Factors for Direct Marketing Success?

No campaign is the same as an other.

Here are some guidelines which usually apply…

1. Good understanding of your audience before you start

2. Good database to reach your targeted audience — these can be "house" lists, purchased or traded

3. A segmented approach — if your messaging really meets the needs of the target segment, you're way ahead of the game

4. Your Offer/CTA must be strong — why should they respond now?

5. Your Creative must be engaging — get their attention with benefits- oriented thinking.

6. You've made a good choice of format, appropriate to the task

7. You are testing key components noted above, and tweaking further with elements such as formats to gain response or reduce cost.

8. Analyze your results, and level-up in the next round of tests, and your roll-out.

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If you put all that together properly… many companies can use direct mail to "print money."

Is higher engagement outdated?

Is stronger conversation outdated?

Is AI outdated?

Nope!

While Direct Mail Marketing has taken a back seat to digital — because everyone is doing some of it, and because direct mail has postage and printing costs — it is hugely powerful. In great part this is because everyone is doing digital, and fewer people are now doing Direct Mail.

We're talking about "breaking through the clutter"... not just as an abstract idea, but in reality!

This approach works best when highly targeted... and it's highly valuable for small and large companies, and non-profits.  

Your customer database is your strongest resource in this regard. And if it's segmented and ready to go to market via an effective  CRM system, even better.

Email and direct mail are proven workhorses for this targeted marketing approach. And an integrated approach — using multiple media in your campaign is always the most effective of approaches. 

(Guess what, it can also work "less targeted," going to overall customer base with an offer of interest.)

Mark Twain said "the report of my death has been greatly exaggerated." Since the early 1980's Direct Mail's demise has been reported by those who don't do it, or can't do it effectively.

So wait… if it's "dead," why do organizations — like Google, Amex, Burger King, Geico and so many more — use it so powerfully?

David Ogilvy's "Secret Weapon" is used very effectively in a range of areas —  lead gen to promotions, brand and product promotion to targeted new business development.

So why is there less direct mail these days? Because people don't know how to use it… or they are concerned about the cost of printing and postage… and they don't want to cut down trees to make paper. FYI, paper is produced in tree farms, quickly-grown as a "crop". No paper producers cut down any old growth! And you're not recycling?! Tsk, tsk.

Used effectively it can be very profitable.

And those folks who know how to use this medium are specialists, who help you protect your investment and make these efforts successful.

"Paper" puts your message in the hands of your prospects and customers, in an infinite variety of formats, with an exceptional opportunity to engage and gain their full attention.

Mail provides a unique opportunity to gain interest with your target audience and really engage, with …

• dimension

• folding

• enclosures that gain attention, and feature different elements

• paper texture

• color

• special effects (like gloss, emboss and foil stamp)

• and 3-D enclosures (called a "hot potato")

Your prospects sift through your offer with their full attention. And direct mail has longer "legs"— often people start to read, put it down then pick it up, creating additional impressions.

Shorter or longer, depending on its mission.

That's even a more variable question than "How much does a car cost?"

Every client asks this. And we've lectured on this topic (and others) for the Direct Marketing Association, and the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation.

If any professional says "You can expect a 2% response"… bop them on the head with a big thick postage-paid envelope! It's just not true. Its an often-quoted stat's supposed to be an average, that's completely meaningless.

Some campaigns yield higher or lower response rates. The far better question, and the one that is meaningful, is what is the ROI from the mailing or the overall campaign.

We did a mailing selling used airplanes for a midwest dealer... tens of thousands of pieces went out, and "only" 3 sales were made. ONLY? The client was ecstatic. We sold airplanes, and the fast ROI was exceptional.

Truth is, lots of factors affect response. These include factors directly and indirectly related to the mailing itself. Here are the key factors:

• The List is the #1 factor.

  • Is it a customer list, a prospect list, rented, bartered

  • Is it up to date?

  • How recent were the past purchases or key factors of this list?

• "The Offer" Is #2 — the "deal" or "reason why" people are responding to

• The Creative is #3 — is the messaging strong, benefit-oriented, engaging?

Done well, the right offer in the hands of the right prospect with a compelling creative pitch at the right time is killer. And if you make a lot more than yo spend, and cultivate your pipeline, you're doing it right!

If you have select high-end prospects, or a must-sell higher-ticket offering, we can help you gain high impact among these key prospects, C-Level executives, and other special must-get audiences, with 3-Dimensional promotional mailings.

We break through here, where other approaches fall flat.

Dimensional mailings cut through the clutter with highest response rates —  engaging key prospects with this highest-impact breakthrough messaging, engagement, and response.

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Other formats are right for different offerings — including self-mailers, oversized formats, pop-ups, and more.

Samples of all of these formats and the work we've done are right here in this page.