Direct Mail Campaigns

So, you're deciding on whether or not to employ a direct-mail campaign as part of your marketing plan?  There are several things you will need to consider to make the direct mail campaign as effective as it can be. Although a direct-mail campaign is best used as a supplement to another campaign (such as newspaper ads, or sales call, etc.), there are a few major factors that will improve the overall success of the mailing:

• LISTS. The quality of the list of recipients, and how well this list matches the qualifications your company desires. Depending on what your company is selling or promoting, your list may need to target a specific group such as "homeowners", or a specific gender, geographic area, or other attributes. The closer you can come to an "ideal" list of recipients, the more success you will have in the mail campaign. For example, if you are a pizza shop advertising a special, you may want recipients to live within your pizza delivery radius, are past "pizza" customers, and also between the ages of 18 and 40. In many cases, knowing who the true decision maker is, and addressing the mail directly to that person also greatly helps.
  
  
• OFFERS. The offer or the incentive that you wish your recipients to act upon. (Such as "call now to save 20%, and so on). Usually, the better the offer, the better the response... however, in many industries a recipient also may be leery of using "lowest prices", and "limited time/act now-type" offers. A great way to determine where your offers should be is to gauge what your direct competitors use as offers, too. Researching and/or testing the waters with an offer can also help you understand what works best for your business. In sending out a few test-runs, you can learn whether it is a dollar-off, a percentage off, or some intangible offer such as "while supplies last" that your audience responds to most frequently.
  
  
• THEME. The message, the tone, and the images (or the approach) used to convey the message. Your mail piece can do a lot to provide the recipient (especially one who is not already familiar with your work) with an impression of your company and the way you do business. It can give them a preconception as to what type of "personality" your company has such as fun, creative, or leading-edge. A small piece of mail can influence what a recipient does or does not already know about your company, too. Because most recipients will not have a huge attention-span for your mailing (sorry, but it's true), it is also important to convey your message clearly and concisely.
  
  
• FINANCES. Budgeting and calculating the success of the mailings is very important, too. Remember, each piece of mail will need to be printed, and then addressed and stamped. With rising postage, the cost-per-piece can be substantially more than you anticipated. Prepare ahead by having large pieces, such as catalogs and oversize mail weighed in advance. You also need to keep in mind that repetition builds recognition... so you may want to consider mailing more than once to the same recipient, thus increasing your printing and mailing costs, too. 
  
  As with any offer, you will also want to track your response rate and your ROI (or Return on Investment). Keep in mind that while leads may respond very favorably to an offer you present, such as "Save $50 on your next order", if your business will not make any profit from that sale, the ROI will be very low, even though the response rate is high. Weighing the responses as well as the monetary investment and return will help you determine the success of your direct mail piece as well as help you plan future mail campaigns.