Marketing Best Practices

10 Surefire Ways To Greater Success
In Direct Mail Marketing
By Dale W. Hutchings
Published: January / February 2009

Despite the many forms of new advertising media that have emerged in recent years, from mobile billboards to Internet marketing, many traditional ways of promoting a business that have been around for decades are still tried and true for success, if implemented correctly. One of the most popular of these continues to be direct mail.

Sure, direct mail has its drawbacks. In order for this medium to be effective you can’t just do one mailing. You need to do several (three minimum) to get your message across. The success of your mailing campaign will also be based heavily on the quality of your mailing list. Therefore, your mailing list will need to be continuously updated. And, of course, depending on the size of your mailing, the cost of doing direct mail can be expensive.

However, there are numerous steps you can take to make your direct mail campaign more effective, and hence, more successful.

1. Be Sure You Are Targeting the Right Market Audience. Pinpointing your target market is of utmost importance, as sales are directly tied to how accurately you can identify your most likely customers.

2. Emphasize Benefits. The copy should be written in such a way that clearly tells the reader how your product or service is going to benefit the recipient of your direct mail piece. Convey in your message not just one benefit, but strive for at least three. In your text there is nothing stronger that will help make a sale than the benefits you offer.

3. Make Your Contact Information Easy to Find. When someone reads your direct mail piece, your business’s telephone number, e-mail address and/or website address should be easy to find. In fact, in a letter, even if it is printed on your company’s stationery, you might want to put it right in the body of the text so the reader cannot miss finding it.

4. Use Testimonials Whenever Possible. No matter what you may say about your product or service, nothing beats a third-party endorsement. Quotes from satisfied customers will speak volumes about what your company stands for in the mind of the reader.

5. Think Free. “If it’s free, it’s for me.” Yeah, I know it’s an old cliché, but it’s true. Everybody is interested in getting something of value for free. Therefore, try to develop some kind of “free gift” as part of your direct mail campaign to entice potential customers to contact you. Maybe it’s a buy one, get one free offer. Maybe it’s a chance to win free tickets to some kind of event. Maybe it’s a free e-book on a subject related to your profession or industry. You get the idea.

6. Stress Urgency, Have a Deadline. Like any other form of advertising, you want to be able to measure the response to your mailings. Therefore, whatever you are selling, give the recipient a deadline to respond to the offer. This will help you to determine the results of your mailings.

7. Letters Should Be Signed by the Top Dog. People prefer to deal with the person in charge of a business. Therefore, always use the signature of a company head in your sales letters. After all, who would you rather get a letter from – the company president or its regional sales manager?

8. Consider Postcards Rather Than Letters. Postcards are less expensive to mail and are almost always read because they require only seconds to read, compared to a direct mail piece presented in an envelope. If you decide to go with postcard mailings, don’t be stingy; go for printing your message on a slightly oversized postcard. A slightly more largely formatted card will give you more room for your message, is less likely to be lost in a stack of mail, and stands a greater chance of being read, rather than simply being trashed.

9. When Sending Letters, Make Envelopes Special. How? For one thing, consider not using the traditional white envelope. Think about using a color. Also put a message on the outside to entice the recipient to open it. Something like: “Open For Your Chance To Win,” or “Inside: Important Information For Consumers.”

10. Make It Easy to Respond. Use a business reply card, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope, or use a toll free number and print it larger than the rest of the letter’s text. The easier it is to respond, the greater your response.

Direct Mail can be a challenging advertising medium. But if you follow even some of these steps, it doesn’t have to be. The results should speak for themselves.

Dale W. Hutchings, APR, specializes in “out-of-the-box” marketing and has more than 30 years of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising experience. Since 2001 he has had his own practice with a heavy focus on marketing consultation and copywriting for a wide variety of advertising mediums. For more information on his services visit www.dalewhutchings.com or contact him via e-mail at: hutch7@verizon.net.

back to top