|
Direct Mail is one of the most powerful tactics used in marketing different products and services. If done correctly, it can surely be an instrument to boost your sales and investment returns. It's competitive and time consuming, but it works. You better be ready to compete on a whole new level. Thankfully, technology has lowered the costs of entry for direct mail campaigns. Have you ever asked yourself why is it called direct mail? Well, it is called so because it asks for a direct response from its recipients. Mail can be sent in a form of a letter, post card, door hanger, or other stuff that catches much attention. There are also a lot of factors that affect the response rate of every direct mail campaign. Quality of the list is one of these factors. Timing of the mailing is also another factor since time of the week, month, or year that you send your mail to your targeted clients also has an effect on the response rate of the customers. Response rate is also affected with the quality of the mails that you're sending. A mailing piece should have the following components like well-thought headline, good consumer benefits, well-established credibility, good offer and good quality of paper used. To achieve great results in your direct mail campaign, it is necessary that after every campaign you keep track on the timing, the special offers given, response rates, and sales that are generated. Through this analysis, you can work on the things that need improvement and changes to boost more your sales growth. While doing the analysis, don't be fooled with very high response rates. Of course having 100 responses and 2 sales is not that impressive compared to 5 responses and 4 sales. While it is good to have high response rates, generating much higher sales through your marketing investment is still the ultimate measurement of success. Going back to the components of a well-made direct mail piece, it's essential that you consider if the mail that you are making is actually addressing the concerns and needs of your clients. If you want it to grab attention, don't send out a vanilla or, shall we say, a "yellow-paged" type ad. A Good Mailing Piece Should: - Be personalized if possible (Use PURLS or personal URLS on your print ads. Send people to their very own personal URL!)
- Be crafted as an ad in letter form
- Address the concerns of the recipient
- Be stated in terms of benefits rather than features or advantages
- Highlight the things that set you and your service/product apart
- Ask for a direct response from the recipient; and
- Include an incentive to take action now.
So to wrap up, direct mail can be a great instrument in boosting your sales if done correctly. While crafting your mailings, you have to always check your marketing investment and at the same time track the timing, response rate, conversion rate, and the sales generated as a result of your direct mail campaign. If you craft an excellent direct mail piece and run a campaign often, you'll be better positioned to reach your targeted sales sooner than what you were expecting.
Related Articles -
Email marketing, Direct mail,
| 
