May 2009

How Can My Social Media Efforts Support My Email Marketing Programs and Vice Versa?

Submitted by dave_reik on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 11:02

We’re all trying to figure out exactly how social media fits into and boosts our marketing efforts. Last week, I highlighted a Q&A with Paul Gillin, where he touched on the overlap between social media and direct marketing. Today, I’d like to point out two interesting articles from DM News that address ways that social media and email marketing support each other. They are:

• Problem Solver: “How can I integrate social media with my email marketing program?” by Nicholas Einstein

• “How to use social media to grow your email list” by Morgan Stewart

Here’s what I’ve learned from these articles. Email (one-to-one personal communication) is the preferred vehicle to convey promotional offers and drive transactions. Social networks are a great platform from which you can provide customer service and collaborate with fans. Ideally, people will follow you in both channels. Therefore, you want to use each channel to drive your audience to the other channel.

I’ve summarized the synergies between social media and email marketing into four main beneficial actions:

1. Listen to and learn from your social community—let your fans help you hone your marketing message (same point that Paul Gillin made for direct marketing).

2. Deepen communications with your audience by giving them multiple ways to converse with you. If people find you on social media, make it easy for them to link to your email programs. If you reach them via email marketing, encourage them to join your social communities.

3. Make it easy for your audience to spread the word and tell others about you by adding a “share-to-social” function in your email communications.

4. Encourage people to subscribe to all types of communications with your organization. Make sure members of your social networks know they can stay in touch via email subscriptions and invite people to join your social communities via email messages.

The bottom line is, we want to have as many conversations with our audience as possible and we want to encourage them to share these discussions with their friends.

Where Do Social Networking and Direct Marketing Overlap?

Submitted by dave_reik on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 11:18

If you’ve ever wondered, “What on earth does social networking have to do with direct mail?”, you must read this Target Marketing Q&A between Paul Gillin, author or the recently released “Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!” and Ethan Boldt, editor-in-chief, Inside Direct Mail.

Throughout these seven questions and answers, Gillin presents numerous examples of how these marketing functions are starting to come together and support each other. To me, the most hard-hitting point in the dialogue was Gillin’s statement:

“We don’t control our brands anymore. Brands are controlled by our constituents. We have a role in shaping the brand, of course, but branding is now a process of constant back and forth with the people who will interact with these brands.”

Given this development, Gillin suggests that direct marketers use their social community to help refine their marketing message. Let your community tell you what messages work and don’t work—they’re a great testing ground.

But read the article to get other ideas of how social marketing can support your direct mail strategy.

Custom Media Market Reflects Consumers’ Positive Response

Submitted by dave_reik on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 15:00

A few weeks ago, Jim Offel reported on the encouraging findings from a recent study by Roper Public Affairs of consumer attitudes to custom media and the organizations that provide them. One of the study’s most interesting conclusions was that 68% of consumers who read custom publications say it helps them make better purchasing decisions. Then last week, Dennis Cook blogged on how this study revealed that custom publications influence consumers’ perceptions of hospitals in a very positive way.

Now you may wonder…do corporate and hospital marketing investments mirror this upbeat consumer response? According to another recent study from the Custom Publishing Council (CPC), in cooperation with ContentWise —“Characteristics Study: A Look at the Volume and Type of Custom Publications in America,” the answer is definitely yes.

This study finds that the custom publishing industry remains strong, amid the economic downturn and the challenges facing consumer media. The results reveal that circulation has skyrocketed, pages per issue have increased, and issue frequency has held steady.

Some of the key findings:

Circulation: The average circulation per issue increased from 30,044 in 2007 to 37,340 in 2008. The average circulation per title increased from 270,000 in 2007 to 336,060 in 2008. The total number of custom publication copies distributed increased 7.4 percent from 2007 to 2008.

Pages Per Issue: The average pages per issue for custom publications increased from 22.2 to 23.2. Since 1999, the number of pages per issue has grown 68.1%.

Frequency: The average annual frequency of custom publications remained steady at 9 times per year.

Online: The use of online publications increased from 18 to 22 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Email us at info@dcpubs.com if you want to learn more about the findings of these studies and what they mean for your organization.

Team Diablo Joins Relay For Life

Submitted by deborah_kirk on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 11:03

DCP is proud to work with the American Cancer Society’s California division on their newsletter, Advances. The Spring 2009 issue features an inspiring cover story on Relay For Life, the Society’s signature fundraiser. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, this extraordinary event offers people the opportunity to join the global fight against cancer. While working on this issue, we at Diablo Publications realized just how much we wanted to be part of this opportunity to make a difference.

This summer, we are excited to be participating in our local Relay For Life event. On July 18, our team, dubbed Team Diablo—comprised of editors, designers, project managers, and others—will join others at El Divisadero Park in Walnut Creek, for a 24-hour event that is often described as “life-changing.” Highlights include a Survivors Lap, in which cancer survivors take a victory lap around a track, and the Luminaria Ceremony, honoring survivors and those who have died from the disease.

For us, it’s always interesting to learn more about the clients we work with. Whether it’s attending an A’s or Giants game or viewing On Demand movies from Comcast, we enjoy getting to know their world better. In the case of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, it’s especially enlightening, because we get to experience firsthand what our client is about—dedicated to raising funds to help humanity.

It’s a true privilege to support the work of the American Cancer Society and take part in an event that celebrates the power of hope and the courage to fight back. We’ll let you know how it goes and how much money was raised.

To Allow Comments or Not To Allow Comments...

Submitted by dave_reik on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 10:13

If you have a blog, you know how exciting it is to receive a comment. It confirms that someone out there is reading what you have to say and they too have a strong opinion on the topic. That’s what blogs are supposed to do—inspire people to share their opinions. But why would a traditional newspaper allow anyone to comment on news stories that appear on their website?

According to Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer, “The ability to comment on news stories at Web sites for established newspapers, such as The Chronicle, USA Today and the Washington Post, has invited a wave of input from would-be pundits, class clowns, provocateurs and regular Joes.” In his recent article, "Comments on news stories a double edged sword", Kim introduces us to two regulars who comment on SFGate articles about 16 to 28 times per day, on average.

This recent trend is a major commitment for newspapers since comments have to be monitored carefully. The more politically charged the article, the nastier the comments can get. Perhaps that’s why not all newspapers offer it. NYTimes.com, doesn’t typically allow comments on news stories. The Austin American-Statesman has had to shut down the commenting feature several times when comments got too vicious.

Then why do newspapers bother to allow online comments? The answer is simple. Enabling readers to voice their opinion so easily is the best way to energize and engage them and it helps newspapers develop even stronger relationships with their audience. Statistics prove that online comments keep readers on the site longer and boost page views by 5 to 15 percent. The commenting feature builds social communities, makes a website more relevant and current, and can generate more money through advertising.

According to Ryan Kim, “SFGate averages almost 4 million page views a month for comments. Prior to turning on comments for news stories in the summer of 2007, there were only about 30,000 page views a month for comments, mostly on staff blogs.”

Some of DCP’s clients are starting to add the commenting feature to their online magazine websites. Soon we will be able to report the direct benefits of this capability.

Roper Study Addresses Effectiveness of Hospital Publications

Submitted by dennis_cook on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 15:25

Consumer newsletters continue to be very popular among hospitals in their campaigns to boost awareness of brand and service-line specialties. Like everybody else, hospital marketing directors have to justify the ROI of their campaigns. Fortunately, in this current environment when spending on all forms of advertising is down, newsletter marketing programs remain viable. How do we know that?

A recent study by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media suggests some of the answers. This study was conducted during February and March 2009, and represents an update of the group’s original survey conducted in 2005. Both studies looked at consumer recognition and opinion about custom magazines and newsletters from sponsors in several industries – healthcare and hospitals among them.

Some of the more interesting findings for hospitals include:

· 62% of recipients report looking at the hospital custom publication they receive often, with more than one quarter looking at it every time it arrives (27%) and one-third (35%) looking at it most of the time.

· 56% of respondents who receive hospital publications indicate they are very satisfied with hospital quality of care, while only 36% of respondents who don’t receive hospital publications indicate they are very satisfied.

· 58% of respondents who receive hospital publications indicate they are very likely to recommend hospital to others (an increase of 8% from 2005) while only 36% of those who do not receive hospital publications indicate they are very likely to recommend a hospital.

What does this mean? Publication marketing programs work. They deliver meaningful and useful information that consumers find valuable. And they influence consumers’ perception of the hospital in a very positive way. That’s why newsletters continue to be popular for hospitals.

Of course, the pressure to do more with less has never been higher. For hospital marketing directors who see the value in custom publishing programs but have to reduce overall budgets, the key is in carefully profiling and pinpointing the most receptive audience. Strategic targeting allows you to keep labor, manufacturing, and postage costs down. At the same time, focusing on service lines with the highest margin and driving traffic to those programs first is key. Custom publications can help you do that.

New Roper Study on Consumers Attitudes Towards Custom Publications

Submitted by brendan_casey on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 10:56

While hand-wringing amongst those of us in the marketing business tends to intensify during down economic cycles, some recent studies suggest that marketers would be well-advised to think carefully before reducing or eliminating their custom media programs.

A recent study by Roper Public Affairs (Americans’ Relationship with Custom Publications and the Companies that Provide Them) that follows up a 2005 study of consumer attitudes has consumers maintaining or improving on measures of positive reaction to custom media and the organizations that provide them. (Articles citing the new study can be found at Folio Magazine, Media Post, and DMNews).

Among the findings:

• More than two-thirds of consumers surveyed (68%) say that companies that provide information about their products in these publication help them make better purchase decisions – a six-point increase since the 2005 study.

• Nearly eight in ten consumers say that custom publications demonstrate that companies are interested in building good relationship with consumers, and more than six in ten say that they feel better about the company when they’re reading the publications the company has provided.

• Seventy-four per cent of consumers said they would rather get information about a company from a custom publication than from advertising.

While there’s no question that many marketers have scaled back their advertising and marketing budgets, consumers remain interested in and responsive to the use of branded content and organizations taking the “long view” might want to take this into consideration when planning for 2010.