Target Marketing articles from November 2000

Target Marketing archives from November 2000

Convergence: The Next Big Issue.
November 1, 2000... EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE TALKING ABOUT CONVERGENCE these days. Convergence of what I kept asking? I didn't really understand what it meant until very recently, when a number of things I read and heard on the subject all "converged" and the...

DialAmerica.
November 1, 2000... While toll-free numbers remain the most commonly preferred medium for contacting customer service, online self-help and e-mail are swiftly gaining a prominent spot. "Web Connectivity to Inbound and Outbound Calling," a white paper sponsored by...

Harte-Hanks Market Intelligence.
November 1, 2000... Harte-Hanks Market Intelligence is offering a free copy of "The Guide to eMarketing." This stripped down guide will give you the basics on improving sales lead management using the power of e-mail marketing. It touches on the issues of illusory...

And stuff to buy.
November 1, 2000... Everything you ever wanted to know about direct mail, but were afraid to ask, can be found in the 100-page guide "Direct Mail for Dummies," by Richard Goldsmith, president of The Horah Group. Following the user-friendly style of the...

Canada Post.
November 1, 2000... You need to know more than simply the fact that they love hockey and thick-sliced bacon. That's why Canada Post put together this 65-page booklet detailing the demographics and mailing regulations of our neighbor to the North. With more than 30...

Instant Messaging (IM).
November 1, 2000... You know the time will eventually come when we will call even a compartively fast-paced medium like email, slow and cumbersome. That time hasn't quite come yet, but the most recent evolution of the Chat Room, Instant Messaging (IM), stands a...

Postal Update.
November 1, 2000... The U.S. Postal Service is hoping MERLIN will speed up bulk mail acceptance verification. No, we're not talking about the Camelot wizard. MERLIN is short for Mail Evaluating Readability and Lookup Instrument, and it will reduce handling time...

TELEMARKETING.
November 1, 2000... A well-planned telemarketing script can reap big dividends. Consider the following ideas presented by KSK Communications, a Virginia-based advertising and public relations agency. * Developing the Script. Be sure to get input from people in...

Constructing a Powerful Internal Newsletter.
November 1, 2000... A targeted, internal newsletter can be a powerful communication vehicle to all employees or selected departments/locations, if constructed correctly. Make your business more productive with a targeted communication e-newsletter to specific...

PRODUCTION.
November 1, 2000... You've invested time and money on list rental, data processing, print buying and personalization. Don't waste these valuable resources by overlooking critical checkpoints in the mailing process. Guarantee a smooth mailing process with D.A....

9 Ways to Cut Costs.
November 1, 2000... Don't let print costs eat into your profit margin. Here are nine cost-cutting tips from Dick Goldsmith, president of the Horah Group, to help you shave off print time and dollars from your next campaign. 1. Make sure all creative changes...

Online Shoptalk.
November 1, 2000... Getting 'Net-ready is a lot like learning a new language. Learning the lingo is a good start, but when you're talking about launching an all-out online marketing blitz, jargon is just the beginning. Here's a glossary of frequently used...

Good Web Customer Service.
November 1, 2000... Meeting customer expectations and heading off complaints at the pass are a major component of promoting solid CRM on the Web, according to Bill Ness, chief operating officer of roadrunnersports.com. Here are five of Ness' best practices for...

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT.
November 1, 2000... Personify's Customer Loyalty Accelerator[TM] provides answers to the critical questions that drive successful loyalty programs, reduce acquisition costs and increase ROI. Personify's product leverages vast transactional and demographic data,...

Online Customer Satisfaction Declines.
November 1, 2000... U.S. small businesses indicate that online customer support is declining. A study from Cyber Dialogue, a New York-based eCRM company, found that b-to-b online spending by small businesses jumped 138 percent in the first quarter of 2000,...

How Effective Is Your Segmentation Procedure.
November 1, 2000... Today there are more options than ever before to segment your file, whether for direct mail, phone, e-mail or other purposes. How do you decide which one is the best? Consider this example: Office SuperMax, an office supplies catalog...

Tipping the Scale.
November 1, 2000... Scale is a key difference between direct marketing in the United States and Europe. "European direct marketing is out of necessity much more micro-oriented," observes Arthur Heydendael, who recently attended the DIMA conference and exhibition...

Where to Set Up Shop.
November 1, 2000... If you are marketing to Europe, you need to consider how you'll handle incoming calls from international customers. Will you route the calls to your domestic operation or set up facilities overseas? Here are the benefits of operating from the...

Are Your Promotional Materials Making the Right Impression?
November 1, 2000... EVERY YEAR, BEFORE The Direct Marketing Association show, I get a slew of postcards from companies (some that are not at all relevant to my business), letting me know that they'll be exhibiting and telling me all about their products. I've been...

A 50-Year Legacy of Service.
November 1, 2000... AT THE MARK GROUP, CUSTOMER CARE HAS BEEN THE FOCUS SINCE ITS FLAGSHIP STORE OPENED IN THE 1950S. NOW THE 'NET IS HELPING THIS CATALOGER TAKE SERVICE TO THE NEXT LEVEL LOOK INSIDE the front cover of The Mark Group's original catalog, Mark,...

Who Are the Best of the Best?
November 1, 2000... INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS SHARE THEIR TOP PICKS FOR TODAY'S CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERSTARS CUSTOMER SERVICE can make or break a company. What's the old saying, "Once bitten, twice shy"? Many customers simply won't give you a second chance if you...

How Hilton Honors Its Loyal Customers.
November 1, 2000... AFTER YOU HAVE taken care of customer service, what else can you do to show your customers that you care? Create a loyalty program that rewards best or frequent customers with bonuses, discounts or other goodies. Loyalty programs also present a...

How to Recognize Your Customers.
November 1, 2000... CALLER ID AND WEB COOKIES ARE HIGH-TECH TOOLS THAT CAN PROMOTE CUSTOMER LOYALTY THE MOST PROFITABLE business is one that has loyal customers who purchase regularly and continue to buy for a long time. Such a business is usually more...

Creative Engineering.
November 1, 2000... HOW TO GET THE BEST CREATIVE WORK WHY DO SOME companies always seem to get better creative work than others? You may think it's their product You might say, "Well, if I were selling Volkswagens, or iMacs or (insert your competitor's...

Reaching Maturity.
November 1, 2000... HOW TO TAP THE MANY SHADES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM'S 'GREY' MARKET TWO-THIRDS OF ALL the people who have ever lived past the age of 65, in the entire history of the world are alive today! It's also a fact that the 50-plus or mature...

Deciphering Global Code.
November 1, 2000... HANDLE YOUR DATA WITH CARE INTERNATIONAL EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article is based on a presentation given as part of the U.S. Direct Marketing Assn.'s day-long seminar at DIMA (German Direct Marketing Conference) held in Dusseldorf...

Pulp Fundamentals.
November 1, 2000... HOW PAPER CHOICES AFFECT A MAIL PIECE HOW WOULD House Beautiful magazine look if it were printed on newsprint? Probably not that great; the colors would look kind of flat. The photographs would look fuzzy. It certainly wouldn't be...

Wireless Ad Technology.
November 1, 2000... The first half of 2001 will be the coming-out party for the Wireless Internet," declares David Wilson, executive vice president of marketing and business development, WindWire. The Morrisville, NC-based company's product, WindCaster, is the...

Clicks Don't Cut It!
November 1, 2000... WHEN AND HOW TO USE SNAIL MAIL TO DRIVE NEW BUYERS INTO THE ONLINE WORLD BY APRIL 2000, reality returned to the world of e-business. The dot-com frenzy pooped out overnight and now we all know that shooting gerbils out of a cannon will no...

Bye, Bye Amazon.
November 1, 2000... OR, WHY THE WAY TO ONLINE SUCCESS IS THE "BRICK" ROAD OF DIRECT MARKETING PEOPLE THINK I'M CRAZY... but that's OK, people always think someone's crazy. Currently the thing I'm saying which makes folks think I'm crazy is the fact that I...

Direct Mail Cross-Check.
November 1, 2000... Things to Consider Before Your Project Goes to Print A DIRECT MARKETER'S schedule is critical. The print campaign ties directly to broadcast and electronic marketing. With zero margin for error, you are not expecting anything to go wrong...

Conservative Political Donors.
November 1, 2000... THEY ABHOR CLINTON, love family values, think people like Ollie North and Linda Tripp are national heroes, pray for a government the size of a pea and almost certainly wish the 1960s never happened. They are our nation's conservative Republican...

New lists from mIn.
November 1, 2000... MARKETING INFORMATION NETWORK (mIn) is a service to list brokers that keeps track of virtually all published American and Canadian lists, card decks and alternate media opportunities. mIn's computers house information and data cards on about...

Famous last words.
November 1, 2000... 18 Inviolable Rules for Internet Success 1. The entire point of your Web site is to get yourself book-marked by prospects and customers; everything else is secondary. No bookmarks, no regular return visits. 2. With a Web site, you are...

The Year's Best Bells & Whistles.
November 1, 2000... Improving response has always been the goal of direct marketers. But, when outside influences, like new marketing channels, a maturing market, heavy competition and the decline of a long-used promotional tool, cause response rates to dip...

Searching for the Silver Linings.
November 1, 2000... The direct mail skies have been overcast for the past year, and in some cases, marketers faced heavy downpours. The end of this year promises to bring another shower, with postal rates set to rise again after a one-year break. But there's a...

What's Working Now in Direct Mail.
November 1, 2000... The cardinal rule of design is that form follows function. Direct mail design generally is no exception to this rule. But that doesn't make it any easier to decide which direct mail format to choose for your next campaign. The short and complex...

Publishers Regroup to Face New Challenges.
November 1, 2000... It's not easy making a living in publishing these days. A strong economy has fostered a climate in which consumers and business professionals have a wealth of options when it comes to getting news and entertainment. Losing sweepstakes as a...

The Ultimate Tweak.
November 1, 2000... EASTER SEALS HITS A GRAND SLAM WITH A NEW CONTROL In the world of direct mail, two techniques exist for beating control: 1) imitative and 2) innovative. The imitative method means tweaking an existing control--improving the offer, adding a...

What to Expect from Rate Case 2001.
November 1, 2000... Sometime in January, the cost of doing business by mail is expected to rise, because that's when the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is expected to raise postal rates. Most direct merchants will be focused almost exclusively on the impact these new...

Mailing Trends by the Numbers.
November 1, 2000... To help you get a handle on which direction the winds of change are blowing direct mail right now, take a look at the following statistics compiled from the Who's Mailing What! Archive, the world's largest library of direct mail. This is a...