|
Home
Up
Ask the Expert
New E-Book
Books in Print
Get Coaching Help
Corporate Services
Keynotes/Seminars
For the Media
Home Office Facts
Contact Us
| |
Direct Mail Toolkit
Increase the ROI on your next mailing with these
important tips.
By Kim T. Gordon
Brochures, postcards, catalogs,
newsletters... all are important direct mail tools for small businesses. But how
can you create a campaign that really delivers? The three most critical elements
to your success are your list, the package you mail, and your offer. Get all
three right, and you have a winning combination that will ensure the highest
possible response rate and return on your marketing investment.
Choose Your List
Whether you're targeting consumers
or business executives, know the important characteristics of your prospects,
such as where they live, their ages or job titles. And tell the list vendor
exactly which of these "selections" you require.
You can rent lists from:
• List managers and aggregators -- A reputable list manager can offer you a
variety of list options, tell you when the list you choose was last cleaned, how
often it has been used, and by whom.
• Publishers -- Many print publications, particularly business and trade
magazines, rent their subscriber lists for direct mail. Often these can be
segmented based on your geographic requirements, the subscribers’ job titles or
SIC codes.
• List brokers -- Since most are compensated by a 15 percent commission directly
from the list vendor or charge a fee for handling smaller list purchases,
working with a broker to find just the right list can be affordable on most
budgets.
When mailing to your own in-house
list, carefully segment it into groups with common interests or characteristics.
If you have multiple lists, check them against each other to remove costly
duplicate mailings. You can mail as often as several times per month to your
best customers.
Create Your Package
With so many mailing options,
choosing the best way to communicate can be tricky. Consider the complexity of
what you want to communicate and the unique needs of the recipients. And since
frequency and affordability are important to direct mail success, don't be
afraid to mix it up. You can kick off your direct mail campaign with an in-depth
multi-piece package, followed by a postcard, then a newsletter, another
postcard, and so on. You should mail at least three times to a list before
moving on.
More tips:
• A complex message, such as the introduction of a new
product or service, will typically require a sales
letter -- up to four pages long on average -- and brochure.
• Printing a "teaser" on the outside envelope can work against you by making
your package look like "junk mail."
• Use stamps instead of metered mail to give your pieces a more personal look.
• Pieces with addresses printed directly on the envelopes are more likely to be
opened than ones with address labels.
• Dimensional mail (in a tube or box) is a great tool for getting high response
rates from small lists of well-qualified prospects.
• Create a "dummy" package, weigh it, and check postal rates and regulations.
Adding or deleting a single element can dramatically change the cost of a large
mailing.
Make Your Offer
Though one to three percent is
considered a good average direct mail response rate, only experience with
multiple packages and offers will reveal your best possible rate. Make it easy
for prospects to respond by giving them many options, including telephone, fax,
mail and e-mail. According to the Direct Marketing Association, nearly 33
percent of people respond to direct mail by going online, for example. And build
in "involvement devices," such as by asking prospects to put a sticker on the
order form or check a box to order.
A great offer provides a real
incentive, and can be anything from a sale coupon or guarantee, to the promise
of exclusivity. You won't know precisely what energizes your prospects without
testing, so code every response mechanism and evaluate the list, package, and
offer individually until you have a winning combination.
Get In-depth
Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim
T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than
3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert
and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.
Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in
whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |