Imprint Indicia Advertising?

I can't believe how cold it has gotten over the past few days! Hope everyone is staying bundled up.

In the most recent MailPro magazine, there was an interesting article that caught everyone's attention at DMI, titled "Pilot makes perfect: USPS test indicia concept."

This article talked about a new initiative called Picture Perfect Imprint Indicia. This allows businesses to advertise on the imprint of the outer envelope as displayed in the sample picture below:

"Chrysler's test already has been used on an estimated 1 million mailpieces. Now USPS is interested in marketing this new enhancement to other current and potential permit holders as a way to add value to the mail and generate incremental revnue."





The USPS hopes this will appeal to businesses because it will "attract more attention and potentially improve the reading rate of their mailpieces."

I think this type of marketing has a lot of potential and can make direct mail much more personable.

What are your thoughts on this? Would a graphic on the indicia give you more of an incentive to open the mailpiece?

--L

Do we need to give up on QR codes?

I have been interested in QR codes since I started seeing them pop up all over the place. However, many people believe that QR codes are not useful as a marketing tool. I believe that if they are used correctly, they can be a powerful resource in a multichannel marketing campaign.

A recent article in AdAge agrees. The article highlights several successful QR code campaigns and also lists reasons why some QR code campaigns may fail. The main reason being:

•  No instructions. Not everyone knows what a QR code is and how to scan it. So it's necessary to include clear and concise instructions that include the benefits of bothering to make the scan. 

"Barcode usage in North America continues to expand in Q3 with 42.1% growth in the USA...compared to Q2." This means that people are now just starting to get the hang of these codes. When used effectively in direct mail, these barcodes can provide quick and easy access to your donation page, website, etc.

Has your company or organization given up on QR codes? If so, why?

--L

DMI's Pet Corner!

It seems like everyone at DMI has a pet so I thought it would be fun to feature them in today's post.

Meet Louis! He's ready to attack at any moment!

Gio loves his paperwork! What a hard worker!

Jacoby is a squirrel in training! Either that or he's meditating!

K Dog's tongue is larger than life! So is his personality!

Sheba is already preparing for the cold winter!

Stinky is not so stinky after her bath! So cozy!

Owen loves his pet chicken! Looks like we have a future farmer!

I hope everyone enjoyed getting to know us by meeting our adorable pets. Have a wonderful weekend!

--L

DMI's Community Weekend - Habitat Edition!

TGIF!

I have a wonderful weekend event for those who have no plans this Saturday.

Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley is having a Habitat Walk Home event to kick off their "Cupertino housing development with a walk to [their] construction site to raise funding and awareness for low-income housing."

The event will start at 12:30pm with a wonderful BBQ lunch and raffle. Then the walk will start at 1:30pm with a marching band send off! All walkers will receive a t-shirt, wrist band, and a raffle ticket. All this only costs $25.00 for adults and $15.00 for students and children. Or you can sign up your whole family (2 adults and 2 children) for $60.00. What a bargain!

To buy tickets just click here:  http://habitatwalkhome.eventbrite.com/

Enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend!

--L

Fundraising Survey Results

The Nonprofit Research Collaborative has conducted a survey of nonprofits to identify trends in fundraising. The results were recently published and offered some good insights such as:

• "44 percent of responding charities reported increases in funds raised."
• "Almost all methods of fundraising saw increased results at about 30 to 36 percent of responding charities."
• "Just over half (54%) of responding charities investing in direct mail or in major gifts reported increased revenue from the method in the first half of 2011."

Even though it has been a rough economic year, it seems that a lot of nonprofits are reporting increases in fundraising. This survey provides an optimistic view of the rest of 2011, especially as we enter the holiday season.

DMI is also conducting a survey regarding charitable giving in conjunction with The Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University. You can view the reports from 2009 and 2010 in DMI Links (toolbar on the right hand side).

If you are interested in receiving more information about our current or previous surveys, please let me know and we will be happy to discuss them with you.

--L

P.S. Stay dry everyone!