Direct Mail
Direct Mail and Return on Investment.
In today’s world, consumers are inundated with media imaging, television, internet advertisements, email marketing and retargeting tools. However, Direct Mail is proving to be the ‘new must’ for effectively marketing your business and brand.
Why? Very simply, every day, millions of people step outside and get the mail. They immediately start sorting it. Some of it they’ll open, the rest heads for the nearest trash can or recycling bin. Companies and marketing firms spend untold sums of money trying to determine how to best have their advertising be the former, rather than the latter.
Let’s take a quick look at response rates for a moment. Some companies get hung up on this percentage over any other, but it should be reminded that the return on investment from any marketing depends on how much is ultimately made compared to how much was spent. A high response rate is useless if the amount of profit made on each response is very low.
As an example, assume your mailing cost is $3,500. If you get a 1% response rate, that’s 35 leads. If you close 50% of those and each sale is $1,000, that’s $17,000. Technically, the response was low, but the return on investment was excellent, due to the high quality of the leads coming in.
Here are three tips to increase the response rates for your direct mail.
First: Choose a larger size.
A Direct Marketing Association Statistical Fact Book shows that larger envelopes and postcards are by far more widely read by possible customers, while letter-sized envelopes and detached label cards are more likely to be thrown away. Simply put, a larger envelope is pleasing to the eye, and postcards are easier to read.
Second: Match your message to your market segment.
When you think about it, every demographic has emotional triggers that make them unique. For example, you would craft a message to seniors differently than you would millennials. You might market differently to a banker than say, their farmer counterpart. Knowing what makes YOUR best customer tick, and what it usually takes for them to raise a hand, make a call, or purchase a product is some of your best research. Translating that into a message that you can quickly, easily, and affordably send to that target market is where the magic happens in term of response.
Third: Don’t skimp on consistency.
Here’s where competitors fall away. They send one mailing, maybe two. Or they rely solely on email. Or internet ads. And even those, they don’t do with any kind of real repetition. And the truth is that even the BEST offer, if it only shows up once, will almost never elicit the kind of response rate or return an organization is looking for. Statistics tell us it takes 5-7 ‘touches’ or contact for your offer, product, or service to exact a business transaction or positive response. So keep at it. Stay in it to win.