Master Productions News & Announcements

Why is PRINT the most POWERFUL Sales Tool?

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:38:20 -0400

For multiple reasons, printing is one of the most effective components of your sales plan. First off, printing documents like sales letters on letterhead, company, product and service background on brochures, special offers and information on printed postcards and generating resources like presentation folders for sales calls are some of the most efficient ways to provide background information on your business.

Clearly, an effective sales process includes a formula, or program, that is consistent and efficient, but most importantly the process should work for y our target base and also for your business. Asking questions like, what are we capable of, what are the best channels for communication, how can we follow up and stay connected to our prospects, are there services that will add value and how can we target the right people will be essential in your analysis-but today, let’s look at print.

A typical sales process begins with a profile, a lead. This lead receives a phone call, an email and maybe a postcard. Are you consistent with this? Do you include timing and drop cycles for this process? Are some prospects interacting with you more than others? Weed out a formula that includes a sales stage and which marketing method applies to that sales stage. Let’s look at the integration of print.

You may have a data list. Let’s say 50 out of 100 prospects got on the phone with the sales team. Out of those 50, 5 were extremely pleased with the conversation and want to do business with you but aren’t yet sure, they’re not ready, want to know more options, don’t know enough about you, are waiting for a bigger budget-whatever, take that unique and personalized case just as it is. If they’re not convinced they want to do business with you, go that extra mile and send 5 nice, informative, branded presentation folders out to establish credibility, specialization and trust. Get something in their hands. If 25 out of those 50 prospects gave you 2 minutes of their time, they may have been confused, busy or unclear about your approach, they may not have vibed with the sales person-multiple scenarios might make you think they are not interested, when the reality is they need to be hit again, but through another, personalized medium-like a sales letter.

How Do You Satisfy Your Company's Demand for Growing Sales Collateral?

Tue, 31 May 2011 19:23:58 -0400

Many times, producing sales collateral requires more staff for design, oversight and management. Web-to-Print has been one of the most successful solutions offered by San Diego printers, for the streamlined production of variable marketing materials for specific markets. Let’s take a look at how AME Financial was able to satisfy the needs of their rapidly expanding sales organization.

AME Financial, a large mortgage lender headquartered in San Diego, CA, wanted to produce more literature on demand. Within a few months of investing in a Web-to-Print solution, the system was able to generate enough revenue to pay for their initial investment! The company’s sales of literature grew 250% after the implementation of the program and no additional human resource costs were required.

Web-to-Print was chosen as a collateral management approach that would double AME’s sales force, the number of locations and sales without having to double its in house marketing department. The company wanted to ensure that it could produce documents to a distributed sales force and still accommodate the various laws of different states; the solution also had to be capable of adding the loan officers individual contact information without altering the legal content. The company also had to ensure that its brand identity remained constant that that the content could be changed, thus requiring a more complex blend of static as well as variable printing.

In essence, loan officers and realtors enter a secure web portal and then select from a variety of products such as postcards, newsletters, brochures and other print materials. The users then upload their own addresses and photos and then check out with their order. In additional to basic marketing products, the console also allowed users to choose custom products like open house flyers, direct mail marketing campaigns, informational brochures, business cards, Starbucks gift cards, welcoming gift baskets, holiday cards and much more! AME Financial admins were able to add and update marketing material, while users could upload their customer contacts to generate personalized mail promotions.

Web-to-Print solutions have a multitude of applications, talk to your local Web-to-Print service provider to build a custom print console for your sales team or for your various locations.

Can I Translate Brochures into Sales?

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:42:04 -0400

Anytime a customer wants more information before doing business with you, they typically want to go over some sort of print piece to acquire information on your company, products and services. Aside from checking out a presentation folder, one of the most informative to-go options is a brochure. The big debate is whether the brochure can actually translate into a sale.

While speaking with a customer directly you are able to develop trust much easier than with a brochure and you are also able to help customers make more informed decisions. While the informational nature of brochures may make it harder to market with targeted information, they, none-the-less, play a critical role in the user experience because they allow the consumer to imagine what an interaction with your business will be like. Will they receive special attention? Can your company offer the necessary resources to reach the desired objectives? Is there a reputation, etc...

There are definitely a couple of adjustments you can make to the brochure to ensure that you are helping the reader to identify a potential interaction with your company. How you present your company’s message breaks down into design, images and information-but will minor adjustments in these elements help you make sales?

If someone just wants to look at product prices versus detailed descriptions, filling an entire brochure with prices is difficult to. The best thing to do is to include an action call such as “Call for an instant quote or free catalog today!” If you are marketing a service based business and do not have products to illustrate, you can choose to show before and after results of your services. Some other great ways to make your brochure more powerful is to include a fact sheet. Consider printing a one page sheet on why a certain problem occurs and how you are able to remedy it. Another option is an informational sheet. By adding one or two panels that includes facts about your company such as success stories and testimonials, history or even case studies will make your information relevant and useful. You definitely want to stay organized. By including a checklist of all of your services that are categorized into sections such as when the service is needed, you will help your customers determine which services they really need right now.

In a recent CMO.com article about data, the emphasis on application reverberates how very critical improving the customer experience is. The article states, “The only way to continually improve the consumer experience is to capture and synthesize information and then act on it. What is the consumer’s interaction with your company? Where does the experience fall short? What are they looking for? Do they have the same quality of interaction whether they are in a store or online? Are their needs being catered to as individuals with unique requirements, interests, and needs?” Careful consideration of the answers to these questions should be reflected in the content of the brochure if you are looking to translate brochures into sales.

StayTuned...

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:15:00 -0400

There are no San Diego Printing Events at this time.

What are PURL’s being used for today?

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:31:13 -0400

Most marketers will not implement any kind of marketing campaign without analytics software platforms. Businesses and organizations across the board-from financial services, retail, colleges, and conferences to restaurants, have used PURL campaigns to drive action like:

• Membership Increases: A museum sent a PURL mail piece asking respondents to give information on their favorite kind of art piece in return for a sweepstakes entry to win free museum membership for a year. By the end of the campaign the museum had a top-notch pre-qualified list of prospects for future direct mailings-plus email addresses to lower the cost of future communications.

• Prequalification of Prospects: Marketers are able to deliver much stronger follow ups to achieve higher conversion rates after sending a PURL campaign to an in house prospect list. The campaign offered prospects a free gift if the individual logged onto a PURL which included a survey question asking, “What is the most challenging aspect of your business?”

• Cross-Selling: A bank was very successful in getting new customers, but the new customers were completely unaware of its full product offerings. The bank’s PURL program targeted existing customers by urging a dialogue about relevant products, including a survey triggering cross-sell product opportunities.

• Acquisition, Subscription Renewal and Lead Generation: Direct mail letters, which contain a URL such as http://FirstNameLastName.freemagazine.com, become immediately personal. Ignoring an address like this is impossible, according to Ruth Sheldon, a copy writer for a magazine publisher. Ruth has gathered real time information and applied data successfully to acquiring and renewing subscribers.

Direct Mail Failures Don't Mean Direct Mail is Ineffective

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:47:45 -0400

Many times a marketer will say to me, "Well, we’ve already tried direct mail and the return just wasn’t what I thought it would be…” “So how many drop cycles did you do?” I ask. Time and time again, the answer is “One.” It is possible to be extremely successful with a direct mailing, but if you’re not talking to the right people, you’ll miss that boat. Let’s go over some key components of successful direct mail.

I’m sure most of those that read my blog, are expecting me to do yet another paragraph on variable data printing. While I definitely think VDP is a key component, here are some subtle secrets of a successful mailing.

First of all, while I do believe in creativity and getting the mailing to stand out-simplicity always works better. Clarity is crucial in a cluttered world of messages. We all want to be clever, and that’s great if you can be both clear and clever, but focus on a straightforward and clear message to be effective with direct mail.

Second. Pictures are great. Hey, if you’re selling dog food-why not have a great high resolution shot of a beautiful golden retriever and two little girls (VDP data)? WRONG. A colorful people image may not be right for you! Invest in the time and resources to compose solid data into graphics, for visuals. Presenting information in charts or graphs is quick and to the point. People don’t need to get lost in pretty pictures; they need to quickly connect summarized information. Stick to simple, visual displays of data and information over that pretty istock image.

Direct mail specialists argue time and time again, that envelope and format will have the biggest impact on the response rate. It turns out that the wide spread belief in the impact of the letter (meaning a self-mailer being more effective than a postcard) is not that which makes the biggest impact on the response. Keep in mind, the larger the envelope the more important your message. It’s human psychology! Indeed, the costs of a larger envelope may be higher, but do the testing to figure out if this works for you.

So, for the disbelievers, are you testing? Committing to the drop of various variables and keeping track of the response data is the one sure way to bet on success. One size never fits all.

When the trigger word “Personalization” is being dropped by marketers and printers, all we are talking about is relevancy. Is your patient due for a screening? Does your customer need sheets for the new bed they just purchased? Does someone always order a large cheese pizza? Then a coupon for ½ off breadsticks with an order of cheese pizza would be appropriate. The more heavily personalized and relevant an offer is the more effective the piece will be.

Last but not least, people: Rome wasn't built in a day. You have to expend the right amount of resources and time to brand yourself and get your message accross. Be consistent with your mailings. The more you test during your drop cycles, the more money you will save and the more effective you'll be.

If you have never done a mailing before, but would like to learn more-the best thing for you to do is to cruise in to speak with someone who can help you figure out what would be effective!

What Do I Care About?

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:24:57 -0400

Data comes in two forms: Input and output. All companies have a database. Businesses keep track of names, addresses, email, purchases receipts, and other relevant information that is used to keep track of the B2B or B2C relationship. The other type of data is output data, this is the type of information that helps one to understand testing models, conversion rates and the return on an investment. Without data, there would be no sense in printing.

Personalization is a gold mine. Why? In the time it took me to reach the office today, I saw probably over 1,000 advertisements-in just 2 hours of my day! When I was getting ready for work, I noticed the non-profit on my face wash, more messages on the cereal, a door hanger for carpet cleaning on the door knob, tons of left over magazines and flyers from yesterday's mail on my coffee table, 5 billboards while I'm driving...then I turned on the internet. In my email alone, I probably saw 30 or more offers and webinar requests including a groupon for a product I definitely don't want or care about. Facebook was extremely invasive and annoying, with their wall saturated in advertisements that I'm not even interested in--hey, just because I mentioned a cool postcard design, does not mean that I am looking for web-site design services. In any case, when tailoring an offer always consider timing, but more importantly, consider whether your offer stands out from all of the other offers your consumer has already seen. Is the design and copy tailored to the recipient? If not, you need to visit our variable data printing page.

Relevance is a term that we utilize when referring to communication. Imagine someone standing above a huge, hungry crowd with a megaphone yelling, "Hot dogs are only 50 cents today! Get them while they're fresh!" While the crowd is hungry, and would probably prefer fresh over old hot-dogs--who cares? Some people may prefer a hamburger, others may be vegetarians and certain people may want to know more details, like whether the meat is all organic. The point is, no matter what you have to say, there is no way you're going to get someone to listen unless you A) find out what they care about and B) talk to them in a way that is relevant to their wants, needs and preferences.

In the perfect flow of things, the print service provider will receive a company's customer data that includes any myriad of facts, including but not limited to, favorite color, favorite food, last purchase or even just sex or race. The company will include a database of images and their corresponding marketing message which Master Print then logs into a computer for digital printing. Presto! Each postcard, newsletter or self-mailer is personalized to the recipient and a relevant marketing message has been achieved. Clearly, people can react very dispassionately, or rather get offended when too much personal information is being used. Be tactful with your approach and never cease coming up with creative ways to engage people with things that make them fell like a person and not just another number.

10 Key Checklist Items for Successful Implementation of Statistical Models

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:01:55 -0400

This session will provide marketers with 10 key checklist items for successful implementation of statistical models, from data manipulation and variable alignments to large scale scoring and QC process. This session will cover the entire spectrum of related topics from the database marketer’s point of view, as well as from those of the statistical analysts, leading to more effective communications among all involved parties.

   1. Attendees will obtain a clear checklist for successful model implementation.
   2. Learn specific ways to make the best of available data to maximize the effectiveness of resultant models.
   3. Improve communications among vendors, statisticians and marketers, and minimize risk factors at all stages.

There are many sessions regarding statistical techniques, but in real life, most of the errors happen before or after the model development. Attendees will walk away with a clear checklist to improve the model implementation process and specific methods to improve data quality for modelers.

When: Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET

Where: Online

Cost: FREE

For questions/inquiries, call DMA Customer Service at 212.790.1500 or e-mail customerservice@the-dma.org.

Register Here: Direct Mail Association Model Implementation Webinar

Print's Green Corner

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:03:47 -0500

One of the hottest environmental issues at this time is in the print industry. There are multiple reasons why printers choose to undergo FSC certification. A primary factor is because they want to demonstrate to their consumer that they employ sustainable and responsible business practices.

Marketing professionals are encouraged to avoid green washing by the rampant use of false eco-labels. The increasing demand for proof that paper products are sourced from responsible, legal sources is a tight squeeze, considering that less than 10% of the world's forests are certified as sustainable. Vegetation like forestry plays a significant role in the health, management and solution for climate change, the communities and in the social and economic well-being. Printers that choose to

Label certification is credible when three main criteria are met, a third party certification, a publicly available standard and a transparent standard development process. While the printing industry has increasingly come to rely on chain of custody certification to show their company's commitment to corporate social responsibility, printers also opt for these label rights to offer responsible paper options to clients as well.

Along with chain of custody certification, printers often opt to promote digital printing, which reduces unnecessary waste and uses non-toxic toner, and they continue to recycle tons and tons of paper. There are many routes a business can travel down when looking for green business marketing and practices. Choosing to buy offset credits, making charitable donations, implementing recycling programs and utilizing only green products in the kitchen, bathroom and throughout work spaces are all significant efforts that can impact your responsibility. Green marketing is also easy to do. The more honest businesses are about the life-cycle based environmental impacts of their products the more likely they will be to improve their and their customers’ choices. When businesses make claims and ask their consumers to support progressive efforts, then they will. While there is truly no such thing as a "green" or "environmentally friendly" product, your customers will surely be likely to choose sustainable efforts rather than wasteful ones.

Stay tuned for Master's FSC certification, our commitment to sustainability is to encourage you to make better business choices and implement marketing efforts that demonstrate environmental responsibility.

Personalized Communication of Direct Mail is Synonymous to Revenue Generation

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:44:47 -0500

UNICEF is an awesome example of how personalized communication equals revenue generation. UNICEF Brazil, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund is an agency devoted to the welfare of children. Their focus is on establishing long term human development and on providing emergency relief and rehabilitation assistance. Let’s take a look at the PURL response mechanism that converted 605% more visitors of the UNICEF web-site into donors.

For testing purposes, UNICEF launched their direct mail campaign along side a parallel control program. The control program was static and used a generic message, where as the personalized campaign segmented the contributors based on their previous donations. UNICEF’s database was composed of donor records which included data on the value and reasons for the recipient’s last donation. Two direct mail packages were sent out: one with communications focused on education and the other with communications focused on health.

The two personalized groups received personalized communication pieces, direct mail with a personalized letter, a personalized email and of course, personalized landing pages (PURLs). All communications incorporated one-to-one marketing and customized offerings. For the action call, the personalized landing pages campaign included a personalized donation page and gave visitors the option to complete a survey and refer friends as potential donors. Visitors could also respond through a return mail postcard response channel.

The results reported were astounding. The response rate for the healthcare package was 232% more than the static group, while the education package received a 106% increase in response rate over the control group. The healthcare package increased the total donations for the whole year by 111%, while the education package generated a 48% increase over the control group. The overall ROI for the healthcare package was 41% greater than the control, while the education ROI equaled the control at 12 months, but raised 48% for each year that a donor had remained active.

With a main goal of continuing to further integrate and strengthen donor relationships, UNICEF’s president of direct and interactive marketing claims that, “Our data shows that donors who are interacting with us via multiple channels and programs are retaining at a higher rate.” Many companies that choose to market via multi-channel touch points report similar findings and continue to upgrade their direct mail into personalized and integrative media. For additional questions and answers on the campaign, visit this interview from Target Marketing, http://bit.ly/es1Znm