Advertising to Gen-Y

By admin in Marketing

Ask most marketers how they reach the Generation Y audience and they’ll tell you it’s challenging.

cs-1-6-postcard magnetsGen Y, that demographic group born roughly between the mid-1970’s and early 2000’s, doesn’t use lots of the traditional media (newspapers, network tv, magazines).   So for marketers trying to reach the group, the media choices are the social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.  And unless a marketer can create a buzz that goes viral, he or she is not going to reach an audience at all.

So now it’s come this: when marketers think about going ‘outside the box’, they now mean ‘outside the Internet.’   The ultimate web-based marketers are finding new solutions using ‘traditional’ media,  like  magnet mailers.  Here’s how:

The cyber game world is a billion dollar industry featuring multi-player Internet games where the other players – one’s teammates and opponents – could be on the other side of the planet.  Games like  Starcraft or Counter Strike Source are run from independent network server companies, offering high-tech computer power that needs to be fast and affordable for their Gen Y customers.

But marketing a game server company isn’t easy.  Competition is global and its fierce.  Email marketing has become ineffective and even viral marketing strategies seem to return diminishing results.

We provided the solution in the form of our Basic magnet mailer — it’s a large, full-color laminated postcard carrier, and a custom printed magnet attached. With a good mailing list, and a postcard / magnet combo designed to promote a web address, we helped a US-based game server pinpoint its Gen Y target and deliver a message that could stick around.

The end result: a 20% increase in ‘guest’ traffic at the website and five new accounts for every 100 magnet mailers sent.

Which all goes to show that, even in the tough Gen Y marketplace, if you can get in front of your prospect, you can still win.

magnetbyMail:  helping make sure your message stays in front

Cause and Effect

By admin in Marketing

From saving organic farming  to saving Haiti, there are thousands of good causes, each one with a message.  Each cause competes for our attention.  And each competes with the thousands of other messages that crisscross  in front of us every single day.

campaign promotionsAdding the Internet to the mix hasn’t helped.  In fact, it’s only increased the volume of message traffic.

And for any cause, being able to convey a message to a targeted audience can be critical.  It can be the difference between fulfilling a mission, or disappearing.

Luckily, there’s a solution: custom imprinted postcard magnets.  OK, so we’re biased; but listen to this recent example:

A community organization needs to rally county support for a major change in zoning.   Within three weeks the group needs to convince residents that changes are something that need to be approved.

The group decides to have magnetbyMail print and mail Venti postcard magnets — jumbo postcards and square refrigerator magnets — to every voter in the county.

Within days of the mailing, hundreds of hits come through the group’s website.  The previously-hard-to-get newspaper and tv news reporters appears  for interviews.  And the night of the zoning meeting, there is an unusual sight: full attendance.

The zoning changes are approved by a wide margin, and the organization makes lots of new friends for future projects.

And in many of the area’s homes, the magnets are still in use many months later.

There’s little else that works quite like a postcard magnet mailer.  The postcard is the carrier, the magnet is the billboard.  The combination is quite effective, and very affordable.

Have an important message to convey? Check us out at magnetbyMail.

Direct Mail Since Net

By admin in Marketing

It was as if Direct Mail advertising was hit by a bus a few years ago, when the Internet came to town.  Advertisers took off, thinking they could save a boatload by simply building a website, recalling the adage “build it and they will come…”

Our own Clarke Stevens looks into what happened to Direct Mail since that time in his recent article at Hubpages.com: Aspiring Media Could Impact Marketing Strategy .

Its worth a look…

Good photography

By admin in Design, Resources


Photos.com Royalty-Free Photos by Subscription If you’re going to invest money (, time and effort) in a postcard mailer campaign, you should make sure your layout and design looks its best.

If you need good photo images to help convey your message, you should look through .

At Photos.com, you’ll find stock photography that is all shapes and sizes.  At least one of the images is bound to be perfect for your project.

Oh, and prices are very reasonable, too.  There are plenty of great images available for under US$10.

Images at Photos.comImportant note: make sure you obtain high-resolution photos.  For print quality, its good to have images that are at least 200 Dots Per Inch (DPI) resolution.  Images intended for the web can have much less (72 DPI), so don’t download an image intended for a website.

Also, based on my own experience buying an image at Photos.com, I suggest you first, set yourself as a site user, then add the image(s) into your online ‘lightbox’, and then pay for them with your creditcard. Doing this in an other order can become frustrating.  At least that’s my experience.

I do recommend regardless of the abovementioned quirky checkout process.  Pricing seems to be better than iStockPhoto.com .

Just our 2 cents, from magnetbyMail.com

Good News in the Mail

By admin in Marketing, Profitability

Mail SlotThe Internet has had a huge impact on the US Post Office.  You probably aren’t surprised to hear that.

Instead of  catalogs, companies are focused on improving their websites.

Instead of mailing letters, people simply send an email.

And all that is good news for you if you’re marketing with Direct Mail:

First of all, your recipients are more likely to see your mail simply because the pile is much smaller.

And secondly, recipients are more likely to be favorable to Direct Mail ad mail, and even look forward to receiving it, because mail levels are now so low.

So next time you hear that people are mailing less and less, put on your marketing hat and smile.

Just a thought from magnetbyMail.com, home of custom imprinted postcard magnets.

Growing New Customers

By admin in Marketing

Magnet mailers for farmers marketA local association of local growers, dairies and craftsmen held a Farmers’ Market in the town’s center on Saturday mornings throughout the warm months.

They decided to advertise to community residents to remind everyone of the weekly event. With the help of a local Organic Farming Initiative, they received a grant for outreach funds.

They designed a Venti postcard magnet.  The postcard had plenty of details describing the Farmer’s Market and how it was making a difference for local farmers and local residents.

The postcard included a large magnet, with all the important details: when and where the Market is held.

The magnet mailers were sent to all residents in the area via bulk mail.

Within weeks, the market became ‘the place to be’ on a Saturday morning.  Farmers liked the larger crowds, and residents liked the fresh produce and the ability to chat with their neighbors.

Just another idea from magnetbyMail.com

Hospitals Advertise Too

By admin in Marketing

A regional hospital had identified a need in the community and added a Womens Diagnostic Imaging Center to its growing campus.

But the investment would have a slow payback if the Center was underutilized.

Magnet mailers for healthcareSo the hospital decided to advertise using ‘The Basic’ postcard magnets.

A postcard mailer was designed to announce the Center, and invite women for a free tour of the facilities.  The refrigerator magnet was designed as a convenient reminder for women who might need the Center’s services.  It provided phone number, address and website info.

Within four weeks, the new Center went from ‘unknown’ to being busy with tours.

And to this day, patients mention making use of the Center’s magnet in their kitchen.

Another marketing solution from magnetbyMail.com

Marketing for Profit

By admin in Profitability

Since the bottom line of marketing is, well, the bottom line, we decided to see how this applies to custom printed postcard magnets.

Now its worth noting that it can be very difficult to measure profitability using most ad media. TV, radio, billboards — you may see a bump in your business, buts its a challenge to pinpoint exact numbers.

With direct mail postcard magnets its much easier to check your results.  Just take your original mailing list, and cross-reference it with your inquiries and sales lists.

Now for the nitty gritty.

Its always good to know how good your postcard magnet promotion needs to be.  We suggest you figure your ‘breakeven cost’ before developing your mailing campaign.   Here’s how:

Estimate what your average sale is, and calculate the typical gross profit (“TGP”) on this sale .

Then, estimate the total costs of your planned direct mail campaign, and divide this amount by the TGP number.  This is the number of sales you need your mailers to make before your campaign becomes profitable.

For example, if your TGP is $40 and you’re mailing 1000 postcards magnets for $1000, then your breakeven is 25 sales (that’s $1000 divided by $40).  This means you need to get a 2.5% response rate for your postcard magnets to start making a profit.

No two marketers are alike, but we’ve found most would be satisfied if their campaign simply made break even.  That is, the mailing paid for itself, and profits would ultimately be realized on subsequent orders with those new customers.

And then there are Realtors, dentists, lawyers and other professionals with a high TGP.  These marketers can find that the mailing can breakeven with just 1 response.  More than 1 response is pure profit.

Just another tip from magnetbyMail.com

 

ideas for layouts

By admin in Design, Resources

Need some quality, ready-made art templates for your magnet mailer design?

Check out graphicriver.net for complete design layouts by world-class  artists.

graphicriver.net design templatesFiles generally include high-resolution images, and Adobe Illustrator or  Adobe InDesign elements, and suggestions for font files.

Its most everything you need for camera-ready artwork.  You may need to tweak the layout size to fit a postcard.  And of course, you’ll need to write your own copy…

The best way to use graphicriver.net is to browse through the templates.  Even of you don’t buy anything, you’ll be inspired with plenty of design ideas.  And if you do buy something, you’ll be surprised at the low prices.

Postcard Sample Template from graphicriver.netFor example, check out this collection of card and brochure designs by jahimmyess.  There are plenty to choose from, you can change colors based on your palette, you receive templates for postcards, brochures, forms, and business cards.  And the download will cost less than US$10.

Now that’s impressive!

Our recommended resource for design templates:  www.graphicriver.net

 

 

 

Most Popular

By admin in Design

 

Magnet Postcard for Farmers MarketWhat is our most popular custom printed postcard magnet?

It’s definitely ‘The Basic’ postcard magnet, our half-sheet, full-color postcard and businesscard – sized magnet.

Why?

Well, sure the low price helps.  Even in small quantities, they’re about a dollar or less, including standard-rate postage .

But the magnet size makes a lot of sense to many marketers.  Mail recipients don’t necessarily want a huge magnet on their refrigerator unless it has extremely useful info, its very attractive, or they know (and like) the sender very well.

So when you’re new to somebody’s kitchen, it might be good to think ‘baby steps.’

The Basic gets the job done.

It’s available at our website at: magnetbyMail.com