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Using Variable Data Postcards For Customer Reminders

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Before variable data postcards printing, generating reminders for specific customers had to be done by hand. Naturally, this consumed a lot of time and required one to have a well-organized log of their customers that you had to go through one at a time. Today, thanks to variable data printing, you can push out custom-tailored reminders much more efficiently.

What are Variable Data Postcards?

Variable data postcard printing uses a type of digital printing that allows you to change certain elements in the print run like text, images, and graphics from one piece to another without slowing down the process. As a result, this increases the “customizability” of your print runs so that you can customize specific pieces to specific customers.

Personalization is the name of the game if you want to establish relationships with your customers. This breaks down the anti-advertising wall that we all have put up now since we have been exposed to so much of it through all sorts of different mediums. Whether it be through our music streaming applications or on television, most of us dread those commercial breaks, causing us to either get up and leave, or check out altogether. The goal is to engage with your customers, and the best way to do so is to give them a message meant only for them.

How VDP Can Improve Customer Reminder Responses

Say you are a car dealer and someone came in recently to test drive a car. You can now send them a reminder with an image of the same make and model that they test drove. Or maybe you run a bookstore, and someone recently purchased a popular novel in a series. You could send them a reminder to come in and purchase the next one in the series.

You can repeat this process over and over again for all of your customers. VDP offers greater versatility and can be applied to a lot of different scenarios where you can foster repeat business. This not only creates a personal relationship with your customers but allows you to maintain your current customer base. It is always harder to get new customers than to keep the customers that have already done business with your brand.

 

Is it Worth the Cost?

Although VDP tends to be more expensive, the benefit of creating deeply personal marketing materials tips the scale in its favor. Consider how VDP can help build more powerful relationships with your customers, and how it can increase repeat business by targeting buyers’ preferences. In the long run, if you can get more people to re-enter the pipeline, then paying a little more for variable data postcards might just be worth it.

If you’re not sure where to turn for reasonable variable data printing costs and direct mail expertise, start your direct marketing campaign by contacting One Stop Mail.

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Killer Copywriting Tips

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Killer Copywriting Tips

 

Copywriters face all sorts of challenges, from writer’s block to finding the perfect word count for their particular project. Most of the time, the things learned in school are not relevant, for academic writing is completely different from business writing. I had to learn that the hard the way, but fortunately I was able to pick these things up quick. Here are some quick tips to help new and current copywriters.

 

Overcoming Writer’s Block

 

I personally don’t believe in the idea of writer’s block. If you are struggling to write something, that usually means you either don’t have a good grasp of the topic or don’t have enough material gathered to formulate a vision for your writing. In the article “35 Copywriting Tips & Tricks from the Pros,” they cite a quote from Gary Bencivenga who states, “the best copywriters are the most tenacious researchers. Like miners, they dig, drill, dynamite, and chip until they have carloads of valuable ore. John Caples advised me once to gather seven times more interesting information than I could possibly use… Research is the infallible cure for writer’s block.” This is probably the only thing from academia that transferred over, and is an important part of copywriting.

 

Find Your Voice

 

This was a common phrase that I often heard in poetry workshops. The idea is that every writer has their own unique voice where their personality and character come out on the page. Of course, poetry and copywriting are different from each other, however, no matter what sort of writing you do, finding the place where you as an individual intersect with what you are writing will lead to excellent writing. This is because not only will it be more personable for the reader, but it will make writing that much easier for you.

 

Headline as the Hook

 

Many of us who have written the dreaded five paragraph essay remembers our teachers emphasizing a “hook” in the first paragraph to get the readers interested. For copywriting, the hook is in the headline. If you don’t have a good title for the piece, most people won’t bother reading it. Some principles you should stand by follow:

  • Write the headline after you have written the copy
  • Go for simple and punchy
  • Be specific, not misleading

When you have found a good headline, make sure the copy that you have written matches. What I mean by this is that there is nothing more worst than clicking into an article expecting something great and getting a sub-par article. Make sure that whatever headline you pick that the article you have written delivers.

 

Other Resources

 

Remember, research is not only an integral part of writing excellent copy, it is also part of improving yourself as a writer. There are many writers out there that have written great pieces on the craft. I would recommend finding lists of books to read or scour the internet for helpful articles. One such list that I tend to return to is on Linkedin. Every year, a new list comes out that compiles the best reads for the years. It is titled “20 Books Every Marketer Should Read in 2017.” This is how I found Everybody Writes by Ann Handley, which is an excellent resource for any writer in the content world. I highly recommend you pick this book up if you are in dire need of some useful tips and advice.