As quoted from the article, “Email will only get more social.” It will not go away but rather it will evolve to work hand in hand with social media. Mark Schmulen, general manager for social media at Constant Contact, says “Of all channels, e-mail marketing and social media go hand in hand better than any other.” They work so powerfully together because it can work both ways – email can promote a company/organization’s social media sites and the social media sites can promote a company/organization’s email campaigns, newsletters, and promotions. Customers can click back and forth between these two channels while remaining in the same arena (the internet) and without even having to leave their seat.

Schmulen also believes only 10% of Constant Contact customers are using social media to its full potential (not to mention users of other email service providers who are fall into this category as well). This leaves a lot of room improvement when it comes to integrating social media with email. So the question is not, “Should I continue with my email marketing campaigns or not?” Instead, the question is, “How can I adapt my email marketing practices to have them coincide with my social media marketing?” This is certainly a scenario where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Click here for some successful examples of social media/email integration.

The tangibility of paper makes this medium, and its message, more real to recipients. It creates a connection and memory that other channels do not. Digital of course still has advantages over paper such as interactivity and the potential for more sensory appeal but the tangibility of paper still creates an impact. Which, again, denotes the importance of using multiple channels.

A blog post from Neuroscience Marketing goes into more of the scientific details on digital versus paper.

I mostly find myself looking for QR codes when I want to visit a website immediately for more information on whatever it is I am looking at, most recently it was an advertisement for clothing. I actually found it amusing that I (yes, a Gen Y’er but still never one to go crazy over the latest technology) found it archaic that I had to manually punch in the website address on my iPhone. I surprised myself with how quickly my behavior as a consumer is changing. That got me thinking as to how many other people would find it really convenient and easy to just have to scan their smartphones over a code to be automatically routed to the information they were looking for…and how many don’t realize it yet just because they haven’t had that option.

Although I do see them from time to time I do think QR codes are still a grossly underrated tool. So back to the title of this blog entry, when will QR codes become the norm already??

The only thing working against this phenomenon right now is the fact that not everyone has a smartphone which is needed to scan the code and be linked to the website associated with it. But it will only be a matter of time until everyone and their brother has smartphones. Non-smartphones will most likely suffer the same fate as VHS players that stopped being manufactured once DVD players hit the market. Now that smartphones are here, they are here to stay and will dominate until all other phones are eventually phased out. This growing market for smartphones means QR codes will become more and more relevant in consumers’ daily lives.

Just as we’ve (well most of us) have accepted social media as a permanent presence in our lives, professionally and personally, we will all most likely embrace QR codes as a common practice too. There is no going backwards in technology. I am sure more and more uses are going to become available for QR codes and they will become harder and harder to resist in marketing as was the case with social media.

Click here to see an example of a QR code in the Iron Man 2 movie poster.

Almost all companies have more than one target audience – and segmenting is a key ingredient to marketing success. Your target audiences are diverse and will perceive things differently, so when the same message goes out to everyone your marketing efforts may fall short of their full potential.

Segmentation is especially applicable in direct marketing and is proving to be quite a successful method. People respond to direct mail, email, and advertisements that are relevant to them. They are not going to be relevant unless marketers segment their prospects and tailor their message accordingly. Proper segmentation is one of the most, if not the most, important factors in determining the success of a direct marketing campaign. When you are able to deliver the right message to the right people you can increase your response rate and increase ROI dramatically.

How could this have been done in the Super Bowl ads then? I’ve chosen a couple advertisements and discussed how they could have been more properly segmented to reach all target audiences.

Flo TV’s “Spineless Man” Commercial:

What they did:

-Featured a young unmarried couple (probably in their mid-upper twenties)

What they could have done:

-Flo TV could have featured a more mature married couple alongside the younger couple or even just as a visual in the background to expand the relevance of their ad to all possible audiences. So in this particular example it would be the same message but the visual could have been segmented to give the ad more of a diverse appeal.

Audi “Green Police” Commercial:

What they did:

-Made an extreme ad appealing to extremely green lifestyles

What they could have done:

-Audi could have made a less extreme ad as well to appeal to people just starting to take on a more green lifestyle demonstrating the car as a catalyst to a more deeply committed eco-friendly lifestyle

Factors to consider when segmenting as learned from the Super Bowl ads:

1. Age and generational differences
2. Gender
3. Familiarity with company/product and your industry in general
4. Brand loyalty to your brand or another brand
5. How different audiences may benefit differently from your product/service
6. How different audiences may have different objections
7. Stage in buying cycle
8. Purchase behavior
9. Income

Any other suggestions for the Super Bowl ads on how they could have been better? Comment below and let us know your thoughts!

1. Thou shalt be optimistic - Despite less than optimal economic conditions, individuals and businesses have not stopped their charitable giving. Instead, there has just been a change in giving patterns where donors are now opting for longer-term pledges and gift commitments. Learn more about this by clicking here. Also, as mentioned earlier more people are giving due to the new collective awareness of the importance of philanthropy. The economy has helped us all to focus on what’s really important.
2. Thou shalt recognize the importance of  email marketing – Frogloop, Care2’s nonprofit online marketing blog, conducted a survey and found out that even many well known (and nationally recognized) nonprofits are under-performing in their email marketing. According to another article, email accounts for 46% of content sharing activity on the internet which gives it a lot of potential in terms of “word-of-mouth” marketing. Also, email provides the option for real-time communication when thanking a donor for their contribution. This is very important because the quicker you can respond to them, the more likely they are to donate again in the future.
3. Thou shalt realize the effectiveness of direct mail - The Direct Marketing Association estimates that non-catalog direct mail returned $15.22 for every dollar spent in 2009. Also, several surveys have revealed that direct mail is one of the most effective ways to recruit new donors. It is also one of the best ways to provide donors and potential donors with new information not to mention that donations still come through mail so it’s important to keep that channel open. Click here for more insight on how direct marketing is often underestimated.
4. Thou shalt not underestimate the power of social media - Social media has opened up a new channel for fundraising. One success story that illustrates this involves Epic Change, a nonprofit that used Twitter to raise $11,000 in 48 hours to build a school in Tanzania. 98% of those who donated to this campaign had never donated to Epic Change before.  Social media has also opened up new doors for marketing. Individuals are becoming champions for their causes through social media and their support emanates through their social networks via news feeds and social share features for all their friends to see.
5. Thou shalt understand the need for cross channel marketing – Online and offline channels reinforce one another helping the message to stick. Click here to read about the increasingly important role of multichannel marketing for nonprofits or click here to read about the rising need for cross channel marketing in general.
6. Thou shalt engage donors - With the rise of the internet and social media donors are expecting to be more than just check writers. They want to interact and influence nonprofits and feel like they have a hand in the mission. Opening up two-way communication channels (i.e.-social media) to engage your donors and get their opinions/ideas allows for this kind of interaction.
7. Thou shalt have a stellar web design - A website is very important to potential donors when deciding where/how to donate. If a website is difficult to navigate, has content that is unclear, is too bulky, not consistent with brand image, etc. (the list of potential problems could go on) the responsible nonprofit organization decreases their chances of receiving all potential donations. It’s been estimated that with every click a potential donor has to take to find information or figure out how to donate that there is about a 40%  decrease in the likelihood that they actually will donate.
8. Thou shalt tell stories – It’s important for donors to feel connected to the mission of a nonprofit. Storytelling is more effective in accomplishing this rather than just giving straight facts and asking people to care. Tell stories about your organization, those positively affected by your organization, members of your organization, etc…anything that can help conjure up emotion and interest and create a connection between the potential donor and your mission. According to Network for Good, people don’t give to organizations they give to people.
9. Thou shalt not forget about planned giving - “Considering the average planned gift is 200 times the value of an individual’s largest major gift, cutting back on marketing them is an unwise choice.” (via PlannedGiving.com) Planned giving is often overlooked as it takes a more proactive approach to market this type of giving program but none-the-less the pay-off can prove to be worth it.
10. Thou shalt personalize donor communication – You can increase the likelihood of your direct mail being opened by 44% just by including the person’s name and 70% of people prefer personalized direct mail over generic direct mail. It’s becoming expected and almost necessary to personalize communication these days in order to achieve a desirable response rate.

I hope you found these commandments helpful.  Please feel free to leave comments or share any of your own tips! Happy fundraising!

You can use direct mail to drive traffic to your website by printing your website address on the mail piece along with any social media avatars, integrating social media or online promotions into direct mail campaigns, and/or sending out direct mail pieces to make announcements about online events. You could also invite current customers back to the site to provide feedback or reviews.

There was such a giant shift in marketing efforts from offline to online that online channels have now become too cluttered and something is needed to supplement these efforts…print media. According to one study direct marketing tactics (such as direct mail) are twice as likely to drive traffic to a website than digital marketing alone. In fact, 60% of the people surveyed felt that a personally addressed mail piece was more likely to drive them to visit a website than an email with the same message. That’s probably pretty surprising (and good to know) for people who strictly market online. To leave you with one more tidbit on direct mail; recent studies show that 63% of 18-34 year olds consider receiving direct mail to be “a pleasure”. There are so many opportunities when it comes to direct mail that are not being taken advantage of. Now is the time to utilize direct mail to both stand out from the competition and improve your online presence.

The beauty of the PURL is that marketers can collect information from visitors by asking questions and then use that information in the future to tailor any future communication to respondents. This concept of personalization and tailoring a message to a consumer/client can almost be defined as a necessity in the marketing world. There’s a definite shift towards personalization that is taking place in order to get your message heard. Some of the best ways to utilize PURLs are as follows:

• Qualify prospects before spending time and money on the wrong people – A PURL that includes a survey and some incentive to complete the survey can help to accomplish this.
• Gain customer insight – If your company is venturing into new markets, developing new products, or venturing into new territory otherwise PURLs can be used to get feedback from your target market and steer your efforts in the right direction.
• Optimize cross-selling opportunities – Customers may not be aware of or informed about the full range of products your company offers and therefore your company could be missing out on some cross selling opportunities. A PURL could be used to attract customers to a website where they can answer questions about their current product usage and preferences and once questions are answered proper suggestions may be made for cross-selling.
• Improve Direct Mail Response Rates -35% of people prefer to respond to direct mail offers online. This number is only going to continue to grow as technology continues to take over all methods of communication.

Despite these benefits that personalized URLs can provide most companies still do not utilize this approach according to the Direct Marketing Association. The impact of the PURL is not to be overlooked as it brings together traditional marketing approaches and digital interactive marketing approaches combining the best of both worlds. Click here to read some case studies of companies that successfully used PURLS in their campaigns; Hewlett-Packard, Pacific Northwest Bank, and Carlson Companies, Inc.