Wednesday, April 25

Using Interactive Marketing to Make Your Product a "Common Sense" Purchase

Common sense is what we call our good decisions, the times we acted rationally, or the times when everything we did was justified. Leonardo Da Vinci said, "Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses." 
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We tend to only think of poor choices as foolish, crazy, or insane; and most good decisions are considered common sense. In addition, we listen to our common sense and react to our emotions based on it. Therefore, the best way to gain new customers is to make your product a "common sense purchase." The most effective way to do that is through an interactive multichannel marketing campaign. 

A well-coordinated multichannel approach engages customers through multiple mediums and stimulates multiple senses. This form of marketing can be effective in its own right, however if you are in an industry where humorous ads are appropriate, you will see far significant growth using humor in your ads. 
Even if you didn't realize it before, markets have employed this technique for decades; however, with the growth of the internet and social media in the last 10 years, an interactive multichannel approach has become commonplace and obvious to everyone. 

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Everything from the GoDaddy.com ads convincing you to "go to this site to see more 'unrated' content" to your local restaurant giving you a flyer instructing you to "like us on Facebook for online-only specials" is interactive marketing. 

For small and medium size businesses, a national tv spot and internet tease with a high-priced spokesperson is clearly not the sort of multichannel approach you need. However, a postcard mailer with a Personalized URL for the person to go to in order to get a special deal is quite effective. You've engaged them to check out your website, maybe fill out some questions (if you do this, always keep it short), and then at the end they can print out a coupon or get an online code for your offer.

Make your landing site an interesting place to stay and your brand will become more important in the lives of all the consumers who visit your page. 
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However, don't over do it. People like things that are visually simple! (Why do you think Google became so popular? It is because of the simplicity of their landing page.) 

Offer a fun Facebook photo album, such as our funny mailers album or interesting tweets relevant to your business and your customers. Then, use traditional mediums to advertise to and encourage people to check out your online content. 

As previously mentioned, this interactive multichannel approach is an effective way to market your business. However, if you can infuse this dynamic style with a humorous tone, you will generate substantially greater results.  Humor breaks down the natural defenses consumers have about being 'marketed to,' and humanizes your message which inevitably will lead them to interest in your brand.

Recently, Tipp Ex, a company producing liquid eraser, introduced a viral video which has had huge success because it is humorous and interactive, despite the fact that it has little to do with their product. But, it has widely exposed their brand nationwide.

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The ad is a featured YouTube video (seen here) in which a hunter is camping and a bear sneaks up on him. Then a link pops up and you decide whether to "shoot" the bear or not. No matter which option you click, the ad takes you to a page which uses a technique employed years before in a Burger King marketing campaign with a unique twist.  A video instantly plays and the man uses the liquid eraser style product to erase "shoots" with a blank space in the video title. Then, like the Burger King ad, you can write in anything you want. Such as, "a hunter dances with a bear." Click play and a video of what you typed will play.

Of course not all keywords hit, but this type of advertising engages the audience and, while not directly promoting the product, offers wide ranging exposure at a relatively low cost. This video is now viral, but before it had 20 million views they had to get the video exposure somehow. That was when the other media channels were used in order to create that truly interactive approach. 

Nowadays most interactive campaigns are focused online. While you should not fear using other mediums (tv, radio, billboards), for most businesses, online advertising is the most cost effective way to utilize interactive marketing. Moreover, in order to grow your interactive marketing, other mediums must be used. If you can coordinate your mailer, social media sites, and a video together to create an entertaining and interactive experience with your customers, then using your brand will become common sense.

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By: Will Pearlman

Thursday, April 19

Synergy Says:


SYNERGY SAYS: Lumpy Mailing for the Every Marketer

APRIL 2012


One of the biggest problems facing direct mail marketers today is the sheer volume of marketing materials being presented to buyers via direct mail every day. Everyday people open their mailbox to find stacks of postcards, envelopes, and catalog and are faced with the task of sorting the mail.  Direct mail marketers spend hours obsessing over this daily practice, trying to figure out how to keep mailers out of the trash pile or the maybe pile and into the “I need to take care of this now” pile. And we have seen some creative tactics over the years. But recently “guerrilla” mail marketers are changing the shape of their direct mail campaigns- literally.

What is Lumpy Mail?

 Sending unsolicited packages or envelopes stuffed with freebies and trinkets to make it look like there is something more valuable in an envelope than a sales letter. Lumpy mailers are known for generating double digit response rates- consistently. They maximize on customer curiosity- not knowing the contents or sender of a strange package is enough to drive potential buyers crazy, or at least drive them to open the package. 


Open rates. Prospects and potentials can’t seem to rip into full envelopes fast enough, and even when sent to a poorly selected list of prospects lumpy mail is SURE to get opened. Response rates are also much higher than on average direct mail campaigns (which typically illicit a 1-3% response) some companies are boasting a 50% response on Lumpy campaigns, making the additional investment of lumpy mailers more than worth the expense.



The major problem is redemption. Even with great design, and an envelope full of lumps and trinkets enticing potential buyers to OPEN the envelope getting them to redeem the offer you’re presenting is another step all together.



With its extra packaging, inserts, and cheap trinkets, lumpy mail is clearly wasteful.  Environmentally conscious prospects really dislike receiving a package full of plastics and papers that is going to end up in the trashcan, and this distaste can carry over and effect brand image over time.   Not to mention the additional expense of producing the materials, print, and perhaps the biggest expenditure- postage, are enough to over extend any marketing budget.



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Tactics that make expensive lumpy mailers effective can easily be scaled down to fit into direct mail campaign. Great design, clever tag lines, unique packaging and just plain creativity are enough to tempt most consumers sense of curiosity into opening an envelope, but to really initiate a worthwhile return on investment mailers need to focus not on open rates, but redemption rates. 

Postcards
The thrifty alternative to lumps

 A postcard can be dressed up into a killer campaign when "lumpy tactics" are applied- and for a fraction of the cost. Here are five simple tricks to take your postcards to the next level:

1. Personalize: Digital variable printing makes it possible to include each recipients name on the cover of the postcard they receive
2. Di-Cutting: Sick of the standard Square Postcard? We can di-cut your mail piece into the shape of your product, or any other shape you desire!
3. Go BIG! 8.5"X 11 postcards are sure to make your statement, and stand out in a mailbox!
4. Think mysterious: Send out a postcard with simply a Personalized URL on the front. Recipients will have to know what offer you have waiting especially for them on their own Landing Page!
5. Shock it up... Us an unlikely image on the front of your postcard, such as extremely close up shot, or surreal looking photo to catch recipients off guard.

Tuesday, April 17

The Feel of Paper: Why Tangible Mail is More Effective Than E-mail

As a conscientious consumer, I don't like to waste things. I try to recycle and make sure what trash I produce makes it in a receptacle, so when I receive coupons in the mail, I usually stash them away and use them over time. Whether it's a product I use everyday or once in a while, why would I waste something of value? However, if that same coupon is in email form, I guarantee it will be lost in my computer's master 'In' pile.

There is plenty of science behind the idea that tangible association stimulates greater interest in a product.
If your interested in the numbers and psychology behind it, check out: 

Instead, I would like to share with you my experience working on a cruise ship in Hawaii. As a photographer, we used tons of paper. TONS of paper. Despite that we used digital cameras, every photo we shot of our guests, we printed. Usually around 8,000 photos a week. People always wanted to know what we did with the photos no one bought. I'd always tell them, "we give 'em to the boys in the engine room, its how we'll get to Maui tomorrow!" People always got a laugh out of that. Of course in truth, we recycled the paper at an onshore facility. However, guests always suggested we go to a digital viewing system to reduce waste. 

We printed every photo because history on the other ships in our fleet shows when people can physically hold the photos, they buy more of them. And, as anyone who has bought detergent will tell you, when your sitting there with two items in your hand and both look good, it's hard to pick one (although usually after about 10 minutes, I realize one of them is actually fabric softener, not detergent). 

Ketchup or Catsup?

When people have something tangible - whether its mail, detergent, or photographs - the stimulation of multiple senses leads to a more lasting impression. In addition, when something is right there in front of you, it is much more difficult to pass up. Ladies, you know this, ever been at the mall and your trying to pick between two skirts that you like? It is a lot easier to buy only one when you shop online, isn't it? Be honest!

Unlike an email, that gets buried in your inbox, never to be seen again, a coupon or relevant mailer usually goes on the fridge or at least in a draw to save for later. Maybe your customer doesn't respond that week, but they find your ad a month later in the drawer and realize, "hey, I could use that now!"


With something tangible, customers will usually feel much more comfortable going into your business and approaching your employees. For those of us who aren't social butterflies, it is much easier to walk into a business saying, "Hi, I received this coupon in the mail about . . ." rather than looking for help like a deer in headlights. It gives customers direction and generates a more personal experience because they will be driven to interact with your employees!

The point is with direct mail your customers or prospective customers receive something tangible, that leaves a longer impression and a more personal connection. So take advantage and connect with your customers using direct mail through Synergy!

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By: Will Pearlman

Tuesday, April 10

The Correlation Between Humor Appreciation, Personal Coping, and Effective Advertising

Humorous ads are by far the most successful when the jokes "hit". However with great reward comes great risk and most people avoid humor in advertising as a way of controlling risk. The risk that is expected though, does not exist if you find the right target. Of course, when you target a demographic, presentation is key - you must say the right things in the right way to the right people - in order to convince your demographic to purchase your product. 
This Billboard Comically and Effectively Sells this Toothpaste
Company's Claim that their Product "Builds Strong Teeth"

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Using the Multidimentional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS) created by Dr. James Thorson, Dr. Carolyn Costley and Dr. Scott Koslow - from the University of Waikato (New Zealand) - along with Dr. Graeme Galloway, La Trobe University (Australia), rated the effectiveness of various advertising styles and compounded their results into a Humor Appreciation (HA), rating. 


Quoting from their study report: "Humor appreciation (HA) appears to measure the degree to which an individual likes humor from others. Thus, scores on this could correspond to ratings across the board, a general tendency to find someone else’s humor attempts amusing. "


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In the study, they considered factors such as using humor as a survival adaptive strategy; to cope with stress or denial of embarrassing emotions. While they admit that the HA scale " is in its infancy of study", they do show that humorous ads themed towards personal coping tend to be the most effective in reaching potential consumers. Of course, you want your ad to be strongly tied to your product. Therefore, depending on your industry, finding a way to humorously express how your product helps consumers cope with personal or daily problems (anything from their mortgage payments to their family problems to not being able to scrub the last bits of egg off the frying pan) is the best way scientifically to market to your target demographic. 






This Got Milk? ad plays on a common household situation
and comically expresses how milk can help solve the situation

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Find out the problems they are struggling with and design a campaign that: A) enables them to laugh at their problems, B) expresses how your product will solve their problem. If you can design an advertisement that hits these two points you will have demonstrated the value of your product and the comedy will leave a lasting impression.  The other key is to make sure "the humor appeals to the targeted audience; otherwise, it is just not funny." Of course some might say this is the most difficult part, but that is where it is up to you, it is what makes marketing a fun challenge! And if you are successful in creating an advertisement using these principals it highly likely that your product will be the one people are reaching for.






Reference: Carolyn Costley, Scott Koslow, Graeme Galloway, "SENSE OF HUMOR AND ADVERTISING: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE MODEL", in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 29, eds. Susan M. Broniarczyk and Kent Nakamoto, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 225-226. 



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By: Will Pearlman 



Monday, April 2

Laughter: The Best Medicine for Your Postcard Mailer





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There is no doubt about it: if someone laughs at your ad, it has been received favorably. Obviously humorous advertising does not work for every industry (sorry to those of you in the mortuary business). But for most, laughter is the best medicine. Moreover, if you can target your humor into a cogent message that promotes your product, your marketing campaign will undoubtedly exceed expectations. Personalized postcards are a great way to connect with your potential customers on a direct level and cost effectively reaching a large demographic. Postcards combine a widespread reach and personal touch with a direct way to catch your customers attention without breaking the budget! Additionally, if you can make someone laugh with your postcard, you'll have peaked their interest in your brand. Here are 4 keys to designing a humorous postcard mailer:

1. Everyone won't get your joke!

Just as in all advertising, you will not get a 100% response rate. Some people might not find your ad funny, or might not get your reference. This is OKAY. Some people are afraid to go with comedy because they think humor will isolate those who do not find the joke amusing. THIS IS FALSE! If you and the other members of your marketing team think your ad is amusing, I guarantee plenty of the people you're mailing it to will find it amusing as well. They aren't different from you, they are human too! Sure some people will not get it, but they will still see the offer and a few will still respond. More importantly, the majority who find your ad amusing will remember it much longer than a standard piece of direct mail. Some humor is more obvious and some industries lend themselves to jokes better. You need to find the right balance for your product and market. Here is a great example from a local pizza franchise:

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2. Humorous Ads Can Inform 


Just because not everyone will get the reference, doesn't mean you should avoid a humorous advertisement. As long as your scope is not too narrow; if your reference is historical or pop culture related, don't be afraid to use it. If your worried about it, you can always add a caption or postscript (p.s.) with a one line explanation. Some people might look up something you referenced in your joke and remember the ad that peaked their curiosity. Others can be more thought provoking, such as this Whiskey ad referencing Sir Bedivere - One of Sir Arthur's Knights of the Round Table - and his infamous Cask.
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People are more likely to remember an ad that educated them about something, peaked their curiosity or interests, AND made them laugh rather than just the latter. 





3. Using Personalization

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So once you've identified who you want to market your product to, you need to have an idea about their interests. Personalize your postcard using names and local references if you can. Even if your working on a nationwide campaign, try to create unique themes for regions and timely themes for holidays and seasons. 


4. Keep It Simple
Especially with advertising, people want to be entertained and informed about the offer, quickly. Most people become bored with statistics and prolonged sales pitches. So using a funny postcard with a personal touch inevitably will generate more interest in most industries. 




Postcards are a great way to use humor, convey your message, generate business/brand interests, and more importantly, mass expose your product. Mailers in postcard form can be more effective and less costly because your message is in front of the recipient as soon as they view the piece. With a postcard, you can catch their eye much more effectively than using an enveloped mailer. 


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By: Will Pearlman