Friday, May 13, 2011
Segment and Personalize
Today, people demand to be spoken to as individuals. It’s no longer viable to send a
mailing to “current resident.” The more you
know about your customers/donors/prospects, the more effectively you can use that information to speak to them — and
the more likely they will respond. Here's a few tips from "Matt's Rules"
- Content
that is tailored to the individual is far more compelling and will typically outperform generic, one-size-fits-all copy.
- Personalization adds importance and credibility to a mail piece. Digital printing not only
allows you to incorporate the person’s name, but also include personalized audience-connecting dialogue and graphics.
- Personalization can also give consumers a sense of trust by bonding
them with a company agent or representative. By including a photo and other specific agent information, consumers get a sense
of familiarity that can help with follow-up contact and relationship management.
Bottom line? The more personalized the message, the greater the response rate.
HOW QR CODES BUILD BUSINESS
Instead of posting a long website address that your audience is likely to forget by the time they get to their computer, place
a QR Code on your printed piece. Whether it’s an advertisement, direct mail, business card, flyer, or exterior street
signage, your potential consumer can immediately gain access to what your company is about, what you’re promoting, and
you can nudge them to act now instead of the dreaded “maybe later.” And to top it off, you can track and analyze
the results of your printed pieces. After all, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it or repeat it. Marketing
shouldn’t be guesswork
7:37 am edt
Friday, January 21, 2011
Easy Analytics
A while back I realized that measuring the effectiveness of
direct mail fund-raising campaigns is a lot easier than I'd thought. I was confused by all the formulas and ratios, and was
never sure which numbers were more important than the others. Cost Per Piece, Cost to Raise a Dollar, Return On Investment,
Average Gift, all of these and at least six other metrics kept me in a state of anxious ignorance. I was never sure where
I needed to start my calculations.
Now I
know, and I thought I'd pass on to you what I discovered in what I suppose I could call an epiphany. I discovered that, to
track the effectiveness of any direct mail campaign, all you need to start with are four numbers. Once you know what these
four numbers are, you can perform every calculation you need to measure your costs, revenue and return.
These four numbers are the only ones you need to measure on every campaign. They're the only four numbers you
need to obtain when comparing recent campaigns with those from long ago.
The numbers are simply these:
1.
Number of letters you mail.
2. Number of gifts you receive.
3. Amount of money you spend to mail the letters.
4. Amount of money you receive as gifts.
These numbers are known in the trade by various terms. I refer to them
as:
1. Pieces Mailed
2. Total Gifts
3. Total Cost
4. Gross Income
I recall these four numbers
by remembering that two deal with mail and two deal with money. The first two numbers deal with what you mail and with what
comes back in the mail. And the second two numbers deal with what you spend and with what you earn.
Only when you
know these four simple numbers can you run the calculations you need to make sense of your direct mail fund-raising results.
Need to know your cost to raise a dollar? Divide your mailing cost (number 3 above) by your income (number 4 above). Need
to know your average gift? Divide your income (number 4 above) by the number of gifts received (number 2 above) and you have
your return on investment for your campaign.
Friday, December 17, 2010
WealthScore
Traditionally, educational and nonprofit development professionals have relied on data profiles based largely on hard assets.
In contrast, WealthScore is based principally on measuring liquid assets, which unlike hard assets are more accessible and
available as a source of cash for donations. WealthScore also provides a variety of appends including income, net worth, real
estate holdings, age, presence of children and known philanthropic giving.
7:46 am est
Crisis Creates Opportunity
The impact of crisis is that competitors become mediocre, and the ambitious students of industry find ways to grow.
7:46 am est
