5 Tips for a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

Don’t be fooled by consumers’ reliance on smartphones and the internet. Direct mail marketing campaigns can still make an impact on your bottom line.

Companies have really doubled down when it comes to digital marketing, and rightfully so. We spend so much time plugged into our emails, social media profiles and just browsing the web. But because we are constantly bombarded with digital ads left and right, it’s easy to be blind to them. That’s why businesses shouldn’t discredit the power of a direct mail campaign.

Snail mail is not going away anytime soon and that means it’s another way to reach your target audience. But it’s never wise to just start sending flyers to the members of your community. In order to put a successful direct mail campaign into market, you need a plan.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your campaign.

1. Define Your Target Audience

In a perfect world, you’d want everyone to want and need your product and services. But when you’re spending your time and money on marketing, defining your target audience is key.

Don’t be afraid to get specific either. The more you know about these consumers, the better you can shape the messaging you use to reach them.

Once you know who they are, you can move on to the next steps in creating your direct mail marketing campaign.

2. Get A List

You know who you’re trying to reach and now it’s time to figure out how to reach them. Acquiring a list that is stacked with relevant and targeted recipients is crucial when it comes to the success of the campaign.

Think of it like this. If you’re sending out direct response campaigns to anyone within spitting distance of your business, your response rate might be less than favorable. That’s because not everyone in your area may be in need of your product or services. But if you’re making sure your campaign gets into the right hands by sending the mail campaign to the right people, your return on investment will be much improved.

3. Create A Clear And Simple Message

After your target audience receives your marketing collateral in the mail, what do you want them to do? Once you know your call-to-action, everything else will fall into place. Your message should be clear and simple to not distract from your call-to-action. The biggest mistake we’ve seen with direct mail campaigns is that businesses try to stuff as much information as they can into the postcard or catalog. The saying is “less is more” for a reason!

Your campaign should simply answer the following questions:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Where are you?
4. Why are you contacting them?
5. How can you help?

Basing your messaging around answering these simple questions will make your overall message clear and concise. Potential clients and consumers will know exactly what to do next.

4. Design a Compelling Piece

When it finally comes time to design your mailer, start by choosing the medium. Is your audience going to be more excited about a catalog or a postcard? What kind of incentive will entice them to follow through with your call-to-action? What images or layout will help convey your overall message?

These are just some of the things you need to consider when designing the collateral for your campaign. The most important thing to remember is to keep the design on brand. You want anyone who comes across your direct mail campaign to recognize your brand no matter where they see it. That means keeping the design consistent when it comes to your brick-and-mortar locations, website, emails and social presence. Brand continuity is a crucial component of any marketing campaign.

5. Track and Analyze Results

The biggest mistake we’ve seen companies make when running a direct mail campaign is that they don’t track the results as efficiently as possible. Not gathering the right metrics not only hurts your current campaign but can also influence future campaigns. While ultimately, it all comes down to the return on investment, it’s important to analyze the results on a deeper level as well.

Here are some ways you can track the effectiveness of a campaign:

• Include a coupon code that is unique to your mailer campaign that consumers can redeem on your website, via a phone call or in-store.
• Launch a special landing page that’s specific to the content and offer featured on your postcard that people can visit to learn more or redeem the offer.
• List a unique phone number so that you can track the calls that come in in regards to the offer or discount highlighted in your mailer.
• Create a contest that can be entered using information featured on the piece of mail you sent to your list, whether that’s directing them to a contest landing page, including a special access code, or encouraging them to stop into your location or store.

With these tips, you should be able to create a direct mail campaign that speaks to the modern consumer. But a marketers job is never done. Once a campaign has been completed, it’s important to learn from the data you’ve collected. What worked? What didn’t work? Should you update your target audience? These are all questions we can help you answer if you partner with SHOUT! to deploy a direct mailer campaign. If you’re ready to find out more about our direct mail and mail fulfillment services, contact us today!