*Did you know that Direct Mail gives advertisers a whopping 13-to-1 return on their investment? Did you also know that nearly 80% of internet users surveyed said they were directly influenced to purchase an item or service because of a direct mail?
Wow, pint really pays off! Southwest Direct can help you increase your return on your direct response campaigns. Call us today at 800-968-5798!
*Rochester institute of Technology
Here is an updated trade show shedule as of 2/26/2010. Hope to see you there!
2010 studies are out and direct mail is still a heavy contender! According to the 2010 DMA Statistical Fact Book, 79% of households either read or scan advertising mail! Out of that 79%, 49% are readers and 30% are scanners! Not bad! And, postcard readership is up, along with all other formats being up, due to less crowded mailboxes. Better keep that direct mail budget on the books! However, the best results only come from expertise that is critical to launching a successful direct mail campaign. Here at SouthWest Direct, we have that expertise! You can’t afford to waste those direct mail budget dollars! Call us today at 800-968-5798 or visit www.swdirect.com To read the full article, click here: http://www.insidedirectmail.com/article/studies-show-direct-mail-healthier-than-expected-415726_1.html
Is it possible to measure social media efforts with hard cold numbers? Afraid not. This may be a hard pill to swallow for the CEO or shareholder of your organization when you, the marketing manager or director, try to sell them the benefit of social media.
However, that’s not to say that social media does not have value – it’s just a different kind of value. The value of social media efforts equates to good old-fashioned relationship building. And, while relationship building cannot be measured on a spreadsheet, it can certainly contribute to growing your client base and increase brand awareness.
No CEO or shareholder I know would object to those two benefits.
Here is a great article on the challenges of social media measurement, as well as interesting perspective from a commenter…
Have any questions about implementing social media for your organization? Contact SouthWest Direct today and let us help you determine if social media will benefit your organization. www.swdirect.com
We really love this web marketing checklist! It was initally put together by Pole Position Marketing, however we have seen several variations of it on the Internet. Regardless, it really is a very comprehensive and helpful list! It is very detailed and doesn’t miss a thing! We approve!
Click here to view —-> Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist
While some may think this is the wrong thing to do, it really isn’t! The concept is really about precise targeting – essentially marketing to your best, most qualified lead only, as those are the leads you will be most likely to convert.
We’ve all done it – we’ve all subscribed to an email list just to get information, a free whitepaper, etc. We really are not interested in buying right now or maybe not ever. So, when we get that future email or e-newsletter, we will delete it upon sight if we are too busy to unsubscribe at that moment.
Eventually, we will tire of deleting your emails and maybe mark them as spam, affecting your reputation as a sender.
Unfortunately for that organization, this action will greatly affect the metrics used, such as open rate, conversion rate, and click-thorugh rate, to assess email marketing performance.
Now, if you are the marketer for this organization, imagine your great big email marketing list being made up of what could be typically over 45% of these kind of subscribers!
Oh, the horror! Its time to take steps to clean your list.
By identifying and removing dead weight subscribers from your email list, you’re ensuring that all subscribers are most likely to engage with your emails.
Of course, if you’re not sure how to optimize your email marketing lists and campaigns, contact a professional! SouthWest Direct offers email marketing campaign developement for a number of industries.
For more information, visit www.swdirect.com!
Text message marketing is a cost-efficient and effective way to market across many age groups and segments. However, as Burger King recently found out, it can be costly when a customer’s request to opt out isn’t granted. This is a great example of what NOT to do within a text message marketing campaign. To ensure this does not happen, you really need to have credible opt out processes in place.
To learn more about this, the Mobile Marketing Association (http://mmaglobal.com/main) can provide you with general best practices for mobile marketing. However, the individual carriers have their own set of rules and guidelines for marketing to their customers. Also, customers are charged Standard Text Messaging rates per their cell phone plan. What that means is that a message counts against their text message plan (if they have one) or incur the standard text message rate per their cell phone plan. So, unwanted text messages after an opt out request will really upset a customer and rightfully so.
Lastly, the best way to follow best practices and have an effective text messaging campaign is to hire a professional! SouthWest Direct has performed many text message marketing campaigns and always follows best practices.
Check this out: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/12/whopper_of_a_suit_woman_wants.php
Council for Advancement & Support of Education (CASE)
District III Conference
Tampa, FL
Council for Advancement & Support of Education (CASE)
District IV Conference
Austin, TX
Florida Government Finance Officers Association (FGFOA)
2010 Annual Conference
Orlando, FL
Government Finance Officers Association
104th Annual Conference
Atlanta, GA
Healthcare Financial Management Association
2010 ANI: The Healthcare Finance Conference
Nashville, Tennessee
Healthcare and Billing Management Association
Fall Annual Conference
St. Louis, Missouri
American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management
2010 Annual National Institute
Fort Lauderdale, FL
SouthWest Direct (SWD) has just revealed a new web site, www.SWDirect.com, which allows visitors to learn about direct marketing, as well as view direct marketing product samples. Visitors and clients alike will find the site very easy to use and will have access to helpful information about best practices and benefits of direct marketing. The site, which went live this week, also provides visitors with information about direct marketing technologies, such as text message marketing and personalized URLs, within specific industries. For billing and statement customers, the site includes a sophisticated “log in” feature for archiving billing statements and a fully integrated online bill presentment and payment solution. While viewing the site, visitors can also contact SWD direct for questions or inquiries.
Economic conditions are forcing us to re-think our marketing strategies. While traditional media was also used in the mix , some are now turning to more online marketing to reach a certain level of cost-effectiveness. While most marketers may prefer this strategy, almost half of small business owners still do not according to 2009 surveyresults from Bredin Business Information.
44% of small business owners prefer to receieve product and service information via traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, and direct mail, while marketers expect to increase spending online, including microsites, social networking, and webinars. Interesting sidenote: Marketers are more focused on getting new customers than keeping current customers.
