If youre apprehensive about starting a direct mail campaign dont be. Direct mail, despite the low response rate percentage is still one of the best marketing and advertising initiatives out there, thats why you dont see it slowing down. When direct mail is done right, its going to give you a great return on your investment a terrific bang for you buck.
If thats true, why do you suppose there are so many business owners that are opposed to them? There could be a number of answers, but more often than not, business owners dont have a firm grasp of what is necessarily to have a successful direct mail campaign. Owners typically run just one postcard that they designed themselves and expect to be flooded with sales calls and new customers. It doesnt work that way. In order to maximize your investment in direct mail you want to keep these things in mind: test, hire a professional, be memorable, be quick, be easy to read and make a compelling offer, oh, and checkout the insider tips below:
Offer something of value that prospects can take advantage of immediately
Test your direct mail first! Ask several of your best customers what they think of the postcard. Avoid asking friends and family ask the people that buy from you!
When you are testing, make sure you test both the title and the offer. Try different combinations of both to get the optimal mix.
Youve got less than 3 seconds to get someones attention. Ask yourself am I certain that my postcard can do it? If not, hire a professional.
Make sure you include a call to action. Thats what this is all about; you want your prospects to act. Give them an easy to follow, low-risk offer.
Give your postcard to an 8 year old and ask them to read the postcard and then to tell you what the call to action is. If they arent sure, change your call to action.
To get better results, make your offer for a limited time, add some urgency to your prospects acting. Act now!, or For a Limited Time Only.
Offer a reward, free gift or discount for prospects that do act quickly.
Is your postcard bold, easy to follow, interesting and uncluttered? Remember, youre competing for your prospects attention, and youre up against hundreds of other pieces of mail. If its not all of these things, hire a professional.
Ask a fusion business partner to join in on the promotion. This is called co-operative advertising. If you both combine your mailing lists you have 2X the people. Note: Make sure it makes sense in the prospects mind that you are teaming up on this promotion.
Keep in mind that postcards with stamps get read more often than metered mail.
Personalize the artwork as much as possible. Remember that people love it when they can relate to what you are saying.
Remember that repetition works on people. I said, repetition works on people. In order to start seeing returns on your investment, plan on sending out at least 3-6 mail pieces.
Think about including a PS in your message. The PS is one, if not the most read items in a postcard or letter.
Using bullet points and quick sentences is always a good idea. Incorporate titles and sub titles if appropriate.
Lastly, make sure you are actually offering something in your postcard. Companies all too often just put information about their business. No one cares about this, you want an offer, exciting news, an idea that youre eager to share something other than Heres our company, please come in and buy. Give people something to get excited about! This isnt a comprehensive list, by any stretch, but itll give you a head start over your competition that might not be aware of these points at all. Youll of course want to track and analyze your results, but thats for another article. Remember: test, hire a professional, be memorable, be quick, be easy to read and make a compelling offer. |
