Statement Printing

Many printing and direct marketing companies are convincing businesses to invest in direct marketing campaigns while they themselves don’t.

In the February 2008 issue of Print Solutions, a letter from Managing Editor Andy Brown discusses the importance of printing and direct mail marketing companies following the advice that they give to their customers. According to Brown, “Every day, distributors persuade clients to spend money on direct mail, flyers, brochures and promotional products, but they don’t invest in marketing themselves.” He goes on to say that “Word-of-mouth operates like the big bang theory. Before it expands far and wide, it has to start somewhere. That somewhere is coordinated marketing campaigns.”

If you want to convince your customers to add advertisements to their statement printing or invoice printing, and to mail direct mail pieces such as card mailers and postcards, you need to make sure that they see you following your own advice. Send them your own direct mail piece or give them an example of one of your own successful direct marketing attempts.

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While it’s extremely important to market to the public and find new customers, you definitely don’t want to forget about the customers you already have.

In Chapter 2 of the book entitled, “Direct Marketing: Strategy, Planning, Execution,” Edward Nash talks about the importance of “repeat customers”. According to Nash, “The repeat customers, who produce most of any company’s sales and profits, should get priority. Avoiding the loss of one customer is more profitable than gaining three new ones.”

With a direct mail marketing campaign, you can market to both new customers and old ones. Try including special discounts and coupons in your statement printing and invoice printing. Then, send out postcards or card mailers to entice others to try your product or service.

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In a blog entitled, “Drip, Drip, Drip. I hear Marketing in the Background” on the Branding & Marketing webstie, Chris Brown explains how marketing is like a pot of coffee. Brown says that with both coffee and marketing “you’ve got to keep “walking the pot” as we used to say back when I waitressed in college. Keep the coffee coming. When you’re doing the b2b marketing thing, often it’s a combination of about 5 or 6 things before you get that phone call or email that turns the process into high gear.”

A direct mail marketing campaign should be a key ingredient in your marketing recipe. By sending out postcards, card mailers, statement printing, and invoice printing, you can stay in touch with old customers and encourage new customers to try your product or service. When used alongside other forms of marketing, you’ll be able to reach the public and achieve your marketing goals.

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Regardless of the size of your company, your marketing budget, or your yearly profits, everyone can use marketing tips. This is because the world of marketing is constantly changing, and you need to be aware of these changes if you want to stay in the game.

In the blog entitled, “100+ Marketing Ideas” on Vicky’s Virtual Office, Vicky lists some valuable tips for marketing your product or service. Like most marketing how-to lists, Vicky includes direct mail. Under Marketing Communications, Vicky suggests the following direct mail marketing tips:

* Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current direct mail lists or consider replacing a list that’s not performing up to expectations.
* Rather than sending direct mail in plain white envelopes, use colored or oversized envelopes to pique recipients’ curiosity.
* Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast faxes, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the beginning of the message as well as on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.

By testing different mailing lists and including special discounts in your card mailer, postcard, statement printing, or invoice printing, you have a much better chance of getting a customer’s attention and convincing them to act on your offer. Try these direct mail marketing tips and see what works for you.

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