Direct Response

Open rates are a tried-and-true email metric. As Matt Laudato, senior manager of big data and analytics for Constant Contact, puts it, “An email that's never opened is an email that never has a chance for that click, [and] never has a chance for that conversion.” But are marketers doing everything in their power to…

The deadline for entering the NonProfit PRO Gold Awards is just days away. While you’re thinking about all the remarkable work you’ve done that deserves to be recognized, consider this campaign from 2009 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Submitted by Lautman Maska Neill & Company, the “Department of Defense” series of emails centered on the suffering of animals used in combat training...

I read recently that some physicians are now suggesting patients come in for an annual “wellness check,” rather than a yearly physical. The focus of these exams is on staying healthy and may include screening tests that can resolve a problem before it becomes insurmountable. With just four months remaining in the year, it’s a…

There are more ways to reach donors than ever before, and more in the works at all times. And the staggering variety of channels makes it possible to reach just about any audience. But there’s a catch, and it’s a big one. How do you keep your messaging consistent across all those channels...

Bills and receipts are sexy to customers. OK, maybe not sexy, but customers do feel like those messages require action more often than “broadcast email,” so they open 72 percent and click on 30 percent of them from the top-performing quartile of companies, according to the “2015 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study.” (opens as a…

About three years ago, the industry we knew as "direct marketing" slowly started to be redefined under the term "customer engagement". It was time for a change. The industry was evolving rapidly and the agencies within it were changing just as quickly, too. Indeed, in little more than a couple of years, the traditional group…

They're back! The Fundraising Success name may be long gone, but fundraising is still the core curriculum here at NonProfit PRO. And as such, we're delighted to announce the return of the Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence. It's a big year, too: It's the 10th time around for the awards, our 10th year honoring the top fundraising campaigns in direct mail, email, multichannel and more. And to celebrate, we're changing things up a bit...

It is now a well-known and widespread fact that mobile web browsing is getting bigger, better, and growing exponentially. In fact, it is expected that, in the end of this year, 52.4 percent of all web browsing will be made using a mobile device, according to a study carried out by Statista. This means that,…

Whether you are thinking about high-level concepts or laser-focused components—the evolution of marketing and what it means to a brand is occurring. Overall, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that marketing must be rooted in what the company or organization needs to be successful. Additionally, the value of its role in driving customer relationships, revenue/profit is something that must be understood...

I don’t know much about fishing. And while it’s one of those relaxing things I do sporadically on vacation, I have to admit it’s not something I profess to be very good at. Each year, I stop by the local bait shop to pick up some supplies and get important intel from the locals—what type of fish are people catching, what kind of bait are they using and where should I go?