Category Archives: Direct Marketing

Feb 11
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Direct Mail Vs Email Marketing

By | Direct Marketing, Email Marketing | No Comments

I recently read an article on the popularity of online advertising and email communications and how print was dead.

OK we all know that online is a cheaper way for businesses to promote themselves and you can reach a wide range of customers hitting them directly in their email boxes but with the amount of email people receive now is it more effective than print?

I was having this debate with my good friend Michelle Eade about two weeks ago – she asked me to write an article for her new monthly newsletter that she is sending out to her customers. I naturally presumed that she was looking at doing it through email, and she announced it was a print newsletter!!!

Admittedly it took me aback at first, but then I thought about it – when I was still in my corporate life I used to receive a paper newsletter once every two months and I would always stop and read it, if not straight away – I would always read it. I used to always receive email newsletter as well and they just got lost in the noise of all the other people asking for things from me. I would read them if I noticed them – but 9 times out of 10 I would delete them – sorry everyone the truth is out there!!!

I’m not saying that I think print is better than email, it just means that you can’t ignore print.
As my last blog post on Memory Palaces alluded too, keeping the marketing mix alive with different aspects of marketing will only strengthen your ROI in the long run. This applies to both the B2B and B2C markets if you sell tangible products or services. A nice little stat for you – 65% of consumers still place a lot of interest in direct mail whether that be postcards, newsletters or letters whilst only 36% of businesses think that consumer value printed materials. (research by cardsmadeeasy October 2013).

This leads me nicely on to tell you about the latest marketing from Jigsaw. I too will start sending out monthly marketing email newsletters in conjunction with a paper newsletter. The email newsletter will be kept nice and brief with helpful hints and tip so when people do open it there are not faced with lots of daunting text.

The paper newsletter will have longer and different articles included so for people like me who think I have 5 minutes to have a sip of tea – then they can pick up my newsletter and take a break!!

If your interested in receiving my monthly newsletters, please email info@jigsawcommuications.co.uk and I will add you to my list!

Oh and please don’t forget to share my blog with your friends and family, or share through the various social media links. I would love to hear your thoughts on my post, what are your thoughts email marketing over direct mail? Do you think integrated marketing still has a place in this digital marketing age we are in?

I look forward to receiving your comments.

Jan 21
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Memory Palaces – every marketers target!

By | Branding, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Exhibitions, Food for thought, Marketing Strategy, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I loved the latest series of Shelock from the BBC and was disappointed that is finished last week. The last episode with Sherlock going head to head quite literally against Charles Augustus Magnussen; memory palace to memory palace! It was a fantastic episode with many twists and turns so no wonder there is still such a buzz about it.

The memory palace has been playing on my mind this last week (no pun intended) – how powerful it is, and how as marketers we are trying to tap into the memory palace to influence both consumers and customers with strong logos, branding and corporate images. Using different tactics and ensuring each tactic has a consistent image and message to make sure that we are locked into the memory palace of our customers so we don’t get kicked aside by our competitors.

This has led me to think about the retail environment, how 70% of purchasing decisions are made in front of the fixture and that you have 3 seconds to influence the consumers mind to choose your product over your competitors. This is where the power of the memory palace really comes into play. It’s vital that your product / brand has been securely locked in before they even reach the store.

Knowing your customers

This links back to my blog last week, about knowing your customers, where they go and what they read. This enables you to ensure that all “touch points” that your customer goes through in their every day life has your product or brand there. If your marketing budget can not stretch to TV advertising, then think about page advertising, money off coupons or even advertise on the social media sites they visit. Do they fill their car with fuel at a local garage? Try sponsoring the fuel pumps with your logo. If their son or daughter play’s football or rugby for the local town team, have a advertising board there.

Knowing this level of detail of your customers takes time and commitment so don’t expect it to happen over night. If you consider that Coca-Cola have been in the market for 128 years, no wonder they are securely lodged in all our minds! The one thing they have done very successfully is made sure that the brand has remained the same and consistent over the years. They have even managed to become a tradition at Christmas, many of my friends saying “it’s not Christmas until I see the Coke Lorry advert” – Well done Coca-cola!!! The other thing they have managed successfully are any changes to the brand; they made changes as a evolution otn a revolution so consumers and customers do not have to replace the images in their memory palace.

I know what your thinking – Well that’s great Laura, but I can’t wait 128 years! That’s true for all of us, but let me ask you this…… Do you know how many more customers you need to remember your product in order for you to add an additional 10%, 15%, 20% to your profit or market share? You will be surprised at the difference that some small consistent messages or small changes to your marketing can make year on your to your business.

After all, you don’t want to end up coming back like Moriarty asking your customers – Did you miss me???

Sharing is caring…

Please don’t forget to share my blog with your friends and family, or share through the various social media links. I would love to hear your thoughts on my post, what are your thoughts on the memory palace? Do you think integrated marketing still has a place in this digital marketing age we are in?

I look forward to receiving your comments.
Laura