Fun Facts Friday
May 07, 2010 9:04 A.M.
Port Moody BC
Howdy,
Stole some fun facts for you today… courtesy of www.specializedmailing.com.
I figure a quick plug for them on my blog here would justify the swipe.
And I have no problem with promoting them either. Out of all the vendors at Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference 2010, they were one of three exhibitors that got me e-x-c-i-t-e-d.
What do they do that’s so cool?
- Tear sheets – (i.e. fake newspaper clippings) – If you don’t know what these are… you essentially pay a copywriter (preferably me) to write a “news article” about your product, service or company… then have it printed like it was teared out of a newspaper or magazine.
Send it to the prospect, they think it’s real, builds up your credibility… voila! More business.
- Post-It Notes – always adds an element of personalization when a direct mail piece has a post-it note on it… and finally… coolest of all…
- Handwritten Direct Mail service! No, not some cheesy font that “looks” like someone hand wrote the address… most people are smart enough to figure those out… No, what you have here is a genuinely, authentic hand-written address on as many envelops as you’d like.
As anyone who uses direct mail knows… getting the letter OPENED is the first hurdle (and a HUGE one, at that).
So tell me, would you seriously throw away a letter that came to you… with your name and address handwritten on the envelop… with a real, live stamp?
Absolutely not. You’d open it.
Call Alice Mishica at Specialized Mailing Services, Inc. here: 714-274-2284
End plug.
Now for the “fun facts” sheet I stole from their marketing package.
USPS Facts About Baby Boomers
- 95% of Boomer sort their mail the same day
- 79% retrieve their mail the same day it’s received
- 50% say they look forward to discovering mail each day
- 72% of Boomers worry about providing personal information on-line
Did you get that? Seventy-Two Percent! If you’re selling to boomers, and you’re strictly online, you are losing nearly 72% of business by not going offline!
Okay. What About The Rest?
- 98% of consumers bring in their mail the day it’s delivered, of these, 90% of them will determine which mail is kept for review
(Gary Halbert’s A pile, B pile lives on…)
- 56% say receiving direct mail is an adventure
(I know I do… I’m glad I’m not a minority)
- 77% of non-customers report that direct mail was what drove them to complete a credit card application on line
(I’ve fallen for these… more than once… MBNA with their 0% APR and their low, low transfer fees!)
- 73% of Gen Y and 68% of Gen X retail direct mail readers have used coupons in the mail
(huh. Weird. The younger crowd uses more direct mail than the Gen X’ers.)
Integrated Marketing
Or… Some Fancy Schmancy Way
To Say “I Use More Than One
Form of Media To Market”
Who comes up with these terms anyway? Integrated Marketing. University professors, I bet.
Anyway…
You’ll love this (or kick yourself after reading it… if you’re not using “integrated marketing”)…
People that received mail made:
- 16% more website visits
- Viewed 22% more pages
- Spent 15% more time at the site
There you have it. People coming from offline to website DO MORE.
Sincerely,

Colin Y.J. Chung










