Direct mail marketing consultant in Victoria BC
develops small business secret weapon for Canada and US markets
Our Direct Mail Marketing Plan Is a secret weapon for small business in Canada and the US. Direct mail marketing blends advertising and sales by presenting an offer and closing the sale all at once.
Direct mail is a marketing technique
in which the seller sends marketing messages directly to the buyer.
Unlike other forms of marketing communications, such as TV advertising
or placing articles in newspapers through media relations, with
direct mail you don't have another medium carrying your message
for you. With direct mail marketing, you have total control over the presentation
of your message.
Direct Mail Marketing -- What's in a Name?
Direct mail marketing is sometimes referred to as direct marketing or direct response marketing; however, there are some subtle differences
among the three concepts. You might think of direct mail marketing and direct response
marketing as a subset of direct marketing. Direct marketing, then,
is the broadest of the three terms.
Direct mail marketing is sending a marketing message that is
delivered to prospects by mail. Direct response marketing is direct mail that
requests a response from the recipient through the mail.
Direct mail marketing encompasses more than marketing messages going through the mail. The nature of your business might lend itself to allow
direct delivery of promotional items, free samples or other
marketing messages to prospects. Some examples of direct marketing
activities are listed below.
- Flyers
for lawn services that are distributed door-to-door.
- Free shampoo sample included in the Sunday newspaper.
- Cookies or flowers delivered by a caterer or florist to a party planning service.
- Exhibiting at trade shows or events.
- Offering seminars on professional services.
- Offering product demonstrations.
Uses for Direct Mail Marketing
In addition to the simple goal of creating sales
by offering products through the mail, direct mail marketing is a tactic
used for other marketing goals.
- Expose your product to a larger geographic market. You might also
use direct mail marketing sales results as a way to test new markets
for store locations.
- Obtain qualified leads for follow up. If your product or service
is expensive, direct mail marketing may be a cost-effective way to
gather qualified prospects.
- Prepare
prospects for telephone follow-up. Direct mail marketing may introduce
a prospect to your product and service, helping to make
that "cold" sales call a little warmer.
Types of Direct Mail Marketing
- Catalogs or other product literature with ordering opportunities.
- Sales letters.
- Sales letters with brochures.
Direct Mail Marketing Mailing Lists Are Critical
Direct mail experts agree–your sales success with direct mail marketing is directly related to the quality of your mailing list. The best
product, the best offer and the most cleverly-written copy will
be wasted if your direct mail marketing piece is sent to the wrong people.
What makes a direct mail marketing list wrong?
- Too few qualified names. A list of 5,000 barely qualified names
that yields one or two sales may make your cost of sale
too high. You might be better off, for example, to spend
the money on a more targeted mail list that has the potential
to generate a higher percentage of sales. In the end, your
per-sale cost might be lower.
- A mailing list purchased or developed without a clear understanding
of your target market. The more specifically you
can describe prospects, the more likely you are to find
a list that's a good match.
- Timing of list development. If the target audience for your product is new car buyers, a list of last year's car buyers won't
do.
Tips on Developing Your Direct Mail Marketing Piece
- Focus on customer benefits and do it right away–in the lead.
The first sentence (the lead) in a direct mail letter should
be about benefits. So, if your prospect only reads enough
of the "offer" to determine whether to keep reading
or to toss it, he or she should already be offered the benefits
of your product or service.
An example of focusing on customer benefits: "Put
a smile on her face that only flowers can bring. Call Tobin's to place your Mother's Day order before May 7, and we'll
give you an extra 10 percent off."
An example of not focusing on customer benefits:
"Tobin's Floral Shoppe has received many awards
for its floral designs. Let us create an award-winning design
for you."
- Keep the offer simple, easy to understand and persuasive.
- Include a "call to action."
- Ask the customer to "call today."
- Include a postage-paid reply card.
- Make the offer for a limited time to encourage prospects to act.
- Make ordering easy. Include order forms, a
24-hour toll-free number, fax numbers, email addresses
- Offer payment options such as credit cards, PayPal, Google Cash or payment plans for big ticket items.
- Use a personal and friendly writing style. Mail is a one-to-one communication, so make it sound that way.
- Create different direct mail marketing pieces to address different audiences– even when offering the same product. Your product or service may have a different benefit for the 35-year-old mother of two small children than it does to a single man of 25. So, create multiple forms of the same offer for those different audiences.
- Consider using 3D lumpy mail by including an object in the envelope that will peak the recipient's curiosity.
Direct Mail Marketing Success Measurements
What's the measure of success for direct mail? Many business owners
look at the number of sales made compared to the number of items
mailed. Many direct mail marketing experts tell clients to expect between .05 percent (one-half of one percent) and 1 percent response or sales rate. So, a one percent
sales rate on 1,000 direct mail pieces equals 10 responses or sales.
If your cost to prepare and mail 1,000 pieces exceeds the profits
you would realize from 10 sales, go to Plan B.
Do not fall into the trap of simply increasing the number of
items mailed to increase your sales rate. Remember, the quality of your list is paramount. As my business coach Dan Kennedy repeatedly drills into my brain: "Find a thirsty crowd".
Advantages of Direct Mail Marketing
- Allows you to target your message to a very
specific audience. Pick one street of houses
or all residents of a city. Target college freshmen or just
college freshmen at one college who own a car. Mail to all
your customers or just to those who spend an average of
$25 per visit to your store. The possibilities are as endless
as your mailing list's accuracy allows.
- This is a relatively expensive medium; however, if you
are able to focus on only high-probability purchasers, cost effectiveness can be good.
- Direct mail messages can be personalized to add reader appeal.
- You can evaluate its effectiveness. If you compare the number of responses to the number of direct
mail marketing pieces mailed, you can calculate the response
rate. If you include coded coupons or response cards you
can keep track of exactly who responded and from where.
- Mail readers are actively involved. People
read their mail when they choose. So, for
at least a few seconds, your message will have their undivided
attention while they open and scan it.
Disadvantages of Direct Mail Marketing
- Many people don't like unsolicited offers and may be skeptical of their validity.
- Increasingly, busy people don't even open what they view as "junk
mail."
- Using this method of advertising requires thorough maintenance
of mail lists. Many advertisers don't like to bother
with updating direct mail marketing mail lists; however, with outdated lists, mail goes to undeliverable addresses and wastes your money.
Another possible glitch– an inaccurate list may misspell
names or address a person who has died. These kinds of errors annoy, or worse yet offend, the recipient.
- Some groups are concerned about the environmental impact
of resources used for advertising mailings.
Want to know more about Direct Mail Marketing? You can
learn this stuff. In fact, you had better learn this stuff ... before your competitors do. Check into our workshop entitled The Envelope, Please - the Power of Direct Mail Marketing. You will
learn the 8 key points in every Direct Marketing Program:
Objectives, Timetable, Budget, Audience, Offer, Creative,
Media & Production, Measurement & Analysis. |
