Until recently, the United States Postal Service (USPS) had planned to make the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) a requirement by May 2011. Despite the fact that this date has now been pushed further out, it’s still important to prepare for the changes now.

What is the IMB? It’s a barcode system devised by the USPS to sort and track pieces of mail. This new barcode provides many more benefits than the previous one.

The IMB offers improved delivery, better mail tracking and greater accountability. Two of the most important new features are: each piece of mail is now uniquely identified and tracked; and free address correction services are available. This latter feature also improves delivery and reduces cost.

“Our IMB white paper provides readers with detailed insight into how this new barcode system works,” says Ryan Cote, director of marketing for the Ballantine Corporation. “It shares specific mailer dimensions; shows people how to create and use an IMB; and explains the difference between basic and full service.”

A video that provides step-by-step instructions on how to read the IMB can be viewed here: http://www.ballantine.com/2009/07/01/read-decode-intelligent-mail-barcode/ .

About The Ballantine Corporation:
Family-owned since 1966, The Ballantine Corporation is a New Jersey-based company offering direct marketing production services to companies, nationwide.

For more information, visit: www.Ballantine.com .

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News Source: The Ballantine Corporation :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

To directly download a PDF copy, click here: http://www.ballantine.com/dmtrends2011.pdf .

Many trends forecasted by Ballantine in 2010 were realized. They included social media and integration of multiple mediums. In 2011, Ballantine predicts that these trends will continue to grow and to evolve, while new ones are born and the classics continue to hold steady.

For example, Ballantine predicts that in 2011, marketers will see advancement in Smartphone strategies; multi-touch marketing will remain an effective strategy; social media integration will continue to explode; and more.

Even the classics are getting a new twist. By May 2011, the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) will be required by the USPS. This will provide marketers with mail-tracking capabilities making timely follow up easier.

“Other improved direct marketing trends will include data enhancement and a shift in mailer designs,” says Ryan Cote, director of marketing for the Ballantine Corporation. “For instance, many of our clients are now choosing the ‘slim-jim’ magalog. It provides a large amount of creative real estate and still mails at letter rate.”

The bottom line is this: Marketers will of course continue to market in 2011, but in many cases, with a technological and/or efficiency upgrade.

About The Ballantine Corporation:
Family-owned since 1966, The Ballantine Corporation is a New Jersey-based company offering turnkey direct marketing services to companies, nationwide.

Their Ballantine iDirect program combines direct mail, e-mail and personalized URLs with a twist to boost response.

For more information about Ballantine, visit: www.Ballantine.com .

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News Source: The Ballantine Corporation :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

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The new website focuses on maximizing the use of social media to create ongoing relationships and provide interesting, up-to-date content. Allegro’s site is designed to start a conversation with current and potential clients. The site provides dynamic content relevant to the agency’s core client base – large insurance companies and financial services firms such as Genworth Financial, MassMutual, CIT Group, and Wells Fargo.

The website features the latest agency news, including frequent blog posts and regularly-updated information that is pertinent to clients. In addition, the site provides a Twitter feed of Allegro’s tweets (http://twitter.com/AllegroDM) and an interactive poll.

According to Russ Graunke, Jr., President of Allegro Communications, “Allegro’s newly launched website gives our clients and prospective clients the opportunity to get to know us better and understand how we can help them with their direct and Internet marketing efforts. With the new site design, we have created a searchable, online, information-rich resource.” He adds, “this is a radical departure from the ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ static website approach. Our content literally changes every few minutes.”

Allegro is known for its ability to quickly turn around complex marketing projects. From initial concept to “go live” date, the new Allegro site was developed and launched in just 10 business days.

Allegro Communications, Inc. is a direct marketing firm based in Chicago, Illinois with 18 years experience helping its clients create strategic, results-driven direct marketing communications. For more information, visit Allegro’s website at allegrolink.com.

FreshDM, a web-to-print application developed by Allegro, allows a company’s marketing managers or sales team to quickly and easily create custom, variable print and direct mail. To learn more about FreshDM, go to www.freshdm.com.

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News Source: Allegro Communications, Inc. :: This press release was issued by Send2Press® and is Copyright © 2009 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.