It’s a new year, which means it’s time to start making good use of that new marketing budget. Regardless of how much you’re working with, be sure to include these three essential strategies that will make a real difference in your bottom line:

  1. Take advantage of postal promotions: Direct mail has serious advantages — especially if you can leverage current postal rates to make the most of your mailings. Lucky for marketers, there were a handful of postal promotions approved for 2017. These include a 5% discount for those starting a direct mail campaign and sending less thank 10,000 pieces, as well as a 2% postage savings for mailings that include emerging and advanced technology or mobile shopping. To learn more about how to qualify for these and other 2017 postal discounts, check out this post on our blog.
  2. Focus on customer experience: From employing account-based marketing (ABM) methods to developing more specific, personalized, and problem solving content, the most lucrative marketing strategies focus on a target group of individual consumers. This methodology relies less on a traditional marketing funnel, and more on educational, problem-solving content that speaks to your end audience at every phase of the buying cycle. To make your marketing even more customer-centric, get everyone at the company on board with a united message. Develop customer personas, and share their pain points with your entire team — that way, whether someone in sales is Tweeting, or your art department is working on a new direct mail campaign, you share the same focus.
  3. Content over commercials: While advertising spend still holds value for many companies, putting extra effort into developing quality, customer-focused content (and delivering that content correctly) can really help you gain traction. According to CMS Connected, 60% of people are inspired to search for a product after reading about it, and 70% of people would rather learn about companies through an article than a commercial. Make your content count by putting energy into making it informative, visually appealing, and targeted to a specific group of consumers.

While all of these elements are powerful on their own, taking advantage of all three will really help you get the most out of your marketing budget. Thankfully, there’s a tool that brings together all of these vital marketing efforts: Catalogs. And there’s no better option for helping you get your catalog off the ground than The Dingley Press.

When you add Dingley to your marketing team, you also get the best postage rates and distribution efficiency, leading list-vetting technology, and impressive print and digital options — so you can ensure you’re always getting the maximum impact from your catalog’s content. If 2017 is the year you’re focusing on streamlining your marketing plan and budget, then we can help you do it!