Improve Your Direct Mail Success Rate With Our 6 Top Tips
by: Steven Sellwood
A mailing list of valued customers is probably one of the most valuable assets your business could own. The fact of the matter is that a loyal customer will typically spend 5 times more in your business than a new customer. So how do you start to build a list of loyal customers for your business?
One of the most effective ways of building your customer list is to use direct mail. It is the ideal tool for testing a new market; announcing a new product or changes to an existing one because of the huge numbers of people you can reach with one mailing campaign.
But running a successful direct mail campaign is not as simple as purchasing any mailing list, writing a mail shot, and sending it. To be successful, your mailing campaign needs careful planning.
These are our six tips to planning a successful direct mail marketing campaign.
Tip 1: Identify your “perfect” customer
The first step in any direct mail campaign is to look at your existing customer base and identify a profile for your “perfect customer”. You have already been successful in selling your product or service to this type of person or business. If you can identify other customers or businesses with a similar profile then it stands to reason that many of them will have a similar need that you can for fill.
If selling to consumers you need to consider characteristics like their age, income, and geography. When selling business to business, also take into consideration features like the type of business and number of employees.
Once you have established what your perfect customer looks like, you can then purchase a mailing list to match. The closer match your mailing list is to your profile, the better response rate you are likely to obtain from your direct mail campaign.
Tip 2: Know who you are sending to
The difference between junk mail and direct mail is that junk mail is not wanted and goes directly into the bin but direct mail is wanted and is read. Avoid your direct mail marketing being seen by your recipients as junk mail.
Always make sure that you know the name of the right person to send your direct mail to and address them in person. Never address your mailing campaign to a job title, as it will be instantly discarded. And do not rely on others to pass your message on to the right person – they won’t!
Tip 3: Write copy with impact
Copy is the argument you write to sell your product or service. To be noticed, your copy needs to be made up of all the following parts:
· An attention-grabbing headline.
· A sub-headline stating your unique selling proposition.
· Text that invokes desire in the reader and paints a picture in words of them using your product or service and enjoying its benefits.
· Testimonials of customers that have already benefited from using your product or service.
· Have a compelling offer.
· Provide a clear call to action that tells the reader exactly what you want them to do next.
Tip 4: Grab attention with design
With any direct mail campaign, the design of the message is also important. It needs to grab a reader’s attention while visually clarifying the written message that you are trying to put across.
1. Use one visual detail like a photo, cartoon, or graphic to dominate the page.
2. Never use more than two typefaces, one for headings, and another for text.
3. Include lots of white space to make a lasting impact.
4. Ensure that your text is easy to read.
5. Use bullets, bold type, and underlines. Keep paragraphs short.
6. Display your logo prominently and do not forget your contact details like phone number, mail address, web site and email.
7. Make responding to your mailing campaign easy by including a stamped addressed postcard or fax back form.
Tip 5: Test your market
Always test your direct mail marketing on small groups changing one thing each time and measuring the response you get back. The three basic elements of any mailing campaign that you should test are:
1. Your List: Keep your offer the same and compare to a different mailing list.
2. Your Copy: Keep your mailing list the same and change your copy. Try different headings, discounts, gifts, samples etc.
3. Your Style: Try a humorous approach or a serious one. Change the photos, ink or paper colours, envelope design etc.
Tip 6: Always follow-up
Always follow up on your direct mail with a phone call a few days later. A single conversation can improve returns dramatically.
About The Author:
Steven Sellwood is Managing Director of Selectabase Ltd providers of Startupsplus Startupsplus, a unique direct mail marketing solution that sends you monthly lists of all new and changing businesses in your chosen geographical area.
http://www.startupsplus.co.uk/
March 2006
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