Observations on Direct Mail
Direct mail is not cool. It’s not hip. Web 2.0 and viral marketing are much hipper. But direct mail can still be a successful marketing channel. What follows are general observations based on my own experience and gleaned from other sources. The focus is on direct mail that includes a letter, but some of these ideas can be carried over to any direct mail piece.
Where to Start
The first step is to formalize what you want out of the campaign, how you will achieve it, and how results will be tracked.
Once that is clear, it's worth looking at the cost. Direct mail tends to be fairly expensive to produce and mail out. Make sure that the direct mail campaign can be justified financially. Some common costs include printing and mailing, as well as the cost of the creative from the advertising agency and charges for list purchases, etc.
Mailing List
A targeted mailing list is critical to the success of a direct mail campaign. The more targeted the list, the better the result per mailed piece. So the questions to ask are: Who would buy this product? How can I reach them?
To take a simple example, the market for surf boards is probably pretty minimal in landlocked Idaho. In southern California, though, there are surfing beaches aplenty. Geographical targeting for people who have access to surfable ocean would be a first step. After that, the next step would be to look at how you can reach them. For instance, who can you purchase a list from? One possible list source would be a surfing specialty magazine.
It’s also generally worth leveraging your current customer list. Current customers may not know about the product you want to promote, or they may need reminding. They are potentially a great segment to mail to.
The more refined the list, the better the results on a per mailed piece basis. However, in order to construct a successful targeted list, you need a clear idea of who will respond well to what you're marketing.
Customer’s Reaction
The customers’ reactions are critical to the success of the campaign. If the outside envelope doesn't grab the customer, straight into the garbage the piece will go. If the copy or offer don’t appeal, you’ll never hear back.
Since this is a fairly broad topic and contains ideas about copy, design, the offer and the call to action I’ve divided it up into subgroups. Even then, I’ve only covered some of the more frequently canvassed ideas about what is successful in direct mail.
Copy
One of the advantages of targeted lists is that you know who you’re sending to and hopefully have a pretty good idea of what will appeal to them. Keep this in mind when putting together the copy. Focus on the benefits of the product and why the customer would be interested in buying the product. Including a P.S. that re-states the offer can also be an effective addition.
Creating a sense of urgency can improve response rates. For instance, give the recipient a certain timeline in which to reply. Without a sense of urgency, the letter may be left to gather dust.
Most marketers seem to lean toward copy that is concise, with short sentences, short paragraphs, and bullet points. What works, though, will vary depending on the audience.
Design
The outside envelope is critical. It’s your opportunity to make a first impression. At a glance, recipients will decide if the letter is something to keep, or rip up and throw in the trash. Give the recipient a compelling reason to open the letter.
The design should also draw attention to the offer, as that is one of the driving forces behind getting people to respond.
Offer
The offer is an incentive for the customer to buy the product, sign up for the service, fill out the survey, etc. For instance, if they buy the product, then the offer might be that you’ll send them a blender. Or, if it’s a service, the offer might be a credit on their bill. As with the copy, the offer needs to be tailored to the recipients so that it appeals to them.
The higher the perceived value of the offer, generally speaking the more effective it will be. However, this needs to be weighed against the value of the customer. For instance if the customer value is $100, an offer that costs you $105 won’t make sense.
Call to Action
All direct mail mail should include a call to action. It’s worth including this in more than one location in the mailing. The call to action should be simple for the recipient to follow through on, and it also needs to be crystal clear what the next step is. The response also needs to be tracked so the profitability of and response to the campaign can be analyzed.
General
Put yourself on the mailing list. Make sure you receive all versions of the mailing that goes out.
Analysis
Once you get the results back, run an analysis. Was the response rate what you expected? Was this campaign profitable? If so, by how much? Did one test version outperform the others? What are you going to test next? Who are you going to send it to?
More Information
Designing Strong Direct Mail Letters
Tips For A Successful Direct Mail Campaign
WHEN IT'S OK TO USE BAD GRAMMAR
28 design tips to improve the effectiveness of your advertising and direct mail