The CSO recently released ‘This is Ireland – Highlights from Census 2011 Part 1’.

This report looks at the first definitive results of the most recent census which was conducted just over a year ago.

It makes for a really interesting read and you’ll notice that the information is much more accessible than previous CSO publications. This wasn’t an accident, according to Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician at the CSO:

“We are adopting a different publishing approach for 2011, with more interpretation and analysis of the data accompanied by illustrative presentations, thematic maps and easy to read commentary. The report aims to present a picture of Ireland as it was in April 2011”.

Based on what we have seen of the report, the CSO certainly appear to have met these objectives. You can check out the full report for yourself right here, but for those of you too busy to dig that deep, here are the highlights:

The Gender Gap
In April 2011 there were about 43,000 more females than males in the Ireland. This results in an overall ratio of 98.1 males to every 100 females. This is a flip of the situation in 2006 when there were slightly more males than females.

More People Renting
Almost 475,000 households in Ireland were renting their accommodation in April 2011. This represents a considerable increase since the last Census in 2006 when there were just 300,000 households renting accommodation.

Home Heating
There was a new question included on the most recent Census about the type of central heating in each home. Unsurprisingly, fossil fuels topped the responses with gas, oil and coal being used in approximately 80% of Irish homes.

When it comes to gas versus oil, there is a clear urban / rural divide with oil proving the most popular in rural regions and gas coming out tops in urban areas.

Empty Houses
There were almost 2 million homes in Ireland on Census night 2011, of these, nearly 290,000 were vacant, giving a vacancy rate of 14.5%. The highest vacancy rate with over 30% of homes unoccupied was in Leitrim. Donegal was next highest with a vacancy rate of 29%.

‘Til Divorce Do Us Part
Since 2002 the number of divorcees in Ireland has more than doubled, up from 35,059 to 87,770 in the most recent census. The number of people identified as separated has remained more or less static at about 116,000, up only slightly from 107,000 in 2006.

Born in Other Countries
The number of Irish residents who were born abroad continues to rise. The figure stood at 766,770 in 2011 an increase of approximately 25% on 2006. This accounts for 17% of the overall population.

The groups which showed the largest increase were those already well established in Ireland. The fastest growing groups were Romanians, Indians, Polish, Lithuanians and Latvians.

Newcomers and Returners
Immigration by Irish returning into the state having lived overseas was 19,593 in the year to April 2011. This figure consisted of 7,338 people who had previously lived in the UK, followed by Australia as the second most important country of origin with 3,921 returning from there and then the USA in third with 1,688 coming back from there.

Immigration by foreign nationals in the same period was 33,674. The largest groups came from Poland, UK, France, Lithuania, Spain and the USA.

Multilingual Ireland
Another first for this Census was the question concerning foreign languages. The results show that over half a million Irish residents spoke a foreign language at home and that Polish was by far the most common, followed by French, Lithuanian and German.

There are some really interesting findings here but ‘Part 2’ of the report, which is due for release on 28 June 2012, promises an even meatier feast for marketers to sink our teeth into. This will contain analysis of all of the socioeconomic data collected as part of Census 2011.

Another boon for those of us concerned with developing a deeper understanding of consumers is the development of the interactive mapping resources for Census data. Check out this cool tool developed by All-Island Research Observatory. It provides a great overview of how Census data relates to specific geographic areas.

If you would like to learn more about enhancing your own consumer data with insight-rich Census information contact Dataconversion Direct.

When it comes to getting a response, direct mail remains one of the most effective channels of marketing communication. When done well, direct mail gets results.

Quite often though, direct mail isn’t done well and we frequently see the same mistakes happening time and time again.

Here are 7 common mistakes that we see direct mail marketers making quite regularly.

1. Not properly defining your target audience. Certain messages will be more relevant to some consumers than others. Direct mail allows you to target specific individuals. Take advantage of that strength and decide which customer segments you want to talk to. Then, tailor your campaign to that audience.
2. Renting a bad list. We always recommend developing and maintaining your own mailing lists but sometimes sourcing cold data from a third party provider is unavoidable. Make sure you only rent data from reputable suppliers and make sure the list is relevant to your target audience. Good list brokers can provide you with accurate, up-to-date lists that are tailored to your needs.
3. Using dirty data. Clean your data to ensure you’re not mailing pieces to inaccurate or undeliverable addresses, people who have opted-out of your list, the deceased and those who may have moved or changed jobs. Good data hygiene is crucial to the success of any direct marketing programme.
4. Not getting personal. The ability to make customers feel like you are speaking to them on a one-to-one level is what sets direct mail and other direct channels apart. Personalise your mail pieces effectively. Use your customers name, tailor the content to them but don’t over do it. Make sure it’s natural. Don’t sprinkle their name into the letter so much that it takes away from the message.
5. Not including an offer or a call to action. Direct mail is about getting results. You want people to act. A promotional offer with a deadline is the most effective way to do this. Just make sure the offer appeals to your audience. Then make sure they know how to take advantage of the offer. A call to action is the most important component of any direct mail piece. You want to achieve a desired action from the recipient. You might want them to call a number, visit a website, call into a store. Make sure you tell them what you want them to do. Make it clear. Make it as easy for them to do as possible. Be persuasive. Use response mechanisms that are relevant to your audience
6. Using poor copy, design and creative. A mail piece that isn’t engaging, relevant or easy to follow could turn off recipients before they even get to your offer. In some cases it mightn’t even get opened! Professional copywriters and designers can help you best communicate your message – setting your piece apart, cutting through the clutter and getting results.
7. Failing to test and measure. Direct mail can require a significant investment. Like any form of media spend, it’s always a risk. You can never say for certain what type of return a campaign will generate. There are so many variables that can impact on results: data, offer, call-to-action, response mechanism, closing date, copy, creative, design, envelope, salutation etc. We always recommend that clients identify the key variables, create a range of test campaigns using various combinations and then test, test and test again. Testing will show you which combinations work best and it will give you a good idea of the return you can expect from your overall campaign. You also need to ensure that you can accurately measure how your campaign performs, so include tracking mechanisms such as offer codes, call-count software or unique URL’s specific to your campaign.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are lots of other pitfalls to avoid but dodging these common disasters will have you well on your way to achieving direct mail success.

For further advice about how to get more from direct mail talk to a professional mailing house like, em…Dataconversion Direct

An Post recently increased some postage rates.

The price change sees marginal increases for all standard letters and postcards that fall into the 50g – 100g weight category.

On the face of it, these are minor increases but for direct mail marketers who deal in tens and hundreds of thousands of mail pieces, even the smallest increase can have a major impact on marketing budgets.

Here is what An Post said of the changes:

“Following a pricing review, the rates for some of our postal services will increase from Tuesday 1st May 2012. These changes affect Standard, Registered, Business Response and PostAim rates for items weighing over 50g. Please note that our base rate for mail under 50g will remain unchanged at this time.

We appreciate that rate increases are never welcome. However, these increases are essential for us to continue to deliver an efficient service. Despite the increases, we are confident that these services continue to offer excellent value for money.”

Traditionally, standard letters and postcards were the same price for all weights up to 100g, the new rates see that range split and an increased rate applied to items between 50g and 100g.

In Zone 1, Ireland and Northern Ireland, the changes represent an increase of about 4 cent across all bulk discounts, 10 cent on standard post and 25 cent on registered items.

You can see a breakdown of how the increases affect all other zones in An Post’s ‘Guide to Postal Rates’ booklet.

You can also see how the changes will impact on high-volume mailings in An Post’s ‘Bulk Discounts for Mailers’ brochure.

By and large, these changes probably won’t have a major impact on your direct mail campaigns. Most of the mailings we process fall into the ‘Less than 50g’ weight category which is unaffected by the increases.

Just pay close attention to what you are including in your mail packs. It would be a shame if you strayed to 51 grammes and found yourself facing an additional €40 per thousand in postage costs.

Ideally you should try to calculate the weight of all items to be included in the pack prior to production. Selecting a slightly lighter paper stock is easy before going to print and it could save you thousands on postage. It’s not so easy when your brochures, letterhead, leaflets and other items have been printed.

We agree with An Post. Bulk discount services for direct marketers still offer excellent value. An increase like this though, just underlines how important sound data management is.

Postage represents the largest expense associated with any direct mail campaign. It’s so important to ensure that you are not wasting money mailing inaccurate and undeliverable addresses.

So, after much furore and a lot of hot air from both sides of the ‘pay/don’t pay’ divide, the dust has settled and it transpires that almost half of Irish householders have failed to pay the charge. The State has never seen this level of tax avoidance and such a widespread failure to comply.

After all of the recent austerity measures that have been heaped upon the populous, was this just the straw that broke the camel’s back? Was this simply one tax too many? Was this a charge that would have been met with non-compliance, whatever it was called, however it was collected and whatever the penalties for not paying?

Or perhaps there was something about this charge and the way it was presented that emboldened citizens and made them feel that this was one that they didn’t have to pay, one that they could get away with.

Dan Hayden and Colin Scott, writing in The Irish Times suggest myriad factors for this widespread failure to pay. Citing lessons from regulatory governance, their piece proposes a range of reasons which led people to resist;

• People preferred to join those not paying the household charge than to pay and feel silly when others got away with not paying.
• The slow rate of payment in the run-up to the deadline encouraged the undecided not to pay.
• The social pressure usually associated with ‘not paying your way’ was diminished as it appeared more and more people would not pay.
• This was unlike other austerity measures in that the onus to pay was put on the payer. Other charges like the USC, Health Levy and increases in VAT were all collected by employers and retailers.
• The fines and penalties were not sufficiently coercive. People may have figured it was better to let them accrue and then pay them if they ever came to sell their property.
• As it appeared that more and more people were not going to pay, the threat of fines and penalties became less credible and there was power in numbers.

This all makes sense. When you look at them laid out in black and white, it becomes clear that a few direct marketing basics would have helped the government to address many of these factors and greatly improve the response rate.

Data
The success of any direct marketing campaign rests heavily on the quality of the data. In this case it quickly became apparent that the government didn’t know their target audience. They didn’t have a complete and accurate database of who they wanted to talk to.

It’s hard to believe. With all of the information that citizens provide the government, they couldn’t produce a database of properties and who owns them, before asking people to pay the tax. Surely that should have been step one. Identify all existing sources of data and then bring them together to produce a clear and accurate record of your audience.

The Local Government Management Authority has subsequently been tasked with producing such a database but that seems a bit like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Always start with the data.

Be Direct
Having a comprehensive database would have allowed the government to communicate the need for this charge and notify people of their obligations in a much more effective manner.

As it happened, the only knowledge people had about the tax came by way of government press releases which were disseminated through the mass media. These messages blended in with the cacophony of other voices shouting to be heard on the issue.

A detailed letter addressed to each property owner would have allowed the government to set out the case for payment in a clear and definitive manner. Tell people why this charge was needed. Explain where the funds would go. I think a personal letter from the Minister of Finance to every person expected to pay would have gone a long way toward building support for the charge.

It would also have shown that the government knew who needed to pay what. The letter could have contained a list of each person’s liabilities. This would have eliminated the belief that this was a charge the government could not enforce. The threat of fines and penalties would have become instantly more credible.

Incorporate A Special Offer
By including an early-bird offer whereby early payers would receive a discounted rate, the government could have built momentum well in advance of the official deadline.

This would have negated many of the factors described by Dan Hayden and Colin Scott. The same fear of feeling silly, because you paid and others got away with it, could have been put to use by the government. No one wants to feel like a mug because they dragged their heels and ended up paying more.

Make Response Easy
A direct mail piece could have clearly described how people could pay the charge. The government could have developed a range of response mechanisms and allowed people to choose which one was the best fit for them. Letting people pay in different ways might have made a big difference.

Measure Results
The initial direct mail campaign and early bird offer could then have been analysed well in advance of the official deadline. I’d bet my house that the numbers of those who had paid would have been much more favourable to the government’s cause. These figures could then have been used to dispel notions that this was a charge no one was going to pay.

The results could also have been used to develop follow-up campaigns and reminders aimed at getting even more people signed up before the official deadline. They might have used an extension of the early-bird offer at less of a discount.

Hindsight is 20:20 vision as they say. It’s all very well coming up with these great ideas after the fact but I guarantee that any direct marketer worth their salt could have told the government all of this, on the very day that the Troika told Enda and Michael that they needed to introduce a property tax. If only they’d asked…

For those of you not familiar with the An Post DMAs, the annual awards aim to recognise those companies who displayed the most creative, engaging and effective use of direct marketing throughout the year.

This year’s event took place last Thursday in the Mansion House. Yet again, the Mail Media Unit in An Post outdid themselves and delivered a fantastic night for all those in attendance.

The black-tie event was hosted by the hilarious Dermot Whelan; him off Republic of Telly. Attendees were treated to a champagne reception, a sumptuous three-course meal and an evening of nail-biting anticipation, cheers and applause.

Marketing teams and advertising agencies representing some of Ireland’s best known brands battled it out across 29 individual award categories. You can check out a full list of all the night’s victors here.

You might have noticed a familiar name down there in the ‘Special Categories’ section. That’s right; Dataconversion Direct was named Supplier of the Year for 2012.

Fergal and Deirdre from Dataconversion Direct accept the award for Supplier of the Year from Amie Peters of An Post and Jennifer Komertzky-Bowe of Irish Marketing Journal

The award means all the more this year given the stiff competition we were facing in our category with companies like RR Donnelley, Data Ireland and Mood Media. To come away with the prize was absolutely brilliant. To prove how brilliant, here is a picture of Fergal and Deirdre who were flying the Dataconversion Direct flag on the night. (Look at those big, silly grins)

You can check out loads more photos of the night here on the awards website.

Congratulations to all of this year’s other winners & finalists; particularly Acorn Marketing who took the night’s (second) most prestigious prize, Agency of the Year. This is the second year running that Acorn has taken the big one; a monumental achievement. No wonder they look so pleased with themselves marching through Dublin with stilt-walkers, jugglers and fire-breathers…

Dataconversion Direct would also like to say a massive thank you to the An Post Mail Media Unit, the judges, Verve Marketing, the Mansion House, Dermot Whelan and everybody else who worked to make this yet another fantastic affair.

Well done to all involved. We’ve started counting the days until next year already!

As dawn breaks after the An Post Integrated Direct Marketing Awards 2012, details are beginning to emerge about the night’s winners.

Thanks to a few incoherent text messages from colleagues in attendance and a steady stream of announcements from @IMJ_Ireland on Twitter, we now know who took most of the major awards.

We can probably expect a full list of the winners in each category to find its way to the awards site at anpostdmawards.com later today. Until then, here are the companies that we already know made their mark this year:

• Best Overall Creative – Gold to Brown Thomas Group for launch of ‘Children’s Rooms’ BT Dublin
• Best Agency Self Promotion – Gold to Dragon
• Best Start Up / Small Business – Gold to Javelin Direct for Residence
• Best Low Budget – Gold to Verve for Sweet Talk
• Best First Time Use – Gold to goosebump for Experience Jameson
• Best Brand Building – Gold to goosebump for One Direct
• Best Data Strategy – Gold to Acorn Marketing for Action Aid
• Best CRM – Gold to goosebump for Experience Jameson
• Best Loyalty Campaign – Gold to Eason & Son Ltd
• Best New Product/Service – Gold to Target McConnells for Vodafone Cherry Points
• Best Acquisition – Gold to Acorn for PrePay Power
• Best Integrated Campaign – Gold to RMG for The National Lottery
• Best DM & Digital – Silver to Javelin Direct for An Post High Wire
• Best Email Marketing Campaign – Gold to Target McConnells for Diageo, Guinness Email Comms 2011
• Best Social Media Campaign – Gold to Brando for O2 Smartsounds
• Best Unaddressed Mail – Gold to Acorn Marketing for PrePay Power
• Best DM Hi Volume – Gold to Ignition for SuperValu Real Rewards
• Best DM Lo Volume – Gold to Brown Thomas Group, launch of children’s rooms in BT Dublin
• Best Utility – Gold to Javelin Direct for An Post Early Bird
• Best Telecoms – JOINT Golds to Brando for O2 & Target McConnells for Vodafone Cherry Points
• Best Retail – Silver to Ignition for SuperValu Real Rewards
• Best Pharma/Healthcare – Gold to Language for safefood
• Best IT & Tech – Gold to DMCM for Neopost ‘Mailroom Emergency’
• Best FMCG – Gold to Ogilvy Dublin for Cadbury Dairy Milk
• Best Finance – Gold to Dialogue Network for Friends First
• Best Fundraising – Gold to Ask Direct for Cork Simon Community
• Best Automotive – Silver to Javelin Direct for Toyota

The biggest award of the night, ‘Agency of the Year’ went to Acorn Marketing. We’d like to congratulate them on their success. Truly deserving victors, no doubt. The second year running too. That’s a marvelous achievement.

The next biggest prize of the night is undoubtedly quite possibly ‘Supplier of the Year’. Without overstating the importance of this award in any way, this category recognises the real warriors of the direct marketing world.

‘Supplier of the Year’ salutes the frontline soldiers who get stuff done. It doffs its cap to the hard-working, knowledgeable, no-nonsense types who are tasked with taking dreams and turning them into reality. It’s an annual testament to the people who make stuff happen…

…and last night Supplier of the Year 2012 went to your very own Dataconversion Direct. We are delighted with yet another award to add to our growing collection.

We want to say a big ‘well done’ to all of the other winners and a massive ‘thank you’ to the An Post Mail Media Unit and everyone else who was involved in making it a great night.

A huge ‘well done’ to Julie Stafford and the ISPCC on winning our Big Below the Line Bonanza competition.

Tara Byrne, managing director of Dataconversion Direct, presented them with their prize at Fundraising Ireland’s National Fundraising Conference in the Convention Centre Dublin yesterday.

We had a great response from Irish charities and the quality of answers was immense. The ISPCC answer really shone through though. It was powerful to say the least:

“I tried to overdose last night, I hoped by taking those pills it would keep me from waking the next day.” These cries are all too familiar to Childline. Childline is Ireland’s only listening support service for children and young people. Our phones, ears and hearts are open 24 hours a day to listen to & be there for our most vulnerable children. Childline receives no government funding. Winning this direct mail will allow us to reach out to our donors the same way young people reach out to us for support. We want to turn words like ‘Afraid’ ‘Unwanted’ ‘Punch’ to ones of Empowerment & Strength.

We’re delighted to provide ISPCC with the following direct mail campaign – worth €4,233 – absolutely free of charge:

• A4 letterhead, 100gsm, printed full colour both sides with perforated reply form
• C5 window, machine fill envelope, printed full colour one side
• DL BRE, printed one colour one side
• A5 leaflet, 170gsm gloss, printed full colour both sides
• Data work covering mail file preparation, copy layout and proofing for up to 20,000 records
• Duplex laser printing & personalisation-
• Machine pack including fold A4 to A5, insert generic leaflet & BRE into C5. Postaim, bag & tag.
• Couriers to An Post x 2

We hope to help make the campaign a huge success; raising lots of funds that will support the ISPCC in their valiant work.

Tara Byrne presenting a direct mail campaign for up to 20,000 recipients to Julie Stafford and the team from ISPCC, winners of our Big Below the Line Bonanza

A big thank you to everyone who entered. It’s great to see the commitment to direct mail that the Irish charity sector continues to show.

If you want to save thousands on your next direct mail campaign, check out our Charity Summer Saver promotion here.

We love working with charities. They believe in what they do and they really get direct mail. They understand the importance of data and generally their direct mail appeals are among the most creative and interesting that we see passing through production.

We want to reward the non-profit sector’s commitment to direct mail as a fundraising channel. We are giving charities the opportunity to win all of the data, print and fulfilment aspects of a direct mail campaign for up to 20,000 existing or potential donors.

We’re not cutting any corners because this is a giveaway. The deserving winner will receive a fully-loaded campaign with all the bells and whistles:

• A4 letterhead, 100gsm, printed full colour both sides with perforated reply form
• C5 window, machine fill envelope, printed full colour one side
• DL BRE, printed one colour one side
• A5 leaflet, 170gsm gloss, printed full colour both sides
• Data work covering mail file preparation, copy layout and proofing for up to 20,000 records
• Duplex laser printing & personalisation-
• Machine pack including fold A4 to A5, insert generic leaflet & BRE into C5. Postaim, bag & tag.
• Couriers to An Post x 2

So all you would need to do if you win is provide the data, create the content and pay the postage. We take care of everything else. This is a great opportunity!

The closing date for entries is 19.03.2012 and we’ll be announcing the winner at Fundraising Ireland’s National Fundraising Conference on 21.03.12. So don’t delay, enter today!

For more information about the competition and to download an entry form, click here!

Dataconversion Direct is proudly a

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The National Fundraising Conference 2012 is taking place in the Convention Centre Dublin on Wednesday 21st March.

It promises to be a fantastic event. A must for any serious fundraisers or those who do business with charities.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘fostering fundraising excellence’ and attendees will be treated to a really impressive retinue of speakers:

• Tobin Aldrich, WWF UK
• Patrick Boggan, Tarnside
• Simon Burne, THINK Consulting Solutions
• Derval Costello, CCS Fund Raising
• Kevin Delaney, Irish Cancer Society
• Aíne Gibbons, UCD
• Michael Johnston, HJC New Media
• Damian O’Broin, Ask Direct
• Aline Reed, Bluefrog
• Simon Scriver, Total Fundraising
• Beate Sørum, Norwegian Cancer Society
• Chris Washington-Sare, The Management Centre

There is also the opportunity for attendees to enroll in skill-building masterclasses which are taking place on the evening before the main event.

We love working with charities and this event will most certainly be an opportunity to mix it with a who’s who of the Irish non-profit sector. As such, we’ve decided to take a stand. We’ll be there all day, happy to answer your questions and tell you how Dataconversion Direct can assist you in your fundraising endeavours.

For more information about the event see www.fundraisingireland.ie and if you haven’t already booked your place, do it quickly. Tickets are going fast.

Make sure you stop by our stand on the day, we’ll have an exciting offer to make it worth your while…