"How to Sell Cross Media Marketing"
Thursday, November 19th at 1:00pm EST
Tuesday, December 08th at 1:00pm EST
"The Latest VDP Web Cross Media Features"
Tuesday, November 17th at 1:00pm EST
Thursday, December 10th at 1:00pm EST
Regsiter here.
"How to Sell Cross Media Marketing"
Thursday, November 19th at 1:00pm EST
Tuesday, December 08th at 1:00pm EST
"The Latest VDP Web Cross Media Features"
Tuesday, November 17th at 1:00pm EST
Thursday, December 10th at 1:00pm EST
Regsiter here.
Posted at 03:22 PM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Channel Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Email, Personalized URLs, Purls, Real Time Personalization, SMS Text, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
JFM Concepts will be presenting at Podi's APP Forum 2010 to be held in Las Vegas, January 25th to 27th.
Increase Revenue - Keep More of your Customer's Marketing Budget
Speakers: James Michelson, Principal, JFM Concepts
Date/Time: Wed, 9:45 - 10:45 am
How does print fit into your customer’s total marketing strategy and how can you increase your share of their marketing spend?
Using three illustrative case studies for Marriott, Harrah’s, and Gold Eagle, James Michelson will present a practical guide to implementing cross-media applications to expand commercial printing’s penetration into the client’s marketing budget.
To grab a larger share of your client’s marketing budget you need to:
1. Generate leads for them
2. Create output/activity that puts more ink on paper
James will offer the top 5 tactics that printers can use to deliver both new leads and more print. Variable data printing alone will not make a printer a Marketing Service Provider (MSP). The use of multiple cross channel tools such as SMS text, email, unique 800#’s, and static web pages, as well as PURLs, are required to effectively enhance direct marketing efforts.
Posted at 10:48 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Channel Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Email, Personalized URLs, Purls, Real Time Personalization, SMS Text, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Visit http://newsletter.jfmconcepts.com/ for the latest cross media marketing news.
While you are there, sign up for one of two great webinars. The experts at JFM will present:
"How to Sell Cross Media Marketing"
Thursday, November 19th at 1:00pm EST
Tuesday, December 08th at 1:00pm EST
"The Latest VDP Web Cross Media Features"
Tuesday, November 17th at 1:00pm EST
Thursday, December 10th at 1:00pm EST
We hope to see you there!
Posted at 10:19 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Channel Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Email, Personalized URLs, Purls, Real Time Personalization, SMS Text, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Email can be a critical part of any cross media marketing strategy, but it is important to understand the real cost of developing and distributing an email campaign. Many seasoned marketing executives we speak to every day have in their minds that email is a cheap and effective way to promote their products and generate massive ROI with little or no effort.
For firms that have an extensive opt-in email list and additional customer information to segment offers this can be true. Internet or mass market retailers and international brands that have been gathering email addresses and customer information from sales and other collection mechanisms (such as contests, information requests, etc.) can spend a few thousand dollars on design and execution to send out an email blast. They can achieve a very low response rate that still generates a massive return on investment. When we take a few moments to break down the numbers, we quickly see that generating a positive return is not attainable for most firms. Here is how the numbers break out. The hourly rate used in the example is realistic for the actual cost of labor, but feel free to substitute your own.
For this example, here are the assumptions made:
Design & Copy: 8 Hours @ $ 125
Artwork: 2 Hours @ $ 125
Giveaway / Discount / Offer Cost: $1000
Distribution: .02 cents
Response Rates: 5%, 1%
Profit from Sale: $ 5
Notice that a 5% response rate is required in purchases, not the open rate, to break even. Good luck making that happen without detailed customer information and segmentation. If the sale is a big ticket item that requires a consultative selling process, than even a 1% response rate is highly unlikely. At 1%, the breakeven point comes at 100,000 emails with a $5 profit. Very few companies have that quantity of contacts to target.
For 500 recipients the cost is $4.92 each. For 2,000 recipients, the average email size, the cost is $1.25 per piece which is more expensive than comparable direct mail. A direct mail piece is one of four or five the recipient will get in a day as opposed to one of hundreds of emails.
What this example does not take into account is the cost associated with developing the email list. There are firms that claim to have double blind opt-in lists for sale and we have seen them used effectively for certain applications, but the response rates are no where near the 1% closed sale shown in this example. List rentals from trade associations, magazines and other sources can also be advantageously used, but they are usually limited to single drop campaigns and therefore are of limited utility in a long term marketing strategy. These lists can be very good for brand awareness and special events.
Take away: Email is not free and in small quantities it will cost more than direct mail.
There are steps that a marketer can take to maximize the return that can be generated by email. Email campaigns must be considered a part of the overall marketing strategy and need to be coordinated across all channels.
Consider the following to develop an effective email program:
Posted at 10:47 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Channel Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Email, Personalized URLs, Purls, Real Time Personalization, SMS Text, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages
As a marketer, I realize how hard it is to get IT and IS to support your efforts and how customer information is likely to be a tangled mess of legacy systems and data silos.
Heads up! Customers don’t care!
Internecine struggles over turf and a firm’s innate inability to know about its own business and customer base is no excuse to cause alienation.
Mercedes Benz USA should win the award for producing the worst email campaign ever. It wasn’t just that the design was poorly done and the artwork came through horribly pixilated on IE 8 in Outlook. It wasn’t that most of the content was not relevant to the model of car our family has in the garage and it wasn’t even that disclaimers outweighed content by two to one.
What makes this tragic marketing effort the worst email ever sent is that there was no call to action. Despite the horrid construction of the offer, the pitch was still compelling. But alas, there were no links, no phone numbers, and no way to make a purchase. There was not even a note to contact your local dealer.
But wait, there’s more. When you go to the company’s website (www.mbusa.com) there is no search bar and the product line being offered in the email does not appear in the site map or anywhere else on the web that I could find after extensive effort to do so. My local dealer, when called about the offer, had no idea what it was!
Lessons learned:
These sound like common sense things to do, but consumer firms as diverse as Mercedes Benz, Bank of America, and Sprint routinely send out marketing communications that have no relevance to the recipient or even worse, contain offers which the recipient doesn’t even qualify for.
Your customers will remember the insults when it comes time to renew the relationship.
Posted at 10:36 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages
There has been a lot of chatter lately about completely integrated marketing platforms that handle production and marketing in one neat bundle. One vendor claims a “holy grail, ” assuming, of course, you don’t ask the system to do too much…
While certain marketing technologies (PURLs, emails, landing pages, SMS-text, unique phone tracking, etc.) can certainly be lumped together in one provider, the assertion that one platform can provide an entire cross marketing and production solution requires more investigation.
Consider solutions that utilize a provider model that can plug into and utilize a variety of services rather than rely on monolithic or single technology providers with legacy code and systems. That way, it doesn’t matter what the next “twitter” will be and you won’t be stuck.
Posted at 01:15 PM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages
Every few years there seems to be a great idea that gets co-opted as a catch phrase by bad marketers looking to make an average product or service somehow remarkable. Most recently the word was extreme. After the success of a youth oriented series of sporting events, everything from business forms, mini-golf and snack chips was referred to as extreme, xtreme, or XTREME !!!! Extreme business forms? Seriously?
The latest word to be drafted into the pantheon of hucksters looking to peddle one particular solution or another is cross media.
What Cross Media Marketing is: A method of using multiple channels to provide a unified marketing message that features a call to action on all of the channels employed to drive respondents to a single data collection point in order to start a two way conversation.
What Cross Media Marketing is NOT: Anything else.
Marketers have been issuing the same message on multiple channels since the inception of mass marketing. Coordinated TV, radio, and print ads are nothing new. What makes a campaign become cross media or cross channel is how the responses are funneled into a single data collection point, either systematically or manually, to generate a dialogue with the prospect. The dialogue is the key feature. Marketers need to gather information from their clients and use that information to generate the follow on communications – regardless of channel. Any channel or medium can be employed. Anything else is just advertising.
And finally, to the folks at that consumer electronics giant spending millions: Posting a video online and in downtown Tokyo does not qualify as cross media marketing no matter how much you say it does. It’s just a video…
Posted at 08:00 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Printing Industries Association of Arizona, serving Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and JFM Concepts are proud to announce the addition of online and on-demand PURLs as part of their member group buying power platform. Members are now able to launch sophisticated PURL campaigns without annual license fees, contracts, minimums or set up charges and they can take advantage of significant discounts.
Indianapolis, IN October 2 2009 – The Printing Industries Association of Arizona has partnered with JFM Concepts to offer the VDP Web® online PURL software as a service at a significant discount to members. Commercial printers seeking to offer PURL campaigns have been burdened by long term contracts, minimums, high setup and license fees, software and design limitations, and heavy training requirements. These providers can now offer the most versatile PURL campaigns on the market using the VDP Web® Online service without these limitations at a significant discount. A free fourteen day trial is available to members at www.vdpweb.com.
Founded in 1990, PIAZ was established to serve the printing community and to provide a forum in which members could grow and profit. Today, they serve that community by presenting opportunities for education and group buying power, as well as local activities for our members to gather and exchange information. VDP Web is now a powerful part of that mission. VDP Web is specifically designed to support commercial printers. Reseller and Enterprise accounts can easily setup an unlimited number of clients as sub-accounts with permissions-based access. Enterprise accounts include a fully brandable interface at no additional charge. Using a simple form, anyone can customize the interface with a logo, contact information and even assign a vanity URL for client access. Enterprise accounts also enjoy a powerful Web Services API and complimentary PURLs for self promotion.
VDP Web Online is the ideal tool for printers to use as the centerpiece of cross media efforts and has all of the features needed to build and manage complete campaigns. PURLs, personalized landing pages with surveys and opt-ins, email, SMS Text, unique 800# tracking, and world class reporting are all available using simple, web based tools. Users can create landing pages with variable text, images, links, video and sound. There are no workflows or templates to limit design or functionality. Easy to use content wizards allow users to rapidly build and deploy fully functional micro sites while still allowing maximum design control. Use PURLs in both print and email direct marketing to help drive response and provide detailed tracking for documented Return on Investment (ROI).
A free fourteen day trial is available to members at: http://www.vdpweb.com
About PIAZ
PIAZ is an affiliate of the Printing Industries of America. With over 12,000 members worldwide, the Printing Industries of America is the world's largest graphic arts trade association representing an industry with more than 1.2 million employees. Located in Sewickley, PA, The organization serves the interest of its member companies and along with its affiliates delivers products and services that enhance the growth, efficiency and profitability of its members and the industry through advocacy, education research and technical information.
Posted at 02:45 PM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages
JFM is pleased to announce that Jordan Ewbank has joined JFM Concepts and the VDP Web team. Please join us in welcoming him to the fold. More details to follow!
Posted at 10:08 AM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Although the numbers are not out yet, the consensus between JFM and our widespread customer base is that marketing dollars are flowing again. Both in North America and abroad, inquiries to direct marketers for many types of cross media marketing programs are on the rise. In our mind, there are three reasons for the sudden increase.
1. Executive teams that have been hording cash in the face of the liquidity crisis have begun to loosen the purse strings. Although we are by no means out of the woods and liquidity remains a major issue for many businesses, sitting tight, especially in the face of competitor activity, is not a viable long term strategy. Considering that the meaning of “long term” is now often measured in a few quarters rather than years, the shift is almost inevitable.
2. Sales pipelines have emptied and new leads are required to keep sales coming in the door. The decrease in traffic to web sites, call centers, and brick & mortar locations needs both direct marketing and advertising to overcome the drop.
3. Even though overall marketing budgets may have decreased dramatically, the cash earmarked for cross media applications has stayed constant or grown as an absolute figure. As executives loosen the purse strings these programs have received a disproportionately large share of the available funds.
Marketing service providers that incorporate multiple cross media channels in their product mix, including email, PURLs, variable data print, dimensional mail, and more have seen a large increase in both inquiries and sales. It is not too late to enter into these markets by partnering with a firm capable of providing more than just the back end technology for cross media, but also the marketing expertise to make campaigns successful.
Posted at 08:01 PM in Broadcast Marketing, Cross Media Marketing, Direct Marketing, Purls, Real Time Personalization, Variable Data Printing, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: 1:1, advertising, alerts, campaign, clubs, cross media, cross media marketing, curl, customer base, design, direct mail, email, email, event, gurl, landing pages, life cycle management, mail, mailings, marketing, marketing, maximize revenue, membership, multiple mailings, one to one, opt in marketing, opt-in, permission based marketing, personalization, personalized web pages, PIA, PIAZ, post, post cards, postage, postcard, printing industries of America, purl, PURLS, real time personalization, real-time, retention, soft leads, test, testing, unique URLs, variable data printing, VDP, vdp complete, vdp web, vdpcomplete, vdpweb, web hosting, web pages

