Q&As

When a marketer delivers goods in advance of payment, as in a “bill me” situation, there is a greater possibility of a lack of commitment on the prospect’s part. And that can result in higher levels of non-paying customers. Unfortunately for magazine publishers, bill me options for subscription requests are fairly standard.

For Hearst Magazines, the challenge was establishing a web-based system that evaluates subscription requestors on the fly, allowing good prospects to sail through the subscription process easily while providing just enough of a barrier for online prospects who are riskier.

“Moneyball,” the current hit movie based on Michael Lewis’ 2003 book by the same name, is a story that has two important lessons for direct and database marketers.

Mailer groups are thankful for the just-announced small postage increases but don

We all know that the cost to acquire a new customer is five to seven times greater than the cost to keep an existing one. Yet, a mistake that many companies often make is not actively engaging and rewarding their current customers. Here are five simple steps to keep those programs humming.

Monday’s New York Times featured a terrific column by Andrew Ross Sorkin on Groupon’s finances, as well as some reasons behind its delayed initial public offering (IPO). Sorkin’s column is must reading for investors. Consumers have their sources of …

Universal Studios is promoting the “Tower Heist” movie with a Facebook scavenger game that offers credits for uncovering “Heist It Back” buttons in the network.

Levi’s Mirror, Mirror college tour for Curve ID jeans is offering $10,000 donations to rival schools with the most tour participation.

Travelocity let its “Roaming Gnome” fade from view over the last year or so, but as it soon found out, its customers didn’t agree. That led to the brands largest promotion to date, the “Roaming Gnome?”

While it’ll be hard to characterize advertising spending as full speed ahead in 2012, at the very least it won’t be moving in reverse. U.S. advertising revenue for media owners is forecast as increasing from a projected $173.54 billion in 2011 to $178.50 billion in 2012, according to new research by MagnaGlobal.

Health insurer Highmark has enrolled thousands of new members and reduced marketing costs by more than 60% by streamlining its direct response initiatives.