News at Bresser's Information Service

10/14/08	"Rx For Direct Mail Headaches" Direct Magazine, October 1, 2008, by Dennis Fay and Vince Marini "Direct mail is still considered one of the most economical means of communicating key messages to customers. However, those involved in direct mail production know the complexities it entails. Project managers have to work with more parties than a typical production process requires and have detailed criteria to adhere to. Since more than 90% of all direct mail is sent through the U.S. Postal Service, it's especially important to know its rules and regulations to ensure your mailing makes it into the mail stream." Click here to read more...
10/14/08	"B-to-B: Green Is Good - Implementing sustainable marketing practices is good for cost cutting, CRM and ROI" Target Marketing Magazine, October 1, 2008, by Mary N. Miller "We all understand the sense of urgency to produce and the need to control costs while still meeting deadlines and sales targets. After all, that's business. However, green marketing is a concept that, when implemented effectively, can improve your customer relationships, image in the market and ability to reach the most targeted audience, while helping grow your bottom line.
10/13/08	Live from DMA08: Separate What You Can and Connot Control, Says Greco" Direct Magazine Online, October 13, 2008, by Ken Magill "In the face of an uncertain economy, direct marketers must separate what they can control from what they can't, said Direct Marketing Association John Greco in his opening keynote remarks yesterday at the DMA08 conference in Las Vegas." Click here to read more...
10/10/08	"A Little Too Personal - Direct marketers must respect customers' right to privacy" Direct Magazine, October 1, 2008, by David Henkel "You're browsing through your mail and come across an oversize postcard from your health club. Printed across the back in large text you read: 'Hi there, Chris! The last time you were here, you weighed in at 183 lbs. Can we make an appointment for you with a personal trainer?' The mail carrier and your neighbors might get a laugh out of it. But would you? And there's a lesson here for every direct marketer. Personalization lifts response. But it's easy to cross the line." Click here to read more...
10/08/08	"Are You Ready For Move Update?" US Postal Service Mail Pro, May 2008 "The Postal Service is stepping up its efforts to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail. On Nov. 23, new Move Update standards take effect. To be ready, mailers must begin using addresses that were updated no earlier than Aug. 20. The Move Update standards provide options for customers to reduce the number of mailpieces that require forwarding, return or being treated as waste by periodically matching address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders." Click here to read more
10/07/08	"10 Ways Merchants Can Find New Customers" Multichannel Merchant, September 29, 2008, by Tim Parry "Prospects may not be knocking at your door looking to make a purchase. And with the current state of the economy, customers are even cutting back on even the most basic necessities. So what is a merchant to do? Try new prospecting ideas, and even use some old tricks of the trade." Click here to read more...
10/06/08	B-to-B: You Make the Call - Best practices for B-to-B telemarketing success" Target Marketing Magazine, October 1, 2008, by Michael A. Brown "In the current tough economic environment, many marketing and sales organizations are curtailing their in-person visits to prospects and customers. Of course, they still need to find, engage, acquire and keep customers. And despite all the e-marketing initiatives, most business prospects and customers still insist on some form of live, personal contact, especially for 'considered decisions.'" Click here to read more...
10/03/08	"Mail Moves America and Do Not Mail" The Direct Marketing Association, September 30, 2008 "A top DMA policy priority is keeping the mail channel open for marketers. This focus comes at a time when advertising mail finds itself under threat. An increasing number of states are proposing the creation of state Do Not Mail registries, similar to the national do not call registry, or are considering other limitations on advertising mail. In 2007, 15 states proposed Do Not Mail legislation, a significant increase in the number of bills seen in previous years; three in 2005 and four in 2006. The 2008 legislative year began with nine bills carrying over in seven states, but has already grown from there. These bills are a cause for concern to the mailing community not only because of the increase in numbers, but the standards and requirements proposed vary greatly from state to state." Click here to read more...
10/03/08	"Strategy: Tested and Proven - The science of direct response testing" Target Marketing Magazine, October 1, 2008, by Steve Trollinger "Direct marketing, regardless of channel, in so many ways is a scientific endeavor. Direct marketing strategists strive to isolate the drivers of better response rates, open rates, clickthrough percentages and conversion. The mathematical and scientific nature of direct marketing lends itself, more than any other marketing discipline, to experimentation. And we call that experimentation 'testing.'" Click here to read more...
10/03/08	"USPS Releases Customer Focused Five-Year Plan" DM News, October 3, 2008, by Bryan Yurcan "The US Postal Service has released a five-year plan that it says is focused on meeting customer needs. Vision 2013 balances near-term priorities with long-term needs to adapt to changing customer needs, the agency said. The plan states that 'postal customers, and the mailing industry as a whole, are hard pressed by current economic conditions', and that service improvements and cost reductions remain crucial." Click here to read more...
09/30/08	"The Keys to Consumer Context: Ambiance and Ubiquity" BtoB Magazine, September 29, 2008, by David Thiel "People crave intelligent marketing, and they love it when it's done right. But the targets of marketing efforts don't simply want to be understood; they want marketers to be at their beck and call. In other words, they're ready to entertain offers." Click here to read more...
09/30/08	"Add Dimension for Direct Mail Success" DM News, September 29, 2008, by John Brogan "Who doesn't like presents? The best ones are those that we really want or need - even if we don't know it yet. Similarly, dimensional mailers have to be relevant, engaging and open the door to your offer - even if the recipient doesn't know they need it yet." Click here to read more...
09/26/08	"3 Keys to Writing an Effective Letter" Target Marketing Magazine, September 24, 2008, by Joe Boland "The letter is a direct marketing mainstay and often the centerpiece of a campaign. Certainly, getting a prospect to open the envelope is paramount, but what's inside is equally as important." Click here to read more...
09/22/08	"How Creativity Can Carry Your Business Through a Recession" Advertising Age, September 22, 2008, by Teressa Iezzi "Here's What Some Who've Been Around the Block a Few Times Have to Say: So, a giant dragon of economic doom has rained fire upon the world. And the overall economic picture (and this is especially true if a certain uninformed product of the patriarchy being cynically sold as a beacon for women has any role to play) is not going to be fixed overnight." Click here to read more...
09/22/08	"Five Ways to Use E-Mail Marketing to Acquire New Customers" BtoB Magazine, September 15, 2008 "Are you acquiring new customers to help grow your marketing program? Customer acquisition is one of the leading strategies to help increase profitability. A customer strategy survey developed by Baseline Insight indicated that the top two strategies for improving profitability in 2008 are acquiring new customers (43%) and generating more business from current customers (25%). E-mail marketing has proven to generate the fastest direct marketing return on investment; it is successfully used in both customer acquisition and retention. The following strategies can help acquire new customer using e-mail marketing:" Click here to read more...
09/22/08	"Do's and Don'ts: Building e-mail lists" DN News, September 17, 2008 "Growing an e-mail list is no easy task - marketers must not only be patient, but also adhere to increasingly-stringent opt-in and opt-out laws. Despite privacy concerns, building an e-mail list organically allows marketers to track customer behavior as well as target customers based on buying habits. DMNews asked two experts for their two cents on how to care for your growing house file and encourage those all-important opt-ins." Click here to read more...
09/19/08	"USPS Promotes Green Credentials - The Postal Service's 'Environmentalist' campaign encourages direct marketers to conserve" BtoB Magazine, September 15, 2008, by Amy Syracuse "For the United States Postal Service, going green isn't just about conserving natural resources and preserving the health of the planet. It's also about sustaining the postal mail business itself. After all, what would happen to this organization, which handles almost half the world's card and letter mail volume, if concerns about the environment were to dramatically erode business and consumer mail volume?" Click here to read more...
09/19/08	"Don't Forget the Human Element of Data Analysis" Multichannel Merchant, September 8, 2008, by Ellen Sato "In hot pursuit of actionable insights, data mining analysts and modelers are often held in the highest esteem by marketing organizations. They have magic at their disposal that will transform unwieldy data into new insights about our customers, and 75% of our circulation into 100% of our response." Click here to read more...