The Power of Trigger Mailings

Posted on by DigitalTeam

Author: Melissa Fransen, Marketing Manager

This summer, I placed an order on a website for a family member’s birthday present. Shortly after placing the order, I received a postcard with an offer of 20% off another order. I was looking for another gift for a different family member, so I placed another order, using my 20% off coupon. A few weeks later, I received another postcard with an offer and guess what? I placed another order. I also followed the company’s social media channels.

This is an example of a tried and true trigger mailing loyalty marketing campaign working its magic. And, yes, it works! I went from a first-time shopper to becoming a repeat customer, keeping this brand top of mind along the way. The product quality was great and I received excellent service throughout the process. I was also reminded of my mailed coupon offers through email marketing and through these trigger mailings, I have become a loyal customer to this brand.

How do Trigger Mailings Work?

Have you heard the term Variable Data Printing (VDP)? If not, variable data printing allows your printed piece to be completely customized to an individual based on data and triggers. It is basically the opportunity for 1:1 marketing using print. Check out our blog that is all about VDP and its advantages.

Think about the trigger mailing example I mentioned above. I was sent trigger mailings based on being a first-time customer. They lured me in after my first purchase with an offer. Then, they lured me in with another offer. I became a repeat customer right off the bat. I also plan to do some of my holiday shopping through this brand due to a great experience with all three purchases.

Getting Started with a Trigger Mailing Program Concept

There are many ways that trigger mailings can be used. Think through your customer’s journey with your brand and how you could use triggered mailings to drive business. Here are some examples of questions to ask yourself:

  1. How can I take a first-time customer and turn them into a loyal customer?
  2. How can I take a customer back to the buying journey with their abandoned cart items?
  3. How can I reach out to lapsed customers and bring them back as a customer?

After you’ve thought through these scenarios, then think about all of the marketing channels that you are using to reach that customer and what makes sense from a timing perspective to keep your brand in front of them through all of these channels. Think about where mail makes sense in this equation.

Working with a Printer on a Trigger Mailing Program

Once you have the strategy ready, the next part is executing it. We have a whole team of data experts at Nahan who can help with API integrations, CRM integrations, and custom programming. Once things are set up systematically, the rest is easy. The trigger mailings you have developed automatically take place based on the concept/behaviors you have identified on your plan. Our team at Nahan holds multiple industry certifications to ensure the protection of your data from beginning to end. We help our customers utilize triggered mailings to drive business, and we can help you too.

Ready to Get Started?

Find out more about our marketing services and how we can help you today!

At Nahan, we pride ourselves as being a tech-forward printer who drives results. We invite the opportunity to talk with you about the power of trigger mailings and how you can get started. Why work with Nahan for your trigger mailing program? Check out our 30-second video on what sets us apart. Contact us today!

Bio: Melissa Fransen is our Marketing Manager. She started with Nahan in May of 2017. Melissa is responsible for Nahan’s marketing initiatives, which includes everything from conference planning to social media initiatives. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and enjoying time in the outdoors with family and friends.

Print Marketing to Millennials & Gen Z

Posted on by DigitalTeam

Author: Melissa Fransen

Did you know that Millennials spend more time reading their mail than any other generation?  And that 92% of college students prefer reading printed materials to digital material?  Yes, you read that right!  Even in a generation that grew up in a digital world, if your target market includes these generations, you may be missing a big opportunity if you are not utilizing the power of print within your omni-channel marketing strategies. There are a lot of misconceptions about the power of print marketing and today we’re going to explore ideas for reaching these generations with your print marketing strategies.

Millennials (Born 1981 – 1996)

Millennials are the largest generation in the US, representing a population of over 72 million. This generation is tech savvy, social savvy, educated, and spends $600 billion in the United States each year.

The following are some characteristics of this generation: [1]

  • Appreciate experiences
  • Care about values
  • Value purpose
    Print Marketing Millennials
    Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
  • Budget-friendly
  • Want to stay connected
  • Choices are important to them
  • Value sustainability
  • Seek recognition
  • Instant gratification
  • Value speed and convenience     
  • Trust Influencers                                    

Stats: Here are some interesting Millennial stats:     

  • 77% of millennials participate in loyalty reward programs [2]
  • 90% are social media users [3]
  • 88% take the time to look through their mail to make sure they are not discarding useful information [4]
  • 75% say that receiving personal mail makes them feel special [5]
  • 62% have visited a store in the past month based on receiving information in the mail [5]
  • 65% like coupons for retail businesses and 69% like coupons for restaurants [5]
  • 82% cite print as a part of their purchasing journey [6]
  • 89% check their mailbox at their first opportunity [6]
  • 77% pay attention to direct mail [6]

Print Ideas for this generation:

  • Incorporate an omnichannel experience
  • Build trust and loyalty through incentives
  • Be authentic in your communications
  • Variable data printing – make it personal to them
  • Give them choices – “this offer” or “that offer”
  • Let them know what your brand is doing to make an impact to build a connection with them
  • Give them an offer that is quick to redeem and convenient
  • Include content about what are others saying about your brand to establish trust

Generation Z (Born 1997-2012)

This generation represents 20% of the U.S. population and has become one of our most technologically savvy generations, as they grew up with electronic technology and the internet.

The following are some characteristics of this generation: [7]

  • Focus on career/financial stability
  • Strong family influence
    Print Marketing Millennials
    Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
  • Thrifty
  • Value brick-and-mortar experiences
  • Appreciation for physical media
  • Value physical experiences
  • Prefer personal communications
  • High expectations
  • Values cross-functional communications
  • Instant gratification
  • Tactile experiences matter
  • Personalization matters

Stats: Here are some interesting Gen Z stats.

  • 98% of this generation owns a smartphone [8]
  • 2X more likely to shop on mobile devices than millennials are [9]
  • 65% of this generation sees value in coupons, discounts, and rewards programs [10]
  • 72% of Gen Z says price is the key factor in purchasing decisions [11]
  • 88% prefers omni-channel brand experiences [12]
  • 68% of Gen Z expects brands to contribute positively to society [13]
  • Spend about 1 hour each week reading magazines [14]
  • 92% of 18-23-year-olds find it easier to read printed content than digital and the response rate to direct marketing is 37% higher than for email [15]
  • Average attention span of 8 seconds (vs. 12 seconds for Millennials) [16]

Print Ideas for this generation:

  • Coupons to drive them into your store or online
  • Variable data printing – make it personal to them [17]
  • Give them several call-to-actions to different types of media sources
  • Make your offers easy to redeem
  • Consider a unique tactile experience or die-line to gain interest – something that stands out
  • Use multi-media experiences
  • Help them feel connected to your brand
  • Easy, quick visuals to catch their attention
  • Give them an incentive to collaborate with your company – reviews, interactive games, etc.
Print Marketing Millennials
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Reach Millennials and Gen Z with Print

If you are ready to reach these demographics, we are here to help. Whether it’s unique die cuts, tactile experiences, or something completely out of the box, let us turn your ideas into reality and help you tap into this market with your print strategies to drive results. Download our whitepaper on why direct mail prospers in a digital world and request a sample pack today to get your creative juices flowing!

Bio: Melissa Fransen is our Marketing Manager. She started with Nahan in May of 2017. Melissa is responsible for Nahan’s marketing initiatives, which includes everything from conference planning to social media initiatives. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and enjoying time in the outdoors with family and friends.

Cover Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

What is Variable Data Printing? A Closer Look.

Posted on by DigitalTeam

Author: Jon Legg, Data Processing Department Leader

In today’s data-driven marketing world, utilizing the power of your data can be the difference between a good marketing campaign and a great marketing campaign that produces a fantastic ROI. A question that we often get asked is “What is Variable Data Printing and how does it work?”

What is Variable Data Printing?

Variable Data Printing is using your customer’s data to change text, images, or other content from one piece of mail to the next.  Instead of printing one form 100,000 times you can instead print 100,000 highly individualized pieces.  And when we say highly personalized we are talking about more than just a salutation line that says “Dear John Doe.” 

At Nahan we have done a wide range of projects that utilize variable data printing.  The following four specific examples show what highly personalized could look like to you.

  1. One project had hundreds of mall locations and for each record, we used a field in the data to variably pull the closest mall to the consumer, a logo for that mall, hours of operation, and a mall directory. 
  2. Another project required us to uniquely link over 400,000 photographs so that each record imaged the correct photograph. 
  3. A third project involved providing each recipient with a personalized map that showed their house on a map, the nearest store, and a highlighted route between the two.
  4. Lastly, another project showcased a piece that changed all of its content based on the consumer.  Family of four?  All content showed family-friendly activities and all images changed to photos of families.  Single?  The entire piece changed to show photos of adults with more of a focus on entertainment and nightlife.

Variable data printing can do all of this and more. 

What is Variable Data Printing

As we like to say, “Where there is data, there is opportunity for customization.”

What Files Are Needed For a Variable Data Project?

At Nahan we can accept all types of files and work with you to get more out of your mail list.  Our preferred file format is a CSV file transmitted to our SFTP site.  We are also able to use API integrations to directly link with our customers to provide a more seamless transfer of data; both to Nahan and back to our customers.  This can include return files, reports, and much more.

How is Data Kept Safe?

In today’s digital landscape we can use data for just about anything, which makes that data extremely valuable.  Sadly, the bad guys know that as well and are constantly looking to get their hands on data.  But Nahan takes pride in keeping your data safe.  We are PCI compliant and are equipped to work with HIPAA data. We have lots of hands-on experience with both.  Beyond that our data processing team is literally in a locked room that requires two different forms of authentication just to get in! Given all the efforts that we put into data security, you can rest assured that not only will Nahan keep your data safe, but we will also put it to work for you! 

Working Together on a Strategy

As a company, we are not afraid of pushing the boundaries of what can be done with data.  We are constantly using the newest technology and then working to perfect it.  We also have a data processing team that is equally unafraid of pushing limits and seeing how much we can do with a simple mail list.  Let’s work together and see what we can get your next mailing to do for you! Contact us or visit our marketing services page to learn more.

Author: Jon Legg is a Department Leader at Nahan Printing and started with the company in 2015.  He currently oversees the Data Processing department as well as the PreMedia department.  This means that any files, whether art or data, all come through Jon’s teams.  When he isn’t at work Jon loves spending time with his wife and daughter, traveling (usually to Disney World), and working with our local theater company both on stage and as a Director. 

How to Show ROI on Your Next Print Project

Posted on by Bryan.Formhals

Author: Melissa Fransen, Marketing Manager

Hello fellow marketers! Whether you are new to marketing or have been in the field your entire career, there is one thing that we are all probably familiar with measuring for the campaigns we develop and execute; ROI. For social media marketing, the data is right at our fingertips as we can see impressions, click through rates, and engagement %. For email marketing, we can see open rates, clicks, and conversions. In Google Analytics, we can see website traffic driven from organic, direct, and referral sources, but what about print as a part of an omni-channel strategy? Here are some great ways to measure and show ROI on your next print project!

1. Use the Power of Your Data

 

Have you heard the term Variable Data Printing or sometimes referred to as VDP? If not, variable data printing allows your printed piece to be customized to the individual. Basically, it’s the opportunity for 1:1 marketing using print. With VDP, you can personalize the printed piece based on data, including everything from personalized imagery to custom offers. On a recent case study with one of our customers, when they personalized their mailing to the individuals they saw a 3X sales lift compared to a control group that was not personalized. What a huge success!

When you think about your next campaign, think about ways you might be able to use the power of your data. I know as a consumer, I love when marketing is tailored directly to me and my interests. I want offers and coupons that are relevant to what I purchase vs. a generic offer where I have no interest.

If you are using a coupon on your next print project, be sure to use an individualized offer code so you know the coupon was redeemed. This will also allow you to track redemption rates and sales per mailer.

Here are a few ideas for your next project:

  • Maps to the nearest store location
  • Abandoned cart item coupon
  • Offers specific to something your customer has purchased in the past
  • Special incentive for birthdays

 

2. Unique Landing Pages

 

By creating specific landing pages for your mailings, you can track the ROI from your landing page perspective and will be able to see how many people visit that particular page  There are a number of ways to drive consumers to your page; it might be a QR code or listing the URL in your text. To take it even further, you can also create a PURL (Personalized URL). To maximize your impact, create a compelling incentive for the recipient to visit the page to drive the biggest result.

 

3. Informed Delivery

 

Have you heard of Informed Delivery? If not, to sum it up, this is a relatively new FREE service from the USPS where individuals can sign up for daily emails of what is being delivered to them in the mail each day. I am personally signed up and I really like it since it gives me a glimpse of what to expect in my mailbox when I arrive home.

From a marketer’s perspective, when we set up Informed Delivery campaigns, we are able to attach an image to the printed piece (they call it a ride-along image) and a URL of your choice will also be attached to the campaign. In a nutshell, the individual that receives the email will see the URL and can click on the link to drive them to your site before they even receive the mail piece at home! The USPS will then provide a report of opens and click through for the campaign. When using this service, a marketer can drive a response before the mail even arrives in the mailbox – a great ROI advantage! Contact us to learn more about this great offering and the best part is that we can even help you get the campaign set up. The USPS offers postal incentives each year, and there have been a number of postal incentives for Informed Delivery recently, so be sure to check out the incentives as well, to see if you can qualify for a postal discount!

Are you interested in reviewing the case study that we referenced above? Contact us today for a copy! Also, if you are interested in learning how our customers are utilizing variable data to maximize their campaigns, request a sample pack today.

Bio: Melissa Fransen is our Marketing Manager. She started with Nahan in May of 2017. Melissa is responsible for Nahan’s marketing initiatives, which includes everything from conference planning to social media initiatives. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and enjoying time in the outdoors with family and friends.