Archive
DMAW May 2011 Update
LIST BAZAAR!
Wed., May 11 | 8AM – 2PM |Maggiano’s Little Italy |Washington, DC
Less than a week away!
If you are a list manager, list broker, data manager, this session is designed for you! We’ve changed the way we do business and we are…
Forging Ahead: A Positive Future!
Gain new insight and carve new directions for yourself in the list industry! Advanced sessions will address the hottest issues facing our industry today and running concurrently will be “101 sessions” in management and brokerage.
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DMAW May Monthly Luncheon
Thurs., May 19 | 12n-2PM | SEIU Conference Center, Washington, DC
Treating an Email Campaign Like a Direct Mail Piece: What’s Wrong with this Picture!
Presented by Becky Hagadorn, VP of New Business Development, Carney Direct Marketing; Stephen Harwick, CEO & Co-Founder, AGR Marketing Solutions, LLC
There are fundamental differences when creating your email campaign and integrting it with your direct mail initiative. In spite of what many think and do – it is not a cut & paste job! There is more strategy to it than that which you will learn from Becky and Stephen as they focus on maximizing your integrated email and direct mail campaigns results with strategies you can implement immediately.
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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING DAY
Thursday, June 23 | 8AM – 5PM | The Heart House Conference Center | American College of Cardiology, Washington, DC
It’s Not Just Tactics…It’s Strategy!
Master the Power of Social Media Marketing!
Strategy and Implementation | Reach and Engage
Listen and Learn | Monitor and Measure
Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Twitter
Activation Labs!
Keynote Presenter:
Carie Lewis
Director of Emerging Media, Online Communications
The Humane Society of the United States
Lunch, breaks, parking and WiFi included in registration fee. Seating in this hands-on workshop will be limited!
Social Media – It’s A Really Big Thing Today!
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6th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference
July 20-22, 2011
Gaylord National Hotel & Conference Center
National Harbor, MD (adjacent to Washington, DC)
Educational content is king! And, direct marketers and fundraisers are talking about the great educational content
to be found at the Bridge Conference!
Registration is Open!
The Best Value rate is available until May 20 – which is a
25% savings from the regular registration fee!
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MAXI AWARDS
The MAXI Award Recipients will be announced
the middle of May!
Plan on attending the
MAXI Awards Ceremony & Reception
July 20, 2011
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Gaylord National Hotel & Conference Center
National Harbor, MD (adjacent to Washington, DC)
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ASSOCIATION MARKETING DAY - SAVE THE DATE!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
9:00AM – 5:00PM
Located in the beautiful Kellogg Conference Center
at Gallaudet University
How to Grow Again!
Associations have had a rough couple of years - it’s time to get past that now and learn how to grow again. Plan on attending this one day retreat on how to put your association on the path to growth.
Registration will open soon!
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Fundraising Success
Virtual Conference & Expo
Thursday, May 19, 2011
10 AM — 5 PM ET
At Your Desk — It’s Virtual!
The DMAW is a supporting organization of the
FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo.
September Luncheon Recap
By Gail Diggs
On September 16th, I did something I’ve never done before…
I attended a monthly luncheon sponsored by DMAW — and it was absolutely wonderful.
I was greeted warmly by the conference organizers and directed to a lovely, quite comfortable room where the meeting would be held.
While waiting for the session to begin, I met several other direct mail professionals and reignited relationships with a few folks there that I already knew. While I was pleasantly surprised to see them there, I really shouldn’t have been. We were all seeking a way to connect with our colleagues while broadening our knowledge about our exciting world of direct marketing. And things were certainly getting off to a great start.
After a tasty lunch, the speaker was introduced. He was Tom Gaffny of Tom Gaffny Consulting.
Gaffny was a knowledgeable speaker whose words came alive through an entertaining presentation. Titled Designing Winners, the goal was to share with us Seven Keys to Successful Direct Marketing.
“Design is a big deal,” he said, “but it is just a part of the creative process.” So, as he explained, through a discussion of seven key points, he would discuss and show us examples of how to leverage design and copy to create direct marketing that works.
Here’s a very brief summary of the great points Gaffny made:
Key #1: Its not about you. The point made is that our efforts have nothing to do with us, as direct marketers, but should be all about the person we’re mailing to. They have the power, we don’t. Therefore, Gaffny urged us to stop thinking like direct marketers, but more like a “real person” when we sit down to read our copy.
Key #2: The Passion Pyramid. Gaffny discussed the difference between high passion donors and low passion donors. The high passion donors know you and are interested what you have to say. The low passion donors are the exact opposite. His point is that you can’t speak with or motivate these two groups of people in the same manner.
Key #3: Always consider the context. We were encouraged to consider everything else that’s going on when our packages are mailed. The economy and world news are just two examples of things that can affect how the reader perceives our message. Gaffny shared great examples of mailings that worked, and a few that didn’t work, based upon who the reader was and what was happening in their world when the piece arrived.
Key #4: You have five seconds to be successful. Gaffny shared that he’s had the most success with mailings that were delivered in a #10 carrier, addressed in a handwritten font, with a real stamp and no return address. He also stated that the more successful pieces don’t ever hide the offer.
Key #5: Make it easy. It was stressed that our readers should be able to scan our pieces and quickly know what they’re about.
Key #6: Headlines matter. Even when a piece doesn’t have a formal headline, Gaffney would argue that the first few sentences serve as the headline. And he revealed that he’s a lot of success with pieces where the opening paragraph is just one line of copy.
Key #7: Dramatize the offer. People love stories and they can be used to bring your offer alive. Gaffny shared that people especially love to “hear” stories that they think they shouldn’t be privy to.
The presentation ended with a Q&A session during with guests shared their concerns and also their own experiences.
I commend DMAW for sponsoring such a great event and I’ll do my best to be at next month’s luncheon. So should you.
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Gail Diggs is president of GCD Writing and Marketing, where she uses a unique blend of offline direct mail knowledge and newer online strategies to help businesses realize lasting success. Prior to her work with GCD, Gail was an Executive Marketing Director and Copywriter at Healthy Directions (formerly Phillips Publishing.)
DMAW May 2010 Monthly Luncheon
by Dawn Kresslein
It is easy for direct marketers (and in my case sales representatives/new business developers) to get wrapped up in their usual approaches of reaching out to their target audience. Often times, we repeatedly use the same strategies, without questioning the effectiveness of these strategies. It is possible that our approaches are successful, but the question is: are they as successful as they could be?
In his Commercial Marketing CRM Strategies and Practices presentation at the May DMAW Monthly Luncheon, Andy Hogan, Director, Direct Marketing at LM&O Advertising, got me thinking about this question. Perhaps my approach is good, but could it be better? He reminded me of the clear-cut steps that can help all of us become successful.
Andy presented a case study of one of LM&O Advertising’s clients – the Army National Guard. He began the presentation by outlining the problem, solution and outcome of the direct marketing strategy. The outcome alone speaks for the effectiveness of the approach Andy reviewed throughout the rest of his presentation: the Army National Guard has been successful in meeting its response goals and connecting qualified leads to local sales reps. The worthwhile strategy that Andy and his team implement is very straightforward: Research, Creative Strategy, Media Placement, and Follow-up/Results Analysis. Recognizing his audience, Andy focused his presentation on direct mail, but this strategy can be applied to various forms of marketing.
The first step, research, is the foundation that supports the other 3 steps. It is your opportunity to get to know your target market – who are they, what are their interests, what are their dislikes, what would inspire them to make a decision, what do they already know, what do they not know, how can you catch their attention and any other information you may find pertinent.
The second step, creative strategy, is primarily about what you are going to say to your target group – developing the design and message that will catch your prospect’s attention and compel them to seek out more information.
The third step, media strategy, is primarily about how to reach your audience and how many touch points will be involved. Will you use direct mail, print advertising, social media, or telemarketing (inbound and/or outbound) – all of the above, a mix of the above or just one of the above?
The final step is processing the results and following up on leads. There seems to be 2 parts to this step. Now that you have your results, do something with them! Analyze them – figure out what worked and what may not have and use this knowledge for future strategizing. The second part of this step is how quickly you follow-up on a lead. The sooner you follow-up, the more likely you will beat your competition.
The conclusion is simple: research is important and necessary; it drives your creative strategy, media plan, and indirectly, your results. Andy’s presentation and his team’s strategy should not go overlooked. To be successful, every direct marketer and business developer must consider incorporating these strategies and practices into their overall marketing approach.
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Dawn Kresslein is Senior Account Manager at INTEGRAM, a full service communications company specializing in targeted, time sensitive direct mail and email production.
The Board – Serving You Now!
by Donna Tschiffely
Have you ever wondered how the word “board” came to be defined as “a committee having supervisory powers?” Ok, here is a quick etymology lesson…Old English definition, board is a plank, flat surface (think table); the meaning then evolved to mean “food” – in this case the table upon which the food is laid. Similarly the board of directors is the group of people who sit around the “board” (table).
So you could possibly reason that board members sit around a table, eat and supervise others! Well, to use today’s terminology…NO WAY!
The members of the DMAW board are a very committed, passionate group of professional men and women who feel it is important to give back to the industry that made them successful – most often doing so by using resources available to them through their connections or position.
Every trade organization must have a board of directors overseeing its governance and a truly effective board of directors has a clear understanding of its roles and responsibilities. The DMAW board members understand that their primary role is to serve the membership. Now, you probably hear that regularly, but what does it really mean to you, the member; how do the board members serve you.
It means that each board member must commit to chair or co-chair a board committee such as programs, membership, volunteers, marketing, awards (e.g., such as MAXIs and our leadership awards), social media and others. The chair of each activity must then go about the process of effectively working their specific area. For example, the program chair (or co-chairs) is responsible for creating and developing educational programs and networking events, that help you – the member – grow both professionally and personally.
Our social media chair oversees this blog, the tweets that go out on behalf of the organization and our LinkedIn group – making sure the information put out there is relevant to you. Our marketing chair helps get the word out to our members the events taking place. Our membership chair ensures the membership stays strong and vibrant and if we lose someone, we work at seeing what we can do to win the individual back.
There is not one slacker on the DMAW Board! The third Thursday of every month, the board members meet and report on their efforts and in between the monthly meetings are a variety of conference calls and other smaller meetings. Of course, all board activities are overseen by the president of the organization.
What makes an exceptional board member? Well, you have been given a small taste of how it takes more than just a commitment to an organization’s mission to become an exceptional board member. An individual needs to be so passionate about the mission that he or she is eager to use connections, resources, and professional skills to enrich the organization – and the only way to enrich the organization is to enrich each individual member. That’s what it means when we say, the board serves you.
We’ll explore more specifics about serving on the DMAW board in future editions of this blog. In the meantime, if you would like to one day serve on the board, please contact me to discuss the possibilities.
And me, well, I’m the executive director of the DMAW and I have the privilege of working for the DMAW board and you, its members.
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Donna Tschiffely is Owner of Conference Incorporated and is also the Executive Director of The Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW). Donna has over 36 years experience in the strategic development and execution of conventions, trade shows and special events.
Change in Ning…surprising!
By Hilary Baar
I was surprised to read in Direct that Ning was no longer offering a free version of their online community platform. When DMAW began setting up its social media presence and channels, we looked at including Ning for a while in the offerings. Whew, I’m glad we didn’t. The bigger issue, as Direct points out, is how would you move your community off Ning???
The other salient point discussed within the article was about owning your data to perform analytics and measure ROI. I shouldn’t be surprised that Direct would include a discussion of metrics within an article on social media. But, regardless, bravo! The more we talk about how to measure social media, the more we can incorporate social media into our broader direct marketing programs.
Yes, social media is about building communities but it can be more than that. The way I see it, strong communities support their brand and that means there is a measurable action taking place, be it purchasing the product/service, referring the product/service to other communities or endorsing the product/service. Yes, I have drunk the social media flavored water, but I’ve seen it work to drive sales and donations. As direct marketers, this social media thing is being defined still … and, although I’m partial, I think direct marketers will have a positive impact on how social media is used and why.
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Hilary Baar is an Account Director at The Lukens Company and member of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington.
