The post #1 Six Critical Numbers to Know for a Powerful ROI and How to Calculate them first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Customer Retention Cost Calculation:
Total cost of retention campaigns / Total # retention customer responses

See all 6 tips here

The post #2 Six Critical Numbers to Know for a Powerful ROI and How to Calculate them first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Purchase Frequency Rate Calculation:

Total # of purchases over date range/total # of active customers over same date range

See all 6 tips here

The post #3 Six Critical Numbers to Know for a Powerful ROI and How to Calculate them first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Average Sales per Purchase Calculation:

Total sales over date range / total purchases made over same date range

See all 6 tips here

The post #4 Six Critical Numbers to Know for a Powerful ROI and How to Calculate them first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Customer Lifetime Value Calculation

Average Sales Amount and Purchase Frequency x Average Customer Lifetime in years

($20 spent per month x 2-year lifetime = $480 Lifetime Customer Value)

Use the chart to find the lifetime or number of years a customer stays active by converting customer churn rate to Customer Lifetime in years.  Divide 100% by churn rate = Lifetime in years.

See all 6 tips here

The post # 6 Six Critical Numbers to Know for a Powerful ROI and How to Calculate them first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

If you just read this and think I’m crazy, good. I’ll take this opportunity to share why direct mail has a leg up on email and other digital forms of marketing. Better yet, the use of direct mail as part of an integrated digital campaign consistently delivers higher ROI and response rates than digital efforts alone. If all your eggs are currently in the digital marketing basket, I’d strongly encourage you to reconsider the seemingly odd partnership of direct mail and digital that together produce significantly better results.

Direct mail campaign goals have changed a whole lot over the years. It used to be that a direct purchase was the only successful outcome, now success is measured by driving traffic to your web site or store front using multiple medias and various touch points. This transition makes direct mail so effective when paired with digital, it acts as a catalyst for action that’s difficult to drive using digital mediums. What’s the primary reason digital outlet response rates are lower than direct mail? The consumer doesn’t see or interact with the message. Keep reading to learn why direct mail should be a regular tool in your marketing arsenal.

Why Direct Mail is More Effective than Digital

Junk Email Boxes and Spam

While email had its day, now people ignore them or they’re re-routed straight to a junk folder. Almost everyone I know has two email accounts, one for promos/email sign-ups and the one they actually read. Efficient yes, but it means they probably NEVER see your email unless they go in search of something they don’t know they received – pretty sure that’s not the case. Add in spam and other reasons email is rejected, the odds increase for non-deliverability making it tough to respond to a message never received. On the other hand, direct mail is trackable, delivered every day, and sits on your counter staring at you.

Our Multi-Tasking World

So, I’m not a doctor, but I feel comfortable diagnosing consumers with electronic-induced ADD, a condition that makes it virtually impossible to capture attention for more than a few seconds. Checking email is a multi-tasking battle, between social media pop-ups, web ads, texts, and other distractions that cross our devices, most people only read the email subject line, and that’s if you’re lucky. The mailbox at your home only has one purpose, mail. This lack of competition for attention helps direct mail stand out with almost no effort on the recipient’s part. 79% of consumer’s act on direct mail immediately vs, 45% of email recipients, these statistics suggest the recipient is paying attention and actively engaged.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Let’s face it we all take the path of least resistance, it’s inherently human. Which means if we must open, read, and print out an email it feels like too much work. If the email was received three days ago forget about it, another sad victim of the giant inbox vortex. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Compare this to direct mail, which if a postcard, doesn’t require opening and then lays around till action is taken. QR codes on printed matter increase the likelihood for action using a mobile device without having to take any extra steps, genius.

Hackers and Suspicion of Online Media

Thanks to hackers, trust in electronic communication is quickly eroding. Links are now a way strangers can see what you’re doing, capture your passwords, and harvest personal information to sell to even more bad guys. Email attachments are even worse, only download if you like computer viruses.  Since people are now wary and careful in the online world emails are suspect and links to act seen as a threat. Obviously not good for email response rates which currently stand at a paltry .012%. Printed matter is in no way affiliated with danger, even if the call to action is online, typing URLs directly into a web browser is considered safe.

Response Rates and ROI

A recent study by Royal Mail found that response rates and ROI for direct mail is far superior to email and that 92% of recipients are driven to online or digital activity. The direct mail response rate of 4.4% stands in stark comparison to the .012% of email. When it comes to financial results, integrated campaigns with direct mail deliver a 57% ROI against 45% for digital only efforts. If money is important to your organization, and frankly I don’t know many who would say it’s not, then direct mail is the obvious choice.

Personal and Emotional Connection

Since childhood, mail is built into our memory bank and has a special place in our psyche. Holiday packages, birthday cards, even exciting direct mail. By its nature, DM is more personal than email making it a great vehicle for your message as part of an integrated campaign. Mail also integrates more senses than just sight including touch, encouraging the recipient to engage with the message on a deeper level.

Variety Required to Capture Attention

Even with new formatting tools, emails pretty much all look the same. Simply put, the canvas is limited making it easy for readers to gloss over the message. Going back to the consumers with ADD, variation and the ability to shake things up regularly is crucial to get their attention. Mail options are only limited by your imagination. From postcards to letters, “lumpy mail,” booklets, or parcels, changing the WOW factor including size, shape, and look grabs attention and increases response rates.

Now that you know how effective direct mail can be, why not give it a try? Remember the role of direct mail now is to be the enticing messenger, not the pushy salesperson. This is where the “new direct mail” looks nothing like its old self, strictly designed to work as a cog in the integrated machine instead of the solo selling technique. Be bold and creative, your customers will show their appreciation with impressive results.

Ready to develop an integrated marketing campaign that includes direct mail? At Three Dog Logistics, our consultants will help develop a plan that delivers client solutions at the lowest cost and fastest delivery speed possible. Remember, we take the bite out of postage and freight. Visit www.threedoglogistics.com or call 410-284-5494 extension 220 to schedule a complimentary consultation today.

The post How Direct Mail Succeeds Where Digital Doesn’t first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

What makes digital web printing different than the traditional process? Digital web printing uses design software and digital images while traditional presses use metal plates and ink to create an image. Think about the complication of creating metal plates for each layer of color in your piece and the tight registration required to produce a high-quality image. The use of digital images today offers an enormous range of colors, project sizes, and the ability to easily personalize a piece by merging lists with the art prior to printing. Digital web printing has revolutionized the print industry over the last 25 years.

Any printing business that is not yet offering digital print services is missing out on this future. There is a tidal wave of change happening that cannot be denied. Digital technology has even grown the consumer demand with the world “going green”. There are more artists, photographers, and entrepreneurs in need of services simply because access to design and print services is readily available for literally almost everyone.

Still need convincing arguments about why to invest in digital technology? The benefits of digital web printing are substantial for both businesses and consumers in the ways below:

Very Cost-Effective: Digital printing can produce short or long-run jobs with virtually the same level of effort, meaning that the difference in cost to produce black and white vs. color jobs is negligible. Jobs can be run on various material sizes depending on the equipment, which enables printers to offer a wider range of products than ever before.

Faster Turnaround Time and Simplified Edit Process: Using digital files instead of constantly changing metal plates reduces preparation and run time for a job. Because all color is applied at once, the drying time is greatly reduced in digital web printing. With traditional printing, each color has to dry before the next can be applied. In the likely event that edits are needed, changing a digital image is quick because there is no need to create a new plate each time.

Improved Technology Retains High-Quality Results: Early web printing produced sub-par quality results, primarily because with traditional methods the ink actually soaks into the page for a richer result while digital print ink sits on top of the paper. Smearing and blurry edges were common. Digital equipment today offers optimization technology which matches gloss levels of the printed image to the material it’s printed on, as well as fuser fluid that seals ink to the page via heat or UV light processes, creating vivid, offset-like products. Digital results now would be hard to distinguish from traditional for even the most discriminating clients.

Simple Staff and Designer Learning Curve: Since a digital press is basically a computer using design software, it’s very familiar to most workers out there. Training time for staff and designers is greatly reduced as compared to the complicated traditional presses. Digital files also make it easy to collaborate with many players, allow for remote editing access, and expedite the proof and approval process.

It’s Better for the Earth: Digital technology disperses less harsh chemical emissions into the air and uses far less paper than traditional. Electronic proofs mean paper is only used for the final job.

Web technology means printers can produce an incredible array of deliverables today. That means more opportunities to add to your bottom line with less staff and investment than ever before.

Opportunities to Build Your Bottom Line with Digital Printing

Direct Mail Personalization – Enables art to merge with personalized data points to catch the consumer’s eye and increase response rates. Personalization can be anything from their name to a picture of their car model or mention of a recent trip taken. Any data points collected are simple to add, the sky’s the limit!

Fine Art and Photos – High-end digital printers can produce artwork on any specialized paper using high-pigment inks for amazing results. Art and photos can be quickly retouched, corrected, or colorized to meet the needs of the client.

Print on Demand: Allows for the production of one or many items submitted on demand. Think photo books, personalized children’s stories, or small-run book publishers. Consumers love items that are uniquely made just for them, just figure out what to offer.

Advertising and Signage: Not only can you do standard brochures and annual reports, but signage, banners, point of sales materials, and custom mailing labels are available as well. Don’t forget the latest trend: architectural design where media is fashioned to the walls, floors, or outside of a building to grab attention.

If these projects sound like you, it’s the right time to investigate digital printing equipment for your business. Moving into the future with digital printing will pay off handsomely for your bottom line.

Ready to consider digital printing for your business? We suggest contacting Print and Graphic Communications Association or your local printers association for guidance.  Another great resource may be your vendor of choice for your printing equipment needs.  When you are ready for Direct Mail, remember, Three Dog Logistics takes the bite out of postage and freight. Visit www.threedoglogistics.com or call 410-284-5494 extension 220 to schedule a complimentary consultation today.

The post Digital Web Printing is the Future – Are You In? first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Online buyers continue to grow at an incredible rate with a recent Fortune Magazine survey reporting 51% of shoppers now make their purchases online compared to only 47% in 2014. Consider for a moment holiday shopping now versus just five years ago, Black Friday online deals and Cyber Monday have virtually obliterated in-store sales for brick and mortar retailers. By 2019 digital shoppers are forecasted to reach 224 million and every single one of them wants free shipping.

While there are tons of shipping services out there, the truth is, unless you ship at a large box store level you’ll never find rates as low as an experienced parcel mail firm can offer. Shipping is not an equal opportunity business, those with the greatest volume get the best pricing, no exceptions, ever. Working with an experienced mailer grants access to volume discounts through their private shipper contracts and consolidation of multi-customer shipments into big company-like quantities. Besides saving money remember, that your job is to deliver WOW with every delivery. That means the order is accurate, well-packaged, and arrives by the date promised. Keep reading to learn the secrets of cost-effective and headache-free shipping.

Tips to Reduce the Cost of Free Shipping for Your E-Commerce Business

1. Select an experienced parcel mail firm that offers the lowest cost, warehousing, and real-time delivery tracking. Specifically, the firm must have experience with all private carriers and USPS to guarantee optimum deliverability. The more sophisticated the firm the better for your financials. For example,  Three Dog developed a proprietary processing tool that compares rates for the specific delivery zip and box dimensions ensuring the most cost-effective shipper is selected for each order. In addition, they use a drop-ship model utilizing private carriers to get the package as close to the destination as possible, then using USPS local service to drop in to the final destination. Deep USPS discounts using the drop-ship model can reduce shipping rates by 50% or more, making “free” shipping easier on your wallet.
2. Consult in advance with your mail firm to keep shipping cost low. Ask for packaging recommendations like size, weight, thickness, materials, and coating to reduce cost and guarantee your package won’t be rejected by USPS automation. A good mail firm should offer consulting expertise like this included with every project so call them in the design stage.
3. Verify shipping lists have optimum deliverability. Sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be shocked how often organizations assume their parcel was delivered all while scratching their head reviewing horrible customer reviews. Verify your mailing includes gratis NCOA/CASS certification of every list, virtually guaranteeing clean lists with 100% deliverability.
4. Avoid management of warehousing components and processes if at all possible. Warehousing logistics can play a huge factor in the cost, delivery, and success of parcel mailings, not to mention a colossal waste of time for your company’s internal resources. Select a mailer with capacity for warehousing, package fulfillment, and finishing services. I promise you’ll save yourself an incredible amount of pain and hardship. When negotiating be sure to include fulfillment services in your contract so free shipping becomes a predictable fixed expense.
5. Secure real-time tracking for every shipment. Parcel tracking is like a crystal ball, allowing verification that parcels have shipped and reached their destination on deadline, thereby fulfilling your promise to the buyer. In addition, tracking allows real-time staff planning for customer service/order-taking call centers. Again here the tighter you can project the actual dates support is needed, the less waste for the organization. Three Dog developed ObbaTrack to give their clients real-time visibility into every mailing. Available via the web, ObbaTrack allows clients to view every step of a parcels journey to its final destination.

Why not do some comparison shopping and see how much you can save in shipping expenses? Who knows, the next order that ships out from your company may feel just a little bit closer to “free.”

Ready to try Free Shipping that doesn’t take a chunk out of your bottom line? At Three Dog Logistics, our consultants will help develop a plan that delivers client solutions at the lowest cost and fastest delivery speed possible. Remember, we take the bite out of postage and freight. Visit www.threedoglogistics.com or call 410-284-5494 extension 220 to schedule a complimentary consultation today.

The post There is No Such Thing as Free Shipping first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

Direct mail has changed, but it isn’t going anywhere.  With the saturation of Email, direct mail is still the #1 way to get your message into someone’s home and even in their hands.

The questions are just different now.

Who are you targeting?

As recent as 10 years ago, I remember getting direct mail pieces that clearly didn’t target my demographics.  I wasn’t in the market for baby food, I wasn’t a recent college graduate, and the local watering hole was not my weekly stop.  Today, talented marketers have figured out the secret of success – choosing the right list… and getting granular.  Knowing your target is key – what age, hobbies, interests, buying habits or online behaviors they have.  Why waste money sending an expensive furniture catalog to a recent high school graduate or baby promotions to an 80-year-old man? It is important to be smart about your list spend.

Is the list clean?

No matter where you get the list, recognize it is already outdated.  According to Melissa Data, the Census reports that an average of 14.19% of people move annually.  Another shocker to us is even when the client keys in their own address, the return rate for the undeliverable address is high. Imagine how data collection practices can easily produce inaccurate information.  Getting it delivered to the right person and the right address is important after you spent all that time making sure you targeted them correctly.

At Three Dog, we added a service to our Pick, Pack & Ship process as an added benefit to our clients. We cleanse the data, even if provided by the purchaser, to reduce the return factor on the items we ship.  Who would have guessed people don’t know how to key their own information… but it happens every day!

Have you invested in deduplication?

With all of the technology available, I am still amazed at how many well-known, successful catalogers send multiple, identical catalogs to my house.  What a total waste of money for the printing and the mailing.  Don’t go through all of the trouble in list selection and cleansing and not dedupe.

It’s open, now what?

Three Dog’s “Retriever” product has been a success because it can’t help but be opened.  Once it is opened, the marketer must make sure that the message is compelling and the call to action captivating.  Don’t forget that the best success is reached by cross promotions between direct mail, websites, social media and even telemarketing. No matter the vehicle you choose, open rate and response rate are the final measures of success.

Have you saved all you can?

Three Dog’s business is built solely on the idea that the mailers highest campaign cost is postage and we know how to save them millions a year.  We keep up with the latest changes to USPS regulations and programs so you don’t have to.  It’s an ever changing world and we are committed to being your resident expert.

So like many things in life – what is old is new again – just new and improved.  Direct mail will always be impactful because by its nature it is more personal. The key is capturing that.

The post Direct Mail has definitely evolved over the years, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s gone.  first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.

A Brilliant Replacement for Your Next #10 and #14 Mailing

As you know, we typically use this space to share industry insights instead of Three Dog Logistics promotions, but “The Retriever” is a brilliant idea we just had to share! Imagine if you will a plain brown box the same size as a #10 envelope, one-inch thick, sealed with a plain white label containing a return address and generic bar code. It looks just like your package has arrived from a recent online shopping spree. Wait – it gets better! When the package jiggles, it makes noise; something is in there and we must absolutely find out what it is. Meet The Retriever – your next replacement for #10 or larger size mailings with a 100% open rate and ROI results that will blow your mind!

The Retriever is available in standard #10 size and the Mega-Retriever in #14 size. Both the same size as the standard envelope, one-inch thick, and finished product must weigh one pound or less. Due to it’s weight, The Retriever mails as a marketing parcel qualifying for postal rates generally 30-40% less than standard parcel service. For non-profits, there’s an extra bonus. Under special USPS rules, mailed nonprofit solicitations afford even further reduced rates. Real-life example to share, a nonprofit client used to mail in tubes and replaced their tube campaign using The Retriever. They saw a $20k savings with a typical price-per-piece around 40 cents. With response rates as high as 8-10% and a 50% increase in average donation amounts. Seriously – what else could you ask for?

To take full advantage of The Retriever you have to think “inside the box”. What can you fit in the box and be sure to take advantage of the “shake effect.” Insert an item that makes noise when inserted in box to encourage 100% open rate. As always, include a strong call to action and/or BRE for optimum campaign ROI results. Don’t forget Three Dog Logistics can track in real-time the exact in-home parcel delivery date and BRE response so you have up-to-the-minute results for nimble decision-making and staff planning.

For quick and easy sampling programs, The Retriever is an excellent option at a reduced cost. Sampling campaigns should include in-store coupons, online promo code offers, or “share free samples with a friend” options to engage the recipient once they’ve opened the box. The confidential look of the box will encourage 100% open rate even for consumers who may not engage with your product typically. The Retriever is seeing initial response rates of 8-30% depending on call to action with a higher spend/donation per response that standard direct mail campaigns. Why not give The Retriever a try? Get inside the box, be creative, and watch your results skyrocket. Your team will think you’re a genius and we agree.

Let’s Make Some Noise – Creative Use of The Retriever

Ideas to Make Noise

• Sturdy items like coins, keys, balls, pens, candy, post-it notes, fridge clips or other packaged promotional items.
• Folded large items, such as a reusable shopping bag, requiring the recipient to further interact with the package once open.
• Small booklets like calendars, instruction guides, coupon books, etc.
• Smaller cardboard/plastic/tin containers that could also contain relevant campaign items
• Items restricted only by your imagination and package weight limit of one-pound or less.

Retriever Item Considerations

• Select an interesting item that is relevant to the campaign or recipient.
• Package items so they make noise, but won’t get too beat up in transit.
• Nothing that could be dangerous or injure the recipient when removed.
• Ensure items are packaged in the box to maintain their order and easy to remove.
• Include a strong call to action or BRE to track response rates. Calls to action can include online actions, phone calls, mail-in cards, in-store coupon redemptions, and on-site contest matching of mailed item for prizes.
• Create your best marketing message, and let the Retriever take care of the rest.

Ready to be out in front and try The Retriever? At Three Dog Logistics, our consultants will help develop a plan that delivers your parcel at the lowest cost and fastest delivery speed possible. Remember, we take the bite out of postage and freight. Visit www.threedoglogistics.com or call 410-284-5494 extension 220 to schedule a complimentary consultation today.

The post Exclusive Sneak Peek of "The Retriever" first appeared on Three Dog Logistics.