How To Do Direct Mail Marketing
- Get a Great List.
- Copy is King.
- Get personal!
- Try Versioning.
- When Designing, Less Is More.
- Use a Great Printer.
- Find the Right Mail House.
- Integrate Emails with Print.
- Add In-home Online Display Ads.
- Add Informed Delivery.
Direct marketing can be tricky if you have never done it before, so we put together a quick guide to help you figure it out. If you are still feeling lost afterward give us a call and we can help you figure it out.
1. Get a Great List
One of the most annoying things to get in the mail is a piece that is addressed to the wrong person or “to current resident”. It shows that the company that sent the mailing purchased a bad list, or even worse, just doesn’t care. There are many places companies can purchase lists but only a few places you can purchase a great list. Lucky for you, our data team are list experts and would be happy to help you compile a list.
2. Copy is King
The best direct marketing plan authors typically start with copy, and build around it. So, when we talk design, we logically start with copy. First thing’s first – write out the mail message and make sure it’s readable and not too long. Less is more – especially when you can put the details on a landing page or your blog. Not only is this tactic good for your mail piece, it’s great for your SEO. Keep your printed piece succinct and send them to your online presence for details.
3. Get personal!
Variable data printing and segmentation allows you to create a personalized message for every prospect. This intimate form of communication – done in moderation – creates a feel of one-on-one communication. Just don’t get too personal… there’s a line between customization and creepy. (If you need help creating segments, contact us. We’re experts in VDP!)
4. Try Versioning
Using different but similar versions of a design or wording may bring different results. You can try to anticipate how a campaign will do but you never truly know how it will go until it is sent. Versioning can help determine what people respond to the best.
5. When Designing, Less Is More
Yes, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Choose artwork carefully, and try to build your design around one standout image or theme. Just make sure your images are high resolution. And similar to the copy-writing rule — simple is better: When designing, less is often more… and white space is your friend! Keep in mind people love to see pictures of other people, but stock photos stick out as having a canned feel. We recommend investing in your own pictures and adding a tagline under the images to draw more interest. If you’re struggling with mail piece design, let us know, we would be happy to help.
6. Use a Great Printer
One of the keys to a great mail piece is to make sure it looks great every step of the way. That includes when it is coming off the presses. A great printer knows the best way to set up your mail piece for print so it looks the best. Midwest’s print department can print just about anything and if we can’t print it we can find a print partner who can.
7. Find the Right Mail House
At Midwest, we understand the difference between commingled mail, dropship, hybrid, and co-palletized mail to help save you time and money. Understanding these things can help you make the most of your mail and send it out in the most efficient way possible and boost your ROI.
8. Integrate Emails with Print
Did you know you can target your list with emails triggered to arrive in the inbox when your printed piece is scanned for delivery? Marketers are now sending an announcement email (Look for it in your mailbox!) and a reminder email (You should have received…). We did this with a recent client and got results.
9. Add In-home Online Display Ads
This new, cost-effective martech empowers you to serve online ads (act like google ad only better) to your list. Now you can add the same message on their laptops, desktops, and phones that you are sending to their mailbox. The response rate for these campaigns are coming in as high as 30-50% when combined with print. All you need to get started is your list of home or business addresses and a couple of ads to show online.
10. Add Informed Delivery
Informed Delivery is a great tool to add touches to your mail campaign. Better yet, the USPS is currently offering this for no fees! However, it takes a little know how to get it up and running with the USPS. We can help you add this to your next campaign. Contact us today for more information. Add “Informed Delivery” to your subject line, and we’ll be sure to get the right team member in touch with you.
If you're still not sure how to get a list, who the right printer is or how to handle informed delivery, contact us and we can help you figure it out.
