The Importance of Staying Top of Mind: Five Effective Strategies

In today's saturated market, consumers are bombarded with countless options, making it easy for your brand to get lost in the noise. However, implementing the right strategies ensures that your brand remains at the forefront of your customers' minds.

1. Promote Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

Your USP is what sets you apart from the competition. It's the unique benefit that your product or service offers, making it the best choice for your customers. Ensure your USP is communicated across all marketing channels, from your website to social media and advertising.

2. Create a Consistent Visual Identity

A consistent visual identity makes your brand easily recognizable and memorable. This includes your logo, color scheme, typography, and overall design style. To do this, ensure that you are following consistent brand guidelines. Use the same essential design elements in your communications, including brand colors, design themes, and brand images.

3. Be Consistently Visible

Regular visibility keeps your brand in front of your audience. Whether through postcards, email, or regular blog updates, staying visible helps maintain a connection with your customers. Create a content calendar to ensure a steady flow of content across all relevant channels.

4. Use Multiple Touchpoints

Engaging with customers through multiple touchpoints increases the chances of your brand being remembered. This includes emails, social media, direct mail, events, etc. Understand the different touchpoints in your customer's journeys and ensure you're present at each stage.

5. Get the Timing Right

Don't let your audience get sick of you. Reach out consistently, but don't get annoying. Use marketing automation tools to schedule communications based on customer behavior and preferences. Leverage seasonal trends and events to make timely and relevant offers.

In a marketplace filled with choices, staying top of mind is your "golden ticket" to maintaining customer loyalty and increasing engagement. By utilizing these simple strategies, you can stay top of mind and foster stronger relationships with your customers, ultimately leading to higher retention and response rates.

Make Your Content Sizzle Like the Summer Heat!

As the summer sun blazes and your competitors take time off, you should be gearing up. Summer is the perfect time to review and prepare your content strategy for your fall marketing blitz. Here's how to turn the summer lull into a productive season for your business.

1. Think Ahead with Fall Themes

Put on your tanning lotion, sip your pina colada, and let your mind drift to fall. Start developing content that aligns with fall themes. Consider topics such as back-to-school, autumn trends, and holiday preparations. Create a mix of content types, including blog posts, social media updates, direct mail campaigns, and email newsletters to engage your audience.

2. Plan and Schedule in Advance

Use the time to work ahead while your competitors are napping on the beach with their toes buried in the sand. Schedule your social media posts and email campaigns in advance to ensure a consistent presence, even during busy times. This proactive approach will keep your brand top-of-mind and free up your time for other important tasks when the busy season hits.

3. Refresh Your Marketing Content

Another idea for using the summer to elevate your fall marketing is to refresh your marketing content. Review your existing marketing materials to see what needs updating or improving. This could include rewriting product descriptions, updating visuals, or creating new promotional materials. Fresh, engaging content will help attract more customers and keep them interested, setting the stage for a successful fall marketing campaign.

Need Help? We're Here for You!

Take advantage of the quieter summer months to set the groundwork for a successful fall, making your content sizzle like the summer heat. By preparing now, you'll be ahead of the game, ready to launch your fall marketing campaigns confidently and creatively. So, while others are taking it easy, use this time wisely to boost your business and make the upcoming season your best!

The Imperative for Enhanced Content Marketing in B2B Sales

Are you selling into the B2B market? Then you know that an increasing number of stakeholders are involved in the purchase process, and sellers face a more complex buyer's journey than ever before. How do you break through? Content marketing (and lots of it)!

Printed materials such as direct mail, newsletters, and multi-piece kits are well suited to selling into the B2B market. Once delivered, these pieces often remain visible for days, weeks, or even months during the various stages of the research and decision-making process. Printed pieces can also be easily shared between team members.

How Many in the Buying Journey?

There are often a lot of team members to share with! This is because B2B buying decisions are often made by a committee rather than a single individual. According to recent research,

·       41% of B2B purchases involve 1-3 people,

·       36% involve 4-6 people,

·       23% involve seven or more people.

Moreover, the roles of these decision-makers can vary significantly. Half (50%) are primary decision-makers, while the other half cover various functions: internal influencers or champions, researchers, technical buying influencers, and even end users. For content marketing, this means segmentation is critical. The same message you send to the primary decision maker will differ from the one you send to technical buying influencers or end users.

Target by the Buying Stage

Content must be targeted by the buying stage, as well. The average B2B buyer's timeline involves various stages, including conducting research, developing a list of potential vendors, collecting information on pricing, evaluating solutions, seeking input from peers and existing users, and consulting industry analysts and consultants. With such a multi-faceted process, businesses must tailor their content marketing efforts to address different stakeholders' diverse needs and preferences at each stage.

Techniques for knowing which team members are at what stage (and require different types of content) include engagement tracking, lead scoring, progressive profiling, and many phone calls! It takes time and persistence, but the payoff can be significant.

Need help deciding which content to send during which stage of the journey—and to whom? Let our business development experts help!

Source: DemandGen "B2B Buyer Survey Report" (2022)

Five USPS Tips for Foolproof Direct Mail

When creating successful direct mail campaigns, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is the ultimate expert. Here are five of its most helpful tips for creating foolproof direct mail campaigns:

1. Choose Your Format Carefully.

The format of your direct mail piece can significantly impact its effectiveness. Different formats, such as postcards, letters, catalogs, and dimensional mailers, offer unique advantages in visibility, customization, and storytelling capabilities. Choose a format that aligns with your campaign goals.

2. Details Matter.

Attention to detail is crucial in creating a direct mail campaign that resonates. Ensure your messaging is clear, concise, and targeted to the recipient's needs and preferences. Pay close attention to branding elements, including logos, colors, and imagery, to maintain consistency with your brand identity.

3. Consider Faux Stamps.

Incorporating faux stamps or personalized postage on your direct mail envelopes can add a touch of authenticity and personalization. Faux stamps create a sense of importance and intrigue, prompting recipients to pay closer attention to your mail piece.

4. Pick the Right Class.

The USPS offers a range of mailing classes, including First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, and Every Door Direct Mail, each with its own benefits and pricing structure. Consider factors such as budget, delivery timeline, and specific campaign requirements. First-Class Mail is ideal for time-sensitive communications or personalized mailings, for example, while Standard Mail may offer cost savings for larger volume mailings.

5. Add a Letter.

By including a letter alongside other promotional materials, such as brochures or product samples, you can provide additional context, address customer concerns, and guide recipients toward action. A well-crafted letter can establish credibility, build trust, and prompt recipients to respond, ultimately increasing the ROI of your direct mail campaign. A/B tests have shown an increase in ROI of 3:1 when a letter is included in a direct mail packet over sending a postcard alone.

By following these expert tips, you can create impactful, engaging, and results-driven direct mail campaigns that resonate with your target audience and get results!

Refresh Your Marketing Collateral for Maximum Impact

One often overlooked aspect of maintaining a solid brand presence is regularly refreshing your marketing collateral. From direct mail to marketing emails, here are five ways to update your design and keep it fresh.

1. Update your colors.

Remember when almond used to be the "hot" color for kitchen appliances, and bathrooms were pink? Color trends change—in home décor and in marketing! When was the last time your color palette had a refresh? Check out the latest color trends and incorporate them. Consider seasonal trends or industry shifts when selecting new colors to stay ahead of the curve.

2. Go heavy on the visuals.

In today's visual-centric world, photos and graphics are more important than ever. High-quality visuals can capture attention and convey messages quickly. Refresh your marketing collateral with new, eye-catching visuals to breathe new life into your campaigns.

3. Concise and easy-to-read text.

Keep your text concise and easy to read in the age of information overload. Use clear, simple language and break up large blocks of text with headings, bullet points, and infographics. This approach makes your message more digestible and improves readability across different devices.

4. Use plenty of white space.

White or negative space is essential for creating a clean and visually appealing design. By incorporating plenty of white space, you can draw attention to critical elements and make your content more readable. Use graphics, bullet points, and shorter paragraphs to maximize white space and maintain a clean layout.

5. Incorporate social proof.

Social proof, such as customer testimonials or reviews, can build trust and credibility with your audience. Buyers trust their friends and family more than they trust brands, so incorporating social proof into your marketing collateral can help persuade potential customers to take action. Consider featuring testimonials in your direct mail pieces or adding customer reviews to your website.

Refreshing your marketing collateral is essential for staying relevant and engaging with your audience. Design trends are constantly changing, impacted by cultural shifts, global events, and market dynamics, so keep things fresh and up to date. Design trends don't rest, so neither should your creativity! Need help? Just ask!

Want Buyers to Remember You? Choose Print

When you create marketing communications, whether print or digital, you want your audience to read and remember them, right? That's why it matters what channel you use. After decades of research, studies continue to point to the same conclusion: Print is simply better when processing and retaining complex information is required.

Most print versus digital studies come from the education world. In these studies, researchers ask students to read passages in print and digital formats and then follow up with tests to measure their comprehension and recall. Decade after decade, these studies reveal that print outperforms digital in several key areas:

·       Handling of longer texts: Print is more effective for longer texts, typically those exceeding 500 words. This suggests that the physical nature of print aids in processing and retaining information over extended periods.

·       Abstract and inferential thinking: Tasks that require abstract or inferential thinking are better performed with print materials. The tactile experience of reading in print enhances the brain's ability to engage with and interpret complex ideas.

·       Detail-oriented responses: When study respondents were asked to provide more detailed responses, print was again the preferred medium. This indicates that the physicality of print facilitates a deeper level of engagement with the content.

·       Interpreting material from multiple sources: Tasks that involve interpreting material from various documents are also better accomplished with print. Studies consistently find that the tangible nature of print materials allows for easier cross-referencing and comparison of information.

So, what makes reading in print so different? The physical engagement with print materials seems to play a significant role. With print, individuals engage multiple senses, including touch, which enhances information encoding in the brain. Additionally, physically turning pages and visually scanning each page creates unique cognitive markers that aid recall.

These findings have profound implications for marketing communications. Print is the way to go if the product you sell requires potential buyers to handle longer texts and facilitate abstract thinking.

Elevating Your Brand's Impact with Extra Dimension

How do you stand out when so many companies compete for the same customers? One way is through dimensional print. These innovative print pieces go beyond the traditional flat surface, offering tactile and interactive experiences that captivate audiences and drive engagement. From pop-up designs to textured finishes, dimensional print can take your marketing efforts to the next level.

Let's look at some examples:

·       Pop-up designs: Pop-up cards, brochures, and mailers use intricate folds and cuts to create three-dimensional elements that surprise and delight recipients. For example, a travel agency could send prospects what looks like a flat mailer, but when it's opened, the "flat" mailer pops into the shape of a cube. This not only creates delight and surprise but it gives the agency six total surfaces to promote a variety of enticing vacation destinations.

·       Textured finishes: Adding texture to print materials can create an authentic sensory experience. Embossing, debossing, and raised coatings can all be used to add depth and tactile appeal to business cards, packaging, and promotional materials. For example, many luxury cosmetic brands use soft-touch coating to create a sense of elegance and sophistication.

·       Interactive elements: Incorporating interactive elements into print materials can encourage engagement and create more memorable experiences. For example, consider adding a tear-away section to your next direct mailer to reveal a hidden message or offer.

Adding this extra dimension to your print marketing can increase engagement and drive sales. How? By doing the following:

·       Captivating attention: The unique and unexpected nature of dimensional print makes these materials stand out in a sea of flatness. This can help capture the audience's attention and pique their curiosity, leading to increased engagement.

·       Creating memorable experiences: Dimensional print materials create more memorable experiences. As a result, recipients are more likely to remember the brand and its message.

·       Driving action: Because dimensional print increases interaction with the message, this can increase the likelihood that recipients will take action, such as visiting a store, making a purchase, or sharing the material with others.

Dimensional print offers a creative and engaging way to elevate your brand's impact. By incorporating these innovative print pieces into your marketing strategy, you can capture attention, create memorable experiences, and ultimately drive increased engagement and sales for your brand.