The Power of Paper: How Your Choice Sets the Tone

Paper is more than just a surface for printing. It has its own character. It can evoke warmth or coolness, brightness or subtlety, and feel earthy or extravagant. Let’s explore some essential elements that give each paper its own personality.

1. Brightness Levels: Brightness indicates how much light reflects off the paper, rated on a scale from 1 to 100. A higher brightness (closer to 100) means your colors will stand out more vividly. Papers with lower brightness, particularly uncoated ones, tend to soften colors.

2. Color Tones: Papers are available in a range of shades. A blue tint makes the colors seem cooler, while yellow undertones lend a warmer feel. Consider using a cooler-toned choice for your annual report and warmer tones when announcing your new summer collection.

3. Textural Influence: The texture of paper can trigger strong emotional responses. Linen suggests sophistication, while cotton represents quality and formality. Recycled paper, mainly when it contains intentional imperfections, appeals to environmentally conscious clients. Smooth, glossy papers convey a corporate vibe.

4. Finish Matters: Different finishes—glossy, matte, satin, and uncoated—affect how ink interacts with the paper. Uncoated sheets absorb ink for a more understated appearance, while high-gloss sheets make colors pop.

5. Paper Weight: Papers are categorized by weight, with heavier sheets imparting a sense of importance. Opt for a heavier stock if you aim to project a premium or elite image. The thicker paper also suggests durability and longevity.

Selecting the right paper is akin to a striking smile or a warm gaze that establishes the mood for your message. Reach out to us for samples demonstrating how various paper styles can influence the conversations you want.

Why Print Still Packs a Punch

Sure, the volume of direct mail may be declining, but its importance is not. Direct mail plays a unique role in the marketing world and is something digital channels cannot replicate. Let’s look at five reasons why.

1. Print retains authority. Digital marketing is often perceived as low-cost, which diminishes its impact in the eyes of consumers. In contrast, handing someone a brochure, a physical coupon, or a direct mail piece creates a sense of value and credibility.

2. Print appeals to younger audiences. Research shows that younger generations are still interested in print. For instance, magazines focused on specific topics, such as fashion and fitness, have experienced a resurgence among readers aged 18-24. Print catalogs are also making a comeback. Even Amazon.com is using print catalogs to promote toys during the holiday season this year!

3. Print enhances focus. Digital media can lead to distractions, causing readers to miss critical messages. Whether it’s a college student studying, a casual reader relaxing at home, or a targeted recipient perusing direct mail, print materials capture attention and encourage better retention than digital formats.

4. Higher engagement. When people hold printed pieces, such as brochures or magazines, in their hands, they engage more actively with the content. This physical interaction creates a multisensory experience that makes the content more memorable. Flipping through pages or handling materials makes the information more memorable than scrolling down a digital screen.

5. Longer engagement time. Readers spend more time with print. They tend to take their time to read and study, leading to deeper information processing. The longer someone spends with your print materials, the more likely they will remember the content.

The takeaway is clear. While digital media play a crucial role in a comprehensive multichannel marketing approach, they cannot fully replace print. For effective results, incorporate print into your marketing strategy!

How Consumer Perceptions Drive Eco-Friendly Choices

As concerns about synthetic materials, excessive packaging, and carbon emissions rise, consumers seek sustainably produced and packaged products. But does this growing awareness lead to changes in purchasing habits? A recent survey reveals that it does.

Here are three key insights from the “U.S. Retail Sustainability Perceptions Benchmark” survey (eMarketer/Insider Intelligence) that can inform your marketing strategies:

1. Emphasize Promotion: Consumers are increasingly conscious of sustainability, but their decisions are often swayed more by brand perception than specific details. The survey indicated that brands actively promoting their eco-friendly credentials tend to be viewed as “sustainable” by consumers, regardless of their sustainability practices. This highlights the importance of effective branding.

2. Highlight Collective Impact: Many shoppers desire to support sustainable brands, yet when examining a single product or package, they may doubt the value of opting for an eco-friendly alternative, especially if it costs more. For instance, buyers might think, “With a billion toothbrushes sold annually, why should I spend $15 on a bamboo toothbrush? It won’t make a difference.” However, if you are a maker of bamboo toothbrushes, you might want to help shoppers consider the broader picture. If just one in ten Americans switches to a bamboo toothbrush and replaces it twice a year, for example, that results in 66 million fewer toothbrushes in landfills yearly. That’s a lot of toothbrushes! Help customers see the broader impact of their choices.

3. Offer Credible Evidence: Greenwashing is a significant issue in the sustainable market, where brands exaggerate their environmental friendliness. Consumers know that some companies exaggerate their sustainability claims, but they often lack the knowledge to identify such tactics. Take the initiative to substantiate your sustainability claims with concrete data and details. Whenever possible, use third-party certifications to enhance trust.

The takeaway? Consumers are eager to shop sustainably but may require guidance to make informed choices. Brands that offer them that guidance can win their trust and ultimately, their buyer loyalty.

Get Your Print Right! Have a Checklist

When we've done something often, it's easy to think, "I've got this," but familiarity can breed mistakes. Preparing your next print project is no different. While the details may change from job to job, much of the essential prep work does not. Using a checklist can be a vital tool for keeping things running smoothly.

Here are seven things every print checklist should contain:

1. Talk to us before getting started. Even if you've done this type of job before, it's always good to ask: "Is there anything special I should know?" You've heard the phrase, "The only dumb question is the one you didn't ask." It's true!

2. File Format Check. Ensure the file is in the correct format. In most cases, this will be a print-ready PDF.

3. Resolution Verification. Confirm that images are at the appropriate resolution (typically 300 dpi for print). Exceptions will be for extremely high-resolution artwork, such as high-end catalogs or coffee table books. The resolution will vary for wide format based on the display size and viewing distance. Talk to us about an appropriate resolution based on your application.

4. Color Mode Confirmation. No RGB images, please! Also, check that the color mode is set to CMYK for print jobs. Jobs submitted in RGB will go through an RGB-to-CMYK color conversion before going on press. It's best to design in CMYK in the first place so you have control over your colors, and there are no surprises.

5. Bleed and Margins. Unless the job is a bleed (in which the design goes to the very edge of the page), most jobs will have "trim" or margins set off by crop marks. The page is then trimmed down to the exact size after printing. Ensure the proper trim is set so you don't cut off important content.

6. Fonts. Ensure all fonts are embedded or converted to outlines to prevent font substitution issues.

7. Layer Management. Flatten layers if working with design software to avoid unintended edits or transparency issues.

This doesn't exhaust all the items on your checklist, but it should be a good start. Review our submission guidelines to make sure you've done your part. Then we can get busy doing ours!

Three Key Lessons for Effective Messaging

When it comes to selling something, messaging is crucial. It's not just about what you say but how you say it. Subtle adjustments can make a significant difference, whether it's the headline of a direct mail piece or the subject line of an email blast.

MECLABS, a research institute focused on understanding factors influencing human choice, helps companies refine their marketing campaigns through testing and experience. Three examples from their research demonstrate how minor tweaks led to substantial results.

1. Creating Urgency

Urgency isn't just about using phrases like "buy now before it's too late." MECLABS highlights that urgency can be conveyed in various ways. Consider a men's style retailer that wanted to gather email addresses for its newsletter. By changing its subject line from "Out-Dress the Other Guys" to "Don't Let the Other Guys Out-Dress You," the retailer created a sense of tension and fear of showing up second best. The result was a 17% increase in sign-ups.

2. Building Mystique

A blog teaching people to speak French experimented with a new headline. Instead of "Do you want to speak French fluently?" it used "Voulez-vous parler français?" This phrase is widely understood, even by those who don't speak French, adding an element of surprise and mystique. This change deepened interest in learning the language and increased the conversion rate from 2.6% to 3.1%.

3. Focusing on the Right Message

A private school aiming to boost enrollment initially believed parents prioritized college prep and career readiness. However, further research revealed that parents were more interested in developing personal qualities in their children, such as resilience, boldness, and creativity. The school revised its campaign slogan from "It's a girl's world" to "See yourself like never before," along with changes in the body copy. This adjustment led the school to complete enrollment for the first time in a decade.

These examples illustrate that subtle details in your messaging can have a significant impact. Conduct split tests with different wordings, images, and headlines in your direct mail and email campaigns to discover what works best. These small changes could yield significant results.

*Source: Case studies and metrics derived from the original article "6 Mini Marketing Case Studies of Effective Copywriting," published in Marketing Sherpa, a subsidiary of MECLABS.*

5 Tips for Budget-Conscious Marketers

Nowadays, everyone wants to stretch their marketing dollars, but we all want the best results, too. The good news is, you can do both! Here are five tips for budget-conscious marketers that will save you money and boost your results simultaneously!

1. Use targeted mailing lists.

Instead of mailing to your entire marketing list, select the segments most likely to respond to your offer. For example, you might mail only to people who purchased from you within the past three months or who live within a specific geographic area. By targeting, you save money by printing and mailing fewer pieces and get better results by more tightly focusing your message to your chosen audience.

2. Send an email first.

Send your first communication to people by email. If they respond to your email, great! Only send direct mail pieces to those who did not. (Note that we said "respond," which is different from simply opening an email. If they opened it but didn't convert, you should still send them the mail piece!)

3. Take advantage of postal discounts.

Did you know you can save 1% or more on postage by including certain design elements in your mail pieces? The U.S. Postal Service offers discounts for tactile, sensory, and interactive pieces, mobile shopping promotions, and Informed Delivery promotions. Talk to us about which promotions are available now and save on postage.

4. Clean up your mailing list.

Conducting essential maintenance on your mailing list can lower costs as you cull out outdated and invalid addresses. With a clean list, you print only what you need and avoid extra postage costs.

5. Consider different formats.

Just because you have always done a brochure for a particular promotion doesn't mean it's the only option. For example, experiment with a postcard instead of a brochure (or vice versa) and see whether you get better results. Testing is the key to effective design and messaging. A little creativity can go a long way!

In a world in which so many aspects of marketing can be uncertain, it's nice to have a little certainty. Each one of these ideas is proven to reduce costs and boost results at the same time. Let us help you give one of them a try.

Want Better Results? Include Direct Mail

Marketers intuitively understand what surveys have told us for years: Direct mail ROI rises dramatically when direct mail is part of an integrated, multichannel marketing strategy.

According to NAPCO Research, response rates from direct mail campaigns increase by 41% when used as part of an integrated marketing campaign compared to mailings not integrated with other channels. ROI rise nearly 63%.

Sound good? There's more. The research found that when direct mail is personalized and tightly integrated into the channel mix, it results in the following:

·       62% increase in mailers reporting "good" or "very good" response rates.

·       80% increase in those reporting "good" or "very good" ROI.

How many channels should you integrate? Research by Demand Metric looked to see what marketers were doing. Half of the respondents reported using between three and four channels. Just over half (56%) include direct mail. 

When channels were compared, direct mail was considered one of the most effective. Next to events, "integrated, branded, personalized direct mail" was cited as the "most effective channel, with 78% of respondents citing it as "effective" or "very effective." Non-branded, non-personalized direct mail was cited as "effective" or "very effective" by 61% of respondents.

Which direct mail formats were most commonly used?

·       Postcards — 53%

·       Letters — 52%

·       Dimensional mail — 42%

·       Oversized postcards — 29%

·       Oversized letters — 9%

Regardless of format, 52% of respondents reported that adding direct mail to their multichannel mix delivered "moderate to major" improvement to their overall campaign performance. That number jumps to 89% when direct mail is personalized and tightly integrated into the channel mix.

Direct mail's effectiveness does vary by market segment. While it is effective in the technical markets, for example, it is highly effective in reaching the financial and C-Suite markets.

Multichannel marketing campaigns are highly effective tools, but just as Popeye grew even stronger when he ate spinach, these campaigns grow stronger when you add direct mail. Try it and find out for yourself.