3 Ways To Make Direct Mail More Effective

February 9, 2010 by evanyone
Filed under: promotions 

The majority of our clients tell us, “We’ve tried direct mail business and it didn’t function.” This experience leaves us asking, “Why do some programs not work as well as expected, while others do well beyond a company’s wildest dreams?” Taking into consideration the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), direct mail can pull in answers rates as high as 15% or as low as 0.03%. With such a huge gap, it is easy to understand why a lot of companies have lost their trust in this very popular marketing tip.

Over the years we’ve understood how well a direct mail program works depending on the chemistry of three parts- format, suggestion, and list-and whether or not you have made the program with enough frequency and follow-up triggers built in. But before you may pull these three parts into the most effective program possible, you have to first define:

The goal of the direct mail piece (For instance, is your goal lead generation or direct-to-order?)

The up-to-date relationship you have with the list. Is it a cold list or has qualification already happened? (For example, have they already attended a seminar or webinar of yours or downloaded something from your website?)

Then stick to this recommendation as you create your direct mail business program:

FORMAT. Direct mail comes in a huge choice of formats-the postcard, the business letter, or the 2-D or 3-D package to name just a few. The truth is, all three of these formats pull about the equal percentage of responses, when employed right. The magic then is to select the format most suited to achieve your aim and peculiar audience.

OFFER. The offer is a vital aspect to a beneficial direct mail effort. From our experience, the strongest direct mail offer is one aimed at driving traffic to a website or retail location for the next qualification and/or selling (qualification if the contact is still cold and selling if it’s a contact where qualification has already occurred through a previous marketing activity). This offer can be anything from a free of charge product demonstration, an online ROI calculator, an article download from the website, or simply retrieving more product information.

LIST. The list is possibly the single most essential element to an efficient direct mail effort. If you have the best format and offer but send out cards to the wrong list, you will still have nothing. And, even if you are sure you have sent it to the right list, if that list has not yet been qualified you will throw out a huge sum of money. Even a house list may get quickly out of date. Conduct a qualifying call down of any list you plan to mail to and make sure the list is still a) accurate and b) qualified to receive your offer. Perform the call short (3-4 qualifying questions at the most). Just after you’ve connected with and qualified the prospect should you place them in your direct mail engine. This will save marketing precious dollars and sales precious time, while ultimately making the whole campaign more efficient.

Direct mail will always be one of the most compelling ways to prospect, and when done strategically, pulls high open rates and generates marvelous leads. Make relevant and cost-effective selections, tool with a frequency of at least three impressions, be sure to follow-up on each prospect you get to take an action and watch those leads pour in!

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