The Big Question

Should we eliminate our printed brochure to save on marketing costs?

. . .and the answer is

No No No

“This has been an excruciating set back for us. At a time we were asked to become self supporting, they took away the best marketing piece we had.”

“This is the worst fall semester Adult Learning Services has had since I have worked here (since 1992). We definitely feel that not mailing the catalog had a significant effect on registration.”

“A city near us has a mayor that cut their brochure, and of course, their enrollments have dropped in a huge way. It has happened in a couple of cities in our area already with dismal results.”

What Other Members Say

“About 90% of our registrations come from the brochure. The remaining 10% come from the web page.”

“Our Brochure is the cornerstone of our marketing effort.”

Redesigning our brochure resulted in an approximate 20% increase in enrollment over historic highs. (Some webinars saw as much as 50% increases).

We use a mixed-mode approach. Weekly e-mails go out to targeted recipients.

“We found we could increase registrations by simply sending out the brochure again. . .the strategy works.

. . .ArtBeat is responsible for at least 50% of the class registrations for the Fine Arts Center.

We reduced our mailings from 65,000 to 15,000.

Response rates jumped from 6.1 % to 30.5% with brochure re-design and careful targeting.

65,000 x .061 = 3965

15,000 x .305 = 4575

TARGET your mailings!

Mass mailings do not have high success or response rates.

WHO is most likely to take your course or attend your event? Your past customers!

Use LERN’s Market Segmenting and Carrier Route Analysis tools!

They’re FREE for LERN members!

Optimize Your Marketing

This is NO time for guesswork

Analyze Target Track Find out what works and do more Mail twice Cut the dogs Use a multi-modal marketing approach◦ Print Brochures◦ Digital Brochures/Web-page◦ E-mail◦ E-zines◦ Postcards

You Should Not Give Up Your Print Brochure

Top Ten Reasons

10

9Your brochure is an important customer service

Your Brochure is “push” oriented

8

6

7

Your brochure generates most of your enrollments

Your brochure is an important part of your brand

Your brochure is an investment, not a cost

1

3

2

5

4

The brochure is a key part of a multi-modal marketing plan

Your brochure can drive people to your website

Your brochure allowsYou to do cross-promotionMultiple communicationsIncrease response

If you drop your brochure,Your enrollments will decline.

Your brochure is your “face”In the community

Data from HubspoteMarketing Company and Platform

Direct mail: Highest ConversionEmail: Highest ROI

1. PRINT BROCHURES DON’T GET DELETED

98% of residents go to their mail box every day. 80% of all mail delivered is opened. Your print brochure is mailed so it’s gonna get

there and get touched. And, research persistently shows people in all

markets at least browse a catalog they receive. Contrast with e-mail. 20% on average get

opened.

DATA FROM CANADA POST

WE LOVE OUR MAIL!

Reading mail continues to be part of every Canadian’s daily routine:

• 95% of Canadians (93% in 2007) usually read their mail the same day it arrives: 68% read it as soon as it’s received, while another 27% review it later on that same day.

Direct Mail in the Mailbox lets your Advertising Message Stand-Out from the Crowd

Every day Canadians are bombarded with advertising messages—billboards, newspaper ads, TV commercials and emails. Direct Mail is delivered to the mailbox—a far less crowded environment—allowing your message to get the attention it deserves.

Source: Consumer Attitudes to Direct Mail and Traditional Media, May 2010, CP 09-210.

Direct Mail is Effective When you send Direct Mail to your customers, they are

more likely to read your message and respond. • 91% of Canadians are likely to open an item that

comes in the mail if it looks official or important, 90% if they recognize the sender and 89% if it looks interesting or intriguing.

• 84% of the Addressed print advertising pieces Canadians receive and 67% of the Unaddressed print advertising pieces they receive are actioned (ie. read, saved it for later, will shop, purchase or do something else)!

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR DIRECT MAIL?

DIRECT MAIL WORKS FOR BUSINESSES

Addressed Direct Mail Users:

• 78% Use it for Acquisition • 95% Use it for Existing customers

Unaddressed Direct Mail Users:

• 97% Use it for Acquisition • 83% Use it for Existing customers

TARGET RATES FOR OPENING EMARKETING

Hubspot says—target open rate is 30% Click to open rate 2% to 3%

10, 000 x .3 = 3000 view/read (email) 10,000 x .55 = 5500 view/read + (direct mail) Comparable action rates: emarketing: 2.5-3% Direct mail: 5-6%

2. PEOPLE PREFER DIRECT MAIL OVER DIGITAL MESSAGES

A recent study (Epsilon) shows people still commonly prefer direct mail over email in almost every marketing category.

Printed material is tactile. You can hold it, mark it up, put it down, pick it up again later. And people do all of that.

You don’t have to sit in front of a computer, type, search

3. PRINTED BROCHURES HAVE A LIFESPAN

“If your catalog makes it from the mail box to the kitchen counter it has already out lived most email messages.” Catalogs can and do stay around much longer

than emails – often for weeks. Print brochures are shared among household

members and others. Emails not so much.

3. LIFESPAN, CONTINUED

One LERN member’s research found…

75% kept the brochure around until the next arrived.

60% indicated at least two people in the household read the brochure.

4. PRINT BROCHURE CONNECTS YOU WITH YOUR PEEPS

It’s your most visible and pervasive connection into the community.

Biggest advertising access into community

Biggest brand builder in community

Creates time with your customers

4. PRINT BROCHURE, CONTINUED

Creates time with your best customers over and over again (if you target)

Readers take in your values and messages otherwise difficult to relay.

Builds you brand

Is the “shop window” to your store and then they go on-line and register.

5. RESEARCH SHOWS PRINT BROCHURES TRUMP DIGITAL MESSAGES.

Easier to read

Easier to navigate

Information is better remembered

Information is better understood

Are portable

5. RESEARCH, CONTINUED

Designed to be read repeatedly and do get read repeatedly.

Offer a complete “brand in the hand” with every course available at a glance.

6. YOU HAVE OR HAVE ACCESS TO MANY MORE “GOOD’ MAIL ADDRESSES THAN “GOOD” EMAIL ADDRESSES.

You can reach more customers and prospects.

You can target more effectively

You can saturate high response areas

Your printed brochure is your number one, highest visibility access point to your community

7. NO BROCHURE… YOU ARE ROLLING THE DICE

You are expecting people to … Remember you Find you Do so in a timely fashion Remember to act A lot to ask in this busy world.

PLUS… Your competition still has their brochure!

CONTRAST: PRINTED BROCHURES ARE “PUSH” ORIENTED

They arrive

They arrive in a timely fashion and when you want them to get it!

The reader doesn’t have to go get except to the mail box.

CONTRAST, CONTINUED

The brochure is there when they want to read it, today, tomorrow, the next day.

The brochure reinforces and undergirds “pull” strategies like websites and social media.

They reinforce the timing to decide and to act.

8. PRINTED BROCHURES SERVE MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS

Best, most timely connection with current customers. Best, most timely “push” connection with

prospects. Sales tool in Contract Training

Mail piece to those who seek information.

Your best promotion channel among your many channels.

9. THE MOTHER OF ALL REASONS YOU MUST KEEP YOUR PRINTED BROCHURE…

Research, experience and anecdotal evidence all show your program can NOT make it financially without the printed brochure.

RESEARCH SHOWS CATALOGS DRIVE SALES FOR ALL INCOME GROUPS Revenue is more than 2x greater from sending

catalogs when compared to only online communications.

Average purchases are almost 30% higher with a catalog than without a catalog.

RESEARCH, CONTINUED

Direct Marketing Association research says $1spent on direct mail generates $12.57 in sales.

LERN members report 70-75% of enrollments come from printed brochures even though more and more registrations are made on-line.

10. MAKING IT FINANCIALLY – WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PRINTED BROCHURE IS DROPPED

LERN surveys of member programs show that those who eliminated print brochures for one term saw 30-40% drop in registrations.

Example: Dean mandated one LERN member program to drop brochure. Enrollments dropped to 200 per term. OOPS, dean left. New dean reinstated brochure. Registrations rebounded to 4,000.

MORE EXAMPLES

Example: “A city near us has a mayor that cut their brochure and, of course, their enrollments have dropped in a huge way. It has happened in a couple cities in our area with dismal results.” Example: Large urban community college

dropped their brochure. After one year, reportedly had lost $1 million in revenues. Printed brochure came back.

Example: Large suburban parks and recreation program dropped printed brochure despite LERN consultant’s advice. One term later they reinstated the brochure owing to huge enrollment losses.

From member surveys, LERN’s Julie Coates concludes, “Declining enrollments are the norm when print promotions are eliminated.”

POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS

Highly targeted, single dimension programs or audiences.

Licensed CE

Other highly targeted CE where you can get a reliable e-mail list.

Very small community or park and recreation program with a very small array of programs.

FINAL REJOINDER

There are ways to reduce promotional costs without eliminating your printed brochure.

Keep your printed brochure and LEAN ON LERN for ways to maximize your return on promotional investments

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