Using Direct Mail Gets Your Marketing Message to the Customer Faster

Direct mail, an exceptional prospecting tool, results in a fairly fast and measurable return.

As more companies decrease general efforts to promote their products, marketing aimed at acquiring customers and a measurable return on investment has taken a leap. The watchwords today are measurement and accountability, with a highly visible increase in spending on direct mail campaigns. Direct mail, an exceptional prospecting tool, results in a fairly fast and measurable return.

First, plan large mailings. A simple sales letter is different from direct mail, which is generally sent to at least 5,000 prospects at a time. Lists must be large because even good response rates may fall between 2 and 4 percent. In addition, direct mail campaigns are designed around a single goal, generally an action your prospects must take. It is not surprising that mailings designed to generate leads result in higher response rates than those designed to close sales.

Second, choose the best format, such as catalogs, letters, packages, or postcards. You can choose more than one type for your annual campaign. Oversized postcards attract attention and are inexpensive. You can use them to inform prospects about a coming event. Direct mail letters, on the other hand, can be complex packages with a teaser envelope promising something appealing on the inside, a one- or two-page cover letter, various inserts further describing the offer, and perhaps a business reply card and return envelope. If you want to guarantee that your mail gets opened, put it in a box. Recently, according to the Direct Marketing Association, dimensional mail averaged the highest response rate, at 5.49 percent, of any other direct mail medium.

Third, prepare your campaign by getting it all together. It takes a number of hands working together to design and print the pieces, including graphics and ad copy, selecting the mailing lists, and delivering it all to a mailing house for labeling and sending off to the prospects’ mailboxes.

Given the primary goal of attracting new customers, you should instruct your marketing team to design pieces pertinent to the needs of your target audience. The pieces should contain a strong offer. Studies show that interesting packaging and mailings that highlight a special offer or discount get the most attention. Be sure to provide consumers with alternative ways to respond, such as a business reply card, a toll-free number, an e-mail address, and a website.

A basic mailing list contains the names and addresses of prospects according to geography and demographics or Standard Industrial Classification codes and job titles. After deciding exactly on the audience you want to reach, you can obtain rental lists through list managers, trade and business publications, or associations. You can also engage a qualified list broker to obtain the best lists for your campaign. You should send several mailings to the same list, as people don’t always respond the first or second time. You can reduce your cost by negotiating for duplicate mailings when you buy your initial list.

It is advisable to have a mailing house personalize each piece with the name of the recipient and apply a tracking code to the response mechanism. Metered mail is commonly used in bulk mailings, but if your campaign requires a personal touch, you can use stamps.

You should always test and measure the results of your direct mailing. To improve your response rates, you must test the components of the campaign—the lists, your offers, and your design—one component at a time. Make small adjustments until you obtain the maximum results. Success should also be measured one campaign at a time.