Learn to Craft the Most Effective Direct Mail Marketing Strategy

Did you know that advertisers in the US spend on average $167 per person on direct mail campaigns, and they generally earn $2,054 in sales in return? That means they have a 1,300% return on investment. Continue reading to learn how to craft an effective direct mail marketing strategy.

That’s a piece of the return on investment pie that no business would want to turn their nose up at.

Use this guide to craft the perfect direct mail marketing strategy. Cover all of the elements you need, and leave no factor unconsidered.

Starting From the Bottom First: Your Mailing List

You can’t have an amazing direct mail marketing strategy if you don’t have the mailing list to start with.

The quality of your mailing list or database will be responsible for most of your direct-mail profitability. A great place to start is looking through industry directories and building a database of likely buyers. Alternatively, you can look at purchasing ready-made mailing lists from reputable companies of the demographic you want to make your target audience.

There is a 40/40/20 rule for direct marketing that you should be aware of. The rule says that 40% of your success will be determined by finding the right audience for your business, the other 40% is dependent on providing an amazing offer and the remaining 20% is the quality and creativity of your actual mailer. So mailing to the right person with the right piece will directly impact your response rate.

Information is Key 

Make sure your direct mail marketing strategy is designed with your audience in mind.  Make sure your message and offer is relevant to the target market.

The biggest part of your strategy needs to be using the right call to action.  If you are looking for immediate response, you have to give your audience a reason for responding now and not later.  You cannot afford to send out direct mail marketing with no offer and expect a return.

Putting in a free offer or a percentage off on your piece is a great way to get your audience to take action. For example, a 30-day trial offer or a free gift as part of purchasing your product or service goes a long way. Your audience will be more willing to share valuable data if they’re receiving something in return. And getting this information is key to you building your perfect mailing list.

Designing Your Direct Mail Campaign 

There are so many elements that go into designing and putting together your direct mail marketing campaign.

You need to ensure that you have a design that stands out, but having said that, you can’t strive to ‘over-design’ your mailer either. Make your design in such a way that it simply reinforces the message that is essential to your success, focus on your offer and the product you’re trying to sell.

Make sure that the physical materials you use are of great quality too. High-quality paper and well-made envelopes will go a long way for your campaign.

Your Direct Mail Marketing Strategy Win 

In finality, the last thing you need to be mindful of is that your strategy needs to be measurable. Make sure that you have steps in place so that you can see how successful or unsuccessful your campaign has been, and then adapt your direct mail marketing strategy to make it work. You can A/B test your campaigns, use Offer Codes, direct-in-dial phone numbers or Personalized URLs to measure your response rates.

If you’d like to see what direct mail marketing trends are set for 2019, read this article.