The Tray Way: Where will Marketing be in 2012?

The end of the year is approaching, which brings with it the end of procrastinating on planning for 2012. While we have a lot of great things to remember about 2011 - especially on the award front, we are looking forward to the opportunities that are ahead of us. So, what is the marketing community thinking about for this upcoming year? There is lots to read about, but one item that caught our eye was a recent press release out of the Midwest regarding forecasting marketing budgets.

According to research by Under the Radar, a Chicago-based firm, most U.S.-based marketing brand managers intend to increase their budgets in 2012, as well as plan to develop even more innovative marketing strategies. Other predictions include:

• Brand marketing managers are quite optimistic about the first half of 2012 and increasingly even more optimistic about the second half of the year.
• ROI will be a key focus, with results surpassing “brand image” in regards to how the budgets are broken out.
• The winners in 2012 will be those brands that can capitalize on innovative experiential marketing opportunities and treat each prospect as a unique customer.

Working with clients in many industry sectors, we agree that 2012 will see a demand for increased focus on the actual dollars-and-cents return that marketing investments are having. For some, this will mean finding the newest technology or platform and jumping full-board into it in hopes that it is the "silver bullet." However, we see this as an opportunity for an experienced firm that has an expertise in all forms of marketing processes to test new, innovative strategies on proven platforms. By continuing the process of integrating one or more current marketing techniques (print, web, social media, etc.), it allows marketing experts to be marketing experts and push a strategy forward, as opposed to research and learn about another platform that is based around potential. Additionally, by evolving and learning from what we know, this will allow for the opportunity to bring tried-and-true marketing processes back to the forefront.

In the end, if 2012 can keep pace with 2011 in the marketing landscape, we are in for an exciting year.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: Is There a Downside to Small Business Saturday?

For the 2nd year in a row, the unofficial holiday of Small Business Saturday was celebrated, falling between its more famous siblings of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The day is meant to give attention to small businesses in cities and town across the country and provide them a chance to compete for the billions of dollars spent during this long weekend. In truth, small businesses employ half of all private sector employees in the country and should be recognized for their contribution to the economy and society.

The event received tremendous support - as expected - from business organizations across the country, and even President Obama endorsed the movement. However, some found a problem with this ideas for a simple reason: Small Business Saturday was created by a big business, namely American Express.

The question then became whether this seemingly altruistic movement was truly a scheme to promote the advantages a multi-national organization can offer. As marketing experts that work with businesses small and large, our simple response is, "Yeah, and....."

In our last post on the Tray Way blog, we discussed how NBC saw increased ad sales revenue during GreenWeek, begging the question of whether improving profits and being socially responsible is ok. This situation is similar. American Express, through an intelligent marketing strategy, discovered an opportunity to help themselves by promoting others, and not just others, but a niche that many Americans support. This effort is similar to how many feel about Valentines Day, and how certain industries take advantage of the concept of love and relationships for financial gain (sure, the greeting card and flower industry are benefiting, but who is going to be against love?).

In truth, the marketing strategy that American Express created was so smart and clever that it feels like there should be something wrong with it. But, we would like offer this thought: Be OK with it. Small businesses across the country were helped this past Saturday, and if that meant that American Express saw a benefit also, well maybe they deserve it for leading the charge.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw gigantic numbers this year, and while it is difficult to determine the exact success of Small Business Saturday, the fact that the phrase and hashtag saw tremendous use in the days and weeks beforehand means that "word of mouth" was extremely strong. It is our hopes that this movement continues, and we hope to be an even bigger part of it next year.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: The Business of Being "Green"

If you watch shows like The Office, The Tonight Show and The Biggest Loser, this you will like see the traditional NBC peacock dyed green in honor of "#Greenweek". According to the company:

We are focused on bringing an environmental perspective to everything we do, informing and entertaining the audience while driving more sustainable practices into our own operations. As one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, we want to participate in and help lead one of the most important dialogues of our time—and build a stronger business and a more sustainable world in the process.

While this movement on NBC Universal exudes social responsibility, the inevitable follow-up question is whether it is good for business. NBC is the weakest of the television networks, however, according to the Triple Pundit:

NBC’s Green Week has attracted upwards of $100 million in ad revenue for the network from companies who want to be associated with all things green. Subaru has been sponsoring Green Week since 2008, and for last year’s ads alone, they are rumored to have spent $10 million. Their investment paid off heavily: NBC’s numbers show that viewers who saw last year’s Subaru’s ads were a whopping 64% more likely to remember the ads if viewed on NBC during Green Week versus another channel. The associative link indicates that consistent messaging of Subaru’s green credentials with NBC’s explicit green programming had a profound impact on the minds of viewers.

Many a multi-national organization has recognized an opportunity to be successful by being socially responsible. This isn't new, but it almost feels unnatural to support a for-profit business that is doing something positive that also happens to be lucrative. At Tray, we pride our self on being "green" in an industry sector that has difficulty maintaining that standard. We do it because we feel it is the right thing to do, but admittedly, it also sets us apart from our competitors, and if that makes good "business sense", then we see it as a win-win for everyone involved.

So, this week, if you are enjoying any television on the NBCU family of networks, look at the green logo and the environmentally-friendly content and appreciate that the organization is trying to do good at the same time as they are trying to do better.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: Should Local Businesses Utilize Facebook? Yes, but....

Small, local businesses are always aiming to cut costs whenever possible, and with the advent of cost-effective social media options, the marketing budget is a common place to target. However, new research has indicated that shifting focus completely towards this new medium is not as beneficial to a local company.

In correlation with the newsfeed change on Facebook, EdgeRank Checker recently reported that popular Pages (those with more than 100,000 fans) have been generating a great deal more engagement (27.8%), smaller Pages (those with less than 5,000 fans) are generating about the same level of engagement. However, those Pages with less than 1,000 fans have seen an average engagement drop of 11.6%.

Inside Facebook presented it this way:

Most major brands tend to have at least 10,000 fans, so this may come as good news — they’re receiving a lot more Likes and comments. However, fledgling brands and local businesses that only appeal to a limited audience may find they’re receiving fewer impressions and engagement. This reduces return on their Facebook marketing investment and make their posts less likely to be reshared, a core way of organically growing their fan counts.

What does this mean for businesses trying to gain business in their immediate geographic area? From our perspective, we have two thoughts:

1. Social media is a great marketing tool for small businesses to formalize their brand (especially for the money it costs) and hit a target market, but putting all your eggs in the social media basket can potentially have a less than remarkable result, even for the investment. Tray's philosophy has always been to recommend an integrated approach, combining new media with more established, traditional media (e.g. direct mail). This actually offers local businesses a significant advantage over larger competitors because they have the necessary local insight.
2. To get all the benefits out of social media as a small business, it is worth consulting marketing experts that know where the gaps should be filled. The statistics in this report are accurate, but it is an average, meaning there are Pages that have seen growth. It is likely that those businesses have had experts in their corner to craft messages and plan campaigns that have worked.

Local businesses should absolutely not shy away from Facebook or other social media channels, but think of the smartest way to utilize the advantages you have. You know the community you operate in better than most, so think of the best mix of what your demographics want to hear and how they want to hear it.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: Integrated Marketing Keeps Your Customers in Contact

Integrated marketing is something that we have spoken about a number of times in the past, and it is one of the most important concepts to keep in mind when marketing any brand. One key part of integrated marketing is maintaining communication with your customers. Marketing is not a one-way street, and if consumers have no easy way of responding to a direct mail piece, you may be missing out on valuable feedback and opportunities.

For a good example of how important this simple step can be, see this story from the MarketingWeek.co.uk blog. Contributor Lucy Handley is a marketing analyst, but she is also a consumer. Her work landed her on the mailing lists of a large number of companies, and when the mail marketing started coming in, she decided to explore how easy it was to respond to those companies.

The brands include Volkswagen, Visit Scotland, children’s retailer Great Little Trading Company, the League Managers’ Association and gifts website Not on the High Street…Unwanted emails I can easily delete, send to junk mail or unsubscribe to. But post, especially if it is totally irrelevant, is so much more intrusive and much more of a waste. This time however, I’m not chucking it away, I’m emailing these brands to get them to take me off their mailing lists.

When marketers are spending so much time focused on keeping a consistent brand from print, to social, to websites, it can be easy to forget details like email addresses. Make sure that your customers can respond to your direct mail in a number of ways, and that those methods are consistently checked, watched, and responded to. A rapid response time can help build trust with your customers, and can give you a second chance to win a sale that might have been teetering on the edge.

When trying to get in touch with Volkswagon, however, Handley found that her experience was far from that model.

…the highest profile of those brands, VW, performs much less well. But I must come clean: its dealership mailing was an MOT offer and was actually sent to my late father rather than me. This is surprising, given that two years ago, I had to go into the dealership to tell them, in person, that he had passed away. So I found the dealership online and emailed the relevant contact. Whose email then bounced back. So I emailed the manager, who has not replied. I also emailed via the VW brand website and have had no acknowledgement.

Ultimately, Volkswagon's poor response options left Handley without an easy solution to her complaint. If the mailer had directed her immediately to a different person, the company would have had the opportunity to respond with an apology, an offer, or a method of furthering their communication.

As Handley points out, direct mail doesn't come with an 'unsubscribe' button. There isn't an HTML form on your postcard asking the consumer why they turned down your offer. If you want to make the most of print marketing, make sure that you give consumers an easy way to stay in contact.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: Proposed USPS Service Changes, and What they Mean for Your Marketing

The United States Postal Service has finally decided that drastic measures are required to save the floundering department. Among the much-publicized moves is the closing of over 250 processing facilities, and the reduction of the USPS national transportation network. The average consumer has not had much to say about the department’s woes; much to the chagrin of the industry, mail is one of those things that few people would care about until it is gone. Now, that fact is changing. Consumers are starting to express anguish toward the USPS’s cost-cutting solutions, and marketers should be taking notice.

One side effect of the shrinking department will be an increase in delivery time. Specifically, First Class Mail delivery will change from a 1-2 day delivery schedule to a 2-3 day schedule. Will this fundamentally change mailing strategies? Probably not, though marketers will need to consider the fact that mailers on tight deadlines, or those with time-sensitive information, will require a shift in planning. The real struggle, for the time being, is that the USPS has not confirmed any of these proposals yet. In the unlikely case of a Federal financial solution, or heavy consumer backlash, these changes likely won’t take place.

For now, marketers should plan for both eventualities, and prepare a system for either outcome. If October comes and goes without changes, the extra effort may seem like a waste, but there is rarely a reason to go unprepared in the face of potential disaster.

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Tray Way: Navigating the Mobile Renaissance

Sixteen years ago, in 1995, text messaging was still in its infancy. The technology wouldn’t become widespread for almost a decade, and wasn’t picked up by marketers for a few years after that. It seems like SMS and mobile marketing are still buzzwords thrown around by every agency, so how can we consider this the decade of the mobile rebirth?

Smart phone technology, led by the love-it-or-hate-it iPhone, has completely changed the way marketers can interact with consumers. Check-in apps, augmented reality, mobile websites, QR codes, and yes, SMS marketing, are but a handful of the advertising methods that have opened up to mobile marketers in the past few years. In 2010, the mobile market saw jumps in numbers that left many researchers stunned. Three studies, published in March and July of this year, share some of those statistics

The Growth of Mobile Marketing

• Of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones in use, 1.08 billion are smart phones, and a whopping 3.05 billion are SMS enabled.
• By 2014 [if current rates continue,] mobile internet should take over desktop internet usage.
• One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices
• On average, Americans spend 2.7 hours per day socializing on their mobile device. That’s over twice the amount of time they spend eating…

For marketers looking to reach a large audience, there are few better avenues than smart phones. As an interactive medium, mobile marketing already has a leg up on passive ad strategies such as television and radio. In fact, of those that react to a mobile ad, “42 percent click on the mobile ad; 35 percent visit the advertiser’s site; 32 percent search for more information on their phone; 49 percent make a purchase and 27 percent call the business.”

Where Does Print Come In?

Since 2010, one of the most common buzzwords in print and mobile marketing has been QR codes. For an integrated marketing campaign, QR can be the glue holding everything together. Like Personalized URL (PURL) codes, QR codes allow smart phone owners to snap a quick photo with their mobile device, and in return, be presented with near-limitless information. QR codes can display text or images, or they can link directly to any URL, video, song, or other online resource. There is no need for the consumer to remember a URL, or write down a phone number, everything is done automatically, as soon as they click their camera button.

All of this means that you can easily print a customized QR code (which are completely free to generate) onto postcards, promotional products, posters, or letterhead. Then it is a simple step for the consumer to leap from the print ad to an online offering.

Even better, while marketers may be completely sick of hearing about the things, consumers are still impressed with the instantly gratifying reward that QR codes offer. The only thing better than a coupon is a coupon you don’t have to cut out, print, or download, right?

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The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our organization's capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.