Direct mail marketing is a solid communication tool that any business can use to engage a target audience and prompt them to take action. It isn’t just for marketing and sales personnel. In fact, it can be used for direct customer communications by HR managers, operations managers, and other non-sales staff. The right techniques used by professionals offer valuable insight to anyone who is charged with executing a direct mail campaign. This post will guide you on essential tips for targeting an audience, maximizing the effectiveness of a direct mail campaign, and compelling desired action.
Effective Direct Mail Campaign Tip
A QUALITY LIST
Thousands of dollars are wasted on creating and sending out direct mail that never reaches its intended target. A quality list purchased from a reputable email marketing company can help you get over hitches such as duplicate entries, names on do-no-mail lists, or undeliverable addresses. These lists are kept up-to-date, and entries are added, updated, and deleted on a regular basis.
Every year, more than 40 million Americans change their postal addresses. An updated mailing list can reduce the volume of undeliverable mails. For those who find list management, maintenance, and updating to be a daunting task, it’s best to purchase an up-to-date direct mail list from an email marketing company.
THE RIGHT CHANNELS
Determine which channels are the best to communicate directly with your audience. Find out what would be most effective: a combination of direct mail and email, or direct mail and social media. Channel selection is the most important aspect of any direct mail strategy. Find out who your audience is, what do you know about them and their communication preferences. A strategic integration of channels can drive best results for businesses. For example,
Print and email
Print and web landing pages
Print, email, and web landing pages
Print and mobile marketing
A CALL-TO-ACTION
Without a clear and compelling reason to respond, your audience isn’t going to do anything about the direct mail they have received. You need to convince your audience that the offer is valuable and compel them to act immediately. Here’s how you can structure your offer:
Offer value, description, and benefits
Define call-to-action, i.e. visit a website, dial a toll-free number, scan a QR code etc.
Mention product and summarize its benefits
Repeat call-to-action
The better your offer is, the better your chances of getting a positive response from your audience. Below are a few ways in which you could improve your response rate:
Remove excessive response barriers, and provide easier channels for response such as a toll-free number, QR codes, business reply mail
Make it simple and easy to respond, use pre-populated forms or response cards
Include testimonials
Use email/mobile to alert the recipients about the offer
Follow up with a phone call or an email
Direct mail marketing is widely used for its precision, relevancy and effectiveness. Using these tips, you’ll be able to supplement higher levels of personalization and drive the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns.
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