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Publication of the Direct Marketing Association of WashingtonDecember 2011 Vol 50 | No 12

Marketing AdVents

Millennials. That's what's new -- and lots of them. See story on p.8.

What's New?

Year End, Year Ahead

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Viewpoint ............................................ 2DMAW Calendar ................................ 2President's Perspective .................... 3Improving Web Donation Pages ... 4Mailing Strategies ............................. 5Can You Measure Storytelling? ...... 6News Notes ......................................... 7"Emotional Movers" .................................... 8Postal Developments .......................... 9Plan For A Tumultuous Year .......... 11Production ........................................ 12White Space Discovery .................. 122011 Seen and Noted .................... 14DMAW Vendor Of Yhe Year ........... 15

T he direct marketing indus-try has been disjointed in 2011, continuing a multi-

year trend. We’ve seen frenzied efforts to engineer new approaches, diversify existing capabilities, and confront new challenges. This massive influx of change and disruption has fractured our focus and caused us to be all over the place. But, as the industry works toward reversing this trend, 2012 will be all about connecting. That’s why we’re calling it “The Year of the Ampersand.”

Here are some of the notable connections I foresee in the year ahead:

2012: The Year of The Ampersandby GreG Curran

Comfort Zone & Cutting EdgeMarketing pundits continue to call for a complete replacement of boring traditional media with sexy new me-dia. That’s easy for them to say. It’s not

so simple for clients to heed that call. Those

who do frequent-ly run face-first

into some very challenging barriers, such as a

siloed organizational structure, unrelenting pressure to achieve short-term goals, and grandiose

claims about new media that aren’t supported by

hard data.

Clients caught in this dilemma (i.e. virtually all of them) need an agency partner who says: “We’re all over it.” That’s why at Merkle, cross-functional teams have been inventing powerful,

S ales profession-als understand that it generally

takes at least five contacts to even get an appointment with a prospect. Although the metrics differ for each nonprofit organization, the concept is the same. The re-lationship is being formed

long before the first gift. It’s not news that donors expect us to make every interaction meaningful and impactful. However, our future success demands that we extend that thinking to our prospects, too.

Extend the Conversation Over TimeIn donor cultivation, we use all the data available to customize our appeal. This customization includes channel, timing, and messaging, among others. The same theory can be applied to our prospects. It begins with the understanding that we’re conduct-

You Had Me at Helloby eva bowie

ing a conversation over time to sell them on our cause. It’s rarely a one-hit sale. Yes, it’s true that most of our prospects don’t read our mail. But I prefer to focus on the small percentage that does; they are our target audience. I’ll concede that they’re probably not reading ev-ery single word, but it’s likely that they’re absorbing at least a small bit of the message each time. And they’re expecting that message to be relevant and interesting.

Make the Most of What You’ve GotThe data may not always be as ro-bust, but we do have information about our prospects that we can use to customize our acquisition ef-forts, too. For instance, data service providers can track the number of contacts as well as what packages we’ve sent our prospects. This can

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Deadline for registration: 48 hoursbefore the event, space permitting.Registrations received after thatwill be charged the onsite rate and are subject to space availability. Cancellations must be received 48 hours in advance. No-shows will be billed. Register online at www.DMAW. org.

Thursday, December 1, 2011Best of Direct Awards & Holiday Celebration6:00 - 9:00 pmNational Geographic SocietyWashington, DC

Thursday, January 26, 2012DMAW Annual Meeting5:30 - 8:30 PMLocation TBA

1st Tuesday of every monthAnnapolis Direct Marketers Social Club6:00 pm - ???McGarvey’s Saloon & Oyster BarAnnapolis, MD

August 7-9, 2012 7th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising ConferenceGaylord National Hotel & Conference CenterNational Harbor, MD

CaleNdar

A bout 20 years ago I

was the volunteer chairman of a 501(c)(4) grass-roots advocacy nonprofit that was trying to alert the country that, de-spite the popular

belief at the time, there were no money and no real assets in the Social Security Trust Fund, other than government IOUs that could not be sustained if the govern-ment kept borrowing from the fund. Our direct mail told recipients that they should be worried about the future of Social Security.

Former Sen. David Pryor (D-AR) was the chair of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Aging at the time. He threatened to subpoena those of us who were “scaring seniors” with lies and he wanted to see if the Postal Inspection Service could close us down for a violation of law. He argued that no one should believe “there was no money in the trust fund” because it was backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Efforts to shut down concerns similar to ours continued until the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) publicly said it was true that the Social Security Trust Fund only contained IOUs.

Fast-forward about 18 years. For the past two years charities have been fighting the deepest recession since the Great Depres-sion as the demand for their services in-creased and fundraising from major donors and corporations fell. Fortunately for chari-ties using direct mail, there was a decline in competition in the mailbox from commer-cial advertisers and a decline in printing and production costs due to the decline in commercial direct mail. And because most charity donors are retired and not directly affected by unemployment, those chari-ties using direct mail saw their revenues continue.

So, charities that had robust direct mail fundraising programs were able to main-tain somewhat stable revenues despite

ViewpoinT

The Recession, Fundraising, and politicians

by Geoffrey w. Peters

shrinking list universes and slight declines in the average gift. Those that fought the urge to cut prospecting may actually have grown. In short, charities with strong di-rect mail programs managed through this recession, as they had the prior four reces-sions, and came out OK and ready to con-tinue their growth.

Then, just as it began to appear that the recession might be ending, the nation wit-nessed the recent debate over the national debt ceiling.

For decades, Republicans had maintained that Social Security was fundamentally unsound because the government was borrowing all of the Social Security tax surpluses. For decades, Democrats had maintained that Social Security was funda-mentally sound because government IOUs were “as good as gold.” Suddenly, Repub-licans were saying the government was broke and couldn’t pay its debts so further borrowing was out of the question, and Democrats were saying that unless the gov-ernment could borrow more, seniors would not receive their Social Security checks or Medicare reimbursements.

Seniors, who form the vast majority of our donor pool, went from somewhat reces-sion-proof and secure in their retirement to shocked and scared that they would not have enough to live on and feeling the need to conserve cash in case their govern-ment checks never arrived. Guess what the impact was on charitable giving?!

So the deepest recession in 70 years couldn’t seriously hurt direct mail fund-raising, but in the space of two months politicians could seriously scare millions of seniors worried about how they would survive rather than how much they could give away.

Meanwhile, charities are facing one of the largest challenges in the past 100 years as the current administration proposes to re-duce or eliminate the charitable deduction, and the U.S. Postal Service is unable to pay its bills.

As the Chinese expression goes: “May you live in interesting times.”

Geoff Peters is president, CDR Fundraising Group. He was president of DMAW in 2007.

Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this and other AdVents’ “Viewpoint” columns are those of the author. We welcome comments and viewpoints across the spectrum. To comment or contribute, please contact nancy@nancyscott.com.

DMAW Members !

Make sure your member listing is accurate for the white pages of Sourcebook 2012. Update your listing by December 31, 2011.

Contact Ann Walsh at ann@dmaw.org with any questions.

Sourcebook 2012 Opportunities and Deadlines75-word listing with contact information: $150

Being Direct Works

2011 Sourcebook

There is still time to put a display ad in Sourcebook. Deadline for artwork is Monday, December 12.

Contact Terri Jones @703-471-4902 or tjones@dmaw.org.

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262012

january

Mark your 2012 calendar

Annual Meeting

more information at www.dmaw.org

Thursday, January 26, 2012

5:30 PM

dMaW executive Committee & Board of directors 2011

Executive Committee President—Kristin McCurry, MINDset direct 703-538-6463, kmccurry@mindsetdirect.comVice President and President Elect—Hilary Baar, Nexus Direct, 202-719-1297 hbaar@nexusdirect.comSecretary-Treasurer—Kathy Calta, Vertis Communications, 410-949-2267kcalta@vertisinc.com

Immediate Past President—George Lizama Production Solutions, Inc., 703-734-5700 glizama@psmail.com

Board of DirectorsAssociation Liaison—Barbara Armentrout Marketing General, Inc., 703-706-0337 barmentrout@marketinggeneral.com

Elise Buck, Mail Bag, Inc. 410-565-5061 elise.buck@mailbaginc.com

MAXI Awards Liaison—Jim Chmielewski, Public Interest Communications, 703-847-8300 jim@pic1.com

Co-Chair, Membership—Michael DeFlavia Lautman Maska Neill & Company 202-296-9660 ext. 14, mdeflavia@lautmandc.com

Co-Chair, Programs—Glenn Hoffman, AARP 202-434-2154, ghoffman@aarp.org

Mikaela King, Merkle, Inc.443-454-2313, mking@merkleinc.com

Kevin Moran, Integral, LLC, 202-452-9731 Kevin@integral-dc.com

Co-Chair, Marketing—Jamie Natelson, Avalon Consulting Group, 202-429-6080 ext. 106 jamien@avalonconsulting.net

Chair, Volunteers—Alan Rich, Nova Label Co. 301-386-4433, alan@novalabel.com

Eric Rozencwaig, ABIS, LLC. 410-581-7504 ericr@abis.com

Co-Chair, Programs—Karen Vogel Visual Mining301-495-2225, karenav26@yahoo.com

DMAWEF Liaison—Jinny Fleischman Company’s Coming, 202-966-3361 veflei@aol.com

DMAW Educational Foundation Karen Depew, Executive Director 301-652-7074 kdnorthwood@gmail.com

Syma Mendelsohn, President smendelsohn@rcmd.com

DMAW Executive Director Donna Tschiffely, donna@dmaw.org703-689-DMAW, fax 703-481-DMAW

pResidenT's peRspecTiVe

DMAW Marketing AdVents: (ISSN 0896-4742) is published monthly by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, Inc., 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon VA and at additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to DMAW Marketing AdVents, 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501; email info@dmaw.org • website www.dmaw.org

by Kristin MCCurry

I had a nice tidy article written for this December edition of Advents. Your editor, Nancy Scott, had encouraged

me, for my last President’s Perspective for 2011, to be visionary and share what I saw as the future of direct marketing. It had all the good buzzwords – audience, channel, media. It was a “must-read,” really. And then, November happened.

(As with all things in direct marketing, the AdVents newsletter is created many weeks in advance. After working in this industry for 20 years, it’s a wonder I don’t believe it’s actually the year 2015 already.)

November brought with it a parent’s heart bypass, a colleague with a child in the hospital, a friend who lost what he thought was his dream job because of discrimination, and way too many din-ner table conversations about the Big C. And as the month wore on, the bad news continued and the hits just kept coming. Picture a really grim version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

But in the middle of all of this personal drama and gnashing of teeth, good things kept happening at work. Clients met their big audacious goals, controls were beaten (several to a pulp), and new initiatives succeeded. Because the work I do serves large non-profits, I got to see those suc-cesses put to work for families with sick children, people with disabilities, and those struggling to make ends meet. And it energized me, helped me accomplish the tasks, and overcome the challenges of the day. The passion I felt about the work I do got me through.

You don’t have to work for a charity to have that passion. It doesn’t matter if your marketing sells an idea, a service, or a product. DMAW represents profession-als who work in our industry in a lot of different ways – vendors and end-users, association and consumer marketers, non-profit and government communicators. You may aspire to be Ron Popeil, Mark Zuckerberg, or Mother Theresa. Each of us has an opportunity to bring passion to our work – it’s one of the fundamental keys to being successful, no matter what you do.

The late Steve Jobs said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.” That’s my wish for each of you as we ring out 2011 and look toward a new year. Find the passion in what you do. And find it every day.

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A s the 2011 holiday giving season approaches, nonprofit orga-nizations need to be mindful

to position their websites for successful year-end giving, especially in this slug-gish economy when donors are likely to be more selective than ever with their contributions.

To help you get the most from your dona-tion pages at year-end, we’ve prepared a list of best practices based on our experi-ence with testing and optimizing such pages for a wide variety of clients over the past five years.

While we’ve found these areas most often have the biggest impact on giving—this list is not meant to be exhaustive or to serve as a substitute for testing.

Identifying what specifically works best with your audience requires direct testing on your own donation pages—and the fall season is an ideal time to experiment, as findings can be deployed immediately for the peak giving weeks between Thanks-giving and December 31.

Best Practice No. 1: Feature a clear call-to-action headline.The first two questions of any visitor to a web-landing page are: Where am I? What can I do here?

The most effective way to answer both is with a clear and compelling page head-line. The best headlines are succinct and to the point but also tap into the reason your donors are motivated to give in the first place. “Donate to save children’s lives,”

Get Ready for Year-end Giving by improving Your web donation pages

by Dawn stoner anD MiChael stein

typically delivers stronger conversion rates than just “Donate now.”

Best Practice No. 2: Present a strong value proposition.Once a visitor has figured out what they can do on your donation page, the next question they ask themselves is, Why should I do it? Presenting a strong value proposition is essential to converting more donation page visitors into donors.

Best Practice No. 3: One-click to donate. You risk losing donations on your site if you ask visitors to click through multiple pages to reach a donation form or to confirm their donation with another click after submitting the form.

Best Practice No. 4: Keep the page focused on a single call-to-action.In many instances, we find the main web-donation page on a site uses the same wrapper as the site’s homepage—featur-ing utility links, main navigation, second-ary navigation, and other calls-to-action on the periphery of the page (e.g. sign-ups for email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

This approach is can sabotage the main call-to-action on a donation page since it provides so many opportunities for visitors to detour to other parts of your site (or leave the site altogether) before making a gift.

Best Practice No. 5: ImagesYour organization’s work may be such that images are more powerful than words when it comes to communicating how a donor’s gift can help others. Featuring an image that reinforces the core message in your marketing pitch and is well-integrat-ed with the rest of your value proposition can significantly improve the page’s con-version rate.

Best Practice No. 6: Security sealsIt’s essential to display a recognized se-curity seal on your donation page so pro-spective donors are confident their per-sonal information won’t be compromised.

Best Practice No. 7: Offer options. Don’t make donors go searching for them.There’s a wider range of donors on your website than ever before—young, middle-aged, and older donors; first-timers and long-time members. Make sure your do-nation pages provide both flexibility and clarity to meet a broad range of donor preferences around giving options and payment preferences.

Best Practice No. 8: A colorful, eye-catching donate buttonLarge and colorful donate buttons that look clickable and feature goal-oriented language often outperform donate but-tons that are small, grey, and feature generic language (e.g. a standard grey “submit” button).

Best Practice No. 9: Easy-to-read font sizes and colorsSmall font sizes and pale text (grey is sur-prisingly common) can make reading your donation page a real challenge. Make sure your page copy (both headline and body text) uses a dark font (preferably black) on a white background and is of sufficient size to maximize readability.

Best Practice No. 10: TEST EVERYTHING.Don’t take shortcuts here. Testing all changes avoids costly mistakes. Always test new ideas before adopting them wholesale.

The above is a redacted version of the full article. To read more about these best practices, access the full article on our blog at www.donordigital.com. Additional information about donation page testing can be found in a joint study produced by Donordigital and Convio, “Beyond Best Practices: What seven organizations learned about converting more donors on their web donation forms,” also available for download on donordigital’s website.

Dawn Stoner is Donordigital’s director of analytics and testing and works with clients to help them increase online revenues with web usability best practices and landing page testing. Dawn has worked with Donordigital clients since 2007 to help them increase online revenues with web usability best practices and landing page testing. She has worked with NPR, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, CARE, PETA and others to increase donor conversions on their most highly trafficked landing pages. She is experienced with multivariate and A/B testing techniques and has deep knowledge of web analytics. Dawn speaks regularly about testing and optimization at industry conferences and publishes papers highlighting what’s working and not working with our testing clients.

Michael Stein is a veteran nonprofit technology strategist who has worked for the past 20 years at the intersection of communications, social media, and fundraising. His areas of expertise include online fundraising, email messaging, email list growth, blogging, website content, mobile messaging, and social media. With Nick Allen and Mal Warwick, Michael wrote the groundbreaking 1997 book Fundraising on the Internet: Recruiting and Renewing Donors Online. Michael is a senior account executive at Donordigital, the online fundraising, marketing, and advertising company. Contact: michael@donordigital.com or phone (510) 473-0364.

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MMS Advent2 1/9/11 9:21 PM Page 1

T he past 18 months

have brought an-nouncements of sweeping plant closures, postal reform, and gen-eral angst and head-scratching over the im-

periled U.S. Postal Service. Will prices continue to rise? Are they going to close offices? Are Saturday deliveries a thing of the past? And: What does this mean for nonprofits?

Any business that relies on direct mail as a revenue-generator is understandably con-cerned and confused. Let’s break it down into a few ground truths and strategies for the year ahead.

Truth No. 1: The USPS must eliminate excess capacity.I think we would all agree that First-Class Mail volumes will continue to decline, even though Standard Mail may remain steady and could possibly grow if the economy improves. In any event, the con-tinuing decline in First-Class Mail trans-lates to over-capacity. The solutions vary, but the two most worrisome for our busi-ness are (1) if legislation directs the USPS to save by closing or consolidating facili-ties, and (2) if cost savings via a reduction in delivery days is mandated. Legislators are uncomfortable with both options.

Strategy: Closing USPS facilities that you rely on should not cause sleepless nights. That’s where a third-party logistics pro-vider (“3PL”) can help. The logistics pro-vider controls the logistics from insertion of a direct mail piece to the closest point on the supply chain of the USPS. They will figure out all of the details and should ar-range for pickup of your mail.

Strategy B: Target delivery dates might be trickier if Saturday deliveries are eliminat-ed. But target delivery dates have always been tricky if you relied on USPS to meet them. In a recent article, we described

Mailing strategies for the Year Aheadby John KenneDy

how a national campaign using USPS won't achieve a consistent in-home deliv-ery date. Deliveries are always staggered, with the first deliveries taking place clos-est to the insertion point, or where the items entered the mailstream.That’s why a retail or date-sensitive campaign should always go through a logistics provider. Your logistics provider can ensure a more uniform delivery by “staging” it around the country. Since a 3PL has known delivery transit times, they are better informed to achieve your goals.

Truth No. 2: Technology is driving down direct mail? Yes and no. With the advent of smartphones and tab-lets, all marketers are excited about the many new opportunities to deliver offers -- at lightning speed -- to capture younger and “live in-the-moment” audiences. But:

The typical nonprofit organization receives more than three-quarters of its total gifts through direct mail and only 10 percent of its gifts online. Direct mail acquisition is also responsible for three-quarters of all new donors.(Blackbaud 2011, as reprinted in Print in the Mix)

Strategy: While new media can and should have a place in your overall mar-keting strategy, it should be used wisely to augment your direct marketing efforts, not replace them.

Truth No. 3: Postal rates are proposed to increase January 2012, including both First-Class and Standard mail.

Strategy: Take advantage of  commin-gling, drop shipping, and other mail strat-egies, allowing you to maximize the avail-able postal discounts.

In summary, your logistics provider will be a valuable source of advice in the event that any USPS changes take place. And that’s yet another reason why you should love logistics!

John Kennedy is CEO and founder of Three Dog Logistics in Baltimore. He founded the company on the belief that logistics should be fully automated for the end-user, taking the hassle out of scheduling and tracking of letter mail and shipments. Three Dog’s automated system, Rover, sniffs out the best price, schedules pick-ups, produces bills of lading and labels, and allows you to track your shipments along the way. Learn more or ask for a rate quote today at www.threedoglogistics.com.

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Y ou’re being asked

to quantify and measure your company’s social media efforts. Are you scratching your head and thinking, “How

am I going to do that?” There are many ways to measure so-cial media. First, ask these questions:

• How does your company measure advertising?• How does your company measure digital/online marketing?• For that matter, how does your com-pany measure every part of its promo-tional effort?

can You Measure storytelling? You need Your own Roi.by wenDy bryant

I’m not just talking about marketing. So-cial media measurement should not be any different than other marketing, sales or business efforts. You should be able to apply the same logic you’re already using. So why is there so much buzz around so-cial media measurement?

1. Those of you deeply rooted in measure-ment and goal-setting before, during, and after a campaign or project have already solved social media measurement. Apply the same logic. You might believe this is new and unlike other areas of marketing. Not true. Are you talking to your custom-ers by phone? Do you use email to com-municate and market to clients? Are you advertising and promoting your message and new products? Do you have a central-ized website that showcases what your company does? All of these elements make up social media.

2. Companies not measuring their mar-keting efforts need to get comfortable with the reasons they are in social media. What are your strategies, goals, and ob-jectives? Is social media a way for you to enhance your customer-service efforts? Are you using it to deepen awareness for

your brand? Is social media used to in-form product development? Do you think your brand has to be in social or you’ll fall behind? Whatever the reason, go back to why you began and make a commitment. Decide how your company defines mar-keting success. If you’re being asked for an ROI of social, then create your own ROI.

3. Measurement: Know what it is and what it is not. Amber Naslund, author of The NOW Revolution, wrote an insightful post about social media measurement called, “Counting is not Measurement.” Counting the number of followers, “Likes”, and visits should be one of many measurements you consider. These are good places to start. You’ll want to go deeper. Think about activity ratio, community engagement, sentiment, and how your CRM platform integrates with social media.

CRM metrics are very close to how you want to think about social analytics. I chal-lenge everyone to think about this: Can you measure human interaction? Can you measure storytelling? These elements are the true art behind social media. While I don’t believe there is an ROI for storytell-ing or human connection, social media

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Your search is over!Do you know what you need but are having a hard time finding it? Now more than ever, nonprofit organizations need to differentiate themselves from the pack of worthy causes in order to acquire the funds needed to support its mission. Finding a professional creative partner that can balance quality work on a nonprofit budget, however, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Are you wondering if such a firm actually exists?

Here we are! Give us a call today:

Dina Wasmer: 410.366.9479 ext. 2#dina@incitecreativeinc.comwww.incitecreativeinc.com

Uncover some of the ways Incite Creative can help you and your organization:

advertisingbrandingbrochurescatalogscopywriting

direct maildisplaysemailsfocus groupsinvitations

logosnamingpackagingplanningpositioning

postersprintingproductionsales kitssignage

social mediastationerytaglinesweb sitesvideos

Z R G N I G A K C A P K L L O G O S X V

U A I Q Q G T E Y U I B I Q U T M R S V

U C A I O S N A W Q P Q A F I C I A G P

C F F S D N G I P G S G M N S P P D I L

K T D Z T O R H M X I O T O I O O V A A

U A A X R I W S N A G L C I X S S E J N

A T H V Y T K P J Z N I E T H T I R O N

S P Y G O A C S U N A K R C X E T T Q I

Y B I I N T E G E L G A I U T R I I K N

A V G G D I O S M L E P D D V S O S P G

L D N N Q V D E E H A G H O H C N I C S

P W I I S N D N W R B S H R A C I N A L

S E T T G I T K A I U I R P K S N G T I

I B I N A Z G J U R W H R V I L G U A A

D S R I J X N M Q E B X C F H I F C L M

X I W R H L F O C U S G R O U P S N O E

M T Y P A D V I D E O S Q W R I Q P G K

O E P S E N I L G A T X U I C B Q C S F

M S O V W K R J H S T A T I O N E R Y B

U M C S S A R O L F E B U A S X M U U U

data can inform your content and gauge customer sentiment. The list goes on and on in terms of what you can learn about customer perception, sentiment, and engagement.

So, why is everyone talking about social media measurement? Too many com-panies are not defining why they are in social media. Goal-setting and success metrics are an important part of any com-pany initiative. “We Have The Data—Now What?!” by Jennifer Roberts is an excellent example of how companies use social ana-lytics to inform product development and customer sentiment. Companies need to get comfortable with why they are using social media, define what measurement means to them, and, ultimately, determine how best to use that data in their world.

Wendy Bryant is a marketer, innovator, communicator, occasional blogger, and artist. She is a passionately curious person who is always testing and piloting. Wendy has spent most of her career in B2B marketing across financial services, food and wine, and commercial construction for multi-nationals and start-ups. Follow her at @wenbryant on Twitter.

news noTes • Mary Elizabeth Granger & Assoc., Inc.

(MEGA), a Baltimore, MD,-based list bro-kerage and list management company, has appointed Kris Matthews vice president. Kris began her career with MEGA in 1984. In 1993, she moved into the list brokerage and list management division. She has over 18 years experience working with national Catholic, mission, and overseas relief nonprofit organizations. During her many years with MEGA Kris has partnered with such distinguished fundraisers as Asian Relief/World Villages for Children, Missionaries of Africa, Conventual Fran-ciscan Friars-Companions of St. Anthony, Association of the Miraculous Medal, Di-vine Word Missionaries, and many others. As vice president, Kris will take on a more active role in the strategic planning and direction of MEGA.

• Warren Hunter, chairman of DMW Direct, has won the Insurance Direct Marketer of the Year Award from the Di-

rect Marketing As-sociation’s (DMA) Insurance and Financial Services Council. The award was presented on October 3, 2011, at the DMA Council's Awards Luncheon during DMA 2011

in Boston, MA. The organization bestowed the Direct Marketer of the Year Award on Hunter for his outstanding contributions to the insurance industry through the exemplary use of the direct marketing concept.

Measure Storytelling - continued from previous page

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M ore than 60

million Ameri-cans, 20 percent of the popula-tion, will move this year, many with emotional distress as a

result of unem-ployment, a recent foreclosure, or, pos-sibly, divorce. Chances are they won’t be greeted by a smiling neighbor offering a plate of home-baked cookies and saying, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

So, where’s the love for new movers look-ing for a refreshing new start? In the mailbox.

Savvy direct marketing companies com-bine house-warming traditions with today’s technology by targeting modern-day movers with full-color gift certificates specific to their new neighborhoods.

A recent study by Rice University shows online deal sites like Groupon don’t ignite the emotional sparks that encourage new residents to become repeat, lifelong cus-tomers. “New movers who have recently lost a job or have been forced to downsize to an apartment appreciate a pick-me-up from local businesses that reach out like a helpful neighbor with genuine advice and free offers,” says Michael Plummer, Jr., CEO of Our Town America, a new mover direct marketing franchise. “It makes it easy for the movers to find new favorite places as opposed to one-time deals, and it helps the businesses create long-term relation-ships with the movers.”

Meanwhile, new mover packages are evolving to reflect technological advances and shifting demographics. For example, these packages:

• Feature product and service enhance-ments such as social media tie-ins, feed-back from new families, and subsequent follow-up mailings.

direct Mail Reaches a new wave of "emotional Movers"by GrahaM ChaPMan

• Include businesses near apartment complexes. With the unprecedented foreclosure and unemployment rates, many movers are downsizing from homes to apartments.• Individualize gift certificates with 2-D barcode technology like that initiated by Our Town America in 2004. These codes make it easier for advertisers to track success rates, determine the types of consumers who redeem their offers most often, and, ultimately, con-duct follow-up mailings to interested customers.• Focus on where people are moving, especially to the South and West, which experienced a 14 percent growth rate in the past 10 years.• Emphasize attractive, eye-catching mailings with digital printing meth-ods that allow full-color coupons and envelopes.

Graham Chapman is new business director at 919 Marketing, based in the Raleigh-Durham area. 919 Marketing executes heavy-hitting marketing and PR campaigns for clients based on the results of a patented, highly targeted LINK planning process. The client roster ranges by industry (from franchises to nonprofits to consumer products companies); in size (from mom and pops to Fortune 500 firms), and in location (from coast to coast in the U.S. and beyond). Reach him at 919-459-8157 or gchapman@919marketing.com.

TecHnoLoGY

According to a study by Harris Interactive, 1.7 billion Millennials can be found worldwide -- 77 million in the U.S. Members of Gen Y will "certainly change the

way companies and brands build sustainable customer loyalty."

Three times the size of the Baby Boomer generation, Millennials have their own attitudes about technology, data privacy, and rewards. Key findings include:

• Fewer millennials participate in loyalty and reward programs (77 percent vs. 82 percent non-Millenials), but Millennials are still more likely to

choose a brand that offers such programs. [I don’t want it, but you need to offer it?]

• Nearly half (44 percent of U.S. Millennials are willing to promote products or brands through social media "in exchange for rewards." [What’s in it for me?]

• To date, Millennials aren’t convinced that location-based marketing via smartphone has value. Only one in 10 has responded to such an offer so far. Nevertheless, given the option, Millennials are eager to substitute a mobile device for a plastic loyalty card.

[In other words, I don’t want to carry stuff.]

• Millennials are a lot less worried about data privacy and security overall. Nearly half (47 percent) say they’re more likely to share personal details with a brand that offers loyalty and reward incentives. [The school of hard

knocks is the best teacher.]

What’s New?

Source: thewisemarketer.com

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posTAL deVeLopMenTs by ellen Paul

I n an age when ad-vanced

neuroscience technologies like eye-tracking, functional mag-netic resonance imaging, and neural activity

analysis are standard for sophisticated marketing studies (this is yesterday’s focus groups on steroids!), it was only a matter of time before someone studied human response to various media. And specifi-cally, direct mail versus digital mail. That “someone” was the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail.  In the Royal Mail-funded study conducted last year, researchers at Bangor University discovered—natch—that we perceive messages on different media differently. Researchers used fMRI scanners to moni-tor test subjects’ brain activity while the subjects either read a physical piece of mail or looked at the same presentation on a computer screen. Stay with me, dear reader. This is great stuff. Really! In the end, the researchers found three significant differences in perception: (1) Direct mail generates a deeper emotional response in the emotional centers of the brain; (2) The brain sees physical mail as more “real” than digital mail; and (3) The areas of the brain connected to memory and introspection stayed engaged longer with direct mail. Drawing conclusions from their findings, the researchers proffered that “the brain is more emotionally engaged and is…re-flecting more of a response” when viewing direct mail. Also, because the brain sees physical mail as more “real” (compared to digital images), physical mail spurs the brain to create deeper memories.

Getting inside Your Head — and staying There

 One researcher stated, “From an evolution-ary point of view, you pay more attention to something that is real and physical. You want to understand it more than some-thing that is transient, like something on a screen.”  I get it. Our caveman ancestors were more concerned about that hungry lion hiding in the grass than about wispy pictures in the clouds.  Are you there, dear reader? I promise, there’s a payday coming! So what does this science mean to you, a marketer? Even in this digital era when email is fast and cheap, direct mail reso-nates more strongly with the recipient and stays in his subconscious longer. As a savvy marketer, then, you should include direct mail in every marketing strategy to maximize your potential. And that’s what the researchers said! But traditional measurement metrics like response rate and ROI don’t tell the whole story. Direct mail has staying power that digital does not. Hence, direct mail builds brand recognition better than digital. In the Old Days, we’d call that a “lasting im-pression.” Today, the scientists call it “pref-erential treatment in the brain.” Whatever.  Direct mail may be the tortoise to email’s hare, but look who won that race in the end. [Warning! Here is the research team again.] “Marketers need to start focusing on the overall impact of their direct mail rather than just the response rate. Direct mail has also raised awareness and left an imprint of your brand which we can substantiate with research.”  “I don’t think that marketers should see di-rect mail as just a direct response vehicle,” the researchers concluded. “It can be both a brand building AND a direct response mechanism.” Bingo! Did you get it? Direct mail is better at getting inside your head…and staying there!  And that, dear reader, is exactly where you want your marketing to be: inside your customer’s head. 

It’s not simply about immediate response rates. Sure, response rates provide the tale of the tape. Was the effort productive? Did you get new business? How much? What was the bottom line? That’s what green-shaded bean counters—and your boss—want to know. But direct mail provides more, according to this research. Because it sticks with the re-cipient longer, it provides an unquantifiable extra: time. Time to absorb your message and mull it over. That extra time may be at a subliminal level, but it’s there working for you. Hence, the value of oft-touted repeat mailings. And that’s what you, a savvy marketer, need to know: Your repeat direct mail efforts are building brand awareness among those who receive your literature. This may not be new news, but it’s great news. Direct marketers have known it for years: Repeating your message builds affin-ity and responses. Cutting-edge neuroscience simply proves it. 

Ellen Paul, president, Paul and Partners -- "Your smarter marketing partner” -- can be reached at 703-996-0800 or Ellen@paulandpartners.net.She blogs at paulandpartners.blogspot.com. Her website is http://paulandpartners.net.

On October 18, the USPS filed a notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) detailing its plan to increase postage rates by an average of 2.133 percent on each of the market dominant classes, including First-Class, Standard and Periodicals.  

If approved, implementation will begin Sunday, January 22, 2012.

Proposed increases will include:•First Class Full Rate will increase by 1

penny to 45 cents (2.468% increase.)•Non-Profit Letter will see a 1.867% increase.•Postcards - 3 cent increase to 32 cents•Average increase for other Standard Mail

Products will be 2.864%.•Average increase for catalogs and other

flat-shaped mail is 2.209%.

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) had 45 days [until November 2] to review the proposed increases to ensure they comply with the legal requirement that the increases for each class of mail averages no more than 2.1 percent as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

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1 The Year of The Ampersandcontinued from page 1 (top)

measurable ways to integrate traditional and new media communications. Clients don’t want to completely replace their fa-miliar channels, they want to supplement them. Driving this evolution in new/old media integration will be a major focus in the year ahead.

Guts & GloryBoth as individuals and as an industry, direct marketers have been playing it safe for too long. It’s understandable. Client budgets are down. Unemployment is up. And fear and doubt have spread far and wide. But this has to end. In 2012, it will.

We need to stop settling for business as usual and become passionate about cre-ating killer ideas that evoke our clients’ sense of awe. This truly cannot wait. I see increasing signs that clients are emerging from their foxholes and are ready to shake things up. Agencies need to be leading our clients on this, not following. Because when it comes to innovation, if you’re not out in front, you’ll be left behind.

“Swing for the fences” thinking doesn’t just happen. It needs to be promoted and rewarded within our agency ranks.

Certainly the creative teams must lead the way here, but strategists, account managers, analysts, technologists, and others should plan on being right there with them.

Specialization & CollaborationThe rapid growth and constant change within new media over the last few years has splintered our workforce. We have designers who are insanely good at micro websites but have no experience in direct mail. And there are strategists who excel at awareness campaigns but struggle to incorporate social media into the mix. The list goes on.

Clients can sense this lack of cohesion. That’s why they have been choosing sepa-rate agencies for search, mobile, and SEO, etc. Over the long run, however, clients are best served by agencies that under-stand and can build programs across all media. For this reason, we think 2012 will see a focus on figuring out how to coor-dinate the efforts of various specialists to generate integrated, multi-platform ideas that flow from collaboration across the organization.

12/21/12 & 24/7 If you work in our industry long enough,

you develop an appreciation for the absurd situations in which we often find ourselves. This is especially prevalent in the area of new business pitches, which are the backdrop for the fourth and final connection we envision.

Apparently, the Maya calendar predicts the end of world will on Dec. 21, 2012. I have no idea why that date was selected. But, if they’re correct, you can bet some client will issue a huge RFP that requires an all-nighter on 12/21/12.

RFPs always happen around important occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Memorial Day. So why not doomsday? Assuming the Mayans are right, when the end of the world comes I’ll probably be kicking and swearing at some copy ma-chine that keeps swallowing the eighth round of changes on my “final” presenta-tion deck. What a way to go!

Greg Curran is vice president, group creative director at Merkle, the largest and fastest growing, privately-held customer relationship marketing agency in the U.S.  In addition to overseeing all creative work and communication strategy developed for Merkle’s financial service clients, Greg is a member of the leadership team that manages the overall business strategy and execution for the vertical. Reach him at gcurran@merkleinc.com or 203 837-6000.

inform a package-rotation strategy at the donor level. There are many ways to ap-proach this, depending on your goals and resources. If you’ve done creative testing, but can’t quite beat a long-standing con-trol, go back and take a second look at the test packages that came close. As long as the basic messages and offers contained in them are consistent, they just might have a place in the lineup.

Mix It Up.If you don’t happen to have several top-performing packages in your arsenal, make small changes in the ones you do have. Consider adding a “Second Request” teaser to the outer envelope. It’s a com-mon tactic for multi-buyers, but one that can be expanded. Laser personalization can be an inexpensive tool that allows you to tell a slightly different story relative to the prospect’s contact stage. If it’s the first touch, introduce yourself. Then build your story over time with subsequent commu-

nications. Of course, each package must include enough information to close the sale, but a good copywriter can balance both requirements.

Change the Channel.Whenever feasible, take a multichannel approach. If you have an email address in addition to a postal address, use that me-dium to reinforce the mail message and vice versa. Consider appending phone numbers to high value prospects. It’s true that phone acquisition can appear to be cost-prohibitive. However, if you calculate the cost to acquire a new donor based on ALL of the contacts it takes to convert a prospect, as opposed to the traditional campaign-based approach, telemarketing becomes a wiser investment. One phone call can often do the job of several mail pieces, so now the math starts to make sense.

Model It.You can use post-merge data enhance-ments and modeling to segment and target. Models can predict who is likely

to give a higher gift, become a monthly giver, etc. Use that information on top of your package rotation strategy to further customize the pre-giving contacts.

First Impressions Last.All of this requires a shift in the way we traditionally think of acquisition. In the past, most of us have viewed our prospect pool as lists of people. But our future suc-cess depends on us viewing it as people on lists. I encourage you to look at your acquisition effort more holistically as op-posed to the campaign-based approach. You’ll have to test into the strategy that’s best for you. But it begins with the un-derstanding that prospects start forming opinions about us long before they make the first gift. So it’s imperative to do all we can to make every interaction count from the very start.

Eva Bowie is account director at SCA Direct, a leading full-service fundraising agency. Reach her at ebowie@scadirect.com.

You Had Me at Hellocontinued from page 1 (bottom)

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MAiLinG

W e’re a

month away from the end of 2011 and ready to embark into 2012. What’s ahead? According to the news, the

economy remains weak; the end of the world could come on Dec. 21, 2012; we’re heading into a presidential election; and the U.S. Postal Service is going broke. Kind of gloomy, isn’t it?

Since this is direct marketing, I can only offer my perspective about the post office. This year has been an interesting ride: In-telligent Mail barcode (IMB), first manda-tory then not mandatory; postage sales; post office branches closing; mail delivery cut backs; longer delivery times; proposed postage increases; reports of the Postal Service’s impending implosion; stalemates in Congress. Will there be a government bailout? This is a tumultuous time in our industry, and although we do not know what 2012 will hold for the USPS, as marketers, we do know we must plan our marketing efforts now for a year that could be filled with even more challenges (in particular, a presidential election).

How should we prepare for mailing in 2012?

Mail smarter and be strategic. Mail to those most likely to respond, such as your donors and members who give most frequently or have contributed most recently. Remember, recency, frequency, and gift amount -- these indicate your prime prospects for gifts right now, as they have already demonstrated their in-terest in your organization.

Reapproach former donors. If it’s been more than three years since they have given a gift, stop asking them for money. Put them in your acquisition or reinstatement programs or include them

The Mail plan for A Tumultuous Yearby elise buCK

in your telemarketing efforts to reactivate their interest.

Track mail to integrate all channels. Time telemarketing and email messaging to coincide with in-home mail dates. Careful tracking also helps identify “bricks to clicks” (that is, when the intended donor/member or current donor sees the website address on a printed piece and goes to there to make a donation). It’s also important to make note of organic web traffic (that which comes from unpaid listings at search engines or di-rectories). Typically, organic web traffic goes up about three weeks after a direct mail solicitation has been mailed or an article has been posted in the news, etc. Data hygiene gains importance. It’s an old rule, but an undelivered piece of mail never generated a single response. The USPS reports that 40 percent of the people who move do not report their change of address through the post office. Look into running your files through UAAC/PCOA. This does three things:

• Gets your mail to the donor at the correct address.

• Increases revenue. (Your donor won’t respond if you mail to the wrong address.)

• Allows you to suppress records lacking confirmed new addresses.

Elections will impact all. Your constituents/donors/members will be inundated with messages and requests for dollars. How will your campaign stand out? Use creativity to get your package noticed. Include an upfront premium such as labels, booklets, cards, coins, paper-clipped stamps, etc. Create a reason your letter should be opened.

Plan now for fall 2012 campaigns. Mailing will be much heavier than normal. Plan ahead to reserve your time with your supplier partners, list brokers/list managers, printers, paper mills, and mail shops.

Email strategy: Be sure to have one.Inboxes will overflow with messages -- not just from candidates but from special inter-est groups, unions, and political action committees -- anyone with a stake in the outcome of 2012 election.

Postage savings: Look at a combination sort for your mail. Send NDC/SCF what you can and commingle the balance. This will give you the best of both worlds and will also get your mail in homes faster.

Plan for a postal rate increase for 2012. There will be an increase in First-Class Mail. What will happen in April for Standard Mail?

I hope these tips have been helpful. In conclusion -- and on an “up” note -- please know that direct mail continues to gener-ate more revenue than any of the other marketing channels. Still, the other chan-nels are just as important. So understand-ing all the rules, tools, and resources avail-able to you is extremely important! Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year!

Elise Buck is a client relationship director for Barton Cotton and Mail Bag, direct marketing services provider in Baltimore, MD. Both companies serve the nonprofit direct marketing community, Barton Cotton for over 80 years and Mail Bag for the past 34. You can reach Elise at 410.565.5061 or elise.buck@bartoncotton.com or elise.buck@mailbaginc.com.

C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s A n d T h a n k s To M e m b e r s W h o H a v e B e e n With DMAW More Than 20 Years!

Bonnie McDannald (30)Jonah Gitlitz (29)Dennis Byrne (29)Ronald Kanfer (29)

Stephanie Garber (28)George Lizama (27)

Pat Silver (26)Clyde Sisk (26)

Robert Smith (26)Kirk Swain (26)

Richard Armstrong (26)Martin Bolotin (25)

Fred Vallejo (25)Jim Feldman (24)

Jinny Fleischman (24)William Shaker (23)

Scott Martin (23)Linda Fisher (23)Jack Carey (23)

Kathy Swayze (22)Ann Herzog (22)Kyle Martin (22)

Allen Hepner (22)Geoffrey Caldwell (22)

Greg Albright (22)Steve Fleshman (21)

Barbara Sims (21)Donna Packer (21)

Lisa Boyle (21)M. Declan Bransfield (20)

Bruce Eberle (20)Dan Shaw (20)

Rosalin Raymond (20)Karen Depew (20)Wesley Brook (20)

It is through the support of our members that we are able to help one another grow and develop as professionals, to face each daily challenge and learn the new technology that can ultimately maximize our results. We appreciate you all!

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S o, we’ve made it through

another tumultu-ous year. As usual, the year passed all too quickly, but hopefully the benefits of a little R&R this summer

fueled the soul for the energy needed to meet our end-of-year targeted goals. This is a good thing because 2012 will likely not be the banner year we were promised in 2008. In fact, we can rest assured that the recession (or near to it) will still be upon us, and the new definition of “up” may very well be “flat.”

So what does this mean for nonprofit or-ganizations that rely on the charity of oth-ers to fund their needs? It means that now more than ever, they need to focus on basic marketing principles and common sense. Let’s face it, you need volunteers, active board members, and donors like never before. But if you approach them from the perspective of a marketer you will quickly come to realize that the focus needs to be less about “you” and all about “them.”

Relationship Comes FirstSo, let me get right to the point: People more willingly part with their resources when there is a perceived bond or rela-tionship. Marketing in the past focused on a one-way channel of communication as evidenced by TV, radio, and other mass-advertising media that dominated our attention. Those media increase brand awareness but generally do very little in regard to enabling a two-way conversa-tion or an enhanced relationship with the targeted audience. Today consumers are clearly in charge of how buying (and giv-ing) decisions are made. Access to search engines, blogs, social media, and a variety of entertainment channels has changed

This Message is Broadcast from wiiFM

by eD Glaser

consumer (and giving) behavior to the point that consumers are quite capable of filtering out any messages they consider irrelevant.

My mother once told me that a good conversationalist is someone who listens more than they speak. It is only natural that people prefer to have a “two-way” conversation than to be barraged with messages that have little to do with their interests. In other words, we will do busi-ness with those who appreciate and have a relevant relationship with us.

Know Your AudienceWhen marketing your nonprofit organiza-tion, please remember that your target audience is human, and humans selfishly care about things that have relevance to them. To successfully communicate, you must understand your audience’s inter-ests, demographics, and propensity to meet your goals. The Holy Grail may very well be your prospect database. Begin now by learning all you can about your prospects.

If you feel you know very little, don’t worry, there are many ways to segment your potential audience and communi-cate in relevant ways. Profiling, modeling, surveys, and analytics are more affordable than ever before and should be the basis of any acquisition campaign. Similarly, highly personalized and relevant mes-sages can now be distributed in an auto-mated and coordinated way via print, mo-bile, and e-media with less expense and greater results than ever before. Targeting for relevance will be the key to success in 2012.

Remember: Focus on your target audience and “What’s In It For theM”. If the message is relevant, accessible, and meets their needs, your campaign will be a success. If your campaign is all about “you,” beware ... the recession is real and can take you down with it.

Ed Glaser is CMO at Acculink, an integrated marketing solutions provider in Greenville, NC, which has been serving the marketing community for more than 31 years. Reach Ed at 252-321-5805 or ed.glaser@aculink.com.

A ll we know is still in-

finitely less than all that remains unknown. - Wil-liam Harvey

Analyzing social or text data for

relevant insights is much easier when you have an inkling of what you are looking for. But what hap-pens if, because of the enormous volume of data, you simply don’t know what you don’t know? How do you begin to analyze data to reveal important business intel-ligence when you’re not even certain you have anything of value? And how can this be done quickly and efficiently?

It’s easier to find what you are looking for if you know what to call it.Using keyword or Boolean technology can be an effective strategy for analyzing data if you know what you are looking for, especially if you know the exact terms to use to conduct your search. This type of analysis can be quickly set up and is relatively inexpensive to maintain. But this approach is quickly overwhelmed as the volume of data begins to expand intro-ducing variations on key terms.

So, why is Boolean logic ill-equipped for advance analysis of unstructured data, es-pecially if you’re not entirely certain about the focus of your research? There are a couple reasons.

1.) Keyword and Boolean technologies presume you know all the terms con-sumers might be using to talk about your brand or product. For example, using a monitoring tool that uses Boolean technology to analyze social media conversations around the com-pany Target would require you to build an advanced query using “Target” and

using semantic Analysis for white space discoveryby Jen roberts

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Semantic Analysis- continued from previous page

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Our success is mutually intertwined with our clients. You will find AMi to be an excellent business partner who dedicate our employees and resources to achieving your goals and objectives.

“Store.” Then, of course, you are relying on consumers to use both words to-gether. As you begin to add more and more expressions to extract on-topic text, the Boolean approach becomes more brittle. It’s very difficult to in-clude and exclude every permutation based on keyword alone.

2) Keyword matching fails to disambig-uate the meaning of terms. There may be instances when you want to isolate conversations around the term “Com-cast” but only extract themes related to customer service. Keyword analysis is unable to associate conversations based on meaning.

Surfacing what you don’t knowBut if you want to conduct open-ended or white space analysis to surface emerg-ing trends, unexpected insights, or as-sociations, you need a technology that is capable of picking up weak signals and is able to quickly deconstruct data. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) recognizes lan-guage features within large data sets and

selects conversations for grouping based on their meaning. It’s able to accurately disambiguate a term that is used in mul-tiple contexts. In other words, LSA is able to understand and accurately categorize conversations around “Crocs” the shoes and “crocs” the reptile. This type of pre-cise filtering of conversations gives you the ability to identify emerging issues or unexpected uses and applications of your product or service.

For example, we worked with a consumer packaged goods (CPG) client to research social media conversations around their breakfast food products. The purpose of the analysis was to better understand and manage their online audience, but it uncovered an unexpected insight into how their products were being used. CI discovered that consumers were combin-ing the breakfast food product with Greek yogurt to improve the taste of the yogurt. Interestingly for our client, some of their consumers were touting the health ben-efits of both products and sharing that information with others on popular mes-sage boards, such as Weight Watchers and BabyCenter. If you’re interested, please read the full case study.

[NOTE: AdVents Editor Nancy Scott is happy to email the pdf to AdVents members upon request. nancy@nancyscott.com.]

Semantic analysis is uniquely suited to conducting this type of open-ended anal-ysis because it is able to isolate important attributes from groups of authors and reveal unique considerations and prefer-ences. This ability to identify unknown and unsolicited associations occurring through natural online conversations is of critical importance when you are ana-lyzing social media conversations. Social media conversations represent consumer preferences, opinions, and considerations expressed in real-time. Having the abil-ity to accurately filter and categorize consumer language based on meaning and context will provide you with a much broader and deeper understanding of how consumers are talking about your products and service.

Jennifer Roberts is the marketing and content strategist for Collective Intellect, a social media analytics company. Collective Intellect uses semantic technology to optimize social media conversation categorization to surface customer intent, considerations and demographics. Reach Jen at Jennifer.roberts@collectiveintellect.com.

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1 Some Code Is Here to Stay. Question Is: Which Code?Hamilton Chan, CEO and founder of Paperlinks, says it’s

no wonder the general public is sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see which format wins in the quick-code battle. Some pundits say the QR code is on an unstoppable growth trajectory, while skeptics are quick to dismiss these black and white squares as a fad.“In my opinion, there is little question that these real-world hyperlinks are increasingly going to be part of our reality and everyday life. Although QR codes won’t be the only technological option for hyperlinking in the real world, I believe they’ll soon be recognized as one of the best-suited options to connect items in the physical world to the Internet,” Chan concludes.Chan is certain real-world hyperlinks are here to stay. “QR codes are just one of the many linking possibilities, but they are popping up everywhere – across all verticals and businesses of all sizes. The popularity of QR codes will continue to gain momentum. Moving forward, the catalyst for their success will ultimately lie in the creative ways they are implemented.”

Source: Mashable, August 28, 2011

2011 Seen &

Noted

Branded Channels On YouTube: Is This Your Next Marketing Challenge?Rob Davis, who heads the online video practice at advertising giant Ogilvy, says his agency is working closely on branded content channels on YouTube.

“It’s a place to curate content; it’s a place where we’re seeing people using it for direct marketing. … At Ogilvy we talk about PPI -- post play interaction. We help our clients identify what the next click should be in their strategy. Is it direct marketing? Is it lead generation? Is it awareness? Is it about viewing more videos or going to a landing page and getting into the sales funnel?… Different strategies require different measurements.”

Consumers Are Flocking to Retailer Facebook Pages.

According to Compete’s quarterly “Online Shopper Intelligence Study,” online consumers are

now using retailers’ Facebook pages as online circulars to engage with brands online. The report says that one-quarter of consumers now visit an official Facebook page for a retailer or consumer product at least once a month, and 56 percent of these respondents say they use retailers’ Facebook pages to keep up to date on sales and promotions.More than 20 percent of consumers said that Facebook pages have been “influential” or “extremely influential” in making a purchasing decision, suggesting that posting sales, promotions, and other calls-to-action on Facebook is a wise idea for retailers looking to drive incremental sales and boost consumer engagement on the social network.We wonder how Google+ will affect Facebook’s grip on relationship marketing. As of September 22, "unofficial Google+ statistician" Paul Allen, estimated 43.4 million Google+ users.

Source: MediaPost, Research Brief, July 4, 2011

Research Shows Mobile Is Big Content Marketing ChatterSome 560 respondents, split between corporate management and marketing/sales management professionals, spilled their thoughts on mobile marketing to King Fish Media, Maxymiser, HubSpot, and Junta42. The quartet partnered to gather

and publish the results of an online survey conducted April 12-27. Titled "Mobile Marketing: Plans, Trends and Measurability: What Do Marketers Think?" the report suggests

that brands are using mobile content initiatives to build/grow relationships. The most popular content types are currently social media, branded email capabilities, geo-location/maps, and general reference. Among the key findings:•The mobile market is very much in its early stages with corporate plans in a state of flux.•Companies are faced with a growing base of installed mobile devices.•Thirty-three percent of companies currently have a strategy in place and those who don’t

plan to have one ready within the next 12 months.•While only about 12 percent of brands’ marketing is spent on mobile, 82 percent plan to

increase their spending on mobile over the next year, with 30 percent taking the budget from mainstream marketing and advertising.

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Publisher : Direct Marketing Association of Washington, 11709 Bowman Green Drive, Reston, VA 20190-3501; website www.dmaw.org.Executive Director : Donna Tschiffely, donna@dmaw.org Editor : Nancy Rathbun Scott, Liberty Communications, 703-496-3259 nancy@nancyscott.comAdvertising: Terri Jones, 703-471-4902Production StaffDesign: Liberty Communications, 703-496-3259Printing: Mount Royal Printing,Marketing AdVents is published monthly by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington to bring its 1,300+ members news of DMAW’s varied activities and information of professional interest, including postal-related news. Columns, such as in this and other issues, represent a vital member service. Members with industry-related educational information they wish to share are encouraged to submit articles. A helpful memo explaining guidelines for features is available from the editor.

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Marketing AdVents dMAw VendoR oF THe YeARJosh JordanMake Me SocialPresident and Founderjjordan@makemesocial.net

After serving the D.C. area in print-related capacities over the last 10 years, Jonathan Freed now lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and is director-southeast for Hub Labels. Though still very active in DMAW and Hub’s DC/MD/VA markets, Jon works with the DMA–Atlanta and CDMA–Charlotte chapters, too. Jon sits on the DMA–Atlanta Advisory Board. Reach Jon at 803-396-7708 or jfreed@comporium.net.

by Jon freeD

Josh Jordan, DMAW’s Vendor

of the Year, was honored at the Best of Direct ceremony on December 1. As the expert he is, we asked Josh to give us his outlook on social media. Here’s what Josh told us.

Do you think Twitter, Facebook, and blogging will continue to lead the social media charge, or do you expect new systems/channels to take over part of the landscape? Google+ is going to become increasingly important. LinkedIn has remained relatively static and consistent over time, which plays well with their target audience of business people who use the network for very specific purposes. Going public has also forced them to inno-vate and pay more attention to advertising – a big key.

“Blogging” is changing in meaning. Blog formats and lengths are changing, and many people are using social networks like Facebook and G+ to “blog” their ideas. I think social networks are all about link-sharing – as user behaviors change, people who are re-ally good at content creation will grow in prominence…that being said, the new shar-ing functionality on Facebook and Google+ makes it less about links, and that could really change the importance of links and blogging on outside platforms. Also, expect to see plat-forms catering to niche communities as they emerge and grow.

Where do you see video fitting into the social media channels in the year ahead? The fact that Facebook has not come out with their own video capabilities and con-tinues to rely on YouTube, a Google product, says a lot to me about where they see video in terms of importance. I think it’s certainly an important component of many campaigns, particularly in fundraising and targeting a younger audience.

If it’s done well and is strategic, it can do amazing things for awareness. I also think that it’s something that can be supported by multiple channels, and anytime you give so-cial fresh content to post, it’s good.

Where do you think social media fits into an organization’s overall marketing program? My hope is that social becomes the trigger to

remove silos inside organizations. It’s the next chance for digital and print marketing to work together.

What are some steps you’d recommend or-ganizations take to integrate social media into larger marketing efforts? See where the audiences meet and how you can drive them from offline to online and back again. Really study your target audience and make it a point to know how social fits into their lives – and insert your message into that story. Look at the different steps they take to interact with you. Where along that line were they online, where were they offline? How can you build out a strategy to meet them at every critical decision point and where does social make sense?

What has been DMAW’s more popular social media effort and why? Twitter has been an ex-cellent avenue for communications with busi-ness people, particularly seminar and work-shop attendees. Using the network strategi-cally during times of high activity and engage-ment has allowed us to build new relation-ships and increase our reach. @theDMAW on Twitter has an active community of almost 1,000 followers, all grown through word of mouth and community management.

Any buzz of things yet to come with the on-going advances in mobile devices (Android phones, iPhone and iPad)? Everything needs to be optimized for mobile. Smartphone and tablets are the future of web browsing and the future of business. Google has declared that the future will be mobile and local – that’s a pretty strong endorsement. Android phones are overtaking iPhones. Google is Android, Apple is teaming up with Facebook. It’s the next frontier in the social media wars.

Since you have their attention here, is there anything you’d like to say to DMAW members? Social media is a chance for your direct communication efforts to exist outside of the mailbox or television. It’s an opportunity to integrate your message and cause into the daily consciousness of everyone with Internet access. It’s a way to go from a commercial to an experience. From a narrative to an interactive story. Choose your own adventure. If you want to exist five years from now, you need to be ready to communicate on whatever page the audience chooses to read.

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