Tag: marketing techniques

The New Way to Mail a Message – Every Door Delivery

On By RhonaIn Direct Mail, Marketing, Niche Targeting, Rhona BronsonLeave a comment

Forget all the fancy social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+. Well, at least forget them until Direct Mail Legsyou’ve got the basics covered, meaning mail — from snail mail to e-mail to the newest type of mail — Every Door Direct Mail™.

Advertising is about getting your message delivered to the right customer. Mail is one of the original ad delivery vehicles, and although now out of favor, can still be an effective way to reach a geo-targeted audience, especially if done in a modern way. Direct mail, the original mailing mechanism through the post office, is now expensive and inefficient leading digital age advertisers to move from snail mail to e-mail. But, the surprise and delight factor is not the same. Whereas “junk mail” was frequently fun to receive; spam is not.

Unlike email, direct mail is a tactile experience. To this day, with the exception of  bills, everyone generally still  loves getting mail. It’s the reason direct mail will never totally go away. But, now, a new affordable replacement is literally on everyone’s doorstep – targeted house delivery, or Every Door Direct Mail. How’s Every Door Direct different from Direct Mail?

  • The piece is not personalized. Although not as strong as a personalized piece, for the greatly reduced cost, it gets your message directly into the home. The plus side is the mailer also doesn’t have to preprint addresses on each piece.
  • It can  be geo-targeted, something extremely valuable particularly for local retailers and service businesses. Do you want to reach all households in a particular zip or carrier route? This does it.
  • The mail is  still “delivered” by the postal service (USPS), but all the paperwork is done by the Every Door vendor.
  • The piece can range from a door hanger, to a flyer, or even an item in an envelope. In other words, you don’t have to abide by Postal standards for size or weight.
  • It’s a lot less expensive. Whereas a first class piece can range from 37 cents to well over a dollar depending on size, a Direct Delivery piece is generally less than 20 cents per household.

Today, targeted house delivery is available through a series of private party providers, including local newspapers. In South Jersey, The Press of Atlantic City is making the service available, just as other providers are across the nation. Is it an option for you? It is, likely, at least an option you should explore by talking to your local Every Door Direct representative or call (609) 272-7002.

The Walk-away: Direct mail has evolved with more options for unique targeting and creative designs to cut through the clutter. Walking to get your mail is still exciting when you get an unexpected delivery message in a unique way.

Packaging – The Frequently Overlooked Marketing Key

On By RhonaIn Lessons from Leaders, Marketing, Rhona BronsonLeave a comment

Every marketing student learns about the five “p’s” of marketing – Pricing, Place, Product, Promotion, and People. The missing “P” is packaging, which some will teach is part of Product, and others will claim is part of Promotion. Either way, it’s frequently the forgotten child of marketing that can spell business success or failure.

A key case in point is Coca-Cola. Without a doubt, Coke is always discussed in conversations about great brands. Recently, the story of Coke was featured on CBS Sunday Morning, itself a perennial news brand. As the story goes, Coca-Cola was so successful, that me-too products popped up around the globe. In a marketing meeting, Coke executives realized their brand franchise was in danger, and decided to invent brand packaging – the now iconic coke bottle – so that even in the dark, by feel alone, a consumer would know “the real thing” from a substitute. When aluminum cans became the norm, color became a larger concern for differentiating the brand, and Coke’s “red” became another text-book marketing example of the importance of color in serious brand management.

How does this apply to you if you’re a small to mid-sized business not of Coke caliber? Don’t underestimate packaging as a key differentiating factor. Packaging means everything from how you label your business to how you package your goods and services. Consider these examples:

  • Where The Art Is – This party decorations firm located in Paramus, NJ was literally started out of a garage. The decorations are unique and memorable, with many centerpieces kept for years to come in the homes of the guests and/or hosts. Under each piece is the company’s label with contact information. If you want a party decorator years later, you’ll be able to find Where The Art Is due to a simple packaging label.
  • Chico’s – Now a well known women’s wear franchise, the store endeared itself to women through a wrinkle-free travel line that was also figure forgiving. Priced high, consumers don’t feel cheated as each purchase is carefully wrapped generously in beautiful tissue paper and each bag is tied off with rainbow ribbons. Both touches are not necessary and add extra expense, but both are part of the Chico’s experience and brand.
  • Two Tin Crows – This unique gift store in Northfield, NJ (outside of Atlantic City), makes sure that gifts are beautifully wrapped using bags folded just so. It’s a simple technique, but one done exquisitely by the owner. It takes the added expense of gift wrapping off the consumer and makes the purchase that much easier. The point of these three examples is that it only takes a little extra effort to make your packaging work wonders for you as a differentiating value proposition.

The Walk-away: Take a look at your packaging, from your windows to your logo. Are you doing all you can to put your best look — if not foot — forward? Packaging is a Key “P” in Marketing.