugated boxes, packaging, newsprint, tissue and even writing paper. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, annual recycling rates for advertising mail have increased 700% since 1990. In 2008, 57.4% of all the paper consumed in the United states was recovered for recycling. This is the equivalent of nearly 340 pounds of paper for each man, woman and child in America. The paper industry has set a goal of 60% recovery by 2012.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Combine direct mail with e-mail marketing.
The best strategy for communicating with customers and prospects is to use a combination of direct mail and e-mail marketing. According to an Ipsos survey conducted in 2007, 67% of respondents performed online searches for more information on a company, service or product after receiving an "offline" message.
Results from ExactTarget's 2008 Channel Preference Survey supports the strategy of combining direct mail with e-mail. Respondents in that survey gave direct mail a score of 3.9(out of a possible 5) as an acceptable marketing method and gave e-mail a score of 3.7. Three-quarters of respondents (75%) said they made a purchase because of a marketing message received through direct mail, and 65% said they made a purchase because of an e-mail.
Print is here to stay, despite the pace of change affecting printing, it remains a proven way to communicate with customers and prospects. Direct mail marketing, when combined with e-mail, is more effective than e-mail alone. And the affordability of full color means that direct mail pieces can be eye catching and appealing to the target audience.