Giveaway #2- 5 people won FREE Postcards! (Closed)
Are you ready to win more free stuff? Well here goes!
What did we give away?
5 Different Winners received 250 4″x6″ Premium Full Color Postcard Printing Printed & Shipped For Free!
4 x 6 – premium gloss cardstock
Full Color Both Sides Printed From Your Files
Free Shipping Included
Eligibility: US Residents ONLY (Non-US can enter and receive free printing, shipping not included)
Congratulations To The Winners!:
1. Cindy Campione
2. Jonathan
3. Jacquelyn Rachel
4. Cheryl
5. Eric Rippetoe
Winners, check your email for instructions on how to get your Free Postcards printed and shipped to you for free!
Thank you for all the entries! If you didn’t win this week, check back soon for our next awesome giveaway!!!
Giveaway #1 – 5 people won FREE business cards! (Closed)
In celebration of the launch of the new SonicPrint.com, we are giving away free printing products throughout the entire month of August. Here is our first giveaway…
What did we give away?
5 Different Winners received 1000 Premium Full Color Business Cards Printed & Shipped For Free!
2 x 3.5 – premium gloss cardstock
Full Color Both Sides Printed From Your Files
Free Shipping Included
Eligibility: US Residents ONLY
Must be 18 or older to enter!
Congratulations To The Winners!
1. Mikah Sargent
2. Mo Eppley
3. Ami Bowen
4. Stephanie Dillon
5. Thera Joyce
If you didn’t win this week, check back later tonight for the next giveaway. It’s only going to get better!
What Elvis didn’t know about direct mail…
Poor Elvis! If only he knew about CASS certifying and NCOA processing his mailing list, his gal would have received his letter and they would have lived happily ever after! But if that was the case, then we wouldn’t have this classic!
Lucky for you Sonic Print can help reduce the Return to Sender problem!
What is CASS and NCOA you ask?
CASS Certification is the process of verifying with the postal service that the addresses are in the proper format and are assigned a route and a mail carrier. This saves you money in postage because you only mail to the people that have correct addresses.
NCOA(National Change of Address) is when a mailing list is checked for any recipients that have moved in the last 48 months. If your customer moves and leaves a forwarding address we can find it and update for you automatically. This works especially well in making sure that you’re mailing to the right people the first time!
Did you know that we provide both of these services free of charge on every direct mail project that we do?
Only if Elvis knew it!
Batteries? We don’t need no stinkin’ batteries!
We are setting technology back 100 years and want you to help!
Being in the graphic arts industry, it’s fairly obvious that we are addicted to technology and slaves to our gadgets. However, no matter how many times we peck at our smartphones sometimes the pen really is mightier than the virtual keyboard.Use The Amazing Notepad For:
- Jotting notes at your next staff meeting
- Sharing your phone number with everyone at the bar
- Outlining your plans for world domination
- Coming up with the list of usual suspects
Are you ready to take it back to the “old-school” and give your short hand a shot? We’re giving away free notepads to anyone who wants one. We’ve shipped out hundreds and they are a huge hit with everyone who gets them!
CMYK Love
Twitter Employees Use Paper Business Cards?
SXSW: Gasp! Twitter gives out paper business cards
Ever since Twitter made a big splash at South By Southwest in 2007, the micro-blogging site has seen a lot of milestones. The site has won support from celebrates like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher, signed search deals with Google and Yahoo!, recently hired their 140th employee, and even had the 10 billionth tweet sent out early in March.
But the hip, San Francisco company was missing something that, in the general business world, seems rather basic: It never had business cards. Employees just gave out their Twitter names instead.
But that, too, has changed. At SXSW this year, Twitter employees are handing out paper business cards just like the rest of us. Instead of eggshell white, the company went with an earthy brown color for its cards.
That may seem like a silly bit of news, but first consider the context. At SXSW, everything is going digital. Instead of handing out cards, many tech professionals just download a smartphone app called i-Nigma and then scan a barcode on other attendee’s name tags. That person’s contact info automatically downloads onto the phone. Others use an iPhone app called Bump, which, when two phones are tapped together, exchanges a business-card’s worth of data through the air.
A Twitter spokesman poked fun at the idea of business cards even as he listed the benefits of paper-based networking.
“This antiquated thing called ‘business cards’ is a helpful way for some of us to bridge our online and offline worlds with potential employees, partners and the thousands of developers who make Twitter applications,” said company spokesman Sean Garrett.
So, is paper really the new mode of social networking? Next thing you know, maybe Twitter employees will be spotted in ties.
USPS: The Mailing Moment
What is the Mail Moment? From sorting and organizing to allocating and reading, the Mail Moment defines the highly interactive daily ritual that consumers devote to bringing in their Mail and discovering what it offers. The Mail Moment provides marketers with the unique opportunity to get their messages noticed and their offers considered. Mail connects in ways other media can’t match.
MAIL EVOKES EMOTION
- 56% say receiving Mail is a “real pleasure.”
- 55% “look forward” to discovering the Mail they receive.
- 67% feel Mail is more personal than the Internet.
Right now, in a market you want to reach, your ideal prospect is just waiting for the moment. She’s eager to invite you in to see what your message can bring to her life. She’s even willing to set aside time to focus solely on what you have to say.
This scenario reflects the findings of a recent U.S. Postal Service® study in which consumers revealed just how important Mail is to their daily lives. Each day, they open their Mail with anticipation and give it their undivided attention. This ritual has been termed the Mail Moment, and an understanding of it is helping marketers connect with consumers in a way that engages them in a rich, personal marketing experience.
What follows are some of the key Mail Moment insights from the study.
Insight 1 : Mail gets your message into waiting hands.
Every day, people throughout the country look forward to receiving their Mail. In fact, the study unveiled that they can’t wait to see what’s in their mailbox. Some of the findings:
• 98% of consumers bring in their Mail the day it’s delivered.
• Of these, 72% bring it in as soon as possible.
• 77% sort through their Mail immediately.
The take-away: Not only does your marketing piece get immediately into the hands of consumers – it gets immediately into the hands of consumers who are eager to see what’s in their Mail. No other media channel can provide such a remarkable opportunity to get your message noticed.
Insight 2 Mail takes you to the person in charge.
According to the study, Mail is usually sorted by the person in charge of managing household operations. Of these sorters:
• 90% determine which Mail is kept for review.
• 81% review financial documents.
• 84% are the principal grocery shoppers.
The study also found that Mail is placed where it’s seen and used and that it moves from room to room, allowing consumers to read it at their convenience.
The take-away: Mail may be the easiest way to reach household and financial decision makers. Moreover, Mail’s tangible, portable nature helps your communication find its way to the family member with the greatest interest.
Insight 3 Mail boasts a loyal readership.
In a world where everyone seems to have less time, consumers are still spending quite a bit of time with their Mail. As part of their Mail Moment, consumers reserve time each day to sit down with their Mail. The study found that:
• Consumers spend an average of 30 minutes reading their Mail on any given occasion.
• They spend 45 minutes with magazines, 30 minutes with catalogs and 25 minutes
with Direct Mail.
The take-away: Mail makes it possible to grab the complete attention of your existing customers and targeted prospects – for up to a half hour.
Is direct mail part of your business?
According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail is still one of the most popular methods of advertising, and nearly 33% of people respond to direct mail by going online. So, what does this mean to you?
It means that if you combine a “one, two punch” of Online and Offline marketing, you’ll see your response jump dramatically. We see customers deploy their e-mail blasts and postcards at the same time for a multi marketing medium attack. To take it a step further, our customers use Personalized URLs to bridge the gap of offline and online marketing, receive more detailed analytics, and spur customer curiousity all while increasing response.
Whether you are a marketing professional or a small home-based business startup, we confidently believe in the power of direct mail to connect to prospects, customers, and grow your business.
5 more things to think about when doing direct mail.
A few days ago we gave 5 things to ask yourself when using direct mail for your business. Now here’s another 5! Answering these questions will dramatically help increase your customer response and boost your direct mail marketing investment. Want to get started with direct mail? Check out our packages located here: http://www.sonicprint.com
6. Have I given the recipient several ways to contact me (email, 1-800 number, etc.)?
You’d be surprised how many people still in this age of FREE long distance still won’t be inspired to call a company without a toll-free number. Email gives the customer the ability to write their requests without the return fire of a potential sales pitch in their ear. Lastly, a website gives your customer the ability to research your company in-depth at their leisure. They don’t need to hear about it from a salesperson, your door is open 24 hours.
7. Is my postcard professional in appearance?
This is another often neglected though very important. Many amateur marketing campaigns are based on designs with low-resolution pictures off of the internet, and designed in a consumer design program like print-shop, paint, paint-shop, ECT… They may sound similar to the professional design suites, but they are completely different! Even Word and Publisher do not output as nice of quality compared to something designed in a professional design suite such as Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, or In-Design.
If you do not have the ability to create professional postcard campaigns in house – use a professionally designed template for practically no cost! If you want to take it a step further, there are plenty of design companies that will be able to design your postcard for less than $100!
8. Have I used full-color wherever possible?
Studies prove that color increases response. With the changes in printing technology – full color postcards have never been cheaper! You can print full color postcards on a printing press for less than black and white cards at a copy shop. 5000 postcards can be printed for anywhere from $225 to $450 depending on who you use.
9. Does my postcard have a call-to-action? Does it clearly tell the recipient how to move forward, what to do, or whom to call? Does it push urgency?
The single most important feature of your postcard should be the call-to-action. If we printed a postcard showing how great our printing was, but gave no incentive to place an order with our company, we would dramatically reduce the amount of responses to our card.
10. Is my postcard worth something?
Give your recipient an offer they can’t refuse. By giving a time-sensitive promotion or special only available to the recipient of your postcard, you are inspiring them to purchase immediately, and you give yourself the ability to track the responses of your campaign. Postcards with coupons, promo-codes give makes your postcard a “keeper.”
5 things to think about before mailing THAT postcard!
1. Is my list current and well-targeted? The best marketing campaign is wasted without a relevant mailing list. Ideally, your list should consist of the people ready to buy your product or service at the moment they receive your postcard. The best list if your own customer list, and if you don’t have one, there is no better time than now to start! If you are looking to gain new prospects, list vendors such as SonicPrint can provide businesses or residential lists for as little as $30 per 1000 names!
2. Is my message short and my headline to the point? Many postcards fail because the marketer blends the objective of a postcard and a brochure. By putting too much information on a postcard, the recipient is overwhelmed and the message is lost.
In marketing, the law is E2 = 0. Emphasizing Everything Equals Nothing.
3. Does my postcard address my recipient’s primary needs and concerns?A good postcard will address the needs of the prospect and highlight the benefits of your product or services in regards to those needs. For example, in printing, our customers don’t care about what equipment we have, as long as we can produce the best quality, with the best service, at the best price. Don’t sell your customer on the features of your business, sell them the benefits of using you.
4. Did I mention at least one thing that makes my product or service different from others? Every product or service has competition. If it doesn’t have competition either no one has a need for the product or service, or it’s only a matter of time before it does have competitors. Make sure that your customer knows why your product is better than the other that they could buy.
- Is your customer service/customer commitment better?
- Is your product higher quality?
- Is your price better?
All of these can be measured in terms of value. The goal of your marketing is to convince your prospect that your product or services has better value compared to your competition.
5. Is my information accurate and my spelling correct? Often overlooked spell-checking is a very simple process. Have a few of fresh eyes look over your postcard before you print your piece. Computer spell-check is usually not enough. Simple spelling and grammatical errors discount your validity. How good can your company be if your customer thinks you can’t even spell simple words? Also, ALWAYS check your phone numbers, and promotions for accuracy!
TRUE STORY: A client printed 20,000 cards with the wrong phone number. Even worse, we have heard stories about a company who printed thousands of cards with a phone number that ended up being a competitor! Be sure to check phone number, addresses and information regarding any promotion that you have.
Check back in a few days for 5 more questions to ask yourself before mailing that direct mail campaign.
