Talon Mailing & Marketing

561 Acorn Street
Deer Park, NY 11729

(631) 667-5500

www.talon-mailing.com

Welcome to the Talon Mailing & Marketing May 2017 Newsletter.

To view this newsletter using your Internet browser click here:

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Four Reasons Why Direct Mail Shouldn’t Be Written Off

By Tarun Mittal, Yourstory.com

In today’s technology-dominated world, the idea of sending mail through post is laughable, and using it as a marketing tool even more so. Or is it?

Why would anyone use this archaic system when virtually every person can be contacted through email, social media, or even text messages? Direct mail marketing sounds like a waste of time and money then. But that isn’t really the case.

Contrary to popular belief, direct mail can be leveraged for increasing sales for your business. Non-profits and grocery retailers, in particular, find direct mail to be a far more effective marketing tool as compared to emails. And there's no reason why businesses in other sectors can't leverage it to their benefit. Here are four reasons why marketers should use direct mail to gain customers:

There's no such thing as mailbox overload

While email might be better to connect with people when compared to social media, inboxes are extremely crowded these days. Around 99 consumer emails were sent/received each day last year which makes grabbing a person’s attention in their inbox a difficult task. Mailboxes, on the other hand, are free from clutter and people tend to read every piece of mail they receive in the post. Also, the chances of your competitors using direct mail as a marketing tool are pretty slim. Which means that your marketing mails will be looked at — something that can’t be said for any other marketing channel.

It's trustworthy

People are becoming aware of the proactive advertising and marketing they’re subjected to on the internet. With advances in information tracking being used for personalized advertising, people no longer trust, for good reason, everything they read on the internet. Clickbait and suspicious links drastically reduce the effectiveness of marketing emails — a problem that doesn’t exist with mail that arrives by post. In this scenario, power lies in the hand of the individual and not the business. They can choose what to do and what not to do. There are no prompts like ‘sign-up to avail this offer’ which arouse suspicion. This automatically increases the level of trust in those you are marketing to.

It benefits from better targeting

As every marketer knows, advertisements are only effective when they’re shown to the right people. Advertise to people who don’t care about, or those who won’t benefit from, your product and you’ve just wasted your precious marketing budget. While email lists are improving, direct mail list vendors have been compiling their databases for decades. A fact that you can leverage to contact the most promising prospects through a channel they cannot ignore. You can also make use of your house list to entice previous customers into making another purchase.

It's not as expensive as it seems

While the production cost of direct mail is undoubtedly high (printing does tend to be more expensive than creating templates online), it drives more conversions than PPC and email marketing. This means it has the lowest cost-per-lead translating to the highest return on investment (ROI) which is what every marketer ultimately aims for.

Direct mails also give people a break from the screen. A study found that direct mails require 21 percent less effort to process than digital media; which translates to improved understanding and memory retention. With the entire marketing industry fighting it out in the digital sphere, going old-school with your marketing strategy might just be the way to go.

How To Connect With Your Audience on an Emotional Level

By Parker Davis - Business2community.com

Think of a brand you really respect – What makes them stand out from the crowd and warrant your trust and endorsement?

Maybe it’s just that they make quality products or offer a service you like, but these days there are so many options for just about everything. How do these companies get you to stick with them and not go with one of their competitors?

The answer? They know the right way to engage their customers.

But what’s the right way?

While there’s no standard, across-the-board method of engaging an audience, the following tips will set you in the right direction:

• People want to be talked to, not talked at. That means using words like “you” and “your” instead of “we”, “us”, or “I”.
  

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes – Say you’re looking at a business’s website and it’s all about their company, their services, their staff, etc. Sure, it does the job of letting you know what they do and who they are, but it doesn’t offer any reason to choose them over someone else.

By talking directly to the reader, you make it feel as if they are getting a service or good specifically for them and no one else.

• You need to talk about benefits instead of features. You can put an entire section on your website that lists what your product does, what your services offer, how much they cost, what goes into the manufacturing process, etc. but that’s not enough to make any decisions for consumers. What customers want to know is, “what’s in it for me?" Instead of saying your product is made with XYZ materials, tell the consumer that because of its construction, it will last a lifetime, instead of just saying how long your services take, tell them how you pride yourself in making sure the customer won’t have a long wait.
  
  Instead of talking about your manufacturing process, tell consumers that because of how efficient your company is, everything will be done right the first time.
  
  
• Develop a voice for your brand. Having a unique voice is crucial if you want to connect with your audience in a way that makes them feel like more than just another customer. When people think of your brand, an image should come to mind that differentiates you from the thousands of other brands out there another customer. When people think of your brand, an image should come to mind that differentiates you from the thousands of other brands out there.

The way you do this is by giving your brand a persona. Decide whether you want to come off as funny, whimsical, authoritative, compassionate… anything that’s not bland and unoriginal.

Break some of the grammar rules you learned in high school and write in a conversational, relaxed way. Make sure that what you say and how you say it sticks in the customer’s head. If you can get them laugh, cry, or think strongly one way or the other, they’re more likely to connect with your brand and return time and time again.

Conclusion

Customers don’t want to be treated as simply customers. They want to be talked to like individuals and made to feel as if they’re doing you a favor by choosing your company over another.

By simply taking the time to understand your audience, you can engage with them on a more personal level. Creating that emotional connection is what keeps people coming back.

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How Direct Mail Can Impact Your Business

By Andrew MacKenzie, Mediaupdate.co.za

Andrew MacKenzie, managing director of Boomtown, discusses the common misconceptions of direct marketing.

Consumers are bombarded with so much marketing material, that their brains have been hardwired only to retain what is pertinent to them, or what cuts through the clutter and stands out.

Direct marketing can speak directly to the consumer. If you can approach your consumers in an engaging manner, you have the ability to build top of mind brand awareness. And even better, get them to use your service or buy your product.

The success of direct marketing as a medium depends first and foremost on your database. Is the database aligned to your target market? If so, is it current and up to date? There are plenty of database and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software options available, which will eliminate a lot of the administration needed to keep databases up to date and accurate.

Direct marketing is not mass marketing. It is when a marketer connects directly with the end user (a consumer or business). As a term, it covers a variety of marketing tools that cut out the intermediary in advertising, such as the following:

• Internet marketing
  
• Face-to-face selling
  
• Direct mail
  
• Catalog
  
• Telemarketing
  
• Direct-response advertising
  
• Kiosk marketing
  

A personal favorite of MacKenzie’s is direct mail. A cut through direct mail piece that can connect with the receiver, and more often than not when done well, are shared with others because of their ingenuity. More importantly, it allows people to take action; a phone call, a visit to a website, making an appointment, visiting a store (think discount coupon or free service) or even completing an order form.

An example of this is a simple, direct mail piece by Kit Kat Chunky in the United Kingdom. This demonstrates a connection to the product benefit in that it could not be delivered because it is too ‘chunky’, and even more importantly, the consumer would have to go in-store to claim the free chocolate, which will undoubtedly lead to additional purchases at the shop.

The piece is cost efficient and personalized. The copy even looks hand written, but it merely makes use of variable data technology and smart typeface application to achieve this.

The additional benefit to this sort of marketing approach is measurability. It is incredibly easy to track redemption to determine success.

So, next time you think of direct marketing, consider the benefits it may hold for your brand and your business. The results may just surprise you.

For more information, visit www.boomtown.agency. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.

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Win Yankee Tickets!  

Enjoy a great day at Yankee Stadium!

We are giving away two tickets to see the New York Yankees. 

All you have to do to win is be the first telephone caller (please don’t hit reply or send an email). Voice mail messages count so it's fine to leave a message.  Call Michael Borkan at (631) 667-5500 x 11.  These tickets are great seats and close to the field! 

• Tuesday May 23rd, 2017.  Yankees vs. Royals 7:05 PM.

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Do you know of anyone else who would be interested in receiving our newsletter?  Please let us know by email:  mb@talon-mailing.com

To learn more about our company, please visit our Web site: www.talon-mailing.com or contact Michael Borkan at (631) 667-5500 x 11.

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In this Issue:

Four Reasons Why Direct Mail Shouldn't Be Written Off

Talon welcomes the following new clients this month to our growing roster of customers:

• Group M

• King Jewelers

• 3 New Lists From Statlistics

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Mike's Favorite Apps & Links:

Some interesting things to check out...

Booxie.com - Transform your photos, videos and graphics into shareable multimedia stories.

Outflowapp.com - Tired of all those reoccurring mysterious charges on your credit card statement? Outflow manages the complexity of reoccurring subscriptions. Instantly see where your money is going.

Evrybo.com - Get design feedback at the right place. Evrybo is the fastest & easiest way to get feedback from your clients or colleagues directly to your screen.

Velapp.it - Velapp is a world's first live video editing application. Edit as you shoot with their patent pending technology.

Freephotos.cc - Find free beautiful stock photos with Creative Commons (CC) licensing. Download royalty free images and use them on your website or print.

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Work Samples:

Did you know Talon offers the following services? 

Click on the links below to see samples.

• Color Laser Personalization
   

• Bulk Email Blasts
   

• HP High Quality Inkjet (near laser quality)
  
  

• Insert and Postcard Mailings
  
  

• Catalog Mailings
   

• Data Entry (from 100 to 100,000 names and addresses)
   

• Polybag and Shrinkwrap Services
   

• Merge/Purge services with comprehensive reports that can instantly be retrieved from the Internet

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Direct Mail Humor!

Click on image below to enlarge.

Do you need help marketing to your clients?   Talon can help!  Call Michael Borkan at 631-667-5500 x 11 to learn how to increase revenue.

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