DM News and Tips

Offset postage hike with CRE
Looking for ways to offset the postage rate hike? If you normally use Business Reply Envelopes (BRE) for responses, try testing Courtesy Reply Envelopes (CRE). With the BRE you pay First Class postage of .39 cents plus a .50 handling fee for each reply. The recipient pays the postage with a CRE. Some publishers have successfully tested the CRE for both renewals and billing. They found that the postage savings improved their ROI. Try a test on your next mailing.

Reach Gen X and Gen Y with mail
A recent study by the USPS found that younger generations do respond to mail. Although shaped by digital media, 75% young consumers rate the direct mail they receive as valuable. They read retail advertising mail and are more likely to open and read credit card offers in the mail than by e-mail.

The Gen X generation was born between 1965 and 1972. They make up 17% of our population. The Gen Y generation is under age 30 and makes up about 25% percent of the population. To reach these younger generations you must use the right media channel to drive their messages. Mail offers the unique ability to make a physical connection with these young adults. It gets their attention and helps build brands.

Tracking responses becomes bigger challenge
Many catalogers have seen lower response from prospect lists in recent years. A big part of the problem is untracked orders that come in over the internet. Ten years ago, untracked orders might total 5 to 6 percent. Now, it’s not uncommon to have 50 percent of catalog orders untracked at the source code level.

Catalogs are a great tool to drive buyers to a web site. However it’s difficult to track them. Some catalogers have addressed the problem by matching web orders to their catalog recipients. Thet have found that these buyers spend more than other web customers. Also, by reallocating those untracked orders their lists now show a higher performance.

Quick update for business lists
Over 30% of business personnel will change some aspect of their business address each year. You can improve your house file by mailing to mail room managers. Provide them a list of all the contacts (with titles) that you have for that company. Include a business reply envelope. Ask them to update and change the list where appropriate. This type of mailing will produce over 50% in response rate. These updates to your database will improve deliverability on your future mailings, which saves postage and should improve response.