5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Direct Mail Campaign

5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Direct Mail Campaign

Posted by david kovner on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 12:38 PM

Businesses have so many options to choose from when deciding how to spend their marketing budget that the whole concept of marketing can seem overwhelming (especially for small businesses). Should you utilize tv, radio, pay-per-click, print ads, inbound marketing, email, direct mail, etc. Each has their benefits and drawbacks and there is no right answer for everyone.

If direct mail is an option you are considering, ask yourself these five questions first. They will help you to determine if it will be an effective marketing channel for your organization.

1. Is my product or service a good fit? Items that have a small sale value and/or little chance for repeat business are probably not a good fit for direct mail. Large ticket items or smaller sales that generally result in recurring revenue are much better fits and will usually see a better ROI.

2. Can I mail to the right people? The best design combined with the most compelling offer will stall fall flat if it isn't sent to the right prospect. Start by building a profile(s) of your best customers and then use that profile to find other prospects. If you are marketing to consumers, look for patterns related to age, gender, income, education level, life stage, etc. If you are marketing to businesses, look for common denominators related to company revenue, title, number of employees, industry, location, etc.?

3. Do I have an offer? Building your brand and increasing your exposure in the marketplace certainly has its place in a marketing strategy. But direct mail is not the right channel for it. Direct mail is about eliciting a response. Your campaign needs to include an offer that will motivate the prospect to act. Without it, you will be hard-pressed to see any tangible results from your efforts.

4. Am I able to offer multiple ways to respond to my offer? Unless you are trying to drive traffic to a brick-and-mortar location, you are always better off giving multiple response options. Some prospects will want to pick up the phone, others will want to respond via email (specifically for B2B) and many will want to visit your website (you should also include QR codes and mobile-friendly landing pages for smartphone users).?

5. Can I track the results? Direct mail campaigns often have different measurements of success. Revenue, # of new customers, # of leads, # of trials activated, etc. are all viable ways of determining a campaigns success or failure. But it is important that you are able to analyze your data and make that connection. For example, was an increase in sales attributable to the direct mail campaign or another tactic? If you can't answer that question it is impossible to determine if direct mail is a channel you should continue to invest in.

If you can answer "yes" to the five questions above then direct mail is definitely a channel you should consider adding to your marketing mix!

Source: http://www.rivkind.com/blog/bid/55672/5-Things-to-Consider-Before-Starting-a-Direct-Mail-Campaign

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