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5 Tips You Should Consider When Using Direct Mail Marketing Services in Your Business

5 Tips You Should Consider When Using Direct Mail Marketing Services in Your Business

It’s not uncommon for marketers to overlook direct mail as part of their strategies. After all, email can cost a lot less, and many people think it’s more effective.

Direct mail actually beats out email though. It has a much higher response rate, which can be the difference between a successful campaign and a dud.

Of course, you have to use direct mail marketing services the right way if you want to see high response rates. These five tips will help you steer your next direct mail campaign to better results.

1. Know Your Audience

The most successful direct marketing campaigns resonate with their audiences. Before you do anything else, sit down and figure out who your audience is.

It’s easy to think your product or service will appeal to “everyone.” Homing in on the people most likely to be interested will help you create a better campaign.

Knowing your audience allows you to craft messages that appeal to them. Your design and imagery may also shift depending on who your audience is.

2. Craft A Call To Action

With a clear picture of your audience in mind, you can begin working on design and copy. You’ll want to pay special attention to your call to action, or CTA.

A CTA directs the recipient to do something. You might ask them to “book now” or “call for a free assessment.” You might also offer discounts or free gifts to entice people to shop with you or make an appointment.

3. Work With Direct Mail Marketing Services For Logistics

Next, you’ll want to think about logistics. Who will design your direct mailer, and who will print it? Once it’s printed, how will it get to the hands of your potential customers?

Direct mail marketing services have you covered here. The right provider can offer end-to-end service, helping you every step of the way. Once you’ve signed off on the design team’s work, they’ll coordinate printing and mailing services.

Working this way can save you time, frustration, and a little bit of cash too.

4. Measure Your Success

You could run the best direct marketing campaign and never know it if you don’t have the right metrics in place. You must measure your campaign to see how successful it was.

Measuring direct mail is a little trickier than measuring digital marketing efforts. It’s more difficult to determine how many people looked at the brochure you mailed out, for example.

Still, there are ways to measure the success of a campaign. One way is to measure how many people use a code to get a discount or claim their free gift. You may ask for people to tell you how they heard about you when they sign up for a free consultation.

All these methods can give you some insight into how many people saw and responded to your mailer. They can also help you collect demographic data that will help you target your audience in the future.

5. Calculate Your ROI

Finally, successful direct mail campaigns should deliver a fairly high ROI. Crunching the numbers to determine ROI is another way of measuring success.

With ROI in hand, you can report on your direct marketing success. Working with the right direct marketing mail services provider can help you increase ROI even more.

Prepare For Mailing Success

Use these direct mail marketing services tips to propel your next campaign to new heights.

Are you still looking for the right provider? It’s time to get in touch with the experts.

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The 3 Dos and Don’ts When Using Direct Mail Marketing Services

The 3 Dos and Don’ts When Using Direct Mail Marketing Services

In the age of modern technology, people might not automatically think of direct mail marketing services when trying to appeal to customers. But evidence shows direct mail marketing can be a more effective strategy than online ads.

Sending physical mail with promotional offers, coupons, or information about your business remains an effective strategy… if it’s done right.

The Dos in Direct Mail Marketing

It’s important to have a plan and strategy before sending out your physical mail. Keep reading the tips below to learn the three main dos when using direct mail marketing services!

1. Optimize Your ROI with 40/40/20

In order to make direct mail marketing work for your business, you want to ensure you’re actually making money, and optimizing your ROI, or return on investment.

There’s a rule in marketing called 40/40/20.

This basically says that 40% of your success will depend on an effective mailing list. Another 40% comes from the offer you’re giving your customers. Finally, the last 20% is a result of everything else, including the flyer design, the text, the images, etc.

2. Do a Test Run

With direct mail, it’s important to make sure you’re actually reaching your intended audiences. If your business is promoting a family service and you send your mail to only college students, you’ll miss the mark.

Do a test run and send your mail to a small area within the city or town you operate in, and then measure the ROI.

3. Create an Effective CTA

A CTA, or Call to Action, is the reason you’re sending out your direct mail. Are you promoting an event or giving out a coupon?

Having an effective CTA will incentive your audience to actually visit your business or website. This will help you get that return on investment, so make your CTA count.

The Don’ts

Effective direct mail marketing means you need to avoid certain key mistakes. Keep reading to learn the don’ts of creating a direct mail campaign.

1. Forget to Edit and QA Before Sending Out

If there’s a huge typo in your direct mail, it’ll appear unprofessional to your audience. You’re spending money to send physical mail, so make sure you proofread before it’s printed.

QA or quality assurance is important in general, and you want to see what your design will look like before you print all of the copies.

2. Forget to Measure Success

In order to track ROI and success, you need a CTA that will allow you to measure the new customers you’re getting from your direct mail. You can do this by counting and tracking the number of people who use your coupon code or requiring people to bring the mail to your business.

3. Forget to Follow Up with Customers

If your goal is to ultimately increase traffic to your business, it’s important that you make your direct mail count and follow up with your new customers later.

You can do this by requiring them to give an email address when they use your code or mailer. This will be a cheaper long term solution.

Direct Mail Marketing is Effective When Done Right

Direct mail marketing services have seen a decline with the rise of technology. But when done right, these can be just as effective or even more effective than online advertisements.

Contact us today to discuss all your printing needs in Clearwater!

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11 FAQs about USPS with COVID-19: Impacts to Your Campaign

11 FAQs about USPS with COVID-19: Impacts to Your Campaign

As a direct mail provider, we are receiving tons of questions about how USPS is operating with COVID-19 and the recent statewide stay-at-home order. We have created this article for you to learn the answers to these commonly asked questions. Continue reading to get answers to the frequently asked questions about USPS during this difficult time and how it might impact your direct mail campaign.

11 FAQs about USPS with COVID-19:

1. Is USPS still open? 

Yes, they are still open. The United States Postal Service is an essential, federally run business and is operating at full speed during times of emergency.

2. Is there a USPS point of contact person businesses can work with to help their mail contingency plans?

Yes, however, managed accounts should continue to work with their designated postal service representative. If your business or partner needs to shut down its operations, then you should contact your Business Service Network (BSN) contact, sales contact or their local Business Mail Entry to discuss.

3. Have the USPS services been compromised due to COVID-19?

No, the USPS continues to process mail to meet the needs of their service standards.

4. For Hold Mail options, can businesses provide a temporary alternate delivery address?

Yes, businesses may contact their local postmaster or station manager for temporary changes to their delivery address.

5. Can mail be held at the Post Office for pickup?

Yes, however, USPS has extended the hold policy to 30 days for closed businesses.

6. Can I ship hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes?

Yes, but you must follow USPS Protocol. For example, use USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Select, or Parcel Select Lightweight when shipping such items. These services are only available through your local branch.

Most disinfectant products contain alcohol and are flammable, which means they must be shipped and handled as hazardous matter (HAZMAT) in the mail. It is prohibited to send these products by International Mail including APO/FPO/DPO (military) destinations.

7. How is USPS handling claims during this pandemic?

People and businesses who required to bring damaged articles to their local post offices to have their claims approved, will now have 90 days instead of 30 days.

8. How does COVID19 impact the distribution of Passports?

USPS will conduct all passport application services by appointment only. Walk-ins are no longer accepted due to USPS’s efforts to flatten the curve of the virus and to protect their staff. Due to this, the Department of State advises the possibility of delays to regular passport delivery times.

Only regular passport applications are accepted, while expedited passport application processing are not offered unless it is life-threatening.

9. Are there any changes to procedures for Drop Ship Mail?

No, USPS has reported there are no changes.

10. Can the virus spread through mail?

No. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates there is no evidence COVID-19 can be spread through mail.

11. How does COVID-19 impact my direct mail campaign?

Every direct mail campaign is different. We suggest contacting your Modern Mail representative as well as CCing info@modmail.com on any questions you have about your campaign. As of right now, we are operating normally with limited staff and business hours.

Please rest assured your direct mail campaign will continue as planned and we will let you know about any changes to your campaign. Remember, if you are sending anything over 10 MGs, please upload it to https://www.modmail.com/upload or we will not receive it.

Additional Resources

To read the recent electronic newsletter from the USPS Headquarters, click here.

For a more extensive list of FAQs about USPS, please visit this site: https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-Coronavirus-Updates-for-Business-Customers#claims

We understand how challenging this time must be for local businesses. If you have any direct mail marketing requests or questions, we encourage you to contact us. Above all, we are here to help you. If you have any more FAQs about USPS with COVID-19, please comment below.

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6 Ways Direct Mail Can Save Your Business During This Pandemic

6 Ways Direct Mail Can Save Your Business During This Pandemic

As you already know, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken a toll on businesses worldwide. The virus has impacted all of our lives, including your costumers. With the increasing number of recent lockdowns, what ways are you staying in contact with your customers?

Direct mail can be a great way to maintain communication with your target audience during these trying times. Considering the overwhelming amount of people who are quarantined in their homes indefinitely, direct mail allows for your business to stay at the top of their minds, and to rise up the noisy world of online marketing.

In this article, you’ll learn all of the ways in which you can take advantage of direct mail during challenging times.

Direct Mail Can Save Your Business from COVID-19 by:

 

  1. Providing physical communication to your audience

Everyone likes receiving mail in their mailbox, and it can be especially exciting when you can’t leave your home. Give your audience some excitement by creating a direct mail campaign. After all, 98% of people check their mail every day so let them hold your piece physically in their hands.

  1. Giving your audience certainty

By conducting a direct mail campaign during this time, you can give some certainty about your business to your audience in an uncertain time. Let them know about any changes to your business per COVID-19 and your efforts to minimize the spread. Your audience might not even know your open!

  1. Having USPS on your side

For those who don’t know, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is an essential business and plans to continue to stay open to fulfill the needs of businesses. USPS is an entity of the Federal Government and will run at full speed during times of emergency. More information about how USPS is handling COVID-19 can be found here.

  1. Relying on it for your marketing

With business closures and limitations left and right, you might be wondering how to continue your marketing efforts for your business. You can rely on direct mail marketing to maintain your brand to the public. After all, a direct mail campaign leads to increased brand awareness, more website traffic and more opportunities to make a sale.

  1. Giving your audience a personal touch

Many people are currently social distancing and are limiting physical contact with others. By having a direct mail campaign, you can give your target audience a personal touch about your business. Let them know you are there for them in this time of need and if you can do anything better to serve their needs. You never know when someone needs help until you ask.

  1. Helping other local businesses

Your business still might be going strong, but others unfortunately have gone downhill. If you feel confident in how your business is handling COVID-19 then consider conducting a direct mail campaign to help those businesses in need. Consider making a campaign to alert your community on important resources, food delivery options and which businesses are still open.

If you would like to get started on any of the above direct mail marketing techniques, contact us. You might be able to save someone from going out of business.

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