marketing

August 28, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Variable data ideas

Personalized marketing materials get higher response rates. I could point you to several studies which confirm this (but I’d rather keep you here.) Below are a few ways to personalize yours using variable data:

Personalized correspondence

A personally addressed letter will consistently outperform a generic form letter. If you’ve purchased or assembled a mailing list, this is the simplest way to implement variable data. And if it is formatted properly in a spreadsheet, it will cost you only pennies extra per piece to personalize your mailing. Which sales or fundraising letter do you think will get better results — one addressed to Manager, Owner, Current Resident or perhaps one that actually identifies the recipient by name and title and refers personally to him or her throughout the piece? It’s a no-brainer.

Customer-relevant content

If you keep track of what your customers purchase from you, how often they buy, etc., you can incorporate this and other relevant information into your marketing pieces. Let’s say your customer purchased a purple widget from you recently. Your next mailing could reference this acquisition, either with a “thank you”, a promotion on widget repair or upgrades, or with pictures of other happy purple widget owners.

Demographic tie-ins

You can create marketing pieces with different content, art and images for different targets. Females can get different content than males. Older targets can get different content than younger ones. If you keep track of this information about your clients, you should consider using it in your marketing to get better results!

Think about how you’d like to personalize your marketing pieces and I bet VDP can be used to do it.

April 3, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Logo design Q&A

Your logo is where your company’s values, message, image and identity converge before your potential customers’ eyes. It’s an incredibly important business asset. So once your business gets past the point of start-up and moves to viability, you should invest in making sure your logo sends the right signals to your audience. Below you’ll find some questions we get about our logo design services. The answers should help you when you’re considering creating a new logo or updating an existing logo.

How much do you charge for logo design?

Because every logo design project is unique, we charge by the hour. Our graphics rate is $120/hour. When they ask, we tell people that 2 hours of design time is often enough time for a logo. Sometimes it takes longer, but 2 hours is usually enough time to consult with you, get a few variations designed, listen to your feedback, and incorporate some revisions.

When do I need to pay?

We take a 50% deposit before we get started on any graphic design project, so you’ll need to pay us at least $120 up front before we start work on your logo design. Once we complete the design, you’ll pay us the balance and then we’ll send you the logo files in various formats.

What if I don’t like what you design?

This has never happened in 24+ years. Every client we’ve ever taken on for logo design work has been completely satisfied with our work. This is especially true for those clients who devote themselves to the project and are open and honest with our designers throughout the process.

Do you have any samples of logos you’ve designed?

There are several recently designed logos in our online portfolio. As is the case with anything we design and create, we’re happy to show you samples here in the shop.

What file formats will I receive?

When we’re done creating your new logo, we’ll send you the art in any format you require, including vector files so you can enlarge your logo to any size to fit any application. You’ll be able to use your logo for printed materials such as letterhead, business cards, brochures, posters, banners, etc. (all of which we can also design for you) as well as digitally in email signatures, on your website, in other web graphics and so forth.

How do I get started?

Let us know you’d like to move forward and we’ll send you an invoice for the deposit. Then call us (or come in) and talk with one of our designers, send us your sketches, drawings, marketing materials, existing logo, etc. We may get a feel right away for what you need. Many times we will have you complete a questionnaire to help us with your brand identity.

How long will the process take?

It really depends on how productive our initial consultation is as well as how quickly you give us feedback on our initial designs. If you watch for our first round of proofs and then let us know what you like, don’t like, and which direction to take things, we can turn around a logo design project in a matter of days.

Did we answer everything you want to know about our logo design services? Let us know in the comments (or call and speak with us in person) if you have further questions…

February 26, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Marketing tip: try A/B testing

In many of our prior posts we’ve discussed the importance of tracking the performance of your marketing. If you don’t know how well your marketing is doing, and you’re not trying to fine-tune it over time to get the best results, you’re not maximizing the investment you’re making in your company. Now, it’s great that you’re investing in your business, but the idea is to get the best return on your investment. This post should help with that, especially if you’re new to marketing.

One method of fine-tuning your marketing is A/B testing. A/B testing or “split” testing is an experimental approach to design which tries to identify elements in your marketing which increase or maximize a desired outcome or result. Possible outcomes are numerous, such as the submission of a form on your website, a phone call or other direct contact from your customer, a click-through in an email newsletter or landing page, or even a purchase. We’ve talked about these outcomes as “valuable contacts” in prior blog posts, in which we’ve also stressed the importance of setting them up as conversions/goals in your analytics. This will help you monitor marketing performance as well as determine how and why a customer came to find you and/or contact you.

With A/B testing, two versions of your marketing are compared. They are identical except for one variation that you think might impact a user’s behavior. The possibilities for what you change are numerous. Here are just a few:

the call to action language or button
different fonts or combinations
text and background colors
layout changes, placement of content on the page or piece
different images

The goal is to figure out if one version outperforms the other. If the results are significant enough, you know which element should be used going forward.

Many people think A/B testing can only be used to test online marketing, but this just isn’t the case. Your print marketing can also be tested using this method. For example, rather than sending 2000 identical postcards to everyone on your mailing list, you could send 1000 postcards with your current layout and another 1000 with some element modified. To track the performance of A vs. B you’d simply need to include different information to help you collect and analyze the data, such as different landing page URLs (and QR codes that redirect to different landing pages) as well as phone numbers.

Give A/B Testing a try and let us know if it helps you improve your marketing ROI. If you need some help, you know where to find us!

December 29, 2012 By Tom Gimer

How to use print as a gateway to more information

Want your flyer, postcard or letter marketing piece to be more effective? It’s pretty easy to make this happen. Aside from attractive graphics, effective copy and a good offer, you can give your marketing a huge boost by maximizing the use of space in your printed piece.

When you use print as a marketing tool, you have a limited amount of space within which to get your message across. Try to include everything you want your audience to know about you, your company and your offer and you will end up diluting your message and making a giant, convoluted mess of your marketing piece. There are ways, however, to best use the limited space and get your printing to act as a gateway to all the information you want to share. Below are a few ways to make your printed materials work hand in hand with the web, and in so doing provide a better customer experience.

1. Direct traffic to your valuable web assets.

Use your printed materials to generate traffic to your website and other important web assets. The more a potential client knows about you and your company, the more comfortable they’ll become with the idea of trusting you with their business. It’s really tough to accomplish this on a single flyer or postcard, so send readers of your print where they can find more information about you. Even on a “simple” flyer, you should include your contact information, your web address and any social media profiles where potential customers can learn more about you and get to know you better. With respect to this last point, here’s a little advice: asking someone to “Like” you on Facebook is so 2008. Don’t ask your would-be clients to like you. Give them a reason to like you — such as by providing great customer service. And don’t direct them to social media accounts where your business isn’t active. That’s a huge no-no. The tip is to direct them to your valuable web assets… not places where they find nothing but a blank wall or useless tweets you posted about how wonderful you are.

2. Provide URLs to specific information.

A URL is a web address. Most often a URL takes you to a web page, but it can also be some other resource such as a document. When when you use URLs in your printed materials, don’t fall into the common trap of simply including the address of your website’s homepage. Give the URL where the potential customer can find the exact information you want them to find. Don’t make them search your website for it! If you do that they’ll soon get frustrated and give up. If the URL of the page on your site (or Facebook page, Google+ page, etc.) is too long, consider using a link shortening service such as http://bit.ly. Doing this will help reduce typing errors which send customers to the wrong place (such as a 404 error page), and this will increase customer satisfaction as well as conversions. Another method of sending your customer exactly where you want them to go is to set up a sub-domain. For example, you could set up specials.yourdomain.com to forward visitors to a page on your website where they find the precise details of your offer, along with any terms and conditions that apply. Don’t waste valuable space in your printed piece with fine print when you can put it on the web and direct readers to it.

3. Include QR codes.

QR codes are little square black & white graphics that open up a specific page on the Internet when they are scanned by a bar code reader. Bar code readers are available on smartphones and tablets and they help connect the physical world (such as your printed piece) with the virtual world. While not everybody who owns a tablet or smartphone knows how to use QR codes, the numbers are certainly growing. You can make things easy for those that understand them by including these little “links” in your printed materials. They are eye-catching and they don’t take up much space. As with URLs, send your audience directly to the content you want them to read, not just your homepage.

Hopefully these tips will help you get the most out of your next print marketing piece. Let us know if you get results!

October 19, 2012 By Tom Gimer

Real world marketing and PR for the small business

Wouldn’t it be nice if your small business had a marketing and public relations team? A group of people that could help your business put forth a better image, tell a better story, send a better message. If people only knew more about your company — the type of business you operate, the quality of your services, the pride your employees put into each job — getting this information out to potential customers would surely help your business thrive.

But we both know why you haven’t hired a marketing or PR firm to tackle this project. They are too expensive. They cater to large businesses with big marketing budgets. And although you’ve promised yourself this will be the year you’re going to personally evaluate and revamp your marketing, the fact that you’re swamped with the management of your company’s day-to-day operations means this important project always seems to get put on the back burner. How long has it been sitting back there? Be honest.

Every single action or communication your business makes is marketing. Does everything you put out reflect favorably on your business? Is your message clear? Do you even have a message?

If you want to improve your marketing and sales, you need to invest in your business. But you don’t need a big team of professionals working overtime on this. You can do just fine with a top notch writer, a creative graphic designer, some analytics/tracking strategy, and some tweaking over time to obtain the best results. And this is true whether you use direct response marketing such as Every Door Direct Mail, in-bound online marketing, or a combination of the two. Solid writing combined with creative designs and a smart marketing can enhance your visibility, improve your message and grow your business.

Your business may be small but your dreams are not. So make this year the year you really revamp your marketing.