Hallelujah! My Church Is Using pURLS!
One of my favorite places to prospect and find inspiration for my blog is my mailbox. I was thrilled the other day to trek out there and come back in with a postcard from my parish that uses personalization both within a photo on the front of the card and on the back of the card, along with featuring a personalized URL!
At left is what the landing page looked like.
As it turns out, the only purpose for the pURL was to gather contact information on all parishioners so the church can more effectively, economically and environmentally communicate with its parishioners. Kudos to them. This is a great application and example of how print can help do all those things.
What I was HOPING the pURL was also going to accomplish was to allow me to sign up for my annual giving commitment so I wouldn’t have to remember my envelope every week. But it didn’t do that.
SO?
So this is the perfect example of why your mailbox is a great source of ideas, as well as ways to improve on existing ideas. If I were selling digital and variable-data printing today, I would be calling that church with this approach:
“I saw the great piece you just mailed. I have a question and an idea. How was the response compared with your expectations? And, what if you had been able to tie that piece into a program to allow parishioners to make their annual commitment? What would that increase in donations have meant for your operation this year?”
Simple. Where else can this approach be applied? With ANY organization that has a mailing list and a goal to raise money. And if they need help with the list, the creative, or the plan, I'm sure YOU know someone who can help them, right?
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
