Planning for a Bright New Year in 2025

As the holiday season wraps up, many of us find ourselves in that brief tranquil space. It’s the perfect time to take a step back, reflect on the year that’s passed, and lay the groundwork for a successful year ahead. Whether you’re celebrating big wins, overcoming challenges, or looking for a fresh start, this time of year offers a unique opportunity to refocus and recharge.

Reflecting on 2024

Start by asking yourself some key questions: Did your business achieve the goals you set at the beginning of the year? Whether your targets were financial, operational, or growth-focused, take an honest look at how you measured up. Celebrate the wins—big or small—and take note of areas where things didn’t go as planned. Growth comes from understanding both success and failure.

Analyzing the Numbers

Your financials tell a story—one you need to read carefully. Review your income statements, paying close attention to sales trends, expense patterns, and profitability. What stood out in 2024? Did you find opportunities to reduce costs, grow margins, or tap into new revenue streams? Let these insights guide your decisions as you head into 2025.

Choosing Key Metrics

To keep your business on track, select a few KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that truly matter. These might include:

• Sales growth percentages
• Gross margin trends
• Expense ratios
• Customer acquisition costs
• Inventory turnover rates

Identify the numbers that give you the clearest picture of your business’s health and track them consistently.

Evaluating Performance

Look at where you started and where you’ve landed. Compare your actual results to your expectations. Did you exceed your goals in some areas? Where did you fall short? Be candid in your assessment—this honesty will shape your growth strategy for 2025.

Planning for a Prosperous 2025

With your reflections in mind, it’s time to look ahead. Set clear, actionable goals for the new year. Consider performing a quick SWOT analysis:

• Strengths: What does your business do exceptionally well?
• Weaknesses: What needs improvement?
• Opportunities: What trends or markets can you tap into in 2025?
• Threats: What external factors could impact your business?

Once you have a clear picture, create a plan to leverage your strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate risks.

Embracing the Future

The new year is a blank slate—an opportunity to take everything you’ve learned and create a brighter future for your business. By reflecting, analyzing, and planning with purpose, you’re setting yourself up for success in 2025.

Here’s to a year of growth, resilience, and achievement. Let’s make 2025 the best one yet!

Wilson Zehr is a Direct Mail Industry Expert, Direct Marketing Specialist, and CEO of Cendix (www.cendix.com), the leading provider of Web-to-print solutions that increase sales both online and offline. He is also the founder of Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), the company responsible for many “industry firsts” in direct mail.

Click here to get a free Zairmail Sample Kit with all the information you need to get your direct mail campaigns off the ground!

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Seasons Greetings!

Finding the best way to spread cheer during the holidays can be a tough nut to crack. If this year has been a challenging one for business, perhaps budgets are tight and you’re looking for ways to save costs, without compromising holiday cheer?

Holiday postcards are low cost, quick to put in motion, and best of all, customers love them because they feel so personal.

Avoid These Common Holiday Postcard Mistakes

Holiday postcards are simple, versatile, and packed with potential for creativity. Plus, they can be sent in envelopes to add a touch of surprise. To make sure your holiday mailing hits the mark, here are a few common mistakes to avoid:

Mailing Too Late

The holidays are a hectic time for businesses, so it’s no surprise that holiday postcards often get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. While it’s better to send late than not at all, earlier is definitely better!

The week leading up to Christmas is the busiest time for the postal service, with mail volumes skyrocketing as people scramble to send last-minute cards and packages. If your postcards can land in mailboxes during the first two weeks of December, they’ll have less competition and a better chance of grabbing attention.

The ideal window is the first week of December. Customers are eagerly checking their mail, and your message won’t get lost in the holiday rush. At Zairmail, we can help you design your postcard, print it, and have it mailed within 48 hours, ensuring your holiday greetings arrive on time.

Not Going Jumbo

Why settle for standard when you can double your impact for just a few cents more? The USPS pricing changes that took effect in 2024 make upgrading to jumbo-sized postcards an easy choice. The cost difference is minimal, but the impression is twice as big!

Here’s a quick comparison:

• Standard postcard size: 4 x 6 or 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• Jumbo postcard size: 6 x 9 or 5.5 x 8.5 inches

For just a nickel more, you can boost your holiday campaign and make sure your postcard stands out in the mailbox.

Neglecting Design

It’s tempting to go with a cookie-cutter holiday design, but your postcard should be as unique as your business. Whether mailed as-is or placed in an envelope, the goal is to grab attention—and maybe even earn a spot on the fridge!

Think beyond the usual holiday greetings. Why not include:

• A photo of your team in holiday gear
• A handy turkey (or vegan roast) cooking guide
• A festive recipe to share some holiday cheer

These thoughtful touches will make your postcard more memorable and meaningful.

Turning It into a Sales Pitch

Holiday postcards are about spreading goodwill—not selling. This isn’t the time to include a promotional offer or push your business. Instead, use this opportunity to strengthen relationships and let customers know you care.

If you want to send promotional mailings, aim for October or early November. By December, it’s all about appreciation and connection, not sales.

Forgetting Contact Information

Even though the goal of your holiday postcard isn’t to drive sales, don’t forget to include all your contact details. Your company name, website, phone number, and physical address should all be easy to find.

Surprisingly, many businesses overlook this in the holiday rush, but it’s crucial to make it easy for customers to get in touch after the holidays.

Finish the Year Strong

Sometimes, avoiding a few common pitfalls is all it takes to make your holiday mailing a success. If you need more tips or want to explore how postcards can supercharge your direct mail campaigns, we’re here to help.

December is also a great time to start planning your direct mail strategy for the New Year. Need inspiration? Request a free sample mailing kit from us at Zairmail, and let’s make your next campaign the best one yet.

Here’s to a successful and cheerful holiday season!

In this episode, Host Karen Vick sits down with Wilson Zehr, the “professor of direct mail” and founder of Cendix/ZairMail, to discuss the enduring impact of direct mail marketing in today’s digital world. Dive into strategies, tools, and real-life examples that can help you elevate your marketing game with direct mail.

Key Points Covered In This Episode:

Promotion of Tools:

  – ZairMail: Recommended for fast, easy, and reliable direct mail services.

  – Speedy app: Ideal for sending individual letters conveniently via desktop.

Strategic Marketing Model:

  – Importance of understanding and positioning products 🎯 before marketing.

  – Four Key Components: Product Understanding 📚, Target Audience 👥, Pricing 💲, Channels, and Placement 📍.

  – Role of Promotion in creating awareness and supporting channel activities 📢.

Advice for Small Businesses:

  – Importance of effective product positioning and selecting the right promotional tools for budget optimization.

  – Targeting precise audiences to maximize marketing impact 🎯.

Real Estate Mail Campaigns & Personalization:

  – Use personalized postcards to increase client engagement, similar to a chimney sweep’s successful tactic with pet images 📸.

  – Realtors often send multiple, personalized mailers to stay top-of-mind with potential clients 🏡.

Integration of Digital and Direct Mail:

  – Omnichannel marketing strategies that combine various tools, like direct mail and digital platforms, to target customers at multiple points 📧 + 📬.

Case Study: School Bond Measure Campaign:

  – Comprehensive campaign strategy which resulted in significant victories by utilizing a mix of digital tools with strategic direct mail ✉️🏫.

Unique Advantages of Direct Mail:

  – Precise targeting capabilities and tangible customer reach.

  – Direct mail’s high ROI potential, offering over $13 for every $1 spent if done correctly 💵.

Connect with Wilson Zehr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilsonzehr/

  – Email: wilson@zairmail.com 📧

  – Phone: 1.888.898.0066 ☎️

Next Steps and Actions:

– Manage your marketing budget with the ⁠Stingray Budget Planner⁠: A tool to simplify budget creation, track expenses, and provide visual performance monitoring. 

– Small Business Owners: Leverage automated direct mail services for timely promotions. Consider tools like ZairMail and Speedy for efficient marketing.

– Marketing Professionals: Integrate direct mail with digital campaigns for a comprehensive marketing strategy.

– Stay Connected: Subscribe to The Guiding Brands Podcast and leave a review to keep updated with the latest marketing insights.

Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform 🎧 or visit https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mail-matters-the-power-of-direct-mail-in/id1671442576?i=1000669388691 🌐. 

Catch you next time!

Determining the right balance between digital and direct marketing can be a challenge for a lot of organizations. Issues can arise, when one form is seen as superior to the other, and half of the mix gets neglected. Businesses are now engaged in a very digital world – digital has become very comfortable. It’s easy to predict which form marketers might wish to push aside.

Still, for those in the know, the facts are hard to ignore. Direct mail marketing is much more powerful than many business owners realize. Seventy-three percent (73%) of consumers prefer receiving information from brands via direct mail because they can read it at their leisure. Despite being delivered right to the front door; consumers find this less intrusive than online pop-up ads or social media interruptions. The best part… on average, direct mail advertising is kept in the home for 17 days. The impression really lasts… stalking and retargeting are definitely not required for success.

So, what’s the best way to integrate both digital marketing and direct mail? Here are some simple yet powerful moves.

Allow Digital Response

When a direct mail campaign is received, customers need to know which digital forms of contact they can use to respond. Not everyone wants to make a phone call or go directly to a website first. Including a web address is, of course, a crucial piece of information today. Organizations that deal with a lot queries through WhatsApp or Facebook Chat might find this is the preferred form of response for mail campaigns as well. Direct mail links well with this form of social media when it is clear and easy to connect the in-home online piece with the online platform. We need to make sure that we align the visual content between platforms so the consumer can clearly see the connection.

QR Codes Bridge Gap

A QR code is a 3D barcode that can be printed and displayed online or offline. Anyone with a smartphone can use their camera to scan it, and they will be redirected to an online destination in their browser. Consumers appreciate the simplicity and instant access to information. In fact, QR codes represent one of the leading forms of payment in places like Asia.

A QR code can offer any business more cohesion when connecting offline and online worlds (promotions). Information can be stored in a QR code; to quickly link a person to pages on a website, to showcase discounts and offers, display menus, highlight products, or download apps. They appear technical and can seem intimidating to implement at first. However, there are many applications on the web that will generate them fast and free.

There is often an element of mystery or intrigue offered with a QR code. The recipient may not know where they will land until they scan the code. It could be a secret discount code for the first 100 people who claim it, or a special landing page only for the recipients of that mail piece. It can be a perfect opportunity to be creative and fun, or simply a method to relay important information quickly. Whatever the end goal is (online), it’s quite possible a QR code could help.

Synchronize Branding

Digital and direct mail marketing should not be treated as separate – they are two specific tools that belong in every marketing toolbox. Both tools need to communicate a cohesive and consistent message to clients both online and offline. To illustrate, it would normally be frowned upon to use one style of branding in an Instagram ad and a different branding entirely for the same campaign on YouTube. The same principle applies to direct mail marketing. It should be treated as a combined element of the overall branding; this will build consumer trust and reinforce brand messaging.

Digital Funnel Capture

When leads are captured, such as email addresses over the phone, or directly in-person in a physical store, they should be added to a digital marketing funnel. These leads can be nurtured over time with periodic messages and offers – leads have a cost, and we don’t want to lose them. Offline leads that are not converted, can slip through the cracks. It can involve more effort to manually capture the entry, but it can be well worth it over time. Even for those brands that have high quantities of digital lead generation, offline leads can often convert better, if they have been given in-person or over the telephone.

There will always be occasions where digital outperforms direct mail – and the reverse can also true. It is important to pick the right tool for the job and to use both to complement each other. This usually leads to much stronger results overall. Personalizing communication to align with each customer’s needs is the ultimate way to balance effectively and produce stronger results.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

Yes, direct mail has been around for a while, and it is also regarded as one of the oldest forms of modern advertising. However, its relevance in present-day marketing and advertising cannot be overemphasized — thanks to its dynamic and flexible nature.

If you are uncertain about direct mail marketing, or you have not yet wrapped your mind around how it works, don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered. To set the stage and give you an idea of how much impact direct mail marketing can make on the earnings of businesses; 2021 direct mail marketing statistics show that at least 82% of purchases are influenced by relevant direct mail. This explains why direct-to-customer brands regard direct mail as the offline marketing channel that provides the most profitable cost per acquisition (CAC).

More statistics on direct mail marketing

Statistics from the Data & Marketing Association show that at least 50% of direct mail recipients find direct mail postcards useful. Building on that, Fundera reports show that 70% of customers opt for direct mail because it’s more personal compared to its online counterparts.

Here are a few more tips on how to conduct a direct mail advertising campaign.

Step 1: Determine your target audience

Yes, it always starts with knowing your audience. It would almost never make sense to send stacks of letters or postcards, or any other form of direct mail, without taking the time to identify your target market. Thankfully, direct mail advertising makes it incredibly easy to target a specific target market or audience. All you have to do is identify the demographics (e.g., age, income, gender, location…) that are best suited for the benefits offered by the product or service you are selling.

As you can imagine, if you invest enough time to identify your ideal client and create a custom tailored targeted direct mail marketing campaign, the chances are that you will record much better results, and you will be smiling all the way to the bank.

Step 2: what is the source of your direct mail list

Having identified your target audience, you can shift your focus to identifying your mail list. There are two ways to go about this — you can either use a “house list” or you can purchase an external list. You can opt for the former if you have a good list that has produced reliable results over time. This could be a good approach if you are asking customers for an annual donation from year-to-year. This could also work well if you have a list of “warm” leads from older campaigns.

If you are new in business, or you are trying to test a new target market, then you can buy/rent a mailing list from a third party supplier, like a list vendor or consultant. These lists come in many flavors. Consult this Zairmail library article for more details on finding the perfect list for your campaign.

Step 3: Generate an effective copy

As the famous saying goes, content is king, and at the center of every successful marketing campaign is effective copy. Be creative in your writing style to help gain and hold the attention of your audience. The primary goal is to grab the recipient’s attention, immediately, and avoid being shoved aside. Do not beat around the bush or get too clever. Be direct. Get to the point. People are busy and they have a short attention span, if you don’t get their attention fast, the opportunity may be lost forever. Clearly highlight the key benefits your product or service offers, and then urge the customer to respond to the offer (ask for the sale). In some cases, we can compel an immediate response if we include a deadline or another impending event in our copy.

Step 4: Get your design right

You know, as they say in the culinary industry, people eat with their eyes first. We need to be able to break through the clutter. The mail piece has to “pop”. We can do that by using different colors, fonts, and forms. We can offer up an image that is outrageous or unconventional. We can be cute and cuddly in our approach. We can use humor if we are careful – humor can be a double edged sword. Whatever approach we take, it needs to get/hold attention, and it needs to fit with the overall theme of the campaign, the product/service we are offering, and our brand.

Step 5: packaging and sending process

Once we have all the elements identified, we have to assure that we can execute and get it right. Once we print & mail, it is very difficult to “take it back”.  Print production should take place in a scalable commercial facility that can rapidly and reliably produce a quality product. The service should be able to produce both short-runs (small jobs) and large jobs just as easily. The service should be able to provide pre-sort services to maximize postage discounts – the bulk of the cost in direct mail is postage.

This used to be a time-consuming, expensive, and error-prone process, that required weeks to complete. Thanks to automated online tools such as Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), direct mail campaigns can now be launched in minutes, right from your own PC, and be in the mail the next day. Zairmail even provides tools to track delivery and take some of the guesswork out of mail delivery.

Quality, cost, price, reliability, and customer service are all critical for this type of manufacturing process. Zairmail invented the concept of hybrid (digital to physical) over 20 years ago (1999). The company has continued to invest in automation, and to further refine the process, since that time.

Take the guesswork out of your direct mail campaigns. Zairmail is the fastest, easiest, and most cost-effective way to send direct mail.

Got a campaign or question? WZairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

In this episode, we delve into the insightful journey of Wilson Zehr, a seasoned entrepreneur and academic, from his early career in the tech industry to founding his own company, Zairmail. Wilson shares his experiences of starting and growing multiple tech companies and discusses the importance of targeted marketing and the unique advantages of direct mail. He explains how Zare Mail, his current company, offers a software platform that automates the ordering and production of direct mail…

Listen on demand Here: Uncomplicated Marketing: Simplifying Direct Mail Campaigns: The Proactive Approach for Businesses on Apple Podcasts

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About the Author

Wilson Zehr is a Direct Mail Industry Expert, Direct Marketing Specialist, and CEO of Cendix (www.cendix.com), the leading provider of Web-to-print solutions that increase sales both online and offline. He is also the founder of Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), the company responsible for many “industry firsts” in direct mail.

Click here to get a free Zairmail Sample Kit with all the information you need to get your direct mail campaigns off the ground!