Newsletter

November 2008

MindFireInc Spotlight is a monthly newsletter prepared and edited by Ted Raymond of Allegra.

Cross Media – Getting to the decision maker

 Many sales professionals entering the cross media world wonder how the sales process is different when selling a multi channel marketing approach. Who do I talk to? How do I create a compelling value statement that will get an appointment? Like any other consultative sales process, you need to approach prospects with an attitude that expresses, “I am here to help you solve a problem.”

When calling into your prospect account, make sure you are calling on the right person. You should not try to present the concept of multi channel marketing campaigns to print buyers or purchasing agents. You should call into sales and marketing professionals. This may be business owners in smaller companies, but more often it will be VP’s and Directors of Marketing and Sales.

Before you call into these professionals, you should take a few minutes to research their company. Try to understand the key issues they may be facing.

Most people in the sales and marketing world will be facing one of the following key business issues:

• Customer Acquisition – Need to expand customer base
• Customer Retention – Need to maintain customer base and generate loyalty
• Customer Expansion – Need to cross sell or up sell customer base
• Measuring Results – Need to justify ROI on sales marketing efforts

With these key areas in mind you can formulate and articulate a clear value statement that will help get you in the door. For example:

“Good Morning, Mr. Prospect. The reason for my call is that I recently read an article about your company. I understand you have a need to acquire new customers and provide a greater return to your shareholders. I would like to share some insight as to how we are helping others effectively address these challenges. We have developed solutions using multi channel marketing to target key prospects and help you effectively measure results.”

Doesn’t this sound better than the age old, “I’d like to see if we can work together?” Effectively communicating how you can solve their greatest business challenges will help you close the deal.

Capture the Click – Increase the Effectiveness of Pay-Per-Click Advertising

 As the internet evolves, more companies are finding Pay-Per-Click advertising a way to generate interest in their product or service. In many cases, the challenge is less about getting click through and more about how to engage customers once they arrive. One solution to this issue is to deploy a MindFireInc® Click Capture campaign. Click Capture campaigns allow you to populate landing pages with specific information based on keywords. This allows you to serve content that is specifically relevant to a person who enters the landing page. Multiple keywords can be supported and tracked within one campaign. You are also able to capture information on who has landed on the page. The key advantage of this campaign blueprint is that it converts people that you don’t know into people that you do!

Are you Prepared to Meet New Postal Requirements?

In multi channel marketing one of the most common methods of outbound communication is direct mail. Including personalized URL’s on direct mail pieces has proven to be an effective marketing tool. However, understanding new postal requirements will be crucial for success in the near future. The United States Postal Service (USPS) will be implementing several new initiatives in the near future. Seen as the most wide-spread changes in history, the USPS changes include a Move Update, Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) and Flats Sequencing System (FSS). If you are not prepared for – or in compliance of – the new postal requirements, future direct mail campaigns could be rejected and never reach your target market.

Move Update
The first change will impact any mailings being sent out on or after November 23, 2008. This change requires all mailing lists to be submitted through an approved Move Update process. What does this mean for service providers? Every mailing list must be processed through the NCOA National Change of Address software or an ancillary service endorsement such as Address Service Requested. FASTforward MLOCR processing (letter mail only) One Code ACS used in conjunction with an IMB and a mailer ID.

Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB)
In the early part of 2009, the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) will replace the current Post Net Barcode. There are several advantages to the new IMB. First, your creative team will have more space to work with for their design and copy. There is also added flexibility in the height and width of the barcode. The IMB will also contain much more information in the bar code, so you will have more accurate and detailed information to assist you in decision making.

The USPS has a website with a great Question and Answer PDF that you can access: http://ribbs.usps.gov/OneCodeSolution/USPSIMB_QandA.pdf

Flats Sequencing System (FSS) The USPS has created a Flat Sequencing System that will go into effect March, 2009. Flat categories are typically 9″ x 12″ catalog and booklet envelopes, large cards and magazines. This new system will allow further mechanical sorting into the delivery sequence. This is a significant labor reducer and efficiency savings opportunity for the USPS. It will enable the postal carriers to start their delivery routes earlier in the day instead of hand-sorting larger packets before they leave the Post Office. Service providers should be aware there will be a standardized address placement field and special formatting.

MindFireInc® knows how important direct mail is as part of your multi channel marketing success. As a trusted partner, we want to provide you resources for knowledge and information.

Self Promotion Is the Key to Success – Case Study

MindFireInc® service providers drive profitable results from the use of self promotion campaigns. In today’s world, the corporate marketer is bombarded with hundreds (if not thousands) of marketing messages. Getting through to these marketers takes a keen sense of creativity and a high level of execution. As a trusted partner, MindFireInc®Inc provided their customers with a turn key solution for self promotion. This campaign was built to drive lead generation for service providers by leveraging the public interest around the presidential campaign.

Campaign ’08 was a cross media effort that included a three-touch direct mail campaign, Personalized URL for response, and email follow up. The goal of the program was to introduce cross media technology to marketing professionals. In addition, the campaign was designed to generate and qualify leads for service providers.

The headlines for each of the three direct mail pieces where: “Get a Real Business Stimulus Package”, “A Real Running Mate”, and “The Polls Are In”. Each of these headlines was developed to highlight a different area of the cross media value chain. “Business Stimulus” drove a message about lead generation. “A Real Running Mate” talked to the ability to drive customer loyalty. Finely, “The Polls Are In” talked specifically about the powerful reporting and business intelligence tools that cross media can provide. Overall feedback on the campaign was outstanding. Some service providers reported response rates as high as 20%.

For our study today we will review the results of a campaign run by a service provider in Scottsdale, Arizona:

List Size – 374 records purchased from national list provider
Target Audience – Director, VP, and CMO level marketing professionals
Timeframe – September and October 2008
Total Responses – 54 hits, 42 unique responses (seed names removed)
Percent Response – 11.2%

Many direct marketers would be happy with results that are half of this. The highly targeted approach proved to be a successful strategy for this service provider. As a MindFireInc® partner, this service provider was able to deploy the entire campaign within a matter of 30 minutes. In addition, the costs were limited to printing and postage because MindFireInc® provided all partners access to self promo campaigns at no additional charge.