7 Ways to Jump Start Your Next Direct Mail Campaign  

 By Joe Haddad

 

Even in today’s electronic age, direct mail remains an effective means of one-on-one communication because it is an affordable way to reach targeted groups. But a direct mail campaign – especially for a small business – can become extremely complicated. You have to think about designing and printing the mailer, securing the mailing lists, following postal regulations, getting the best postage rates and tracking your success.

 

Get a “jump start” on your direct mail program by following these guidelines guaranteed to get more mileage from your mailings.

 

1. Get on course

Identify objectives for your direct mail campaign. Do you want to:

·        Generate repeat business?

·        Draw traffic for a Web site?

·        Target new customers?

·        Invite customers to an event?

·        Educate your customers?

·        Provide added value?

 

Rather than using a random resident list based on postal code, identify your ideal customer and target your mailings. You can reach just about any audience based on demographic characteristics.

 

2. Know a little polish goes a long way.

If your mailing piece looks like junk mail, it will probably not get opened and may not even get delivered. Consider using real stamps, first class postage and printed addresses instead of mailing labels to help your message get noticed.

 

3. Circle the block.

It takes multiple contacts to get a customer’s attention and stimulate enough interest to take action. Create a plan for multiple contacts, which may be a combination of postcards, brochures and other formats.

 

4. Survey the track.

By tracking responses, you can find out more about your most likely prospects and how to target future mailings. Assign unique codes, extension numbers or different names to direct mail pieces that are going to different customer segments or geographic areas.

 

5. Follow the rules.

Make sure the person handling your mailing sees your artwork before it’s printed.  Ideally, you have a printer in your area that coordinates mailings and can guide you in following postal regulations to avoid costly format, size and other mistakes.

 

6.  Travel cheap.

Take advantage of discounted postage rates. Bar-coding, presorting and using standardized addresses can save more than 10 cents per mailer. Small businesses with lower mailing volumes can take advantage of discounts by working with a company that offers mailing services.

 

7. Take a test drive.

Before doing a full press run of your direct mail piece, test a limited quantity among a small subset of your mailing list. If the piece is not getting the desired response, you can still make changes with limited cost. 

 

As a final note, the fewer people involved in your mailing project, the better. Ideally, try to find a single source for graphic design, printing, mailing lists and mail fulfillment. It makes a big difference to have one person in the driver’s seat.