Ways To Save This Summer

Sure last April saw a postal rate increase. But direct mail is still a cost effective, relevant way to broadcast your message. In fact, there are several ways to save money and prospect for new customers using an inexpensive mail medium that puts a postcard right into a recipient’s hand.

One method to reduce your postage costs by using flat sized saturation mailings. This is a simplified mailing plan, currently promoted by the United States Postal Service (USPS), which takes the complexity out of mailings and allows you to reach local customers in the most economical way.

Another way to reduce costs is to mail to take advantage of USPS’ summer sale. The USPS is offering a 3% discount on standard and first class letters, flats or cards containing a Quick Response (QR) barcode.

As discussed in GT Marketing Ltd’s March blog post, these barcodes allow a smart-phone user to directly link to a personalized website, receive a text, or to learn more information about a product or service.

The strategy of integrating electronic technology with physical mail is a way that the USPS in general, and mailers in particular are using mail as a means to drive on-line access and conversations. Some great tips and suggestions for how to make your mailer drive customers to your offering, on-line or off, are enumerated in this article.

Direct Mail Marketing, QR Codes, and You!

As Direct Marketers, we devote oceans of ink, megawatts of electricity, and countless hours of creativity to generate responses.

The advent of “Quick Response Codes,” or QR Codes, is music to our ears. The speed by which responses can be generated from the funky 2-dimensional bar codes you now see in so many places, exceeds that of any other known response mechanism. By simply taking a photo of these 2-dimensional bar code pictures using a smart-phone, users are invited to link directly to a website, to receive a text, or to learn more information about a product or service.

With the proliferation of Smart Phones and snazzy apps, the QR Code is destined to become the pre-personalized BRC of the future. Mailers should quickly get on-board with this new technology. A recent study by ScanLife indicated that mobile bar code use is up by over 700%! The growing presence of smart phones is one of the reasons that QR Code use is taking off, and by 2013 it is estimated that one-fourth of all phones sold in the United States will be smart phones.

How are these QR Codes best suited for direct mail marketing? Inviting the user to join your mailing list, view your website, or link to a specific landing page or social media site are some of the easiest ways to swiftly integrate this new technology into your existing marketing mix. Links to contests, coupons, product reviews, or YouTube videos are all possible with this easy to use technology.

It’s important to remember that however the QR Code is used, its purpose should be a “call to action.” Keep in mind that the QR Code is normally viewed on a mobile device with a small screen, so the destination should be specific, simple, and discernible on a small screen. The prospective customer should get to destination quickly, navigate easily, and complete the action smoothly. The metrics available to track and report on QR Code responses will excite even the most seasoned direct mail marketer.

What uses does your company have for the implementation of QR Codes? How might you like to use them in your marketing campaigns? Give us a call at GT Marketing, Ltd to brainstorm about how QR Codes might apply to your marketing plan, or scan the QR Code above and let your phone initiate the connection.