Social media. Everybody’s doing it, right? And that may be exactly why you shouldn’t. Turns out real estate agents using social networks are getting lost in the crowd, while postcard marketing is what’s getting results. Why? The average inbox receives 60 to 100 messages a day, but …

For years now, the buzz has been that print’s dead. Funny, considering that despite major shifts in the publishing world, consumers still want print magazines. That’s not saying they won’t give e-readers a try. It’s just that, given a choice, they still want to physically hold their magazines. …

California-based zpizza grew its loyalty database with mailers featuring a pizza-shaped scratch-off area that revealed a code, which recipients texted to the company for a prize. The mailings generated almost 2,000 text entries and a 20-percent spike in registration for ztribe, the pizza chain’s loyalty club.

TechnoServe, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries, tested matching gift language in a recent prospecting package. In one package, the foundation sponsoring the matching gift was mentioned by name; in the other, readers were told that a “very generous donor” had made the offer. Donors preferred …

Need a way to boost donations to your nonprofit? How about offering them a check? The American Parkinson Disease Association garnered more than 30,000 new donations in 2008 by offering prospects a $2 check. Recipients could cash the check even if they didn’t wish to …

Aperture, a fine art photography magazine, found that a plain white control envelope tallied 10 percent more subscription orders than a more expensive green envelope with identical content inside. The more expensive green envelope, which was expected to stand out in a pile of mail, had been predicted …