These 5 truths can help you to implement a successful direct mail marketing campaign.
In marketing to your potential prospects/customers you'll need to understand some rudimentary direct mail marketing principles that will help you to acquire new prospects/customers effectively:
1) A postcard is more visible and more effective than even the most compelling sales letter stuffed into an envelope.
There's nothing to open with a postcard, so your prospect/customer doesn't have to open anything to see what you want them to see.
People are fast and merciless when it comes to thumbing thru the mail. We see and read very quickly - actually much more quickly than we even realize. Think about yourself - how fast do you go through your mail and process out what you want to keep and what you don't want to keep...it takes a fraction of second to decide whether you are going to bother looking at a piece of mail. If you are a poor #10 envelope, what chance do you have to be opened to reveal what lies within?
With a postcard, even if the recipient throws it away, they have already visually registered a portion of your message regardless of whether they think they did or not. They saw it enough to either throw it away or keep it or respond to it.
And if they tossed it, the next time they get that same postcard in the mail, they'll see it again - as they throw it in the trash, again., or something might click, and you've engaged your prospect!
Let's face it - junque (I don't use a "k" in that word) mail gets thrown away. And postcards are junque mail just like other advertisements you get in the mail.
Frequency can help you bridge the gap between being junque and useful...especially if you offer a service!
2) Frequency is the key to postcard marketing.
How many times do you have to tell your spouse-or vise-a-versa-to take out the garbage?, close the lid on the toilet? Feed the pets, etc... Two, three times? Well it is no different when we see things in the mail. The first time almost everyone pays no attention...some do. The second time a few more take notice, and a third time even more make recognition. When you are targeting a finite geography (cities, towns, Counties, Zips) the more you repeat an action, the more familiar the target audience becomes.
People start to really believe you exist when they see your postcard over and over in the mail. It communicates credibility and gives people the idea that you are established and not going to go away. Some people may respond right away - a lot of people do not.
Think about all the mail you receive at home and think about the companies that hit you again and again. In your own mind, I'll bet those companies are more real and more credible then some company you received just one piece of mail from.
The long and the short of it is, frequency, not quantity is your best bet for cultivating a localized clientele.
3 Don't print both sides of the postcard in full-color.
Why? Because full-color on both sides is confusing. People don't know where to look first, and your message can get completely lost. On the other hand, if you have an attractive full-color front - with a great headline - the recipient will just want to turn that postcard over. And that's where your main message is, your call to action, your offer, and your contact information.
4) Promote one and ONLY one thing at a time on your postcard.
Even if you sell lots of different products and services, you only promote one of them. It is okay to mention more of the more popular services you offer on the back of the postcard bullet pointed. But your main focus on the front of your postcard needs to be one product, service, or item.
The purpose of a postcard is to generate enough interest so that the recipient takes a solitary action to contact or visit your business.
5) A person could grow a business with no other marketing media.
Postcards are a staple that works as long as you mail with frequency.
Enough said, now start mailing!
Any questions? Contact the DCSListGuy @ 203-546-8551 or email to:
DCSListGuy@GreatMailingLists.com
One of the really cool things about Direct Marketing is its measurability. Run a space ad in a local paper, buy a radio spot, local cable TV...you need to look at the big picture to determine if it is working. Not so with Direct Marketing, and Direct Mail in particular. The results of a winning mailing can be exhilarating. Few things can compare with opening your mailbox-or Inbox if you're driving traffic/orders online-to find a bunch of emails or envelopes filled with orders! Imagine if you could "move the needle" and increase the response to your offer? Do so and a marginal mailing becomes a winner, and a winner a world champion!
So How do I "move the needle?"
Following are 15 Tips to consider when developing your next direct mail campaign. There are more...to be revealed in a subsequent post...So here are 15 excellent techniques to enable your mailings to pull a stronger response. (Lame disclaimer) Not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. Review the techniques whenever you're planning a mailing and incorporate the ones that apply to your situation.
1. Carefully target your audience.
Sale dollars can be directly connected to your ability to accurately identify your most likely customers. You might consider creating different versions of your package tailored to each specifically targeted audience.
2. Buy Mail Lists
Many experts I have read and listened to over the years assign the greatest importance to the actual mailing list chosen. Anywhere from 40% to 60% of the overall success rate of a direct mailing depends upon the quality of your business mailing list or consumer mailing list.
3. Focus on your Customer's Needs (and Solve their most irritating issue), not your product.
Customers have limited interest in your product or company. But they have unlimited interest in their needs, solutions to their problems, and making their lives better. Concentrate on fulfilling their needs through the use of your product or service. Remember, most customers don't buy products, but they do buy solutions to problems that plague them. If your product solves a critical problem, pull out all stops to let your customers know.
4. Always stress Benefits.
Always concentrate on how your product will benefit your customers-both logically and emotionally. Repeat your key benefits (3 seems to be the magic number for me...unless it's my wife telling me to take out the garbage...lol) in the beginning, middle, and end of your email, letter or brochure. Tell your readers once, tell them again, and then tell them one more time. Remember, people buy benefits, not products.
5. Immediately Seize the reader's attention! Use an Impactful headline or first sentence.
Some letters benefit from a headline. Either the headline or first sentence must be very powerful in order to convince your prospects that your letter is worth reading. Don't waste space building up to your blockbuster points. Start with them. You have only a few sentences to convince your prospects to keep reading your letter. Give them what they need to make sure they continue.
6. Never end a sentence at the bottom of a page in a sales letter.
Always use a broken sentence to carry your reader forward onto the next page of your letter. Kind if tricky, but it works.
7. Share some "inside" information.
Direct mail affords a perfect opportunity to appeal to a person's vanity-a need to feel special. An ideal way to do this is to share some exclusive information. Make it clear that this offer is being made only to them.
8. Feature the offer.
Everyone loves a good deal. Make it a key focal point of your letter. A strong offer can often be the extra incentive that will convert your "maybes" to buyers.
9. Give something away for FREE or Run a contest.
Free samples, trials, demonstrations, consultations, or information are all super ways of getting customers to give your product or service a hands-on try. Sometimes that is all it takes to close the sale. Give away a free enrollment in your seminar, a free subscription to your newsletter, or anything else that appeals to your buyers.
10. Use a special "before the price increases" offer.
If you plan to raise your prices, make your regular customers a special offer at the old price for a limited time.
11. Make a time-limited offer.
Offer a special deal for a limited period of time. And do just that-legally you can't continue a time-limited offer indefinitely.
12. Base your offer on a limited supply.
A close-out of your inventory can create strong demand. A limited supply offer can be used to designate exclusivity and prestige.
13. Offer a special deal to the first 100 people who order.
The key is to keep it to a meaningful limit as an incentive for customers to act quickly.
14. Make a "last chance" offer.
Last chance at this price, inventory close-outs, and last chance before a model change can all be used to successfully win more orders.
15. "Buy 1 get 1 FREE" always out pulls "2 for the price of 1."
Although the savings are precisely the same, the first format sounds like the customer is getting a better bargain.
As mentioned in the beginning, not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. The key is to review the techniques whenever you're planning a mailing. Pick the ones that best apply to your situation and put them to work. Always remember the most important three words in direct marketing...test, test, and test!