Direct Marketing News, Views and Opinions

Just when you thought you knew it all—there’s MORE!

2012-10-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

Paul&Partners is proud to help with your printing, mailing and emailing campaigns, but now we bring something more to the table. Effective immediately Paul&Partners has partnered with PMC—Print Mail Communications—in Lorton, VA to serve you even better. Yes, YOU are the big winner. Here’s why: MORE data processing power MORE personalization power (ask me—you’ll

Come fly with us. The USPS reorganizes.

2012-10-09T13:27:00.003-04:00

If you like the efficiency of the hub-and-spoke system that most US airlines use, you’ll love the new USPS organizational structure. However, if you’ve ever missed your connection by 30 seconds, maybe you won’t. In essence, the Post Office has proposed to reduce the number of major mail processing plants from 461 to fewer than 200 over the next two years. Those closures mean fewer

Do you get it Now?

2012-10-02T15:30:00.001-04:00

If you're like most Americans, you've seen the Post Office ads for EDDM--Every Door Direct Mail--advertised on TV but probably didn't "get it." It sounds so easy. Small businessman, do the mailing yourself and save money! But you can't believe everything you see in a 30-second TV commercial. For mailers who can use EDDM effectively, it is great. For those who can't, it isn't. It all

When Good Names Go Bad

2012-09-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Direct marketers have known for years that even great lists can go “stale.” People move away, become disinterested, or die. Life happens; marketers adjust. For years these marketers have cleaned their postal data regularly and eliminated bad or duplicate addresses through merge/purges, and running data through NCOA (National Change of Address). Marketers who wanted to go the extra

What’s the Big Idea this time?

2012-09-18T11:54:00.001-04:00

You’ve got to hand it to those folks at the Post Office. They keep coming up with new and inventive ideas. Some of the ideas are great (intelligent mail tracking comes immediately to mind), some fail (remember banks, drug stores, toy trucks and stuff animals?) and some simply drive us nuts. Their latest idea falls into the third category. But let’s back up a bit. A couple of years

Adios, Postnet. There’s a new guy in town.

2012-09-11T16:13:00.000-04:00

The days of the Postnet barcode—familiar to anyone who has ever received a direct mail letter, postcard, newsletter, flyer, or magazine in the last 20 years—are numbered. Faithful old Postnet is riding off into the sunset. He has served us well, but like Sheriff Will Kane in High Noon, Postnet knows when it is time to move on. Looking a bit like the white picket fence around the

R U QRious?

2012-05-01T12:49:00.001-04:00

Last summer the USPS encouraged mailers to use QR (Quick Response) codes. Someone must have been listening. The use of QR codes increased by an incredible 4500% in 2011, and is expected to continue to rise. QR codes-those checkerboard-on-a-bad-acid-trip thingies-are popping up everywhere. In ads for Macy's and Target, on real estate signs, on hats and tee shirts, on maps, emails,

Do You Get It?

2012-04-25T11:22:00.002-04:00

You've seen EDDM-Every Door Direct Mail-advertised on TV but probably didn't "get it." For mailers who can use it, it is a great system. For those who can't, it isn't. For just about everybody it has the potential to be confusing and frustrating. So in the interests of alleviating stress and confusion, here are SIMPLIFIED rules to help you take advantage of EDDM. Your mailing piece

The Small Screen is Big News

2012-04-03T14:33:00.000-04:00

Perhaps if your temples are greying, you can remember when TV was "The Small Screen." Now the family television is 60" and expanding, while movie screens are shrinking to fit intimate art house venues. Today, "The Small Screen" means that ubiquitous palm-sized smart phone you schlep around everywhere. That little device has been a technology game changer. Marketers have redesigned

Warning: You've missed 90% of what I'm saying!

2012-03-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

Statistics show that recipients misinterpret emails 90% of the time. That's absolutely horrifying! Emails are the most common form of business communications today. If 90% of what you send is not taken as you intended it, and 90% of what you read is not as the sender intended it, there are huge margins for interpersonal upset. That upset in turn can lead to lost friendships, lost

In case you were wondering...

2012-03-13T14:25:00.000-04:00

If neither rain nor snow nor dead of night can stop the US Post Office, now we can add a new non-stopper: Congress. This is the same Congress that has handicapped the post office with massive early retirement payments...the same Congress that is up in arms about the huge deficit that the USPS is running...the same Congress that is insisting that the Post Office get its house in order. Or

Dear Upset Customer,

2012-02-29T14:21:00.000-05:00

I am truly sorry that your event announcement did not arrive until after your event. I am sure that not having your audience aware of the event until two days afterward did indeed have a dampening effect on your turnout. I can only imagine how many dollars you lost at the door. And I don't wish to imagine your boss's reaction to a largely empty room. If you need help with editing your

2012-02-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

Rumors of email's demise are similarly misguided. Sure texting and social media are getting bigger, but email is projected to be a $1.6 billion dollar business in 2012. And $1.6 billion is nothing to sneeze at. While SEO and social media currently make up 70% of online marketing budgets, 94% of online behavior is checking emails. So maybe the budget is out of whack. Consider the

Write it Right! 9 Tips to Creating Great Headlines

2011-11-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Headline writing is often excruciatingly difficult. That's why headline writers are respected more than any one else and paid more than anyone else in a newsroom. [No, wait! That's wrong. Let's start again.] Headline writing is often excruciatingly difficult. [I got that part right]. No one notices if the headline works, ie if it synopsizes the story that follows and does so in a

So you think you've got it hard?

2011-10-26T13:47:00.000-04:00

The USPS is losing money at the astounding rate of about $23.3 million a day. A Day! And this humungous loss comes after it encouraged employees to take early retirement...retired the once-ubiquitous blue curb-side mail boxes...closed about 7% of the post office locations around the country just two years ago...merged under-utilized facilities...hiked postage rates repeatedly...and begged

Caution: Reading this article could make you sick, too!

2011-10-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

Unless you've been living under an imposed news quarantine, you know that the USPS is in trouble. Big trouble. The famously (and arguably) non-governmental organization must report to the government overlords of the Postal Regulatory Commission and the US Congress--(an arrangement that is enough to give even a healthy organization

Name that Tune!

2011-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

List brokers are singing the blues. Competition is vicious; rental volume, blamed variously on the weak economy, jittery clients and postal increases is down; prices—which do seem to obey certain inviolate economic laws are down; ultimately commissions—the lifeblood of list brokers and managers—are down. All in all, it's truly a downer. In years of being in

Coming soon! To a mailbox near you! The next Great American Make-Over! Starring: The United States Post Office!

2011-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Not unlike the popular TV show in which a busload of contractors arrive at a home of a deserving-but-beleaguered "every family," intent on re-inventing the dilapidated structure (while sending the gob-struck family to Disney World for a week), the USPS is starting a dramatic make-over of its own. But without the diversionary trip to Disney. Not unlike

Psst! I'm talking to YOU! Almost 8 hints to cut through the noise

2011-09-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Machines run our lives today. They ring. They beep. They vibrate. They unfailingly demand our attention. And if you're like most of us, you readily give in to their insistent electronic demands. That we can still function despite all the electronic distraction is a testament to our capacity to multi-task. Multi-tasking is both an amazing

Do you want Tea or Coffee? Multi-tasking makes it tough on marketers

2011-08-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Anyone who has a kid (or a wife/husband, for that matter) will understand. Ever ask a simple question ("Do you want tea or coffee?") and get "uh-huh" or "Yes, Mom" for an answer? Someone didn't hear, wasn't listening or was probably multi-tasking. Maybe all three. Our brains only have so much capacity. But ask a tricky question (Tea? Coffee?) of someone

Bulking Up First Class Mail?

2011-08-16T10:00:00.002-04:00

The USPS, which has been hemorrhaging money for a decade or longer, is desperate to keep mail in the mailstream. Beset by reduced volume (thank you, internet, email and the economy), rising manpower costs (thank you, ballooning retirement fund), an aging infrastructure and too many facilities, the USPS is creatively looking for ways to reduce cost and increase mail volume.

So you think you've got it hard now? IRS eliminates 14% of nonprofits

2011-08-09T10:00:00.001-04:00

With a click of the computer, the IRS has trimmed 275,000 nonprofits—or about 14% of the national total—from its roster of tax-exempt organizations, claiming that the organizations had not filed legally required documents for three consecutive years. Three years??! Now that's a Big Oopsie! They shoulda oughta known. While some of the

Doing it By the Numbers...

2011-08-02T10:00:00.004-04:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes a few statistics can trigger a million thoughts. To wit:52%. Percent of total US mail volume that is direct mail.$45.2 billion. The sum US businesses spent on direct mail in 2010—a 3.1% increase over 2009.$48 billion. The projected expenditure in the US for direct mail in 2011—a 5.8% increase over 2010.149 million. The number of addresses to which

In email, your timing is everything.

2011-07-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

In real estate, they'll tell you that success is based on only three factors: location, location, and location. It's a simple formula, and it works every time.But you are in marketing, not real estate. And you're looking for ideas that work.Maybe you've thought about using emails to promote your business or service. And you should be! It's fast. It's inexpensive. It's a foundation of

Multi-Channel Marketing: A Generational Divide The Times They are a'Changing!

2011-07-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Bob Dylan knew it. Now Pitney Bowes confirms it. The Times They are a'Changing. A new study by Pitney Bowes demonstrates that the practitioner's age makes a huge difference in media selection among marketers. 47% of marketers over age 55 are satisfied with the results they get with just one media channel, while only 16% of the under-35 crowd limit themselves to just one media.