The Heinrich Report Blog

Strategies, insights and tactics for today's marketer

Archive for May, 2011

Listen, Ask, Learn: How to Use Social Media in Your Marketing Planning

May 24th, 2011 by

When marketers think of social media, they generally think of how to use it to increase engagement and marketing ROI.

Social media, however, is also a great way to discern what people are talking about – a point borne out by a 2010 Carnegie Mellon University study featured in the Mashable post, “Could Twitter Data Replace Opinion Polls?”

CMU researchers found that “people’s attitudes on consumer confidence and presidential job approval were similar to the results generated by well-reputed, telephone-conducted public opinion polls, such as those conducted by Reuters, Gallup and Pollster.com.”

Social media chatter isn’t limited to current events, of course. As you know, you can also see what people are talking about with regard to your company and its products and services.

By listening in – and soliciting feedback from – your network, you’ll learn about the challenges people are facing, the questions they have and the thoughts they hold about your industry / company / products / etc.

You can then use this information to create or fine-tune your marketing strategy.

How do you get started? It’s easy – just use the tools available with each social media platform.

Listen: Use search and curator functions

Every industry has its challenges. In financial services, for example, one of many conversations is about debit card interchange, which affects banks’ ability to fund debit card reward programs. As pointed out in the Mashable post, and also in a recent BusinessWeek article, “Most ‘Liked’ Silicon Valley Companies,” social media lets you take the temperature of people’s sentiments fairly quickly.

In order to learn about what’s being said by industry experts, your peers, and especially consumers, you could read lots of publications as well as spend hours searching the Internet.

Or you can use Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Alerts / Google Reader to deliver this content to you. Here’s how the search function works for each platform:

Twitter: You don’t need an account to use Twitter’s search function – just go to the home page and type a phrase into the search box. If you do have a Twitter account, simply use Twitter’s “Save a Search” function to follow multiple searches. (Other Twitter applications, such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck, have similar search functions.)

LinkedIn: A very new application, LinkedIn “News” delivers the industry news that people in your network are talking about in real time, right to your “home” page. You can also click on the “News” tab to see the full scope of what’s being discussed.

Google Alerts / Google Reader – These two tools are “must haves” as they allow you to quickly skim through content that’s been curated for you automatically.

Use Google Alerts to follow specific topics, keywords, people and companies in your industry – including your own. Anytime anything is posted that pertains to your Alert, you’ll receive a notification. Tip: Set Google Alerts as RSS feeds and have them delivered to your Google Reader rather than email, otherwise your inbox will be inundated.

Use Google Reader to follow industry blogs and publications (and your Google Alerts). Each time your favorite blogger posts something new, you’ll see it right in your reader. You can easily click through to the actual post to leave a comment – as well as read comments that others (i.e. your peers) have left.

Ask: Use Polls, Answers, and Questions Functions

Want to do quick yet effective market research? Integrated and third-party tools make it super easy to ask your industry peers and consumers easy-to-answer questions.

Twitter: A third-party app, TwtPoll is easy to set up and use. Below is a screen shot of a Twtpoll I did asking people how often they open their direct mail.

Facebook: This new app works the same way as Twtpoll. American Express, for example, used Questions to ask its customers which rewards product they should offer at 50% off.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn has both a poll function and its very popular Answers feature. The Poll app works the same as Twtpoll and Facebook. Answers lets you ask questions – and get dozens of responses in very little time. To find the Poll app and Answers, click on “More” on the top navigation menu within LinkedIn.

Learn: Take Action

By listening to and asking for feedback from your audience, you gain the insight you need to make educated marketing decisions – especially those that can help create goodwill and reduce complaints:

  • A bank, for example, may learn from listening in on Twitter that its customers are complaining about the lack of ATMs in a specific metro area. While this is a customer service issue, the marketing department could create a campaign that includes a QR code that goes to a web page listing ATMs in the area.
  • According to the BusinessWeek article, Netflix learned from Facebook comments that its customers love watching movies and TV shows instantly over the Internet. I’m sure Netflix is using this data to further refine its offerings.
  • Cap’n Crunch, a consumer brand using Facebook and Twitter, routinely asks “fun” questions: “Do you eat your cereal out of the bowl or the box?” “What’s the strangest thing you’ve added to your Cap’n Crunch?” Think about what this data tells Quaker Oats about the cereal’s fans – and the product itself.

These are just a few ways you can use social media to aid you in your marketing planning. Do you have others? Leave your comments below.

Category:  Marketing Research, Marketing Strategy, Polls, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: , , ,   |  No Comments

Practical Tips for Incorporating Social Media into Direct Mail

May 17th, 2011 by

In my last post, Direct Mail Should Be Like Social Media — Yes or No?, I raised the question of whether marketers should be adding some of social media’s innovative aspects to direct mail in order to increase response rates and better engage prospects.

In this post, I cover some practical tips for incorporating social into your direct mail pieces. The first three of these tips are fairly simple. The last two, augmented reality and “checking in,” are to inspire your creativity.

1. Add social media calls-to-action.

According to a 2010 DMA research study that quoted Nielsen findings, consumers are spending 43% more time on social media than they did in 2009, with social media and blogs topping online games and email.

In addition, the research study points out that marketers are spending more on social media to help increase brand loyalty and brand awareness.

Whether you’re doing postcards or traditional direct response letters, you can easily add “Like Us on Facebook” or “Follow Us on Twitter” calls-to-action to your outer envelopes, the letters themselves, lift notes, and even statements and other “official” mail. According to Jay Baer, publisher of the Convince and Convert blog, you’ll get more traction if you tell people why they should “like” your page, e.g., to receive discounts, etc.

If your budget allows, consider giving people an incentive to “like” your page the way BankAtlantic does. For each “like,” the bank gives $1 to that person’s favorite local charity. (To read the full story, download our free special report, “Attract and Retain Customers with Content Marketing.”)

2. Add QR codes.

I covered QR codes a few weeks ago in my post, “Use QR Codes to Boost Business Response.” As with adding social media calls-to-action, adding a QR code to any of your direct mail pieces is relatively simple:

  • Create the offer or piece of content — You’ll need to create something that people can download, whether it’s a landing page for a free report or a video.
  • Produce the QR code — A simple iPhone app, such as quiQR, will allow you to quickly generate a simple QR code. For more complex codes, or to create thousands of individual codes for PURLs, you’ll need a more robust application.
  • Add the QR code to your printed piece — I’ve seen QR codes on everything from catalogs and postcards to credit card offers and even mortgage statements!

3. Create offers based on what people are talking about on social media.

Many social media gurus advocate that you “listen in” on social media conversations. What this means is that if you’re on Twitter, use hashtags to follow discussions in your industry, including those that revolve around a conference or workshop or specific topic (e.g., #dma, #direct mail, #b2b). Listen to the questions people are asking. Can you use this information to create content, such as an e-book or report, that you can then offer via a direct mail lead generation campaign?

Ditto for Facebook. If your company has an active Facebook page, analyze which posts elicit comments and pay attention to what people are talking about to see if any ideas jump out at you for creating content offers.

4. Consider the future opportunities of augmented reality.

A very new and very cool technology, augmented reality (AR) apps add a virtual object into the real world. You view the “real world” through your smartphone camera, and the AR application adds virtual objects to what you see.

Although it might sound like a “so what” application, the implications are huge for marketers. A new iPad AR app, Magic Mirror, for example, scans your head and face and then adds virtual objects, such as a wig or a mask, to make it look like you’re actually wearing the item!

Total Immersion, developers of the app, is “a company known for the way it incorporates AR into online and print ads,” according to The Wall Street Journal article, “Why Smart Phones Can See More Than We Can”:

One online ad includes an interactive driving game that made users feel like they were driving the Volvo S60 through whatever their iPhone or Android camera displayed as AR obstacles fell into the road. In another campaign, people printed out a PDF of the Olympus PEN digital camera, held it to a webcam and saw animated demonstrations of the camera’s features, as if the camera — not a piece of paper — was in their hands.

Although a new and unproven application, augmented reality, if it plays out, could add tremendous innovation to your direct mail campaigns.

5. Let people “check in.”

The media world is abuzz that Pepsi let TV viewers check into its TV commercial — and win a free Diet Pepsi — using the new IntoNow app. (See the Ad Age article, “On TV Now: Watch an Ad, Get a Free Pepsi,” for details on how this works.)

Although relatively new, “checking in” has reached the tipping point. All kinds of companies here in the Denver area, including banks, let customers check in via Foursquare. And of course, you can let your friends know where you are with Facebook’s Places feature.

If people can check into TV commercials, why not your direct mail piece? You can easily encourage people to use Foursquare or Facebook Places in your direct mail. Going even further, you could find a way to literally let people check into your direct mail campaign — the same way Pepsi let people check into its TV commercial.

As with augmented reality, this tactic is sophisticated and requires some real research and planning. But the implications for direct mail are huge and bear watching.

As you can see, adding some of social media’s creativity and innovation to direct mail is fairly easy, and you don’t have to worry about displacing proven formats and formulas. Adding “Like” buttons, calls-to-action and QR codes can potentially increase engagement with your brand as consumers connect with you online.

If you test these ideas, let me know your results. I’d love to feature your campaign here on the Heinrich Report blog.

Category:  Direct Mail, Innovation, Integrated Direct Marketing, Marketing Research, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  2 Comments

Direct Mail Should Be More Like Social Media — Yes or No?

May 11th, 2011 by

American Express® is using social media to encourage customers to spend rewards points in “less traditional ways.” According to the Advertising Age article, “AMEX Campaign Positions Rewards Points as Social Currency,” the company is rolling out a new campaign that includes print, social media and TV.

Take a look at their new Facebook page “Points” tab.

This clever page includes American Express’s popular Twitter feed where people talk about how they’ve redeemed their points. It also includes the “Deal of the Week,” which members can redeem at a 50% rate.

Deborah Curtis, vice president of advertising at American Express, says, “Card members and consumers are looking for options and choices. There’s also education…because they aren’t aware of what they can do [with their points]. Some of it is an entrenched way of thinking about rewards programs when they were heavily travel-based and people saved up points for a big trip.”

“Entrenched way of thinking.” This phrase stood out for me with regard to direct mail marketing.

Despite the wonderful innovation in the digital space, and despite the fact that so many companies are using social media to engage and interact with consumers, direct mail packages still look the way they did 5 or even 10 years ago.

We’ve been doing direct mail for more than 30 years, and there’s no argument: Direct mail is still a workhorse, especially for Heinrich’s financial services clients. A proven, response-generating direct mail package still includes:

  • Envelope with teaser
  • Letter
  • Lift note with bonus offer
  • Reply card
  • Reply envelope

Because many of our clients still rely on direct mail — and because it does produce results — we don’t want to change proven formats and formulas just to be creative.

But I, and those of us here at Heinrich, are asking lots of questions in light of consumers flocking to social media:

  • Should direct mail change its ways even though the components of direct mail have been thoroughly tested?
  • Do relatively low response rates mean direct mail is perceived as staid and boring?
  • Can direct mail take a lesson from social media and become more engaging?

A look at direct mail response rates

The Direct Marketing Association’s 2010 Response Rate Trend Report shows the typical response rates for direct marketing campaigns for five mediums: direct mail (five formats), e-mail, paid search, Internet display and telephone. According to the DMA:

“Response rates for Direct Mail have held steady over the past four years. Letter-sized envelopes, for instance, had a response rate this year of 3.42 percent for a house list and 1.38 percent for a prospect list. In addition, nearly 60 percent of direct mail campaigns in financial services aimed to produce a direct sale. The average response rate was a comparatively low 2.66 percent to a house list and 1.01 percent to a prospect list.”

According to John Schlagel, director of strategy for Heinrich, these numbers are in line with what Heinrich clients see with their direct mail packages.  However, many clients base campaign success on lift over the control.

As John explains it, “Many clients evaluate results based on lift over a hold-out group, so while even 2.66% sounds like a strong response, it’s not unusual that the hold-out group has a 2.25% sales rate, indicating that, of the 2.66% responders receiving the direct mail, only .41% of the audience responded due to the direct mail.”

My questions are: Is this good enough? And, can we do better?

Why aren’t direct mail marketers taking a cue from social?

The American Express “social currency” campaign caught my eye because it’s different. The company is featuring real customers in its print, TV and social media outreach because it’s these “savvy” customers who are telling their friends how to redeem points.

With social media, we as marketers have the potential to start a conversation — versus making an actual sale. Writing out a 140-character tweet is a hook to get people to click through to your content. In other words, the purpose of social media is to capture people’s interest.

Direct mail, on the other hand, is a direct sales opportunity. Direct mail packages haven’t changed in five years precisely because direct mail is still a direct selling opportunity — and because it’s profitable for our clients.

But, would we engage more people and get better response rates if we incorporated some of social media’s innovations?

Here at Heinrich, we’re asking ourselves these questions. In Part 2 of this article, I’ll give you a few ideas of how you can add some of social’s innovations to your direct mail packages.

Until then, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave your comments below.

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Direct Mail, Marketing Insights, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  4 Comments

What We’re Reading: Print Magazines That Keep Us Current and Inspired

May 4th, 2011 by

As a marketer, I turn to magazines to learn what’s hot, to keep abreast of new technologies, and to see how other companies solve business challenges.

Because many publications, such as the The Wall Street Journal, are now offered in digital format, I bought an iPad to make it easier to consume this content whether I’m at work or on the road.

Although I love my iPad, I find that I still enjoy reading a couple of magazines in their print format, namely the Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. Both publications are very well done. The HBR, for example, is filled with excellent articles, good research, and business know-how. Fast Company, on the other hand, keeps me up-to-speed with the latest technology without having to dig too deep.

Sidestepping the “print is dead” argument, I have found that I enjoy these print magazines because I can write in the margins or dog-ear the pages. And, reading print magazines gives me a “breather” from all things digital.

With that in mind, I took a quick poll of the people in my office to see if they, too, still have a print magazine they read. I found the responses (listed below) interesting and informative: Some Heinrich team members read print trade journals to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in their respective fields (e.g., design or print production). Others are like me — they read print because they want a break from being constantly online.

Whether you’re looking for a new magazine to read or in-depth analysis of events or changes in our world, you’ll find some great publications listed below — as well as reasons why people still choose to read one favorite print publication.

Do you have a favorite print magazine or newspaper that you read without fail? Let me know in the comments section below.

George Eddy, President

Publication: The Economist

Why: I still read print magazines because it’s far easier to consume news quickly. The Economist covers all truly relevant subjects from the least biased point of view that I’ve observed. Articles are well researched and written, and the humor is good. The content is the opposite of the all-too-common sound-bite approach in much of today’s media.

Rob McPhee, Creative Director

Publication: Communication Arts

Why: This is the only print publication I still subscribe to, and mainly because I collect them now. The magazine has profiles of agencies, talent and cool new work. I used to read multiple print publications, but the Internet has changed that.

Erin Iwata, Account Director

Publication: Vanity Fair

Why: When I want to read full stories versus blurbs, I always buy print. I like to keep the magazine, think about it, read it again — or read a bunch of articles within the magazine again. I also like to share longer stories with physical pass along versus short stories that I share via email. I don’t like to read more than I have to on-screen. I feel more attached to the information when I can touch it.

Cathy Peeper, Account Director, Macy’s

Publication: The Denver Post

Why: I like the little articles about things that go on that don’t make the TV news. I also enjoy the crossword puzzles.

Jay Rael, Account Director

Publication: The Denver Post

Why: The only print publication I read is the The Denver Post, specifically the sports section. I like it because it’s more of a release/escape from everything else that I am doing and reading online.

Erika Lidster, Director of Print Production

Publication: American Printer

Why: I read this magazine because they publish industry updates (who is buying whom in the print world), and because they also cover emerging technologies in the print field. It’s nice to find out who will be the first to try something different. The print world is changing so quickly and printers can now produce at the higher quality standards that clients worldwide are demanding due to the more targeted and one-to-one type of marketing environment that exists.

Jamie Moe, Creative Director, Copy Writer

Publication: Bloomberg Businessweek

Why: I read it for the articles on start-ups and technology. It comes on Saturday so I actually have time to read it.

As you can see, many of us at Heinrich still enjoy a good print publication. Which print magazine(s) do you still read and why? Leave your comments below.

 

Category:  Marketing Insights, Polls  |  Tags: , ,   |  No Comments