Q: Here at Long Beach City College/Community Ed we have not printed a schedule/catalog in a few years. We know that LERN’s position is that print catalogs are a best practice. We are looking for information or data that supports that we should print and mail out catalogs. Would you be able to provide information that we could use to defend our request to print a catalog for our administrators? We want to be prepared when we are asked why we want to incur a printing expense.
We would appreciate your help.
A: This is a very important question, and LERN does unequivocally recommend that programs retain their print brochure. First, I would recommend that you visit the LERN website. Go to the LERN Club and click on Webinars. There is a webinar on why you should not drop your print brochure. The basic reasons are:
1. Programs that do eliminate the print brochure see significant declines in enrollment
2. Print brochures are "push" oriented. They arrive in the hands of the reader. The reader does not have to go to them.
3. Print brochures are often easier to read and navigate than digital promotion.
4. Print brochures can be kept, shared, and re-read.
5. Print brochures are accessible to ALL household members.
Below are a few additional "talking points" regarding your print brochure:
Direct mail is a proven advertising tool.
Direct mail has long been a strong component in the advertising programs of successful large businesses and Fortune 500 companies to promote their products and drive sales.
Direct Marketing Association research finds every $1 spent on direct mail generates an impressive $12.57 in sales.
Direct mail has strengths other advertising media can’t claim — it’s personal, tangible, portable (to re-read later and share with others), manageable, and measurable.
Three out of four people say they open and read direct mail.
Direct mail delivers results.
Direct mail has influenced more consumers’ buying decisions than any other advertising medium — 76 percent of consumers have purchased a product/service after receiving a direct mail piece.
Because direct mail gets directly into the homes and hands of consumers, mail has a powerful impact that’s unbeatable.
Direct mail cuts through the clutter and connects with age groups with disposable income.
Being able to track and measure the effectiveness of direct mail is a critically important benefit. Tracking responses, refining your distribution and targeting more carefully can significantly increase your enrollments and income. Intelligent mailing strategies are important. It is not sufficient just to mail your brochures out there. Mail to existing customers, and mail more often to your best customers.This increases enrollments.
I have attached some information from a study done by the US Postal service on the effectiveness of direct mail. It supports what we have known--mailing catalogs and brochures drives online purchases. According to their findings, mailing catalogs more than doubled online sales, with those receiving catalogs outspending and out buying those who did not.
LERN strongly recommends that you reinstate your print brochure. Your brochure is not a cost. It is an investment, and you should expect to see enrollments increase and income increase in amounts greater than the expense of the catalog. To be cautious, we recommend a limited print-run as a test. Print a brochure and mail it to a sample of your existing customer base. Compare the response rate with those of customers who did not receive a print brochure. This will limit your risk and give you data you can use to support expanding the mailing.
Attached are some files that you can use with more information on this topic.