We spend a lot of time reading about and experiencing how great digital media and e-marketing is–and it is wonderful. However, it’s important to keep an eye on the big picture–which should include an integrated marketing strategy. Print is an important driver for other media–especially those online.

According to a United States Postal Service study:

- 8 out of 10 households say they either read or scan print advertsing mail sent to their homes

- 51% of consumers say traditional mail is their preferred method of contact.

- 1 out of 3 households say they made one or more purchases thanks to the advertising mail they received.

According to the Direct Marketing Association’s Insert Council, campaigns combining direct mail and Internet yield up to 25% higher response than Internet alone. In addition print ad inserts prompted 52% of readers to visit advertiser’s websites.

There are many more pertinent factoids regarding the importance of print as part of an effective marketing strategy–if you want to learn more–give us a call at 1-800-274-0016 or email service@hamblincompany.com.

According to print industry watchdog, Gorelick & Associates, the Postal Services Move Update program, designed to reduce the amount of undeliverable mail, has been in effect since November 2008. 

Effective January 1, 2010, the agency will begin use of its MERLIN reporting system to calculate the percentage of a Standard Mail of a mailing that isn’t compliant with the program, then assess a seven-cent per piece penalty on undeliverable mail in excess of a thirty percent threshold.

Have questions? Hamblin can help answer them (direct mail is a specialty of ours)y–email service@hamblincompany.com.

In the second edition of their April newsletter, Gorelick & Associates, Inc. confirm the U.S. Postal Service net loss for Jan., 2009 was only $751 million. Small change compared to the amounts the US government is doling out to “rescue” the economy.

The newsletter also confirms what many professionals in advertising know already: multi-channel advertising is a win-win approach to selling products and services rather than sticking to a single channel. This approach enables you to reach a more diverse audience.

In a survey conducted by Advertising Age Custom Publishing entitled “2009 Marketing in a Down Economy”, 55% of those surveyed indicated they had budgeted as much or more for direct mail in 2008.

A majority of the surveyed group indicated online advertising together with direct mail were the preferred channels for advertising in tandem.

Gorelick points out the variety of formats for direct mail: letters, postcards and different classes of mail is also a real advantage.

Have you ever been curious about how effective your direct mail campaigns really are? How’s this for feedback (unedited comments from a real recipient of a recent mailing–no affiliation to our company or clients):

“Yesterday I received another piece of direct mail addressed in a manner that always gets my dander up. You see, it was an appeal from a high profile university asking for contributions addressed to my EX, who has also been deceased for the last 5 years. In the first place, I’ve never understood why I’m getting that mail as my EX never lived at my address. I don’t even know where the list is coming from. So I did what I usually do with all those mail pieces—I threw it away. I don’t pay any attention to the offer or need what they have to offer because after all, it wasn’t meant for me.”

Yikes…not exactly the response direct mailers are looking for! This scenario repeats itself time and again and begs the question, how clean is your mailing list? If it’s not current, you may risk offending those you are trying to reach. Perhaps the new Move Update standards the Post Office has put into effect are going to be a better thing for all of us in the long run. You see, when you get your list NCOA (National Change of Address) certified, you can also request that the list be run against their deceased list or prison list. After all, if you have an important message to get to a target audience, it’s too late for that deceased person that you just mailed to and it costs you money time after time after time if you don’t get them off your list. And it’s a real turn off to the person receiving it—our sample recipient canattest to that!

 If you would like more information regarding what USPS Move Update is go to www.usps.com/mailpro/2008/mayjune/page5.htm.