Your call center is quiet… and that’s a good thing.

If you’re a bank marketing exec, you usually try to come up with ideas that will resonate with customers and prospects, leading them to eagerly respond online, on the phone, or in person at the branch.

But sometimes the lack of response is what you want. In these instances, silence is golden.

Running a promotion in today’s super-saturated media environment can be a tough challenge. It’s like trying to have a conversation in the middle of a big, loud party: the room is packed, the action has spilled out onto the street (or onto the web), and noise is deafening. Which means you’ve got to amp up your volume accordingly, or you’ll never get your message across! Here are a few suggestions that can help you get noticed in our distracted world.

1. Use quick-hit headlines.

On the surface, a direct mail (DM) campaign may be more expensive than other forms of marketing communications, but that doesn’t mean it should cost more than it needs to. What follows are suggestions to improve ROI and make direct mail a more cost-effective choice as compared to other marketing alternatives.

Improve deliverability by making sure your mail is processed by the USPS as efficiently and accurately as possible.

How do you react when a letter from your bank addresses you as “Dear Valued Customer”? Does it make you feel valued? Probably not! Still, we readily admit, there are many instances when a generic salutation may be the best way to go.

After more than 22 years of experience in developing bank communications and working closely with bank data files, MKP communications inc. has gained a unique perspective on the pros and cons of personalized vs. standardized salutations.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of direct mail (DM) has been greatly exaggerated. After years of dire predictions that DM will wither in our electronic age, response rates are growing and new DM technologies are making the mailbox the new place to be. Here are a few reasons why you should be adding new, cutting-edge DM to your marketing plans: