Direct Mailing: 6 Real Questions to Ask Yourself

A successful direct mailing campaign relies entirely on your understanding of the product, service, and the audience. While working on the product, you have better access to information from your clients. Thereafter, your success depends entirely on your understanding of the audience. 

Here are a few questions to help you create a successful direct mail campaign:

1. Who is your audience?

Investing in understanding your audience increases your response rate and improves your ROI. Deeply study your audience and segment it into different demographics, behavior-graphics, and psychographics. In today’s world going off of demographics is often not enough. A great way to combat the typical demographic approach is to build out buyer personas. Buyer persona’s help brings your primary and secondary audiences to life and helps make your marketing efforts more personalized to their needs. 

2. What mailing list will you use?

Mailing lists can make or break your direct mail campaign. Truly analyze your list and make sure you are only mailing to your audience, even if it cuts your mailing down by a few hundred or thousand. If you are working with a house list, make sure your direct mail company de-dupes your list and goes through your list to ensure accuracy. If you are purchasing a list, look for a list provider with a good reputation and a strong understanding of your target audience. A good list provider will help you get even more detailed and specific with your audience.

3. How frequently are you planning on mailing?

The frequency of your mailing influences your return. You have to remember that mailing a marketing piece once is not going to have the results you’re looking for. Repetition is key when it comes to mailing and marketing in general. People like to feel comfortable and familiar with a brand before making decisions, and that’s where repetition comes into play. There are many factors when it comes to deciding how long the campaign will run and how many drops there will be. Such as your specific audience, your industry, past response, other mediums campaign length, etc. 

4. How strong is your offer?

Create an appealing offer your audience can relate to; make them feel the need to respond. Simplify your offer, and make it worth their while. If you are offering a percentage off make sure it is high enough. For example, a 10% off offer is usually not enough and might make your audience question their meaning to the brand. This is where knowing your audience comes into play. You need to know them before you can create a strong offer for them. 

5. Are the design and format easy to look at?

Think about the format of your mail carefully; each direct mailing campaign is an opportunity for you to get creative in your messaging and design. Make your writing and card design simple, direct and easy on the eye. Use the information you have on your products, audience preferences, and industry experience to create a compelling design.

6. Will you use other advertising channels?

The most successful marketing campaigns combine multiple advertising channels to maximize visibility and increase response. If you are using other marketing channels, you must create a strategy to integrate all channels and help you with the allocation of funds. You also need to come up with a strategy to gauge the success of each channel.

Asking yourself these questions in advance helps you plan for success. Your direct mail campaign needs careful planning and intentional messaging. These questions help you tick off all necessary boxes while allowing you to look beyond the surface. By asking the right questions, you connect better with your audience, and you can easily convince them to take action.