Meet Our Content Writer: Paul Bobnak

Hi, Ashley here from the marketing fronts of mailing.com!

Since our blog readership has gone up, we thought you might appreciate a little introduction to the guy behind the blogs you read.

We know your time is valuable and we want you to know that you truly are learning and reading from someone with decades worth of direct mail experience. He’s not a random writer on the internet writing blogs for SEO purposes only, he is part of our team and family here.

Our team works together to brainstorm, research, and thoughtfully craft the content that we publish. There is an intention behind each post and we hope it brings value to you. If you ever have any content suggestions feel free to send them over to ajorgensen@mailing.imccann.com. We would love to create something just for you!

We hope you enjoy my one-on-one chat with Paul Bobnak! He is one of a kind.

1. (Ashley Jorgensen) What are your interests?

(Paul Bobnak) Hiking, volunteering at my local public radio music station, reading, cycling, and trying (and really liking) plant-based foods of all kinds (I’m a pescetarian/not 100% vegetarian yet).  

2. (AJ) Where are you from? /where did you grow up?

(PB) I’m from the western suburbs of Philadelphia. I’ve lived all over in what we call “The Delaware Valley”, places like South Jersey, University City/West Philly, and now the Main Line area. So to me, a good breakfast starts with a soft pretzel!

3. (AJ) How’d you get started in this industry?

(PB) Because I’m pretty detail-oriented, I was asked to run Who’s Mailing What! – a marketing research service – for Target Marketing magazine. I would review a sampling of mail – about 2,000 pieces a month – that we received from people around the country, then write about it, and provide information about it to marketers, ad execs, and printers.  

4. (AJ) How does your deep understanding of the direct mail industry help you write engaging articles?

(PB) I just put myself in the shoes of marketing and printing customers and help them learn something new that can help them do their job better, faster, and easier.

5. (AJ) What do you like most about direct mail?

(PB) I love that direct mail is tangible and physical. We live on our phones, right? We see ads, email, videos and movies, listen to music and podcasts. So mail is a big break from looking at that screen, it’s more permanent and in a lot of ways, more versatile creatively-speaking. 

6. (AJ) In your experience, what’s the most overlooked aspect of direct mail?

(PB) That so many marketers think it has to be separate from the rest of their marketing and branding. There are lots of creative ways to tie it to other channels, and take advantage of what makes it unique and special. 

7. (AJ) What has fueled your passion for it over the years?

(PB) With direct mail, there’s always new twists, new or evolving technologies that ensure that it’s a living channel and can continue to be helpful and interesting to customers and marketers

8. (AJ) What’s one thing about this industry that people might not know or appreciate?

(PB) The mail and postal ecosystem is really big and complex, and that’s not exactly a bad thing. It’s evolved that way to be helpful to marketers and consumers, and there’s good science- and statistics-based reasons for most things, like using postage vs indicia, or different types of #10 envelopes.

9. (AJ) What has been your favorite piece of mail?

(PB) I liked the famous “2 Young Men” Wall Street Journal subscription letter that made about $2 billion – you have to respect that especially because it was so simple. But my favorite has to be a postcard I got for Patient First, a chain of urgent care centers. It had a personalized map on it showing how to get there, so it’s helpful and a good use of variable data printing.

10. (AJ) What’s one thing marketers should pay attention to when designing a campaign? 

(PB) The most important thing to remember is to get your data absolutely right before you start. Once you have that, you can focus on your audience and build everything around them, whether it’s a segment or 1-to-1 marketing. Don’t waste money on printing and postage!

Now that you know a little more about us, we’d love to hear more about you! Contact our team at mailing.com!