Have you noticed that despite the economic downturn, we are still sending you our newsletter every month? If you’re a customer of ours, you know we won’t stop building the relationship and providing useful information even though we’re watching our expenditures closely just as you are.

What we have learned is this: that in volatile economic times, businesses that continue to advertise and engage in proactive marketing do better during the economic downturn and position themselves to prosper when the economy recovers.

You don’t have to take our word for it. In 2001 noted researchers Yankelovich Partners and Harris Interactive conducted a survey of 505 key executives across all major business segments.

Here are some of the major findings:

http://macgra.com/0903Printips.pdf

As we’ve mentioned in previous issues of Printips, the success of any direct mail marketing campaign depends primarily on the mail list. Studies have shown that 60% of the response rate can be attributed to the mail list, while only 20% each is attributable to the offer and the appearance of the mail piece. Given the importance of a mailing list, we recommend that all our customers understand the basics in order to make the best use of any list – internally-generated or purchased.

Mail lists can be divided into two basic categories: house lists and rented lists.

A house list is one you compile yourself and consists of customers and prospects. The customer portion of a house list might include both current customers and those who haven’t purchased in a while (and therefore would be considered inactive). Prospects are those whose demographic characteristics match those of your customers, but who haven’t yet purchased anything from you.

Rented lists consist of compiled lists containing names and addresses that have been gathered from secondary sources; response lists, composed of people who have made purchases or responded to offers; and specialty lists, containing names and addresses of a specific nature (such as a mailing list covering education, healthcare, religion, or government listings). Compiled lists are further subdivided into residential or consumer lists and business lists. Finally, a residential list may include names or may contain a generic descriptor such as resident or occupant instead of the name.

http://macgra.com/0512Printips.pdf

Q: When is the best time to market your business?

A: All the time.

Marketing – making people aware of your business, its products and services, and convincing them to buy – is a fundamental activity for any business and a requirement for sales growth. Broadly defined, marketing encompasses almost everything a business does, from providing good customer service, to having a consistent look in printed materials, to networking, to sales calls.

One of the most popular methods of marketing is direct mail – mailing something of interest or value to customers and prospects. Especially for small businesses, direct mail is favored over media advertising (newspaper, magazine, radio, and television) because it can be directed at people who are likely to be interested in or receptive to receiving information on your product or service. The direct mail marketing piece not only describes the product or service in a way that provokes interest from the recipient; it also tells the recipient what action to take next, and may even give a deadline for responding.

http://macgra.com/0511Printips.pdf

Your business card. When you started your own business, it was probably the first thing you had printed. Or when you joined your company, your business cards may have been waiting for you on your first day of employment. You may even have saved a business card from your very first job – that’s how powerful it is to see your name in print.

It is generally agreed that a business card performs the following basic functions:

• to introduce you and your company to potential customers, suppliers, or colleagues; and

• to provide all the relevant information by which someone can contact you.

In addition, a business card can serve as an advertising function – a mini billboard that describes your competitive edge or gives reasons why someone should consider doing business with you.

Other reasons why someone would accept your business card were identified by Dr. Lynella Grant in her publication The Business Card Book. According to Dr. Grant, someone is likely to keep your business card for a personal or social reason; in order to give your card to someone else (a sort of third-party business referral); to update your contact information from a previously-accepted business card; or because your business card is “likeable, unusual, or useful.”

http://macgra.com/0510Printips.pdf