Direct Mailing Tips

Also See Marketing Tips - Doing Business without advertising is like smiling in the dark - you know what you are doing but no one else does.

In 1667 William Lucas mailed a printed price list of seeds and plants to his customers. The British gardener was thus credited with being the first direct marketer. Years later Ben Franklin offers over 600 books through his catalog book selling business.

The success of your campaign Depends on these 3 key points:

1. The accuracy and appropriateness of your mailing list.
2. the attractiveness of the offer that you send to your prospects.
3. The quality of the package that you mail.

You may have heard of the 40-40-20 rule attributed to the well known marketing expert Ed Mayer:

The mailing list and the offer are twice as important as the package itself.

Here are some tips that we have found helpful:

About Your Offer

• Determine your Expected Profits - Given the net profit from each order and the total cost of the mailing, is this mailing the correct move for you? If it will not be profitable, can it be justified with other benefits, like its positive impact on future mailings, or even letting past clients know that you are still around?

• Do Research - Find out who your mailing list should be made of. Get an accurate picture of your average customer or client and track trends. For mailed surveys you can consider offering something free to increase your response rates.

• Keep Good Records - One of the most overlooked things in direct marketing is the inability, or unwillingness to keep records of inquiries, sales, returns, costs of guarantees, and overall response rates. Keeping a good database enables you to learn from you mailings.

• Make Your Ad Piece Unique - Its hard enough to grab someone's attention with a mail piece. If your mail looks like the same old offer, the best mailing list in the world will not help you.

• Do Not Offer A Bargain - Now days buyers know that a reduced price means that either your product is not selling, or the unveiling of a new replacement product is coming soon. Try to sell on high value instead of low pricing. Lots of people are interested in high quality.

• Design The Outer Envelope - It can have a teaser line ("Guess what you've just received"), Good graphics, or simply let it be hand written, but try to make it look like a one of a kind letter.

• Design the Brochure - Some Questions to ask yourself:

1. Is it exciting and dramatic?
2. Is it special and personable?
3. Is the product or service being offered clear?
4. Is there a stopping point or idea to grab the recipient?
5. Is there enough good content?
6. Does it pose questions whose answers will cause buyers to identify with the problems solved by your offer?

• Use Some Humor - There is no better way to get the attention of your prospects than to catch them off guard with a bit of humor.

• Give them something of value - Here are some possibilities:

1. Twenty humorous quotations
2. Calendar or planner
3. Exotic tea bags
4. Refrigerator magnets
5. Attractive wall poster
6. Booklet of business information
7. chance to win a prize
8. Puzzles or brain teasers

• Include a Response Piece - A good response piece makes it easy for the buyer to reply, and typically restates the offer made in the main letter, outlines the payment options, and mentions guarantees. An 800 number works well too.

Getting Your Letters Read

• Keep The Text Simple - Select words that are descriptive, clear, short, and powerful - Avoid lengthy, convoluted sentences. Use good grammar - Keep the paragraphs short, three to five sentences will do just fine.

• Write With Attitude - Use send pronouns (you, your) as opposed to talking about yourself, your company, or your offer (me, mine, we, our). Identify with the readers needs.

• Get The Readers Attention Right Away

1. Tell a story
2. Quote a surprising statistic
3. Make a shocking statement
4. Describe the prospects problems that you are solving
5. Refer to a current news story

• Address The Envelope To A Person, Not The "Current Resident"

• Try Not To End The First Page With a Period - In a two page letter arrange the last sentence of the first page to continue on to the second page.

• Draw Attention to Important Words And Phrases Using A variation of Fonts, Underlining, and Italics. - Be sure not to overdo it.

• Call For Action - In the last paragraph ask the reader to do something.

We certainly hope that these tips have helped you, if you have any other questions regarding your direct marketing efforts, please do not hesitate to call or email us here. . . even if you are not making a purchase at this time, we will help you plan and carry out your marketing.