You’ve heard the expression “viral” used to describe a concept or trend that sweeps the internet like wildfire.
For businesses, “viral” refers to marketing that’s initiated by the company but carried out in large part by the company’s customers. Your email marketing campaigns, as well as campaign landing pages, should contain a viral component whenever possible. […]

The people on your mailing list would have no trouble telling you exactly why they like the offer-specific landing pages: They click a link in your email and find themselves looking at a page full of information about exactly the product or service that caught their attention!
But visitor satisfaction is only the beginning. Here are […]

If you’re one of the many direct marketers scrutinizing your email marketing metrics, chances are you’re looking closely at the difference between email click-through rates and actual website sign-ups.
Click-throughs, of course, are reason to celebrate. They mean that your email offer was compelling enough to lead the potential customer to your site. But, once there, […]

Over at Direct, Ken Magill lets email marketers know “Why the CMO Thinks You’re an Idiot,” taking the industry to task for failing to measure results. Magill bases his dim view of the field on findings from a recent Jupiter Research study (fee required) that found at least half of email marketers fail to regularly […]

Every month you get a mailer from a home services business offering a 10 percent discount on window washing. The mailer comes, you recognize it, usually you toss it, but sometimes (if you’re planning on getting the windows done) you keep it to use.
But what if the business made a different offer in each mailer? […]

The owner of a mid-size business in a regional market wrote in with this question about direct mail strategy for introducing a new product:
“If you had a choice of mailing to several communities one time (possibly twice) as opposed to mailing to a few communities two (maybe three or four) times, what would you recommend?”
In […]

Whether your winter holidays are spent out of the office with friends and family or at your desk madly wrapping up year-end projects, chances are you’ll be taking a few minutes to reflect on the year that’s coming to a close.
On the professional front, think about your direct mail experiences — not just the trends […]

Tracking response to individual mailings is a critically important part of evaluating a mailing list’s performance and your overall direct mail marketing strategy. Here is an overview of four key mail metrics: bounce rate, open rate, and click-through rate (for email) and conversion rate (for both email and postal mail).
Bounce rate (email)
Bounce rate is […]

In the increasingly complex world of online marketing, having a targeted mailing list and a sending a great email offer are as important as ever. But a third factor has emerged as a critical determinant of direct marketing ROI: the offer-specific landing page.
Experienced online marketers will tell you that consumers expect email links to take […]

Never have consumers been courted and wooed as they are today, surrounded by branding, PR, advertising, and marketing campaigns urging them to try — and remain faithful to — a panoply of products and services.
Consumers hear so many messages from so many media sources that it’s often difficult to tell which message has motivated them […]