LERN Annual Conference

2. The Big Question
Should we eliminate our printed brochure
to save on marketing costs?
. . .and the answer is

3. No No No
 “This has been an excruciating set back for us. At a time we were
asked to become self supporting, they took away the best marketing
piece we had.”
 “This is the worst fall semester Adult Learning Services has had
since I have worked here (since 1992). We definitely feel that not
mailing the catalog had a significant effect on registration.”
 “A city near us has a mayor that cut their brochure, and of course,
their enrollments have dropped in a huge way. It has happened in a
couple of cities in our area already with dismal results.”

4. What Other Members Say
 “About 90% of our
registrations come
from the brochure.
The remaining 10%
come from the web
page.”

5. “Our Brochure is the cornerstone of our
marketing effort.”
 Redesigning our brochure
resulted in an
approximate 20%
increase in enrollment
over historic highs. (Some
webinars saw as much as
50% increases).
 We use a mixed-mode
approach. Weekly e-mails
go out to targeted
recipients.

6. “We found we could
increase registrations by
simply sending out the
brochure again. . .the
strategy works.
. . .ArtBeat is responsible for at least
50% of the class registrations for the
Fine Arts Center.

7. We reduced our mailings
from 65,000 to 15,000.
Response rates jumped from 6.1 % to
30.5% with brochure re-design and
careful targeting.
65,000 x .061 = 3965
15,000 x .305 = 4575

8. TARGET your mailings!
Mass mailings do not have
high success or response rates.
WHO is most likely to take
your course or attend your
event? Your past customers!
Use LERN’s
Market Segmenting and
Carrier Route Analysis tools!
They’re FREE for
LERN members!
Optimize
Your
Marketing

9. This is NO time for guesswork
 Analyze
 Target
 Track
 Find out what works and do more
 Mail twice
 Cut the dogs
 Use a multi-modal marketing approach
◦ Print Brochures
◦ Digital Brochures/Web-page
◦ E-mail
◦ E-zines
◦ Postcards

10. You Should Not Give Up Your
Print Brochure
Top Ten Reasons

11. 10
9
Your brochure is an important
customer service
Your Brochure is “push” oriented
8
6
7
Your brochure generates
most of your enrollments
Your brochure is an
important part of your brand
Your brochure is an investment,
not a cost

12. 1
3
2
5
4
The brochure is a key
part of a multi-modal marketing plan
Your brochure can drive
people to your website
Your brochure allows
You to do cross-promotion
Multiple communications
Increase response
If you drop your brochure,
Your enrollments will decline.
Your brochure is your “face”
In the community

13. Data from Hubspot
eMarketing Company and Platform

14. Direct mail: Highest Conversion
Email: Highest ROI

15. 1. PRINT BROCHURES DON’T GET DELETED
 98% of residents go to their mail box every day.
 80% of all mail delivered is opened.
 Your print brochure is mailed so it’s gonna get
there and get touched.
 And, research persistently shows people in all
markets at least browse a catalog they receive.
 Contrast with e-mail. 20% on average get
opened.

16. DATA FROM CANADA POST

17. WE LOVE OUR MAIL!
 Reading mail continues to be part of every Canadian’s daily
routine:
 • 95% of Canadians (93% in 2007) usually read their mail the
same day it arrives: 68% read it as soon as it’s received, while
another 27% review it later on that same day.
 Direct Mail in the Mailbox lets your Advertising Message Stand-
Out from the Crowd
 Every day Canadians are bombarded with advertising messages—
billboards, newspaper ads, TV commercials and emails. Direct
Mail is delivered to the mailbox—a far less crowded environment—
allowing your message to get the attention it deserves.
Source: Consumer Attitudes to Direct Mail
and Traditional Media, May 2010, CP 09-210.

18.  Direct Mail is Effective
 When you send Direct Mail to your customers, they are
more likely to read your message and respond.
 • 91% of Canadians are likely to open an item that
comes in the mail if it looks official or important, 90% if
they recognize the sender and 89% if it looks interesting or
intriguing.
 • 84% of the Addressed print advertising pieces
Canadians receive and 67% of the Unaddressed print
advertising pieces they receive are actioned (ie. read, saved
it for later, will shop, purchase or do something else)!

19. WHAT DO PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR DIRECT MAIL?

21. DIRECT MAIL WORKS FOR BUSINESSES
Addressed Direct Mail Users:
• 78% Use it for Acquisition
• 95% Use it for Existing customers
Unaddressed Direct Mail Users:
• 97% Use it for Acquisition
• 83% Use it for Existing customers

22. TARGET RATES FOR OPENING EMARKETING
 Hubspot says—target open rate is 30%
 Click to open rate 2% to 3%
 10, 000 x .3 = 3000 view/read (email)
 10,000 x .55 = 5500 view/read + (direct mail)
 Comparable action rates: emarketing: 2.5-3%
 Direct mail: 5-6%

23. 2. PEOPLE PREFER DIRECT MAIL OVER DIGITAL
MESSAGES
 A recent study (Epsilon) shows people still
commonly prefer direct mail over email in
almost every marketing category.
 Printed material is tactile. You can hold it, mark
it up, put it down, pick it up again later. And
people do all of that.
 You don’t have to sit in front of a computer,
type, search

24. 3. PRINTED BROCHURES HAVE A LIFESPAN
“If your catalog makes it from the mail box to the
kitchen counter it has already out lived most
email messages.”
 Catalogs can and do stay around much longer
than emails – often for weeks.
 Print brochures are shared among household
members and others. Emails not so much.

25. 3. LIFESPAN, CONTINUED
 One LERN member’s research found…
75% kept the brochure around until the next
arrived.
60% indicated at least two people in the
household read the brochure.

26. 4. PRINT BROCHURE CONNECTS YOU WITH
YOUR PEEPS
 It’s your most visible and pervasive connection
into the community.
 Biggest advertising access into community
 Biggest brand builder in community
 Creates time with your customers

27. 4. PRINT BROCHURE, CONTINUED
 Creates time with your best customers over
and over again (if you target)
 Readers take in your values and messages
otherwise difficult to relay.
 Builds you brand
 Is the “shop window” to your store and then
they go on-line and register.

28. 5. RESEARCH SHOWS PRINT BROCHURES
TRUMP DIGITAL MESSAGES.
 Easier to read
 Easier to navigate
 Information is better remembered
 Information is better understood
 Are portable

29. 5. RESEARCH, CONTINUED
 Designed to be read
repeatedly and do get read
repeatedly.
 Offer a complete “brand in the
hand” with every course
available at a glance.

30. 6. YOU HAVE OR HAVE ACCESS TO MANY MORE
“GOOD’ MAIL ADDRESSES THAN “GOOD”
EMAIL ADDRESSES.
 You can reach more customers and prospects.
 You can target more effectively
 You can saturate high response areas
 Your printed brochure is your number one,
highest visibility access point to your
community

31. 7. NO BROCHURE… YOU ARE ROLLING THE DICE
You are expecting people to …
 Remember you
 Find you
 Do so in a timely fashion
 Remember to act
 A lot to ask in this busy world.
PLUS… Your competition still has their brochure!

32. CONTRAST: PRINTED BROCHURES ARE “PUSH”
ORIENTED
 They arrive
 They arrive in a timely
fashion and when you want
them to get it!
 The reader doesn’t have to
go get except to the mail box.

33. CONTRAST, CONTINUED
 The brochure is there when they want to read
it, today, tomorrow, the next day.
 The brochure reinforces and undergirds “pull”
strategies like websites and social media.
 They reinforce the timing to decide and to act.

34. 8. PRINTED BROCHURES SERVE MULTIPLE
FUNCTIONS
 Best, most timely connection with current
customers.
 Best, most timely “push” connection with
prospects.
 Sales tool in Contract Training
 Mail piece to those who seek information.
 Your best promotion channel among your many
channels.

35. 9. THE MOTHER OF ALL REASONS YOU MUST
KEEP YOUR PRINTED BROCHURE…
Research, experience and anecdotal
evidence all show your program can
NOT make it financially without the
printed brochure.

36. RESEARCH SHOWS CATALOGS DRIVE SALES
FOR ALL INCOME GROUPS
 Revenue is more than 2x greater from sending
catalogs when compared to only online
communications.
 Average purchases are almost 30% higher with
a catalog than without a catalog.

37. RESEARCH, CONTINUED
 Direct Marketing Association research says $1
spent on direct mail generates $12.57 in
sales.
 LERN members report 70-75% of enrollments
come from printed brochures even though
more and more registrations are made on-line.

38. 10. MAKING IT FINANCIALLY – WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN THE PRINTED BROCHURE IS DROPPED
 LERN surveys of member programs show that
those who eliminated print brochures for one
term saw 30-40% drop in registrations.
 Example: Dean mandated one LERN member
program to drop brochure. Enrollments
dropped to 200 per term. OOPS, dean left.
New dean reinstated brochure. Registrations
rebounded to 4,000.

39. MORE EXAMPLES
 Example: “A city near us has a mayor that cut
their brochure and, of course, their
enrollments have dropped in a huge way. It
has happened in a couple cities in our area
with dismal results.”
 Example: Large urban community college
dropped their brochure. After one year,
reportedly had lost $1 million in revenues.
Printed brochure came back.

40.  Example: Large suburban parks and recreation
program dropped printed brochure despite
LERN consultant’s advice. One term later they
reinstated the brochure owing to huge
enrollment losses.
From member surveys, LERN’s Julie Coates
concludes, “Declining enrollments are the norm
when print promotions are eliminated.”

41. POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS
 Highly targeted, single dimension programs or
audiences.
Licensed CE
Other highly targeted CE where you can get a
reliable e-mail list.
Very small community or park and recreation
program with a very small array of programs.

42. FINAL REJOINDER
 There are ways to reduce promotional costs
without eliminating your printed brochure.
 Keep your printed brochure and LEAN ON
LERN for ways to maximize your return on
promotional investments

43. Evaluations and CEU Quizzes
Please evaluate this session.
Two ways: 1) our evaluation
sheets in the room; or 2) on
the app
 Open the app
 Click schedule
 Click on the name of this session
 Scroll to the bottom
 Click on feedback*
To receive CEUs for this
session
 Open the app
 Click schedule
 Click on the name of the session
 Scroll to the bottom
 Click on CEU quiz*
Just take the 5 question quiz and
get 4 out of 5 questions correct.
You may take the quiz more than
once.
*If you have no cell phone or internet connections,
room monitors have printed CEU quizzes and
evaluation forms, but using the app is encouraged.