EDDM, Direct Mail, SMS, Email Marketing - Toledo - Empire Marketing LLC
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Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing Drives Clients

 

Reaching out directly to your client base has never been more important. Direct Marketing is sales oriented for both repeat and new business. This is used for weekly promotions as well as new product release. Get your message in front of thousands at the snap of a finger!

 

Below are the 4 mediums utilized for Direct Marketing.

EDDM – Every Door Direct Mail

 

A relatively short time ago, the United States Postal Service (USPS) developed a tool called “Every Door Direct Mail” to help businesses target specific geographic areas with their direct mail efforts. Of course, a tool is only helpful if you know how to use it. And for many of us, learning to use yet another new tool can be overwhelming. So, how does this thing work?

 

The good news is that “Every Door Direct Mail” (EDDM) is refreshingly straightforward and easy to use. Here’s how it works.

 

1. Get a Mailing Permit Imprint: If you don’t already have a permit (sometimes called an indicia) you can download a form from the USPS, fill it out, and take it to your local Post Office. You can even download help for designing your own indicia (it’s simple).

 

2. Create a USPS Business Account at the USPS site and Log in.

 

3. Define Your Audience: Every Door Direct Mail has an easy-to-use-tool that helps you choose the area you want to mail to by address, city, state, ZIP Code, or up to a 5-mile radius around your business. You can even use street names or an intersection as your target area.

 

4. Create Your Mail Piece: You can work with your marketing department, a marketing service provider, or local printer to create your mail piece. Be sure to check the approved specifications for Every Door Direct Mail, including sizes, address formats, and mailing permit (required on each mail piece).

5. Take Your Mailing to the Post Office: Take your properly prepared mail to the BMEU (Bulk Mail Entry Unit) where the mailing permit is held or we will take them to the BMEU for you.

 

Empire Marketing will handle the entire project for you. Design, Print & Delivery as we mail multiple EDDM pieces a month.  Just shoot us a note and tell us what area you’d like to target and we can do the whole thing for you very reasonably. It’s a great way to reach everyone in a specific geographic area, quickly, efficiently, and economically!

Text Message Marketing

 

When we talk to businesses and non-profits about text message (SMS) marketing, there are a few misconceptions that commonly come up.

 

Unless you’re a spammer, it’s permission-based.
Amazingly, many organizations think you need to already have a list of phone numbers, or worse, you need to buy this list before you can start sending out text messages. Not only is sending unauthorized text message terribly ineffective, it’s illegal and could lead to lawsuits and penalties. The effective and legal way to do SMS marketing is to grow your own list through campaigns promoted to your targeted audience.

 

You don’t need to get your own shortcode.
One of the first questions we get from newcomers to SMS marketing is, “How do I get my own shortcode?” While some large brands may find value in getting their own shortcode, most businesses and non-profits can save the expense and hassle. Like many SMS marketing providers, we provide our shared shortcodes to clients. This saves them money and allows them to get up and running quickly.

 

It doesn’t cost a lot and it’s very cost-effective.
Frequently, marketers are surprised to hear the entry-level costs for SMS marketing. For whatever reason, even small organizations assume it will be a significant investment for them to start using this technology (it’s not!). Once they learn how small the investment is, they quickly stop worrying about how difficult it will be for them to prove the value to their bosses.

 

It’s extremely easy to setup and manage.
When we help a new client setup their first SMS campaign, they’re usually surprised how easy it is. I think this comes from the email marketing world where setting up a campaign for the first time involves a lot of configuring, template building, graphics uploading, etc. With only 160 characters to work with, it almost always takes longer to decide the message than it does to set up the software.

 

Your audience wants to receive text messages from you, if they’re valuable.
Because at this point almost everyone has received at least one of those spam “you’ve won this gift card” messages, organizations assume their messages will be received the same way. This just isn’t true and they’re always surprised after their first outgoing campaign how well the messages are received by their audience and how few people opt-out.

 

You can capture email addresses and other information with text messaging.
Initially, organizations are very focused on growing a big list of mobile numbers so they can “blast” out messages to many people and they often overlook the two-way capabilities of SMS. Many organizations have captured email address, zip code, survey responses, product numbers, and more through text message. Don’t focus too much on the outbound part of SMS and miss an opportunity to gather valuable data and feedback from your users.

 

It works best in three situations.
We’ve worked on a lot of SMS campaigns, and while many unique campaigns have generated great results, there are three types of campaigns that always seem to work the best. Those that are promoted at events, at a physical location, or any campaign run over traditional media (TV, radio, print, or outdoor). These campaigns always seem to grow the biggest mobile databases, assuming the incentive was attractive to the audience.

 

SMS is used by some of the biggest brands in the US, but remains relatively “untapped” by small and mid-sized businesses.
Many small to mid-sized businesses we talk to are amazed to hear how many large, well-known brands are using SMS marketing today. They’re also amazed when they realize not many, if any, of their competitors are using it. Quickly, the conversation turns to “why haven’t we considered this sooner” and “when can we start?” As with any form of marketing, whenever you can reach the audience where your competition isn’t, the more effective it can be.

 

It’s not just for a “young” audience anymore.
We don’t hear this one as much as we used to, but every so often we have to pull out the stats (81% of mobile users use SMS) to prove texting is not just something teenagers do any more. Look around, everyone uses it!

Direct Mail

 

Effortlessly grow your business when you use Direct Mail Marketing from Empire Marketing. From start to send, our marketing experts can help you create the perfect mailing. Best of all, you can combine our print solutions with our industry-leading data, taking care of your direct mail needs in one place.

 

Use our direct mail campaigns to:

 

Find New Customers
Select from our extensive consumer or business databases to create a targeted mailing list.

 

Save Time & Money
Stop wasting money by using bad data or out of date mailers. Our experts can help you create a list of customers, design a unique mailer, and much more.

 

Get Professional Results
Leverage our designers to create the perfect postcard, brochure or letter to make your business shine.

 

Deliver the Perfect Message
Whether you want to send a coupon, introduce a new product or service, or just create a splash, we can help.

 

Email Marketing

 

When the Internet was new to consumers, everyone loved email. One of the best parts of logging onto AOL was the knowledge that after minutes of agonizing squeals, you’d be treated to that wonderful phrase, “You’ve Got Mail!”

 

But after a couple decades of Nigerian prince schemes, Spanish lotto scams, and mountains of unsolicited spam (which is never a good marketing tactic), how do people feel about email now? Is it still a worthwhile tactic for small-business owners and marketers to pursue?

 

The simple answer is yes. But you came here to learn, so here are the Top 5 research-backed reasons email marketing is vital for businesses of all sizes:

 

1. Email is an easy way to reach mobile customers.
One reason email marketing has value for business owners is that it’s an easy way to start reaching consumers on mobile without investing a lot in new technology or software. According to an April report from Pew Research Center, 52 percent of US cellphone owners access their emails from their phones. Email marketing also works with other mobile devices. In July, Forrester Research released a study that found 42 percent of retailers’ email messages were opened by consumers on their smartphones and 17 percent were opened on tablets. This means that nearly three out of every five email marketing messages doubles as a mobile marketing message. Using email is better for mobile marketing than SMS because:

 

It works on mobile devices other than phones
Emails are free for the consumer, whereas texting may incur a charge
Emails have far more space for content than text messages, allowing for better marketing pieces.

 

2. It’s an effective way to keep customers informed.
Email marketing isn’t something marketers do just because they can and it’s easy. The tactic is very effective at helping business owners and consumers stay connected. In fact, consumers often seek out email marketing campaigns from their favorite brands and local stores. This goes beyond coupons (which we’ll discuss next). Nielsen reported that 28 percent of US online shoppers subscribe to store or product emails in order to stay informed. A study from Loyalty 360 stated that 59 percent of US moms would sign up for email updates from brands if rewards were offered. And email marketing can be used as a way to deliver content to consumers. A 2013 study by the Relevancy Group noted that marketers who add video to their email campaigns see an average rise in revenue of 40 percent. There is a real value to staying connected to customers and email marketing makes that easy to do.

 

3. Email coupons drive online and in-store sales.
The Nielsen study mentioned above also found that 27 percent of US online shoppers subscribe to store or product emails in order to save money. This conclusion is backed up by recent data from Deloitte that found 65 percent of consumers say email coupons are important when grocery shopping online. Similarly, Shop.org reported 64 percent of US Internet users have printed a coupon from an email. Though consumers are looking to save money, it can turn into increased revenue for the retailer. E-coupons are big business, and email marketing is at its heart. The number of mobile coupons used is estimated to double over the next five years to reach 1 billion people. Email marketing is a good way to start reaching the growing number of online bargain hunters. The big brands are already using this tactic for that purpose. BIA/Kelsey reports that 36.6 percent of national businesses use email marketing for local promotions.

 

4. It’s easy to customize and integrate into other marketing tactics.
The versatility of email marketing is another reason marketers should keep the tactic in their marketing toolbox. Depending on the depth of the email database and the skill of the crafter, email marketing messages can range from simple to very complex. Emails can be personalized to include the name of the user and even more. A small study of 139 marketers from Retention Science found that websites use several kinds of personalization tactics that can easily be applied to email. Nearly half of US online retailers used personalized product recommendations (44.9%), about a third added the customer’s name and/or a unique welcome message (31.5%), and a quarter of the respondents reported adding shopping cart reminders (27.6%) to cover all of their personalized bases. Email marketing can also be utilized with just about any other marketing tactic, which makes email an important part of any integrated marketing campaign.

 

5. Email marketing is inexpensive.
To sum up the best reason to use email marketing: It’s easy, effective, and inexpensive. Email marketing allows business owners to reach a large number of consumers at a rate of pennies per message. For small-business owners on a budget, this makes it a better choice than traditional marketing channels like TV, radio, or direct mail. You don’t have to take my word for it. A joint study from Shop.org and Forrester Research found that 85 percent of US retailers consider email marketing one of the most effective customer acquisition tactics.

 

The point of all this is that email may be an old tactic, but it remains a vital one. It’s relatively easy to get started with email marketing, so there’s no excuse for business owners to not be taking advantage of the tactic.