3 + 3 QR Code Mailing Campaign

Time is ticking!  Just 40 days left to the 3 + 3 QR Code Mailing Campaign. 

Run a QR Code Campaign and save 6% on Postage

It's time to get your creative juices flowing and take advantage of the USPS discount on direct mailings that involve QR campaigns.  This summer during the month of July and August the USPS will give a 3% DISCOUNT to both First Class mail and Standard Class mail that displays a QR code outside or within their mailing pieces for purpose of  marketing, promoting, or educating mailing recipients.

Young's Printing will MATCH the USPS incentive and will provide an ADDITIONAL 3% DISCOUNT on postage during the USPS promotion period.  All together you would be saving 6% on postage AND also benefit from the QR codes themselves.

"How can I use QR codes?" you ask.  Your offering can provide recipients to on-line content, special offers, and competitions.  Here are a few examples:

1. How about a contest?  Example:

We are currently producing a mailing for Goodspeed Musicals that is promoting "Cutman" at boxing musical at the Normal Terris Theatre in Chester, CT.  This mailing contains a QR code that when scanned by a smart phone will bring you to the Goodspeed's website where you can enter a chance to win tickets.




2.  Do you have a special promotion?  Example:

Macy's  has incorporated a QR code image into their well known red star logo that is showing up on their website, Facebook page, window displays, print ads, and around the neck of every employee. Macy's has successfully created interest with the QR code which when scanned can link customers to special promotions, fashion designers, and or promotion videos.


3.  Are you marketing a product where a demonstration might be helpful?  Why not use a QR code to link to an on-line demonstration video that you have posted to YouTube.  Example:
The German company MyToys.de came up with a very creative way to increase sales on  Lego toy products.  Play the video to see the details of this promotion.

To receive our MATCHING 3% promotion scan the QR code below and print the coupon, or display the coupon on your smart phone at Young's to receive a secret offer.

New Client Innovation Board

Twitter link

Now Introducing: Youngs2.0 Innovation Board!!

Whether you're an individual, a Fortune 500 corporation, or something in between, tell us how you are changing the world. 

Have you redefined your industry with a new environmentally-friendly process?  Have you built a better "mousetrap"?  Young's 2.0 (the online persona of Young's Printing) is building an electronic bulletin board of innovation. 

We do this as a service to our clients and because it could be a truly fascinating read.

Do you have something big that you're proud of to announce.  If so, send us a tweet or an e-mail, and we'll help you get the word out. 

Interactive Marketing

Are all of your customers and prospects identical?  Of course not.  Then stop generalizing your marketing and talk to them as individuals!

Interactive Marketing is the ability to have ever more personalized conversations with your prospects and customers, as you learn their wants and needs.  It employs a combination of traditional marketing methods and on-line methods.

Try on the Young's Communications Interactive Marketing/Fishing model for size. You start with a lure and a hook to build awareness and pique interest in your offering.  Then, once they're on your line, you reel your prospect in very gradually and carefully with one-to-one communications.  Then, if you have executed flawlessly, out comes the net and wham-o! They are yours!  See the new YCIM/F Model below:

The lure:

Get your message out!  Whether it is by traditional or electronic marketing means.  Who are you?  What do you sell?  Why are you great?  Why do I care?

The hook:

Give them a reason to opt-in via a website, personalized url, e-mail, snail mail, or text back a special code, or all of the above.  They're not ready to buy, so why should they talk to you?  Will your prospect gain access to a special affinity group, receive an informative newsletter or e-newsletter, get a free promotional item, get 10% off something?

The Line:

Now, you've got them where you want them and can begin your real one-to-one marketing efforts.  You know what they like, which channel to use to communicate, what type of offers will motivate them.  With each communication, you learn a bit more, and your prospect enjoys being a part of the community you have created.  Slowly, slowly, you reel them in...  Then the net comes out...

The Net:

... and boom!  The net is down.  They buy your product or service via the Web, a face-to-face sale, an SMS text.  They're all yours!  And, of course, the transaction data from the sale feeds right back into your database.  One more piece of information to inform your next interactive marketing communication.

Is your company ready to build an interactive marketing strategy that works?  Call us today at 860-347-8567 or drop us a line: E-Mail

December Printing Showcase

Today's blog features work produced in December for our clients at MiddleOak, Pratt & Whitney, and Dauntless Specialty Brokerage.

Christmas With Class!

We just finished printing and mailing MiddleOak's Holiday Cards for 2010.

This folded holiday card was printed on Kromekote Canvas12 pt. C1S stock.  This is a premium paper, chosen to have the feel of an actual present.

The gift image and the red embossed ribbon on the card gives it a 3-dimensional look.  MiddleOak's logo is foil stamped and creatively incorporated to represent snowflake-like gift wrap.

Each card is individualized with the recipient's name imprinted in red on the gift tag.

Gorgeous!!!





Branding Extraordinaire

Pratt & Whitney uses their signature eagle logo decals as a branding element in trade shows and on aircraft and rocket engines.  These seven-color, free-form die-cut decals, that is printing in four different sizes, each with eagle feathers extending beyond the circular perimeter to give it a 3-dimensional look.  Young's Printing is proud to have developed this design together with Pratt & Whitney several years ago, and to have printed over a million decals for engine maker so far!

Multi-Channel Marketing That Works!

Dauntless Specialty Brokerage has been using innovative direct mail as a part of a multi-channel marketing strategy that really works.  We just completed a flight of direct mail campaign for Dauntless across several product categories in targeted states around the country.  The campaign begins with printed postcards, which include a free offer for a pocket calculator to increase response rates.  Respondents go directly to a webpage customized for this campaign and the product targeted to them.  Once registered on this page, respondent confirmations and notifications to our fulfillment center are handled through a marketing automation system.

The output of this process, of course, is a highly-qualified list of leads which can then be marketed by the brokerage's sales team, using marketing collateral, phone, and, of course, face-to-face contacts to close the deal.

So, Dauntless has been able to utilize quite a number of marketing channels, all highly integrated, and all driven by direct mail.  Further, the company uses only what works for them, not necessarily the latest & greatest marketing technologies.  For example, they found static web landing pages to
 work just as well as dynamic (P.U.R.L.) ones, at a fraction of the cost. 

Well done, Dauntless!!

QR and Bar Code Scaning Growing Significantly

"The potential of personalized mobile barcode scanning is virtually endless for consumers, marketers, retailers, and mobile operators. The physical world becomes completely interactive and trackable in one click - whether it is from a magazine ad or a bottle of soda. That ease of navigation, along with the explosive growth of SmartPhones is currently driving exponential adoption." (ScanLife, Sept 2010)

According to ScanLife's September, 2010 Mobile Barcode Trend Report bar code scanning growth in up over 700%.  The United States comes in as the top country using personal barcode scanning and California is the leading State in the nation.

The products being scanned are:

• Health and Beauty
• Grocery
• Books
• Kitchen
• DVD
• Electronics
• Toys
• Music
• Home Improvements
• Video Games
• Office Products
• Sports
• Other

Of these categories the top three which have resulted in the most scans and purchases are Health & Beauty, Books, and Electronics.

To view ScanLife's full report, which includes trends and demographic information, click on the following link:
ScanLife Mobile-Barcode-Trend-Report Sept 2010

QR Codes: What Are They and How Can They Work for You?

Send in your guess to the following link to enter our contest:  Contest Entry

QR Code

What is this funny little square box?

It's called a QR code, short for a "Quick Response" link that is used with a camera equipped mobile phone.  Your camera phone using this QR code connects you directly with a website, text, or contact information.  All you have to do is take a picture of it, your phone scans it, and then connects you instantly.

QR Codes are an exciting way to reach your customers.  They are another innovative way the world has become interconnected.  Join the excitement and incorporate QR Codes into your business offerings today.  The possibilities are endless!

 

Here are some ways Young's Printing can help you take advantage of QR codes in your business:

• Business Cards/Collateral - Include QR codes on your business cards or collateral so that your customers can easily access your business information, map your location, and store your business information on their phone or computer.

•  Sales flyers -Use QR codes on sales flyers to lead consumers to special coupons.

•  Posters - A QR code on a poster can lead consumers to a video preview, photo slide show, audio and/or text.

•   Real Estate Signs -A QR Code on a Real Estate sign in front of a house can lead your potential customer to a site providing additional property information on that house and put them in direct contact with the Agent.

• Magazine ads - Design a magazine ad that contains a QR Code for your catalog items.  Your customer can scan the QR code from the magazine advertisement with their smart phone and be instantly connected to your on-line site to purchase that particular item.

• Signs - Whether it is in a building on a street or trail, signs with QR codes can provide your customers with location information, or perhaps enable them to a self-guided tour.

• Promotional Items - QR codes have been used on t-shirts and other products to advertise an event.  Scan the link and you will be directed to a url that provides you with information on that upcoming event.

What's the benefit of using QR Codes in your business? 

• Market - They have the potential to reach a much broader market resulting in a cost savings to you.
• Future - QR Codes are a way of the future, keep your business fresh and exciting by incorporating QR codes into your business and business collateral.
• On demand - consumers can take immediate action to your business offerings.  
• Tracking - provides you with an additional way to track and analyze your customers and your business offerings.

How do you scan the QR codes?
 Watch these brief videos for a demonstration on how to scan a QR Code.







Let Young's Printing super-charge your business by using QR Codes on all of your business collateral.

Visit our website Young's Printing, send us an e-mail or come by and see us in person on Court Street in Middletown.


(Your camera equipped mobile phone may need a reader application to scan QR codes. QR readers applications are available at the following site for free. QR Code Readers )