Planning an International

Mailing Campaign

Market analysis

Conceptual design
Implementation
Test phase
Response

Performance
measurement

Asendia is an international partnership between La Poste and Swiss Post.

Inhalt
1. Market analysis 3

2. Conceptual design 4

Target group 4
Message 4
Timing 4

3. Implementation 5

Addresses 5
Language 6
Mode of address 6
Boosters 6
Response 6
Postal charges 6

4. Test phase 6

5. Response 7

Reply options 7
Terms of payment 7
Replies 7
Fulfilment 7

6. Performance measurement 7

Planning an International Mailing Campaign

1. Market analysis
Companies that have success
using direct marketing in
their home country often try
to use the same approaches
abroad. However, even in the
same language area, it quickly
becomes clear how complex a
successful campaign can be. For
this reason, a detailed market
analysis is indispensable. There
is a wide range of factors to
take into account.
Some fundamental questions about
the product or service need to be
answered even before beginning
to design a mailing. For instance,
it is essential to make sure that the
product's positioning and current
pricing can be adopted. There are
also country-specific regulations
that must be observed, such as
product packaging and labelling
specifications.
Furthermore, the leading
competitors must be exhaustively
EU-official languages
Finnish
Danish
Irish
English
French
German
Dutch
Spanish
Portuguese
analysed. This means that, before
entering a new market, every
company should investigate the
main active competitors and
how they work. If there are no
competitors, a company is naturally
faced with the question of whether
the product or service is even
relevant for the respective country,
or if there is another reason for a
lack of competition. If there are a
large number of active competitors,
then a significant USP must be
defined – the decisive sales and
success factor.
There are different regulations in
almost every country for products
and services in areas such as health,
food, sweepstakes or astrology.
For example, a special notice must
always be included when advertising
alcoholic beverages in France.
Likewise, unique cultural and
country-specific factors cannot be
forgotten. For example, differences
in purchasing power, buying
behaviour, consumption propensity
and consumer habits must be
Swedish
Croatian
Italian Maltese
3
observed. A company that intends
to sell bedding in Germany, for
instance, must make sure that they
offer a single-person set consisting
of a duvet cover and a pillowcase.
In Europe, linguistic diversity is the
most obvious factor. There are more
than 20 official languages in the
European Union alone – and that is
not including regional languages and
dialects. The following fundamental
factor always applies: the more
attuned a mailing is to the language
of its recipients, the more successful
it will be.
It is also advisable to gather
information about the payment
practices in each country. There is
often no available reference data for
defaulters: if there are bad payment
practices, one should be sure to
require prepayment – or to favour
cash-on-delivery transactions.
Estonian
Latvian
Lithuanian
Polish
Czech
Slovak
Hungarian
Slovene
Romanian
Bulgarian
Greek
2. Conceptual design
A company that is treading on new soil should not avoid the necessary effort
of designing a detailed concept. Such a concept must include descriptions
of all essential facts – everything from target definition to timing. This makes
implementing direct marketing measures easier, and facilitates performance
review.
Payment behavior?
Needs?
Preferences?
Target group
Goals must be adapted to fit each
respective country, and possibly
redefined. Differences in culture and
buying power always lead to different
results. For target group definition
in the B2B area, it is important to
know the processes, structures
and decision-makers in the target
companies. This is the only way to
determine, for instance, that the
ideal target group of purchasing
managers in companies with 50 to
100 employees is underrepresented in
a planned export market.
In the B2C area, a company must
pay attention to the target group’s
environment. How does the target
subject live? What are their needs
and preferences? What are their
feelings about direct marketing and
what are their payment practices like?
For instance, someone who has an
average level of purchasing power
in France would belong to a very
small privileged upper class in most
Eastern European countries. There
are also major differences in relation
to age. While the average customer
for a mail-order textile company in
Germany would be approximately fifty
Type of household?
Residence?
Age?
years old, one can assume that the
comparable target group in France is
around ten years older. The primary
measures that can help a company
in these areas are market research,
targeted tests and discussions with
local and international experts.
Special assessments must also be
made for target groups such as
children or adolescents. It must be
determined whether the company is
even allowed to address these groups,
and if so, how. In most countries, for
instance, it is not allowed to directly
address minors in advertising for
lotteries.
Message
The message must be as simple
as possible and must not violate
accepted moral codes. The applicable
legal requirements must always be
observed. The content and style of the
message must take local cultural and
social idiosyncrasies into account.
In addition, the potential customer’s
expectations must be fulfilled: In
Planning an International Mailing Campaign
France, it is of primary concern
that the product looks good, while
in Germany, consumers pay more
attention to the functionality and the
price.
All the requisite legal notices must
also be included, e.g. information
regarding data privacy and applicable
return and cancellation rights for
mail-order business. Mistakes can very
quickly lead to legal warnings from
competitors or consumer protection
organisations.
Timing
Losing sight of the right timing often
has painful consequences. Advertising
material often flops simply because
it was sent at the wrong time – for
example, if the customer has already
received a competitor’s catalogue
a week before yours. Holiday times
and public holidays also have a large
influence on response levels. After all,
a potential customer will only respond
to a mailing if he actually notices it.
It is also advisable to schedule
mailings so that customers receive
them toward the end of the month.
People are more likely to make
purchases after payday.
3. Implementation
In implementing a direct marketing
campaign, it is important to schedule
sufficient time for each step. There
are often hidden difficulties in the
details. For instance, the envelopes
turn out to be too big for automated
processing and the address format
is not compatible. This could lead to
unnecessary additional costs. The
design of a mailing also often takes
more time than planned.
Addresses
The following questions must be
resolved beforehand: Which addresses
are available? How good is the
address quality, e.g. how high is the
number of expected returns due to
non-deliverability? Does the address
broker offer guarantees for returns
(e.g. reimbursement as of 2 per cent
returns)? What return rate is to be
expected? Are the addresses in the
B2B area accurate for the respective
contact partners? Do the addresses
meet the applicable standards in the
recipients’ countries? How frequently
are the addresses updated, and what
sources are used for this process? Can
the addresses of respondents be used
for a follow-up mailing? How high is
the minimum charge rate?
Some address providers require country to country. In some countries,
approval of the advertising material the source of the addresses must be
before they will provide the addresses. stated on the advertising material, or
This must be settled beforehand and one must have the express consent of
must be integrated into the overall the recipient to receive mailings.
timing plan.
A service provider that has suitable
In the B2B area, almost every software and country-specific word
European country has a different tables should be selected for data
industry allocation system. While processing. Formatting, postal
Germany, Austria and Switzerland address verification, de-duplication via
have very detailed country-specific reference data (individuals who are
industry allocations, France has so- deceased or have moved, etc.) and
called NAF codes, Great Britain and other such measures should be carried
the USA have SIC codes, and other out with the utmost care. Other
European countries have NACE codes. important issues include response
analysis and the development of score
Special attention is also required for cards for optimisation of future results.
the consumer sector. People from
England or Germany have high
expectations for address selection
options. Every criterion is not available
in every country. For instance,
negative addresses of defaulters are
not available in France due to data
privacy regulations. Other reference
data, such as forwarding addresses for
undeliverable mailings, are available
in only a few countries. It is necessary
to have an in-depth and on-going
engagement with data privacy
regulations in each country, because
they often change quite quickly.
There are significant differences from
5
Language
When crossing language borders,
many direct marketing users have
a propensity to shoot themselves
in the foot by having their mailings
translated quickly and carelessly. Not
just any translation makes for good
advertising copy. For this reason, it
is advisable to have professionals
in each target country adapt all
slogans and advertising copy. Idioms,
figures of speech and socio-cultural
references require a sensitive feel for
the respective language.
In addition, the length of the text
varies according to the language: An
English translation is generally 20 per
cent shorter than a German source
text. For an Italian text, on the other
hand, one will typically need 10 per
cent more space, and up to 20 per
cent more for a French text.
Text lengths
German with an order. There are different
English -20 %
Italian +10 %
French +20 %
An ideal solution looks like this:
Either an agency can provide the
texts directly in the target language,
or a tw0-phase process is required
where the texts are first translated
then adapted for use in advertising.
This allows for optimal results.
Mode of address
When designing a mailing, the
following factors must be considered
in addition to text- and layout-
specific requirements: What is the
correct form of address? Which
salutation is most commonly used?
Should the customer be addressed
formally or informally?
Boosters
Well-adapted mailing includes
additional incentives that
are targeted toward
getting a response from
the customer. These
so-called response
boosters are "mini-gifts"
or "gimmicks" that
increase the
customer's interest
level for the mailing.
However, add-ons in
connection with the
purchase of a product
are not always allowed.
While in some European counties,
gifts of any value are allowed as long
as they are not considered to be
"exaggerated enticement", other
countries such as France have
distinct value limits for gifts.
Discounts are also subject to varying
regulations in Europe. Sweepstakes
are allowed, but they must generally
be free of charge, i.e. not connected
regulations for puzzles or quiz
questions where intelligence or
knowledge is required. Regulations
for such activities are also constantly
changing, and there are even some
countries where sweepstakes
connected with orders are fully
allowed.
Response
The response level is strongly
influenced by response factors. The
following issues are important: Does
the mailing include the essential
factors for making answering
as simple as possible, e.g. the
recipient’s contact information? Is all
of the sender's contact information
provided, and is it correct? The
preferred mode of response should
be presented as compellingly as
possible. In addition, the method of
sending a response should be clearly
formulated and should include
all required steps. The selection
of preferred modes of response
Planning an International Mailing Campaign
depends on the target group and
the product, and differs according to
the country.
Postal charges
According to expert
opinions, postal
charges comprise 30
to 50 per cent of the
overall costs of a
directed mailing.
These costs can be
significantly reduced.
The choice of envelope format and
of paper type, usage of specific
mailing solutions (e.g. Marketing Mail
Professional by Swiss Post
International) and careful mailing
preparation can all have a significant
effect on the price.
4. Test phase
Tests are an indispensable strategy
for improving the effectiveness
of direct marketing activities. By
using the test results, it is possible
to optimise mailings, get valuable
insights for future marketing
campaigns, and even reduce costs.
First, define a test country, test
goals and representative test target
groups. Then use significant sample
sizes to test a few independent
variables such as offering, price,
visual elements, postage-paid
impression or reply element. In this
process, it is important that you label
the mailings, e.g. with a code, so that
you know which alternatives achieve
the highest response rate.
5. Response
The goal of every direct marketing
campaign is to generate the highest
possible response rate. If the
response rate turns out to be higher
than expected, one must ensure that
there are sufficient reserves and
resources to supply all of the
customers expediently. Take into
account the fact that the first
reactions and orders via telephone
and e-mail will come immediately
after sending the mailing.
Reply options
In order to increase the response
rate, there should be multiple reply
options: via post, fax, telephone and
online. All documents must be
available in the customer’s language.
In addition, country-specific factors
must be observed. When providing a
telephone number, one must first
know what the competition is doing:
Is the service free or subject to
charge? If there are charges, there
must be an accurate notice as to the
telephone costs for the caller.
Terms of payment
Terms of payment (payment
method, payment deadline,
discounts) also differ from country
to country and have an influence on
the offering’s acceptance level. While
payment by bank transfer upon
receipt of invoice is common in
Germany, in France payments are
almost always made in advance by
cheque or credit card.
Replies
What should be done with the
replies? The answer to that question
depends primarily on the campaign's
goal. If, for example, a local location
is being advertised, then a local
return address must be provided.
However, if a hotel is looking for new
customers abroad, a re-consignment
will be required. Alternatively, costs
can be cut by using a post-office
box in the respective country to
collect the replies. The postal service
provider can subsequently mail them
in a bundle to the sender's home
country. In reply design, it is
important to be aware that enquiries
from abroad that are submitted in
writing or by telephone must, of
course, be answered in the
customer’s language.
Fulfilment
Processing replies quickly and
diligently creates lasting customer
relationships. For example, in many
cases it is advisable to bundle the
ordering system in the country of
origin. In doing so, it is important to
settle all shipment and customs
issues in due time before a campaign
begins.
Consistent compilation parameters
decrease the amount of work
required in formatting addresses for
future mailings to customers. The
language for the collection of
customer information must be
defined beforehand. The issue of
who has access to the data must
also be settled before beginning a
campaign.
On-site locations make it possible to
process orders via a branch office in
the receiving country. This is also
facilitated by cooperation with local
service providers who are familiar
with the consumer behaviour and
habits in the respective country.
7
Regardless of the chosen solution,
only professional customer service
can ensure that contact with new
customers is not lost, and that a
lasting dialogue takes place. In
addition, all information acquired
from customer contact should be
stored in a database in order to
optimise future dialogue.
6. Performance
measurement
No other advertising medium is
better suited to performance
measurement than direct marketing.
If there are clear definitions
regarding the type of response, the
time period and the cost level, then a
mailing campaign can be reviewed
immediately. There are three
different methods for performance
measurement:
1. Calculating the response rate
in per cent: (number of
respondents / run)*100
2. C ost per contact (CpC):
Total costs / number of
individual mailings
3. Cost per order (CpO):
Total costs / number of orders
The success rate should be measured
after each campaign so that the
insights can be integrated into the
next campaign.
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Asendia is an international partnership between La Poste and Swiss Post.