BY JIM FOSINA

The sheer volume ofinformation avail-able to the con-

sumer today is over-whelming, making cus-

tomer acquisition more challenging thanever. This is exactly why it makes sense totake a fresh look at online lead generation(OLG).Per industry findings,OLG has provento be a very valuable customer acquisitionchannel for direct response marketers whoapply a holistic approach from lead to thedesired action or response.

OLG can be defined as follows, as adapt-ed from Wikipedia: The generation ofprospective consumer interest or inquiryinto a business’s products or servicesthrough the Internet. Leads fit a variety ofpurposes: list building, e-newsletter listacquisition, building out reward and/orloyalty programs, product service engage-ment, and many other acquisition goals.

Generating a responseThere are several ways to generate aresponse from the consumer:

� Posing a straightforward question, forexample, Would you like to save

Direct Marketing Club of New York | www.dmcny.org

vol . 6 , i ssue 3 | S eptember 2015

d i r e c t & d i g i t a l n e w sf r o m d m c n y

A Fresh Look at Direct to ConsumerOnline Lead Generation

(continued on page 7)

Silver Apple Honorees Announced The Direct Marketing Club of New York is pleased to announce this year’s Silver Applehonorees. Join us November 12th for another sell-out Silver Apple award event at theHudson Theater at 6:00 pm.

Silver Apple HonoreesRobert M. Cohn, Sr. Consumer Marketing Director, Bonnier Corporation

Ginger Conlon, Editor-in-Chief, Direct Marketing NewsChet Dalzell, Senior Director, Digital Advertising Alliance

Peg Kuman, Vice Chairman, RelevateTim Prunk, EVP, Epsilon

Charlie Swift, VP Marketing Strategy, Hearst Corporation

Gold HonoreeLester Wunderman, Chairman Emeritus, Founder, Wunderman

Corporate HonoreeEthnic Technologies, LLC

money on auto insurance? � Take part in a brief survey or fill out a

short application.

Response should be equally easy, usingvehicles like:

� Radio button click to respond� Yes/No check boxes� Drop-down boxes� 1-800 number � Telemarketing warm lead transfer or

phone follow up.

Keep in mind that both the questions andthe answers are part of the qualificationprocess. The more defined you make theprocess, the more qualified the lead can be.

Tips for follow-upThe lead gen process also enables the

marketer to engage and communicatewith a “hand-raiser” who has expressedinterest in learning more about the mar-keter’s product or offering.

� The marketer should immediatelycommunicate through an auto-responder email or follow-up phonecall. A series of cascading emails canwork to warm up the lead over time.

� The marketer must always be mindfulof best practices, CAN SPAM rules andTelephone Consumer Protection Actcompliance throughout the communi-cation journey.

� While many media providers do agood job at generating leads, mostnew leads are probably not ready tobuy just yet. You must have a lead nur-turing program in place that will help

September 2015 | 3

Editor | Ruth P. Stevens 212-679-6486 • ruth@ruthstevens.comMember News Editor | Donna Baier Stein 908-872-1775 • donna@writesontarget.comAd /Sponsorship Sales | Chris Montana 845-627-6600 x216 • cmontana@liftengine.comArt Director | Cheryl A. Biswurm 201-788-5347 • cbiswurm@turnerdirect.us

Printed by McVicker & Higginbotham, Long Island City, NY • www.mcvh.com

Letter from Our ClubPresident

OFFICERSPRESIDENTPam Haas - Experian Marketing Services401-272-0175; pamhaas99@yahoo.com

1ST VPChristopher Montana - LiftEngine845-627-6600 x216; cmontana@liftengine.com

2ND VPPaulette Oliva - MeritDirect914-368-1010; poliva@meritdirect.com

TREASURERArthur Blumenfield - BMI Fulfillment Services203-546-5584; arthur@bmigroup.com

SECRETARYRegina Brady - Reggie Brady Mktg Solutions203-838-8138; reggie@reggiebrady.com

BOARD MEMBERSIMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTCyndi Lee - SMS Marketing Services201-865-5800 x2203; cyndilee@sms-inc.com

Barry Blumenfield - BMI Fulfillment Services203-546-5581; barry@bmigroup.com

Danielle Brooks 212-337-0732; brooks.mktg13@gmail.com

John Fletcher - Johnny Agency646-457-7500; johnny@johnnyagency.com

Rich Kirshberg - RK Interactive917-572-5644; richkirshberg@gmail.com

Jeff Kobil - MeritDirect516-596-8315; jkobil@meritdirect.com

Sharron Mahoney - Infogroup914-844-2104; sharron.mahoney@infogroup.com

Karen McCarrol - Trimark Consulting Group416-698-2243; karen@trimarkconsultinggroup.com

Keith Messer - Data Services, Inc.646-351-6351; kmesser@dataservicesinc.com

Eva Perretti - Wiland Direct845-490-2337; eperretti@wiland.com

Vincent Pietrafesa - BusinessWatch Network914-774-7223; Vincent@bizwatchnetwork.com

Ray Schneeberger - Fosina Marketing Group203-546-5547; rschneeberger@fosinamarketing.com

Rick Witsell - Alliant845-617-5453; rwitsell@alliantdata.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORStuart Boysen - Stu Boysen Associates, Inc.516-746-6700; StuBoysen@earthlink.net

ADVISORSCheryl Biswurm - Turner Direct, LLC201-788-5347; cbiswurm@turnerdirect.us

Chet Dalzell212-725-2294; chet.dalzell@yahoo.com

JoAnne Dunn - Alliant845-276-2600 ext 216; jdunn@alliantdata.com

Timothy Kennon - McVicker & Higginbotham718-937-2940; tim@mcvh.com

David Lord - David Lord, CPA914-241-8365; jabspd@aol.com

Stephanie Miller - TopRight917-364-7532; stephanieSAM.miller@gmail.com

Pegg Nadler - Pegg Nadler Associates, Inc.212-861-0846; pegg@peggnadler.com

Dear DMCNY Members,

Fall is upon us, and that means it’s apple season. Speaking of apples, did you see the listof honorees for this year’s Silver Apple awards on the cover of this issue of Postings? Whatan incredible and deserving group of individuals, and one company. I am really lookingforward to celebrating with them—and you—at our popular event, November 12. Signup early because we have been sold out each of the past three years!

I would also like to congratulate all the 40 Under 40 honorees. Our DMCNY YoungLeadership Group is thrilled to have partnered with Direct Marketing News for this eventon September 24 at the Out Hotel.

As we say good-bye to the summer of 2015, we look ahead to planning for 2016.The clubwill be welcoming new board members and a new president. Join us at the Januaryluncheon at the Yale Club, where there will be an announcement and vote for the newleadership roster.

Our tireless board has been involved in a strategic planning exercise this year and will beunveiling new programming, membership opportunities and educational partnershipswith the local universities over the next two years. I invite you, our club members, to getinvolved with these and the many more exciting club activities and initiatives coming up.

See you at the Silver Apples on November 12th. Look for your invitation in the mail soon!And don’t forget to register for our September 10 luncheon meeting at the Yale Club, fora program on new developments in subscription marketing.

Cheers!

Pamela Haas, DMCNY President

For more information about the Direct Marketing Club of New York, membership information,event dates or registration, visit www.dmcny.org.

Find DMCNY on:

vol . 6 , i ssue 3 | S eptember 2015

4 | September 2015

www.dmcny.org | 5

BY PATRICK BEDDOR

Direct mail continuesto be worth its

weight in gold in terms ofdelivering a personalizedmessage to a target audi-

ence. But, it’s also no secret that the costs forthat direct mail piece keep rising. Anotherpostage increase occurred this year. Andprinting and paper expenses still need to bemanaged in order to stay within budget.

So what’s the solution? Depending onwhat you want to accomplish, there are anumber of ways to reduce costs yet stillproduce a direct mail piece that is evenmore effective. Here are three case studiesthat illustrate the point.

Auto parts retailer. This customer’smailer was square and tabbed in

three locations. The goal was to come upwith a new format that would qualify forUSPS automated postal rates, reduce costsand shorten the production cycle, yet main-tain the number of products (between 50-70 every month) offered in the mailer with-out making the images too small. Thesolution involved three format changes.First, change from a square to a rectangularbooklet to qualify for USPS automatedrates. We went from a saddle stitch formatto a spine glued booklet that could be com-plete coming off the press. Second, intro-duce a short flap on the front cover to elim-inate the USPS requirement for wafer seals.And third,change the piece to a rectangularbooklet to increase the number of pagesfrom 12 to 16, at a lower cost, with the abil-ity to expand for even more products. Theresult? Production costs were reduced by10 percent,postage costs by 36 percent andcycle time was improved by 30 percent. Inaddition, the approach provided room forgrowth, and the company used the savingsfrom this program to test new productswith more mailings.

Insurance company. To promote itsmotorcycle insurance, the firm origi-

nally designed an 8-page saddle stitched

booklet with an external flap. The USPSclassified the piece as a non-automatedbooklet that required two wafer seals. Thegoal was to come up with a format thatwould yield significant postage and pro-duction savings. The solution? Provide analternative template that maintained thedesign concept yet transformed the USPSclassification from a booklet to a self-mail-er by adhering the booklet inside the self-mailer. The result saved over $72,000 inpostage and over $15,000 in productioncosts, and, as a side benefit, manufacturingtime was cut in half.

Gourmet food retailer. A directresponse marketer in the gourmet

food industry had the challenge of offeringhundreds of SKUs resulting in nine to 12inserts in an envelope. They needed moreroom. In addition, it was a fatiguing portfo-lio with prolonged lead time. The goal wasto find new and engaging ways to show-case featured offers and fresh new productshots. The solution was to move awayfrom the traditional envelope package byleveraging personalized inline solutions.The result? The new mailer could beexpanded to offer and highlight moreproducts, with engaging designs, thatreduced format fatigue. This solutionimproved production by 40 percent, plusinitial results show a 200 percent increasein response and a 25 percent increase inorder size. It goes without saying that thecustomer was ecstatic.

These examples prove that there is morethan one way to approach cost reductionwhile at the same time producing a directmail piece that will optimize results. Justmake sure you are working with a directmail provider that is innovative and has thetechnical capability, as well as the industryknowledge, to deliver an effective solutionfor your marketing campaign. �

Patrick Beddor is the National Sales Managerat Japs-Olson Company. Reach him at pbed-dor@japsolson.com or @pbeddor.

Reducing Costs While MakingDirect Mail More Effective

DMCNYMember News

To help bring our vibrant DM communitycloser, let us know what you and yourcompany are up to! Send your news topostings@dmcny.org. Notices will beplaced in the newsletter and online atwww.dmcny.org/page/postingsnews.

Impression Point proudly continues toserve the Fairfield and Westchester com-munities as a professional printing part-ner. In addition to complete printingservices, the company has grown to sup-port philanthropic initiatives such as theCT Challenge, a local cancer survivorship

organization, and Kids InCrisis. To receiveImpression Point’snewsletter “Hot off thePress,” please emailinfo@impressionpt.com.You are also invited to

connect with DMCNY past presidentRobert LaBanca at www.linkedin.com/in/robertlabanca or @rlabanca.

� � � � � � � �

Marketing EDGE, a national nonprofiteducation organization, announced recip-ients for its two most prestigious educa-tion leadership awards: Pamela MaphisLarrick, CEO of Omnicom’s JavelinMarketing Group, is the Edward N.Mayer, Jr., Education Leadership Awardhonoree; and Quad/Graphics is theCorporate Leadership Award recipient.The awards will be presented at a dinneron Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Boston Park Plazadowntown, held in conjunction with theDMA’s re-engineered 2015 &THENConference. Contact Chet Dalzell at 917-608-2251 or CDalzell@marketingEDGE.org.

� � � � � � � �

Barry Sideroff announced that DirectVentures, Inc., has assumed overall man-agement of the launchof Aerotel Ltd.’s FDA-list-ed consumer medicaldevices in the U.S. togovernmental (the VA)and direct-to-consumerchannels using a com-bination of traditional, direct, digital andsocial media marketing platforms.Contact: bsideroff@directventuresinc.comor 914-967-1329.

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6 | September 2015

BY KEN KRAETZER

Prices have come down sofar, technology is availableto small business that usedto only be in the budgets oflarge corporations. —Joe

Connolly, longtime Wall Street Journalreporter on WCBS Radio at a recent “SmallBusiness Breakfast.”

Social media to communicate withclients and prospects is one of the mostaccessible technologies that companiescan use to generate visibility for their mes-sages and services. No more waiting for areporter to call. Now you can create andissue your own messages.

At that same breakfast event, Mr.Connolly posed this question to the 450attendees:“What is the most effective newmedium for generating sales?” Theresponse the legendary broadcasterreceived in a 30 to 1 show of hands wasLinkedIn.

LinkedIn offers the opportunity to build anetwork of business friends and acquaint-ences and to reach new contacts throughreferrals. I have found LinkedIn of greatvalue myself, especially for reconnectingwith long-lost business partners. It is alsoeffective at generating daily visibilityamong clients and prospects by sendingout relevant news and industry articles.Visibility and reputation are keys to generat-ing that valuable call,“I need help with that.”

Twitter is another great tool for you toconsider. Identify a topic with a hashtag (#)followed by a key word. Twitter’s BreakingNews section is reviewed by users whocheck their daily feed or search by compa-ny or hashtag. Reporters will often look atTwitter first to find out what is happening.Twitter is a great way to promote an eventor conference, by highlighting key mes-sages, photos or video.

YouTube is the third major social medi-um you want to explore. First, gather rele-vant existing videos that support your

business, perhaps speeches by industry orgovernmental leaders on key topics thataffect your industry. Second, present yourown messages, which can be created fromlow-cost tools like smart phones.

To maintain a presence on social media,you need to develop content. You can cer-tainly share recent articles from newspa-pers and trade journals, but posting yourown material offers more value.

One way I have gone about developingcontent is by interviewing notable peopleat events. I carry a smart phone and a smallhand-held microphone. I approach the per-son, ask for an interview, and then pose afew questions on the topic of the day. Thisway, I capture a few minutes of fresh con-tent to share via social media.

For example, at a PACE trade event inWashington last fall I did a video interviewwith the Idaho Attorney General, after hegave a talk addressing contact center poli-cy. I have also interviewed several DMCNY

Using New Media to Generate BusinessVisibility and Dialogue

(continued on page 7)

www.dmcny.org | 7

You’re a new member of the DMCNYboard. Why did you decide to becomeactive in our club’s leadership?

I have been working in direct marketingfor a long time, and along the way I’vemade a tremendous amount of contacts,which made perfect sense to leverage andhelp support the club. I was also interestedin joining the board because it is inspiringto get together with a group of recognizedindustry veterans and forward thinkers, toshare ideas with and hear what’s new andexciting.

Tell us the story of your career.My career started the day after gradua-

tion in 1990, with a job offer from The LakeGroup. I can’t believe how long ago thatwas! I started as a list manager for a fewyears, and then transitioned to ParadyszMatera, where I was able to fully understandthe nuts and bolts of the list business andquickly learned that this is a numbers game.The numbers guide all of the decisions.

I took a few years off to have childrenand raise my family, but returned to work atMerit Direct as soon as my kids were ofschool age. I worked for a few more yearsin list management and joined Wiland in2013. Wiland is a wonderful company towork for, but it’s the people that make itspecial. We have Phil Wiland as ourleader—need I say more? Plus, this is agreat way to utilize all of the contacts andexperience that I’ve acquired over theyears across a variety of categories includ-ing publishing, catalog, general merchan-dise and fundraising.

What’s new and exciting at Wiland thesedays?

With over 500 new clients added in thelast year, our cooperative database nowincludes over 10 billion transactions fromwell over 2,500 clients, spanning manyindustries and markets. As our databasecontinues to grow, we can identify evenlarger audiences that produce excellentresults for our clients, resulting in a 20%+

increase in volume versus the prior year.We are also helping companies target con-sumers online more effectively with WilandDigital Solutions. In the coming year, wewill introduce new solutions, includingMarketing Budget Optimization™ drivenby a brand new modeling system, built toremove waste from marketing circulation.We will also launch Wiland Insights™, acomprehensive report package that willprovide clients strategic insights into con-sumer transactional behaviors, affinities,and purchase patterns.

The coop database world has changedso much in the last decade. Where doyou think it’s headed in the future?

At Wiland, we believe that the future ofmarketing lies in multichannel and inbudget efficiency. Direct mail remains avitally important and highly effective mar-keting channel for the majority of ourclients, and we will continue to supporttheir efforts with large, responsiveprospect audiences and customer model-ing services driven by our vast databaseand powerful analytics.

As companies shift more of their market-ing budgets to digital programs, WilandDigital Solutions™ allows clients to use thepower of the Wiland database to preciselytarget online audiences across many net-works for customer acquisition and reten-tion—and effectively measure incrementalresults. Marketers will find it increasinglyimportant to optimize their marketingbudget in the future, using predictive mod-eling to ensure that only consumers whoare expected to produce an acceptable ROIover a reasonable amount of time are tar-geted for acquisition. This is the future weare delivering. �

Ruth P. Stevens, a B-to-B con-sultant and educator, is apast president of DMCNY,and is current editor ofPostings.

DMCNYMember Profile

Ruth P. Stevens talks with Eva Perretti,VP,New Business Development at Wiland Direct.

Lead Generation(continued from page 1)

build a relationship and, just as impor-tantly, gain trust from the prospect.

� One sure path for leads to convert is toengage through relevant content andsubstantive product or service infor-mation.

It has been well established that OLGcan be a quality vehicle for convertingrespondents into buyers, for many reasons.

� Qualified leads can be delivered in realtime for immediate follow up.

� Leads can be acquired at rates that aresuitable to meet Cost Per Order andROI requirements.

� OLG’s flexibility lowers risk. Many leadchannels can be paused in as little as24 hours if performance targets arenot being met.

� Online email, display and consumerregistration path lead generation pro-vides geographic targeting.

� Volumes of leads can be managedwith daily caps to easily allow for opti-mization and scaling.

� OLG channels tend to be less clutteredwith heavily promotional ad units.

One last thought. Choose your mediasources carefully and keep a careful eye oncampaign ROI as you test new media part-ners. Lead generation when executed prop-erly allows the marketer to focus, analyzeand optimize efforts while controlling mediaspend and maintaining a low level of risk. �

Jim Fosina is founder and CEO of FosinaMarketing Group. He can be reached atj f o s i n a @ f o s i n a m a r ke t i n g g r o u p. c o m .@FosinaMarketing.

speakers such as Chris Dessi of SilverbackSocial, the author Jeffrey Rohrs of ExactTarget, and Claire Burns of EMMA.

Every organization is working on waysto effectively use new technology to sup-port client relationships and generate newbusiness. The key is to dive in, make someexperiments, find topics that clients andprospects value, and see what works. �

Ken Kraetzer is VP at CBSI Services in HarrisonNY. Reach him at kkraetzer@cbsiservices or@KenKraetzer.

New Media(continued from page 6)

8 | September 2015

www.dmcny.org | 9

Member News(continued from page 5)

Gail Henry, Executive Vice President ofLeon Henry, Inc., the insert media and listbrokerage firm, announces that her com-pany is poised to enter its 60th year inbusiness. Contact: 914-285-3456 orlh@leonhenryinc.com.

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KBM Data Services, a leader in providingdata-driven marketing solutions, hasexpanded its global capabilities. TheZipline DMP™, which centralizes datamanagement and offers new ways toreach your target customers, now hasfully integrated systems deployed inseven countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada,France, Japan, UK, and the U.S. ContactAundra Thompson at 303-228-5053 orAundra.Thompson@kbmg.com.

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Fosina Marketing Group is pleased towelcome three additions to their staff:Joanna Larkin, Controller; DidierKébreau-Pierre, Graphic Designer; andKatie Turcio-Canales, MarketingAssociate. �

DMCNY 2015 UPCOMING EVENTS Sept. 10 —LUNCHEON Learn why yesterday’s continuity is today’ssubscription—Subscription marketing for tomorrow’s customers.11:30 am - 2:00 pm at The Yale Club, 50 Vanderbilt Ave. in New York.

Nov. 12— 31st Annual Silver Apple Awards Gala6:00 pm at the Edison Ballroom in New York.www.dmcny.org

&THEN is the reinvented DMA Annual Event, which means it’s got the marketinginspiration, insights and ideas you need to finish 2015 strong and get ahead for2016. If you want to know what’s next in marketing, you can’t miss this experience.

Join us October 4–6 in Boston, MA.AndThen15.org/Ideas

FEATURING INSPIRATION KEYNOTES BY:John Legend, Award Winning Musician & EntrepreneurBlake Mycoskie, Founder of TOMSKevin Roberts, Executive Chairman at Saatchi & SaatchiJon Iwata, Sr. Vice President, Marketing and Communications at IBM

AND HOSTED BY: Mel Robbins, Founder of Inspire52.com & a CNN Contributor

10 | September 2015

www.dmcny.org | 11

Content with Your Content? When you tell more, you sell more, or so the popular wisdom goes. But are marketersrunning the risk of creating substance with no style?

BY ROBERT SNOW

No doubt, you’veheard the arguments

for why content mattersto marketers.

—That with instantaccess to information, consumers are bet-ter informed than ever before, and there-fore more discriminating.

—That in fact, consumers go online pri-marily to be informed, not necessarilyentertained.

—That content enables marketers totarget more effectively, and therefore gen-erate leads more efficiently.

—That people actively seek out content,making it more memorable and valuableto them.

But what about the form the contenttakes? Where’s the style?

It’s the last season of Mad Men, and look-ing at all that great mid-century work, Ican’t help but turn for inspiration to themasters of that period. For a perfect bal-ance of substance and style, just look at thelong-copy ads of Gossage, Ogilvy andCaples.

My fear today is that while we’re focusedon getting valuable information out to ouraudiences, we’re not focusing enough onthe art of the communication. Like theclever headline. The well-constructed sen-tence. The well-crafted visual.

All these proven techniques – whichwe’ve used for years to develop greatadvertising creative – should be used tocreate great content.

Think of it this way: a buying decision isan emotional decision. People buy fromcompanies they like, or feel good about.You make people feel good by being witty,

or charming or clever in how you commu-nicate to them.

Now, I’m likely to be accused of sound-ing like one of those creative types whobemoans the demise of traditional adver-tising. But actually, I’ve embraced contentmarketing. It gives creatives like me achance to tell richer stories to people whoactually want to listen. And that can be a lotmore rewarding for all concerned.

What are your thoughts? Is my concernlegitimate? Are we diminishing the craft ofadvertising and taking a more utilitarian“just the facts”approach in our race to pushmore content out to our audiences?

Robert Snow is the Principal and CreativeDirector of RSMC Inc., a B2B agency withoffices in New York and Toronto. He can bereached at robert@marketingsnow.com or@RSnowMarCom.