List Brokerage for The Fundraiser

May 15th, 2012 by Jamie Lehman

You’re trading lists with other Fundraisers.  But should you be renting too?

In the List Business, we’re seeing Fundraisers trade lists more and more but this can be problematic. Imagine going fishing in the same spot as all of your friends. After a while you realize the fish aren’t biting due to all the clamour from so many boats. Not that Donors are like fish, but you catch the drift. Let’s look at an example. If a list consists of 20,000 names and in one month the entire list is used by eight different Fundraisers, we know what that means – prospects are going to feel swarmed. There are more rental lists than trade lists on the market; including lists sourced from subscriptions, catalogues, websites, memberships, etc.

“If you look at list plans comparing rentals to trades, you’ll see the number of trade lists is very high. This is obviously cost efficient in the short term, but how far are you really getting in the long run?” says Michelle Hamilton, Cornerstone List Broker.  “We believe it’s better to sacrifice some short-term response rates but renting very good non-donor lists in order to secure new donors who no one else has.”

Other issues Fundraisers are running into:

  • The “Block Out Period”

This occurs when an organization places a block on trading their lists with other organizations to either stagger usage or prevent other organizations from mailing to their donors during their own planned mailings. This period will prevent you from accessing their names.  But what if you need these names for your campaign?

  • Skewed Trade Balances

If a large volume Fundraiser who mails six times a year regularly trades with a small volume organization who only mails once a year, the result may be a  trade balance that is consistently skewed. If the trade balance gets too high in one party’s favor, future trade requests may be declined.

  • Small Charity Syndrome

Some small local charities have challenges with starting trade relationships with larger charities given their small list size and geographic target.

When you are setting campaign budgets, give your List Broker a call to discuss the possibility of integrating rentals into your list plan.  To ensure that new prospects are being reached it is recommended that tests, both trades and rentals are incorporated into every campaign alongside top performing trade continuations.

Memorable Moments from May 3rd Mobile Giving Forum

May 7th, 2012 by Jamie Lehman

“We are all pioneers of this channel and the definition of this channel” said Jim Manis, Chairman of the Mobile Giving Foundation at its first Mobile Giving Forum, held at the Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Toronto. A full house of Mobile enthusiasts were in attendance, including Cornerstone. The audience included representatives from Heart and Stroke Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada to the National Ballet of Canada. Mingling with some of the best minds in the Fundraising industry, we learned even more about how Mobile Giving is an essential component in the future of charitable giving.

Highlights of the Day:

Dave Farnes, The Mobile Giving Foundation’s Executive Director shared the Cell Phone Consumer Attitudes Survey results with us. It was useful to learn:

  • 58% of mobile givers want to know how their donations are being used.
  • What prompts Mobile Donations? At the top of the list were TV, Social Media, Newspaper and Magazines.
  • Next phases of Mobile Giving include expanded price points, monthly sustainable gifts, and enriching user experiences by extending to mobile web/apps and integrating more mobile functionally like location and a mobile wallet.

Speaker Michael Carter of Olson told us there were 29 billion app downloads last year.

  • He also recommended we think creatively about integrating our campaigns. At one point he proposed embedding a mobile call to action in our DM pieces.

VP Cornerstone Mobile, Philip King, led a Q & A Panel Session with Graham Moore of  Salvation Army and Kristian Dart of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. What did they have to say?

  • More people need to start checking their Google Analytics!
  • Mobilizing your website is key.
  • Make Donors feel secure, and continuously think about payment methods when it comes to Mobile Giving.

A poignant presentation was put on by Shirley Weir who told the audience her team at Leapfrog Marketing helped the Canadian Legion Foundation to “successfully increase the value of what a poppy is worth” through the use of $5.00 text-to-give donations.

The Forum came to a close with an insightful Q & A panel led by Wireless Carriers Telus, Rogers and Virgin Mobile who stated their reason for supporting charity Text-to-Give campaigns. “It was just the right thing to do,” they all said in unison.

Overall, the day reminded us of how gathering industry leaders in one place to share each other’s experiences with new technology can help all of us.

And we walked away with a thought most other attendees probably shared, “How can we best leverage Mobile?”

List Brokerage for The Recurring Mailer

April 23rd, 2012 by Jamie Lehman

You’ve mailed for years, but are your expectations outdated?

As Direct Mail Marketers, we all know that there are an increasing number of marketing channels available to us. We’re seeing fewer envelopes in our mailboxes and more movement towards online campaigns. This change presents a unique opportunity for mailers to stand out. However, it’s still important to keep our expectations in line with the changing trends.

Direct mail’s rewards are not always in the raw numbers and if you are expecting as high response rates as you received years ago you are likely to be disappointed. Now, Direct Mail can be used to compliment other mediums or build rapport with an ideal prospect. It’s always been a useful tool in the development of a longer term relationship between your customer and your brand.  Your List Broker can suggest different ways to help maximize your response rates year after year, but cannot guarantee you’ll hit your goals if they are too high.

For the seasoned Mailer in an ever-changing DM environment, if you want better response rates, here are a few clues to help:

 

  • Think about running National Change of Address updates on your customer database throughout the year According to Canada Post, 20% of households and businesses move in Canada each year. Staying on top of demographic shifts will help save you unopened/undeliverable mail pieces and lift response rates.

 

  • Don’t rely on compiled lists, even if their descriptions suggest they reach your target audience.  Keep in mind that age and/or income selects on compiled lists are primarily overlaid at a geographical level as opposed to being self reported. Hence, general assumptions are made based on the neighborhood where a consumer resides.  Response rates will therefore likely be low.

 

  • A lot of your mail potential lies in its creative. Invest in some good advice to help improve your mail pieces and find innovative ways to encourage consumers to open their mail. One way might be to tell a story in your Direct Mail that needs to be finished online.

 

  • There are certain mail times that might work better than others. Research which seasons are a good fit for you.

 

 

Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts – Copy

April 12th, 2012 by Michelle Petricone

Direct marketing success is heavily dependent on the art of persuasion. In order to influence purchasing habits, email marketers need crafty copy that incents action. Persuasion entails the craft of using all the tricks of the trade to grab attention, create interest, provide benefits, give assurance and convey confidence. Thus, the copy in a campaign should be well thought out, as it is a crucial element to any pitch.

Before beginning to write copy for your email, you should know your target audience as thoroughly as possible, as email can be one of the most personal media. Throughout the email, keep your audience in mind. Imagine the personality of the recipient you are writing to and what would appeal to them. Be aware of your targets’ demographics, psychographics, problems, lifestyles and day-to-day activities as it will strengthen your copy. For example, if you know that your recipients are people with young children and you’re promoting a discount on a couple’s destination, your copy could read, “Now would be a good time to call the in-laws to babysit.” This conversational tone of writing and personalization by lifestyle should be demonstrated throughout your email.

A conversational tone is key, and in email marketing it’s a little harder to sound conversational than in telemarketing, for example. However, we can learn from telemarketing’s tactics. Telemarketers typically use a script, and one way to make the call sound more authentic is by adding emphasis to certain words. For example, the phrase “We guarantee satisfaction” can be more conversational by putting emphasis on the word “guarantee”. In email, we can use italics, boldface, underlining and color change to put emphasis on words or offers to make emails sound more conversational.

It’s also important to research. Learn the benefits of your products and services. Research the competition and what they offer so that you can successfully differentiate yourself. Once done, put pen to paper and brainstorm as many ideas as possible. By doing so you can separate what works from what sounds like a tired cliché. Also, when writing copy, keep in mind that embellishments and exaggerations are no longer effective. In the past, exclamation marks were an easy way to demand attention, but now when enthusiasm goes over the top, it raises reader suspicion.

Email sentences should be short and simple. The number of words in a sentence affects the difficulty of the content. For an easy read, 8 to 14 words in a sentence are recommended, around 17 words are standard and over 21 words are considered increasingly difficult. The ‘Simplicity’ rule of thumb very much applies to email marketing. Bullet points also work well in emails for an easier, more comfortable read, and reader comfort is a significant factor in email. In fact, for first time senders especially, it can be the most significant factor, sometimes carrying even more weight than the offer.

When being persuasive in email marketing, how does grammar help? Use present tense and active sentences and phrases. For example, rather than saying “Your tires can be improved this winter with Brand X”, say “Brand X can improve your tires this winter”. As well, imperatives (verbs that give orders) not only command attention but also establish a position of authority. For example, “Take a look at this.”

Furthermore, facts are more persuasive than general statements, so consider adding, where appropriate, references to case studies, statistics, performance figures, quotes from experts, or stories and testimonials. A good writer will rewrite the same piece over and over to ensure effective copy; after all, a return on investment for your email campaign is essential.

List Brokerage for The New Mailer

April 5th, 2012 by Jamie Lehman

New to List Rentals?

Cornerstone wants to help you learn a bit about the process before you embark on it.

If you are a first time Direct Mailer, it’s a good idea to prepare yourself with some preliminary list rental knowledge before diving in. You can do this by reading various Direct Mail publications, seeking advice from recurring Mailers or the easiest approach – call a List Broker early on in your campaign planning for a chat.

Once you feel you understand your campaign goals, you are ready to rent your first lists. Right off the bat, the most pivotal piece of information you’ll want to provide your new Broker with is a detailed description of who your ideal target audience is. This is because clearly identifying who you are mailing to is the most important step towards selecting your best lists.

How to do this? Think about who you are trying to reach by identifying key selects. Are you interested in reaching a specific gender? Age? Income? What about interests or behavioral requirements? Narrowing in on your prospects will send your Broker in the perfect direction when he/she prepares your list recommendations. Keep in mind, you are working with List Experts, but you are the expert of knowing who your prospect is. It’s a chain effect – once you know who you want to target, your Broker can think of creative ways to reach your best prospects. Also, providing a sample of your mail piece will help the Broker determine which lists may be most suitable for your campaign. And when renting one or more lists, inquire about Merge Purge services. This process will help to verify/clean the lists you will be mailing.  Make sure you ask about processes like “National Change of Address”. Purges will ensure that duplicate names between the lists you are renting and those that may already appear on your own house file will be suppressed.

After your first meeting, your Broker will need some time to review your requirements and conduct some research before supplying you with information about recommended lists. He/she might rank the lists and inform you of those they feel have the greatest potential for your offer. Use your first Direct Mail experience as a guide for future mailings. You might do things differently next time, but you’re off to a good start!

Email Marketing Do’s and Don’t – B2B Subject Lines

March 20th, 2012 by Michelle Petricone

Many of the best minds in the advertising business would agree that the opening statement of a television or radio commercial is the most important part of the ad. In those initial few seconds, the advertiser needs to convey to the audience “I am talking to you, pay attention and do not flick the channel or change the station.” If that message is not communicated to the audience by capturing their attention, then in today’s fast paced world, the line of communication stops there and the thousands of dollars spent on the remaining 28 seconds of the ad have been wasted.

That 2-second opening statement is the equivalent to your email’s B2B subject line.  The subject line is the gateway to your recipients actually looking at your message. It has to be engaging enough to prompt a response from your viewers and make them open your email.

Your B2B subject line needs to express relevance to the recipient or your email will be ignored.  It should summarize your offer instead of selling your email. For example, when emailing professionals regarding a marketing event, the subject line “Buy your tickets now and prepare to be amazed” isn’t as convincing as “Discover new trends at this year’s Digital Marketing Conference”. A great way to develop your subject line is by thinking of it as a newspaper headline – articulate the most important element of the email in a few words.

There is however a dispute pertaining to sending emails to B2B prospects. One side says that these professionals are people and not robots, therefore, don’t immediately exclude humour and create a cold, stiff subject line.  After all, how else are you to establish good rapport? A simple example of a subject line with no character is “New accounting software now available” as opposed to “Improve your productively with the latest accounting software.”

The second side states that adding character to your subject line is difficult because your target is busy; the faster you can deliver your message, the better. There is no need to spice up your subject line as your recipient’s mind is set on their work and there is no need to intrude on their business-minded train of thought. These prospects reject any ad or email that interferes with their business mind frame.

Both of these theories are logical and it is in the marketer’s hands to know which approach works best for their target audience. Perhaps the subject line “Let’s party the night way at A Splash of Colour’s Grand Opening” would work well to grab the attention of open-minded designers, but that same style of writing may not have the same impact on top-level executives.

How long should a subject line be? It’s best practice to keep it to 50 characters or less. You want your subject line to be simple.  Less is more. Also, you may want to try and convey urgency and/or importance. Airlines have a higher open rate when using simple subject lines such as, “Trip Alteration” or “Special Weather Advisory.” The same can be implemented for a B2B subject line, for example “Real Estate Investments Alert”.

In closing, it can be a little tricky to identify the proper tone for the subject line of a B2B email campaign; should you use a strictly professional style of writing or would a friendly approach strengthen the rapport with your prospects? There’s no greater way to identify successful subject lines then by testing, so try and keep your subject line short.  Where appropriate convey urgency.  And enjoy the learning that is to come.

Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts – Personalization and Relevance

March 8th, 2012 by Michelle Petricone

You’re making your way home on public transit and you overhear two complete strangers deep in conversation. Because they are speaking loudly you tune in for a minute.  But you quickly tune out because you’re not interested in what they’re talking about.  What if they were talking about something in which you were interested?  And what if they mentioned your name?  You’d tune in at the speed of light. Personalization and topic relevance compel people to tune in. In the email world they are critical to marketing success.

Personalization is the ability to speak one-on-one with your recipients. When emailing, many lists are able to target by first name and/or last name (for example, Hi John or Dear Mr. Doe). If you have an in-house email list, certain software or email broadcasting services can easily personalize your email, provided you have your customer’s names on file. Getting started, it’s important to remember that the correct use of personalization is a first step in building rapport with your receiver. For instance, using a person’s first name is commonly used. However, studies have shown that younger people prefer being addressed by their first name and an older crowd favors a last name approach, finding it more respectful. Gage how your demographic might like to be addressed and customize your email accordingly.

There are other ways to personalize your email and become more relevant. Why not personalize your email by geography? (This is typically called an A/B split). This allows you to send out different messages, subject lines, offers etc. to different geographic areas inclusive of one campaign (This method is also superb for testing). For example, multichannel businesses, such as retailers, may want to experiment with, “One-day sale at all our Toronto locations!” People living in Toronto will appreciate this offer more than a generic sales pitch.

Personalization allows you to tailor your offer based on customer or prospect’s past behaviour. For example, if they have bought a gift basket from you on Mothers’ Day, you can target them on other occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries (if your database has this data on file) or other holidays. Another option is to send out two deployments. On the second email blast, send an email exclusively to those recipients who didn’t open the initial email or who didn’t subscribe to the email for the duration of the first deployment. That way, you can send out reminders to view your email or subscribe to your email, once again become relevant to the users who need an extra push.

Another method of personalization that has been proven to be more effective is personalizing based on preference or behaviour. Many email brokers will recommend lists that are able to target based on demographics and psychographics. For example, if you own a sports merchandise store, instead of targeting people with an interest in sports, target hockey, basketball, football, soccer etc. fans separately, each with their own personalized message. All in all, be as personal and relevant as possible, it shows that you value the customer and their business, it generates rapport and the person will be more receptive to your message.

The Data Retrieval Tool You Can Use

February 28th, 2012 by Jamie Lehman

A recurring challenge that marketers face is getting at their customer data. They either have to wait for their IT departments to provide them with reports or they have to use desktop tools that are woefully inadequate.

Cornerstone’s new web based tool – ListXpress - solves these problems.

Stuart Young, Cornerstone’s Vice President of Data Products and List Management Services, headed up the development of ListXpress. Here is his take.

What exactly is ListXpress?

ListXpress is a web based tool designed to allow users to query and, if allowed, extract data from any list attached to it. To put it simply, marketers and other employees can mine lists and databases on their own without using their IT departments.

How can a business find and keep new customers with this service?

With ListXpress you are able to run counts on any list, whether that list is of current customers, past customers or prospects. If it’s a customer list, List Xpress dramatically accelerates the customer search process which will result in quicker campaigns. The faster the process, the more marketing you’re able to do. If it’s a prospect list using, say, Cornerstone’s Info-Direct product, you can find many prospective customers.

What makes ListXpress more effective than other types of data search and extraction models?

While most data extraction tools are bolted to a proprietary database, ListXpress is data agnostic. Any data, whether it be yours or Cornerstone’s, can be accessed by ListXpress saving you time by making data access more functional.

Can you give examples of how Cornerstone Clients have benefitted from ListXpress?

Some of our Clients have loaded a number of their individual customer lists into ListXpress to create de-duplicated master databases of all of their customers. With this integrated view of their customers they have gained tremendous insights into what offers or new products they can promote to them.

What sorts of unique features come with List Xpress?

Level of control for users is set by the Client. They can, among other things, control how many records can be extracted per day, whether a user can extract data at all and what geographic area a user can access.

Business rules can also be added. For instance a rule might be that no one can be contacted if they’ve already been contacted in the previous “x” months. This helps achieve consistency across an organization in terms of how customers and prospects are treated.

The selection criteria within ListXpress are geared towards the information provided on each individual list. Whatever variables included in a list can be queried and extracted.

How do I go about setting up this tool for my business?

Head to www.trylistexpress.ca or for more information call Jennifer Wells at 416-932-9555 ext.353.  She will show you how ListXpress can help you gain tremendous additional insights into your customer and prospect data with ease.

Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts – Avoiding the Spam Filter

January 31st, 2012 by Michelle Petricone

It’s a typical weekday in the office and you’re working away until being interrupted by a phone call. “Hi there, I’m calling about the email I had sent about a week ago and I have yet to hear back from you.” Email? But you didn’t receive any emails…

Sounds strange that glitches like this occur; we assume that when we hit the send button the message instantaneously gets received, however this is not always the case.

The stakes are higher when launching an email campaign. It isn’t uncommon for 10% – 20% of a marketer’s emails to get lost in cyberspace, which takes place when the email is deemed as spam by today’s ambitious spam filters. When this occurs, it changes the destination of the email by either blocking the message entirely or by sending it directly to the junk folder. It isn’t uncommon for reputable, permission-based advertisers to run into spam filter problems and the only way to minimize their effect is to understand how spam filters work.

When spamming (sending unsolicited commercial emails) became problematic, Internet Service Providers began deciphering whether an email was junk by looking at a long list of criteria based on previously identified spam messages. Some of the most prominent indicators of spam are trigger words such as, “Click here now!”, “Free!”, “Buy now”, “Winner” and many more. Every time the spam fitter detects one of these trigger words, or other spam-related criteria, it assigns a given number of points; if your email so happens to gain enough points to exceed a spam filter’s threshold, then your email will be filtered as junk mail. So, what is this magic threshold? Every filter varies therefore there is no definitive answer, which is why abiding by best practices is so important.

We have now gone over some of the trigger words, but what else can you do to reduce activating a spam filter? Firstly, defy the urge to use all caps, particularly in the subject line. All caps communicate excitement and urgency, but also imply that you’re screaming your message. Other must-not’s, include using excessive punctuation such as multiple exclamation points or questions marks, as well as using florescent colours. Inattentive HTML coding, such as converting a Word file to an HTML file also screams spam, so it is always worthwhile for a professional to properly code your email. Also, keep in mind that spam filters can’t read images, so if your HTML is made up of one or multiple images with little or no text, then it’s quite possible that the email will be perceived as spam.

To identify potential spam filter issues, pay attention to your open and deliverability rate trends. If you’re accustomed to receiving a given open or delivered rate and it begins to decline, or you notice that all recipients from a specific domain have not been opening your email, there is a chance that it could be due to spam related issues. In addition, ensure that you have subscribed to all available Feedback Loops from the ISP Postmasters that you mail to, as those ISP’s will then notify you of spam complaints, allowing you to take corrective measures.

The AFP Congress: A Treat for Fundraisers and Marketers

December 7th, 2011 by Jamie Lehman

Do Fundraisers have a hunger for knowledge? The answer is an unequivocal yes if the AFP Congress, held on November 28th and 29th is any indication.

Many of Cornerstone’s Clients and friends in the fundraising industry stopped by our booth to discuss some of their challenges, share their (many) success stories from the past year and chat with us about how we can help them do more to engage new and existing donors, such as employing online fundraising services. One of the highlights of the show for Cornerstone was the presentation of our annual Canadian Fundraiser File Audit, a comprehensive review of donation trends in Canada.  If you are a Fundraiser who missed the opportunity to chat with us about this valuable piece of research please send your contact information to jlehman@cstonecanada.com and we will be pleased to send you an electronic copy. Our Audit is a valuable benchmarking tool for charities, providing vital statistics for marketing to Canadian donors.

Many of our staff also attended AFP Congress seminars as part of our commitment to continuous learning to help us maximize our value to our Clients.  Cornerstone’s Group Account Director, Ines Morcillo, commented AFP Congress was a hit this year but I believe the best was saved for last.  The closing plenary was given by Tony Elischer from THINK Consulting Solutions (www.thinkcs.org).  His session called “Futurology 2011:  Time to Reprogram Your Brain!” was a high energy, thought provoking session that definitely made us think about what we can do to change the way Canadian not-for-profits are marketing.  He believes that we should change what we know, listen to what our donors want and find creative ways to give them what they want. Reprogram our brain!  There were so many great ideas on how to market in a new way. Tony was extremely passionate in what he believes in and he encourages us all to think and find creative new solutions to raise more money.  An excellent presentation!”