According to a recent article published in DMNews by Dianna Dilworth, FedEx is getting ready to execute a multichannel marketing campaign in 2010 as part of the company’s new strategy to integrate its brand messaging and creative across channels. The marketing efforts include both online and offline channels with a unified message directing consumers to a microsite designed to engage them. Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at FedEx, stated that, it is the first truly integrated marketing campaign launched by the company. He firmly believes that it is crucial to integrate as many channels of communications as possible since consumers are ...

New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st Birthday of Martin Luther King – Monday, January 18th George Washington’s Birthday (commonly known as President’s Day) – Monday, February 15th Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st Independence Day – Monday, July 5th Labor Day – Monday, September 6th Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th Are you planing your 2010 direct mail marketing calendar? Looking for new ways to improve the effectiveness of your direct mail marketing? OneIMS can assist you with creating a powerful and effective cross-media marketing campaign coupled with direct mail. We ...

By now, you’ve become accustomed to a variety of e-mail marketing tactics.  Small and large companies alike are using  e-mail marketing to engage their audience and to grow their sales.  The truth is that blasting an e-mail to everyone on your compiled client/prospect lists is not necessarily going to yield any results. The key to maximizing your conversions and improving the effectiveness of your e-mail campaigns is to have a strategic plan.  First, analyze the data you collected from previous campaigns.  By using behavior-based targeting, the likelihood of having better conversions is much greater.  Instead of sending your e-mail offers to ...

It seems that everyone’s talking about landing pages these days.  So you already have a website, why create a landing page?  Isn’t that just like having a one-page website in addition to your current website?  Not exactly. A landing page is a page that directly contains the content your visitor/customer is looking for.  This may mean that it’s a direct link to a promotion off your e-mail marketing campaign or newsletter, search engine advertisement or even a direct link from a directory or other related website.  The great advantage of landing pages is ...

Myth: Printed catalogs have been replaced by the internet. Fact: Catalog positively impact purchasing behavior. A printed catalog motivates online customers to visit retail web site more often, stay longer and spend more money. In fact, households receiving catalogs are twice as likely to make an online purchase (Source: comScore case study - USPS). A perfect example of this is Zappos.com, the online seller of shoes (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/business/media/07zappos.html) sends out printed catalogs to their customers. Aaron Magness, director for brand marketing and business development at Zappos.com in Henderson, Nev. states that lapsed customers have responded very well to the catalogs. Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and ...

Myth: Direct Mail is less effective than it used to be. Fact: Direct mail remains one of the most targeted forms of business communication. With an estimated 99% delivered to the right person at the right place at the right time, direct mail gets through the clutter (Source: "Deliverability: Print's Strong Suit" by Dr. Joe Webb). More than 8 out of 10 households read or scan the advertising mail they receive, (Source: Mail Moves America) and 55% look forward to their mail (Source: "The Mail Movement" - USPS). Besides, with the power of intelligent bar-code, you are able to track the exact location ...

Myth:  You can't recycle catalogs, magazines and direct mail. Fact: Most recycling programs accept a variety of materials. Most domestic curbside and drop-off recycling programs accept a variety of materials, including catalogs, magazines, and direct mail.  Over the past 10 years, the recovery rate for standard mail and magazines has doubled to approximately 40% (Source: Municipal Sold Waste Generation. Recycling and Disposal in the United States). Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and Printing Impressions (Dec. 2009).

Myth: A "paperless" office has no environmental footprint. Fact: The environmental footprint of information and communication technologies continues to grow rapidly. Going paperless comes with an environmental cost. Computers, data centers, mobile phones and telecommunication networks are projected to be the largest emitters of greenhouse gases by 2020 (McKinsey & Company). It is unreasonable to compare digital and print media without taking the entire lifecycle of each into account. Each format has a rightful place in the scope of sustainable communications. Credits: MakingPaperFun.com and Printing Impressions (Dec. 2009).

Myth: Using paper destroys forests. Fact: When people uses more paper, suppliers plant more trees. Paper comes from trees. But that doesn't mean that printer who use paper  are helping destroy forests. In fact, the amount of forestland in the United States has been stable for the past 100 years (Source: The State of America's Forests - Society of American Foresters). It is simple: When you use paper made by responsible paper companies, more trees are planted to meet future needs. These companies properly manage forests to provide a balance between protecting the environment and producing valuable products that we all ...

As most people have figured out, one of the golden rules of marketing is personalization.  The concept is simple; show that you care and know your audience.   Sounds simple, right?  Extensive research shows that personalized messages and marketing pieces show increased response rates leading to higher returns on investment (ROI).  Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows you to personalize each individual  marketing piece so that your reader receives something that is personal and relevant to their needs and wants.  On-demand VDP technology allows the personalization of just about anything on your marketing piece. This can be graphics, text or images.  The technology ...

As times change and technology advances, the needs and requirements of clients change.  To keep up with technology and the ever-increasingly sophisticated customer, businesses must constantly revise and update their marketing strategies.  Every marketing campaign has one common goal: obtain a response from the target audience.  Not too long ago, the preferred method for marketing campaigns was a mass marketing approach where a specific offer would be sent to as many prospects as possible.  While that may have increased visibility, conversion rates are very low.  Recently, sophisticated technology has made a case for the superiority of a one-to-one marketing approach. ...

Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows marketers to target a highly specified customer base with the use of specialty data and mailing lists.  Business owners can actually imagine "the perfect customer," the one most likely in need of their goods and services, and then systematically target individuals who fall into the target market category according to an almost infinite number of specifications, including income bracket, interests, geographic area, marital status, gender, and many other types of data.  The beauty of VDP is this:  the more data you collect about an individual, by tracking purchasing habits, collecting survey information, email marketing and ...