Analytics Glossary: Psychographics
Psychographics:
- Data used to build customer segments based on attitudes, values, beliefs and opinions as opposed to factual characteristics such as age and gender.
Many lead generation tools and services lump psychographics in with all of their demographics. Keep a keen eye out to watch for this both in separate categories and lumped in. It’s a valuable asset to have when deciding who to market very targeted products to. Avoid the egg on your face that could occur if you try to sell heavy metal music to conservative church-goers!
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Glossary Definition From Website Magazine, February 2008.
Analytics Glossary: Demographics
Demographics:
- The physical characteristics of human populations and segments of populations often used to identify consumer markets. Demographics can include information such as age, gender, marital status, education or geographic location
Whenever you do a targeted marketing campaign, demographics are key! It’s a much better use of your time, efforts, paper, and budget to send your message to consumers who will be the most likely and interested in buying what you’re selling. You don’t want waste precious resources sending custom hot tub installation flyers to people in apartment buildings.
Many mailing list providers (e.g. PsPrint, USAData, etc) offer many demographic distinctions to choose from when renting a mailing list to market to. It’s also important to differentiate if you’re aiming for consumers at large or other businesses as it makes a huge difference in what kind of list you spend your money on.
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Glossary Definition From Website Magazine, February 2008.
In Mail We Trust
There’s an interesting little blurb in the November/December issue of Revenue Magazine on page 18. In part it says:
The study said that newspaper ads were the most trustworthy, with 63% of media consumers saying they trust the ads there. Search ads were the highest-scoring online format, with 34% saying they trusted them. Banner ads were trusted by just 26% of respondents and mobile advertising had 18% of the public trust.
Basically what this says to me is that, even in an era of internet marketing, viral marketing, and SEO/SEM… brick and mortar printing is still the most trusted form of advertisement.
One of the best ways to get the word out in a trusted way is direct mail. Direct mail allows you to catch your customers when they’re more alert and looking for information within their mail delivery. Consider this: when you get home from work at the end of the day and check your mailbox, you’re momentarily more alert while trying to decipher what are bills that need immediate attention, letters from friends or family, and what is advertisements. But even though you’re not looking for the ads, they can still seep into your consciousness during those moments.
Direct mail is inexpensive and can be completed by a number of different resources (other than your kids bribed with a pizza and armed with some stamps on a Saturday afternoon). Reputable printing and mailing companies like PsPrint take all the hassle out of a direct mail piece. Mailing lists are affordable as well, so there’s no hassle in supplementing any customer list you already have with more potential leads.
Make sure to keep these tips in mind when planning our your direct mail campaign:
- Make it Relevant. Target your list in a way that the consumers receiving your mail piece actually have interest in what you’re selling or promoting. Use demographic parameters in renting your mailing list to narrow down who you’re paying to send a piece to.
- Make it Pop. Designs should be eye catching when looking through the usual boring pile of mail. Use vivid colors to make your piece stand out amid the white and manila envelopes.
- Make it Clear. Don’t clutter your piece with information in the attempt to let the consumer know everything about your company. Focus on a single call to action (e.g. coming into the store for more details or visiting the website for more information). Use the mail piece to say the most important thing you want the consumer to know and direct them to the most important action they should take.
Now get out there and get your mail on!
Professional Mailing Services at PsPrint
Social Media Marketing: Wave of the Future?
I figured out a really nifty thing to do on LinkedIn a few months ago… creating an HTML email signature with a link to this blog, to the PsPrint website, and to my LinkedIn profile. I was, sadly, highly amused by this function and emailed a colleague to show it off.
Colleague: Oh that is cool…I am still not 100% comfortable with online communication websites but Linked In seems cool because it’s business connections.
Me: But it’s the waaaave of the futurrrrre. And we’re going to start social media marketing, so get used to it :p
Back in August we decided to do a full frontal attack on social media! I can’t say much yet since we’re still fleshing out the procedures and nitty gritty details, but I’ll be taking the lead on it. That was decided back in August and we still haven’t made any progress on it, other than my blogging efforts here.
It was exciting to get some new responsibilities and start working on a new project. Our mailing services is pretty automated and our affiliate program was starting to go places. I couldn’t wait to talk more about it, but mum was the word at the time.
So I got to thinking about it… is social media and online networking really the wave of the future? What are your thoughts?
Read MoreAnnoying Sales & Marketing Tactics
Annoying Tactic #1: Launch a campaign without communicating it to everyone who needs to know internally.
Yes, if we told you we’d have to kill you. It’s that secret! Or, just not well communicated. There’s a fine line between keeping everyone in the loop and spamming everyone with constant updates. Personally, I’d rather err on the side of caution and go with the borderline spam. At least that way I never hear that dreaded phrase “Well nobody told ME that”. In my opinion, the more informed the employees are, the more interested and invested they are in making the company work and grow successfully. Maybe that’s just me.
Annoying Tactic #2: Contact everyone at the company you have contact info for to push a deal.
While erring to spam internally doesn’t bother me, constant follow up when I have no say in a matter does. I read an interesting blog a few months ago and man does it ring true. Listen up…if I’ve told you that you need to talk to a certain person that’s obviously not me, don’t keep sending me e-mails and calling me. Despite the word “assistant” in my (former) title, I am not this person’s secretary and cannot get them to call you back any faster if they are not interested or, better yet, not in the office. I’ve never been one to respond well to hard sales even if I was genuinely interested in the product. So back off, Salesman Steve. We’ll get to you when we’re good and ready.
Annoying Tactic #3: Make sure everyone you’ve ever met knows where you work and how they could use you.
There’s a fine line between informative introductions and obnoxious introductions. If someone you meet at a show or other non-work related function asks what you do or where you work, don’t be afraid to tell them. It might spark their interest and give you a wide opportunity to explain to them how great your company is without shoving it down their throat. But be careful not to be obnoxious. Princeton’s WordNet search defines obnoxious as “objectionable: causing disapproval or protest”. So don’t leave a sour taste in people’s minds about your company by announcing it off the bat when you shake hands. Yes shows are great networking opportunities, but if you go around spewing information about your company to everyone who didn’t ask, they won’t be likely to use you. Saturation is not always good.
Annoying Tactic #4: Miss deadlines
Missing so many deadlines that the promotion or campaign is practically a moot idea is the most annoying of all. When people get a postcard for a sale and the sale is halfway over, they tend to be ticked off about it and it really doesn’t encourage them to go order right away to take advantage. I know, I’ve received many a sale card mid-sale and thought simply “well, that’s a sale I won’t be able to hit”. Marketing is all about timeliness, so missing the mark is just poor form. It doesn’t motivate your customers to take action and it holds back other people within your department trying to work on the same project.
Read MoreAnother Suitcase in Another Hall
It’s the end of a 2 year streak for me here running our Mailing Services at PsPrint. I’m passing it on to an able-bodied lieutenant and the Customer Service department… probably where it should have been the whole time. At this point the majority of the day to day stuff has been passed on and it is a bit strange to come in and not have to do these things.
But what will I do with my days? More of the same, really, just with more time to focus. We’re still transitioning our current affiliate program into a reseller program and have begun our true affiliate program over at Commission Junction. I’ll have more time to properly manage both programs and follow up with affiliates and resellers alike.
There will also be more time to focus on our email marketing campaigns, trade shows, advertising opportunities, blogging, social network marketing, reputation management, new media, and our green printing initiative.
So the end of an era has come and 2008 will be a fresh year for me here. I’m excited, and yet, anxious. Bring it on!
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