This document provides an overview of direct marketing techniques. It discusses what direct marketing is, why direct mail works, how to plan a direct mail campaign, targeting audiences with lists, composing mailing pieces, and integrating digital options. Key points covered include the importance of relevance, readability, response, revenue and return on investment for direct mail campaigns. Predictive modeling, list selection, creative elements like images and offers, and call to action are identified as important factors for success.

1. Title Here
Speaker Names
DM Crash
Course
presented by:
Keith Goodman

2. DM CRASH COURSE
An Introduction to Direct Marketing:
• Direct Marketing overview
• Planning a Direct Mail campaign
• Targeting your Audience with Lists
• Composing your Mailing Piece
• Mailing Services
• Digital Integration

3. WHAT IS DIRECT MARKETING?
“Direct Marketing is an interactive system of
marketing which uses one or more advertising
media to effect a measurable response and/or
transaction at any location.”
Direct Marketing Association

4. DIRECT MAIL WORKS
•In 2012, over $50 Billion was spent on
advertising mail.
–Over 29% of all ad expenditures ($171
Billion)
•Over $700 Billion was spent as a result
of DM
•Direct mail advertising continues to
grow with anticipated growth rate of
over 5%.

5. DIRECT MAIL IS PROFITABLE
•Each dollar spent on direct marketing
yields, on average, a return on investment of
$12.40
•By comparison, each dollar spent on non-DM
advertising yields an ROI of $5.29

6. THE ADVANTAGE OF DIRECT MAIL
•Convenient
–It’s on your kitchen table
•Written record
–File it, save it, show it to others.
•Targeted
–Mail just to the prospects most likely to buy
•Measurable
–You know who responded
•Scalable
–250 customers or 1,000,000 customers

7. PEOPLE READ THEIR MAIL
•What do you do when you get home?
•Most people sort mail into 2 piles…
Relevant Junk Mail

8. HAVE A PLAN
• What do you
want to
accomplish?
• What makes
your
store/product
different?
• What are the
benefits to your
customers?

9. GOALS & STRATEGIES
• What is your budget?
• What is your deadline?
• What is your offer?
• Who are you talking to?
– What interests them?
• How will you get your prospects to
respond?
• What is your competition doing?

10. WILL ANYONE RESPOND?
• The question we ask…
“What kind of response will I get?”
• The question we should ask…
“What kind of response do I need?”

11. HOW MUCH IS A “PASSENGER” WORTH?
• What would you pay for a busload of customers?

12. WHAT IS A CUSTOMER WORTH
The basic formula…
Average Sale $300
Gross Profit $150
Annualized Value (4X) $600
Lifetime Value (3 years) $1800
Acquisition Budget - 10% $180

13. TWO KEY FACTORS…
• What can you afford to spend for
a new customer?
• How many customers/responses
do you need for your campaign to
be profitable?

14. 5 KEY DIRECT MAIL ELEMENTS
1. Timing
2. Mailing Package
3. Copy (Text)
4. The Offer
5. The List

15. Mission Critical
40%

16. The Wrong List
• Time Sensitive
Offer
• Relevant
Imagery
• Excellent Copy
• Clear Call to
Action
The
Wrong
List
No Response!

17. Topics of Discussion
• Retention Based DM - House Lists.
• Acquisition Based DM – Prospect Data.
• Available Demographics/Selections.
• Predictive Modeling.
• List Resources on the Web.

18. House Lists
• Your buyers and responders are your
most responsive lists.
• Customer retention, cross-sell, up-sell
• Data can be profile and additional fields
appended.

19. The Key to Prospecting
Take a good look at your customers..
Then find more that look just like them!

20. 80,000 Prospect Lists; 4 Categories
• Occupant Data
– - Valassis, Compact Information
• Consumer Data
- Acxiom, Experian, Equifax, InfoUSA
• Business Data
– - D&B, InfoUSA, Compass
• Specialty Data

21. Occupant Data
• Inexpensive - $20-25/M
• Optimizes saturation postage
• Very limited select options
• Reads as “Resident/Occupant”

22. Consumer Data
• Ideal for local mailings.
• Wide variety of demographics.
• Multi-channel opportunities.
• Multi or Unlimited Use licenses.

23. Compilation Points
• County Recorder offices.
• Product warranty cards.
• Census.
• Sweepstakes offers.
• Magazine subscriber files.

24. Consumer Data Selects
• Adult Age Range
• Income Range
• Net Worth Range
• Homeowner / Renter
• Dwelling Unit Size
• Gender
• Length of Residence
• Education
• Home Value
• Marital Status
• Presence of Child
• Lifestyle Interest Data
Most Consumer Files have well over
100 demographic selections available.

25. Business Data
• Ideal for local mailings or strategic
geographic markets.
• Best coverage for target verticals.
• 100% phone coverage – follow up.
• 90% top contact name & title.
• Multi-use available.

26. Business Data Sources
• Business license information
• SEC filings
• Yellow pages
• Directories & industry publications
• Telephone interviews (D&B)

27. Business Data Selects
Basic Selects
• SIC / Industry Code
• Geo
• Business Size
• Location Type
• Phone Number
• Top Contact
Premium Selects
• Square Footage
• Years in Business
• Own/Rent Building
• Franchise Indicator
• Public/Private
• Owners Ethnicity

28. Specialty Data
• Magazine subscriber files.
• Transactional data; online, mail order.
• State licensing bureaus.
• Survey response information.
• Sweepstakes entry forms.
• Credit and financial information.

29. Specialty Data Specifics..
• Data source is relative to your target.
• Normal minimum of 5,000+ pieces
• Approval often required – 3-5 days
• Targeting a large geographic area
The List Owner reserves the right to
potentially deny your order
request, especially with competitive
offers.

30. Predictive Modeling
• Process Overview
• Profile Report
• Geographic Analysis
• Model Report
• Prospect Count Report

31. Predictive Modeling Process

32. Profile Report
• Snapshot of over a
dozen demographic
elements
• Comparison on
local, state or national
averages
• Applicable towards
media buys for other
channels
• Typical stand alone
cost minimum of
$1,000.00

33. Geographic Analysis
• Customer
penetration
model
• Target by zip,
county, MSA or
State
• Determine the
desired region
yourself

34. Model Report
• Automates the target
list selection
• Ties in the
predominant demo
and geo
characteristics
• Illustration of
response rate
potential and relative
impact
• Typical stand alone
cost minimum of
$1,000.00

35. Prospect List Counts
Provides available prospect
quantity, after customer file
suppression, by desired geographic area
and decile level.

36. Web Based List Access
• Acxiom B2C
• D&B B2B
• Occupant
Data
• Bundled
Selects
• FREE Counts

37. Creating Your Mail Piece
• Now that you have…
– Determined why you’re mailing
– Created your plan
– Selected your list
It is time to create
your mail piece!

38. THE 5 R’s
• You can’t have ROI if there is no
revenue
• You can’t have revenue if there is no
response
• You won’t have response if they don’t
read the piece
• They won’t read the piece if it is not
relevant

39. The Critical 5 R’s
• Relevance
– Will it make the keeper pile?
• Read
– Do they want to find out more?
• Response
– Will they call you?
• Revenue
– Is your customer going to part with their cash?
• ROI
– Increased profitability because everything
worked!

40. The 4 key points to a successful piece!
• Graphical treatment
– Format, Imagery, Layout
• The copy
– Prospect pain points, Benefits, Features
• The offer
– We will give you…
• Call to Action
– All you have to do is…

41. The Image
• Get Attention and Build Relevancy

42. The Image
• Get Attention and Build Relevancy
Ever feel like your
home mortgage is
like 60 tons of water
ready to crush you
and your family?

43. No Chest Thumping
You, You, You
Not Me, Me, Me
Or We, We, We
Talk about what is
important to your
prospect or customer!

44. The Copy
• Keep it simple: One or two QUICK benefits
“Keep your house!”
“Save $800 a month in interest!”
• Give a reason to continue reading
“See below to find out how easy it is to apply!”
• Make a big promise and be sure you can
fulfill it
“If your not completely satisfied we will give you
your money back!”

45. The Offer
• Sample / Trial
• Discounts
• Time Limit
• 90 Days Same
As Cash
• Free Gift
• Special Event
• Buy-One,
Get-One Free

46. The Call to Action
• Tell your readers what you want them to
do
– “Go to www.saveyourhouse.comtoday!”
– “Redeem this coupon by March 1st!”
– “In-store sale…one day only!”
• Spell it out. Don’t assume
you’ve gotten through
• Include an expiration date…
create a sense of urgency or exclusivity

47. The Image
• Get Attention and Build Relevancy
Ever feel like your
home mortgage is
like 60 tons of water
ready to crush you
and your family?

48. An Example

49. Writing Postcards
• Keep it simple. Not more than two or three points.
• Don’t try to reduce a “letter package” to a postcard.

50. Mail Multiple Times to Increase Response
• Not everybody will see your mail every time you mail
• Multiple touches promote recognition
• Many products are periodic purchases
• Mail as often as profitable

51. Has Anybody Not Seen This Postcard?

52. Postage Discounts… Don’t Pass ‘em Up
• Doing their work pays off – work sharing
• Presorting – grouping mail by common
destination and postal processing facility
o discounts of up to10¢ per piece
o Available from mail service providers
• Drop shipping – For larger, geographically
concentrated mailings, moving your mail to
destination postal processing facilities.
o up to 4.3¢ in additional discounts

53. Drop Shipping for speed and savings
Postage discounts 3.4¢4.3¢
per piece
Drop Shipping – Time and Money

54. OneCode CONFIRM®
Mail Tracking
 Reporting by Date, State, BMC, SCF, Zip & Piece

55. INTEGRATING PURLS
• Personal URLs
• Allows for
further
engagement of
DM recipient
• Link to
commerce and
additional
information
capture

56. PURL EXAMPLE
Integrated
Name, Sem
inar
Location
and PURL
for RSVP
Almost a 100% increase in RSVPs for seminars.

57. PURLS FOR COMMERCE
l Customer information is
pre-filled from database
l Cuts down required
entry and time for a
transaction
l Led to significantly
lower abandon rate

58. MOBILE INTEGRATION
QR SHORT
CODE
88202 “MP”
versus

59. QR CODE VS. SHORT CODE
QR CODES SHORT CODE
Pro – Direct link to action Con – Requires text entry with
follow up text and then link to
action
Con – No reference to
requesting source unless
variable QR is sourced back to
database
Pro – Phone number is
captured allowing for future
communication with
requestor
Pro – QR Codes are easy to
create
Con – Text codes are difficult
to provision
Pro – No cost per link for QR
codes
Con – Cost per click on text
codes
Con - QR codes can be
troublesome to scan
Pro – Everybody knows how to
text. Especially younger
generations.

60. INTERESTING QR CODE APPLICATIONS
Pre-populate salesperson
info to contact list
Keith Goodman
Modern Postcard
760-271-9932
Video walkthroughs of
homes for sale
Video demonstrations to
support static advertising
and content
52% of the population
have used a QR Code

61. KEY POINTS WITH MOBILE
• You are engaging a
mobile device
• Do not expect a high
level of data entry
or interactivity
• Make sure your
application provides
a high value to the
customer or
prospect

62. TESTING
• Testing your direct
mail package is how
you evaluate the
effectiveness of your
program

63. TESTING GRID - SIMPLE
Creative List Qty
$20 Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
$20 Off Demo – 60K single 5000
Initial Test
Creative List Qty
$20 Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
$10 Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
2nd Test

64. TESTING GRID - COMPLEX
Creative List Qty
$10 Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
$10 Off Demo – 60K single 5000
$20 Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
$20 Off Demo – 60K single 5000
20% Off Demo – 100K + with family 5000
20% Off Demo – 60K single 5000

65. TESTING
• One program will always
do better than the other.
• You need to compare
response as well as
revenue generated
• Never Stop Testing!

66. TEST EVERYTHING
• Formats
• Lists
• Offers
• Imagery
• With or without digital
integration
• Copy

67. ROI – Return on Investment
• Determine the ROI of different
test cells based on:
– Response rate
– Purchase rate
– Revenue per sales
– Annual value / Lifetime Value

68. ABOUT MODERN POSTCARD
• Focus on helping our clients
acquire new customers and
acquire their existing ones.
• Full solution provider
– List rental and analytics
– Graphic and layout support
– High quality printing
– Complete mailing services
– Email, mobile and web

69. Ready to Market?
l Come by booth 1041
l Contact me:
l Keith Goodman
l Phone: 760-692-3359
l keithg@modernpostcard.com
l Cell: 760-271-9932