How to Effectively Use Direct Mail for Your Campaign

With the current trends in marketing focusing on digital advertising, you might not be considering a direct mail campaign to promote your business – in fact, many people don’t. With digital campaigns you can track success and be targeted with your audience. Did you know this is possible with direct mail campaigns, too? Direct mailing can be extremely successful to drive and grow business if it’s done right.

How to Use Direct Mail Marketing to Drive Sales

Have Something to Say

First things first, if you’re going to send a message out there attached to your brand, make sure it has a purpose. Want people to know about your business? Great! Have a new product or sale going on? Even better! Having a goal before you start any type of marketing is the #1 most important part of beginning a campaign.

Test Your Market

Places like New York City are incredibly populated, and printing and mailing costs can really add up. If your target market consists of 20 somethings in the New York metro area, don’t just mail it to everyone on your list in the right age range and location. Test out smaller sections of the city and see if you are getting the results you hoped for first. If you’re seeing success, then roll it out on a larger scale.

Choose Your Timing Wisely

With most things in life, timing is everything. With promotions and marketing, timing is extremely important. Consumers tend to be more open to advertising and deals at certain times of the year – the holidays and their birthdays being the two biggest ones. During these times, consumers are expecting to find deals, and actively seeking them out. So, what better way to meet them when they need it than sending it to their mailbox?

Follow the 40/40/20 Rule

The 40/40/20 rule is a breakdown of how important the elements of your promotion are. This rule states that 40% is attributed to the quality of your audience or mailing list, 40% is the offer you are giving them, and 20% is the design of the advertisement. This doesn’t mean that the design and print of your direct mail piece aren’t important just because it is a smaller number, it simply means that you can’t rely on this alone! You have to have an offer people want, and it has to be sent to the right people, too!

Drive Traffic Online

Remember when we said direct mail marketing can be measured just like digital? Well, we didn’t mean it could be done WITHOUT digital. The best way to measure the success of your direct mail piece is to incorporate a short URL to a landing page specific to this piece or a coupon code only those who received the mailer could use. Both of these ways could be measured either through your website’s analytics platform or through sales.

Follow Up

If you’re using a direct mail piece to grow your customer base, send it at a time where you can follow up on any leads that come through. If you’re reaching someone directly in their home, it is best to close the loop with the same personal touch – a phone call or an email.

Now that you’re armed with the keys to success you need to effectively execute a direct mail marketing campaign, it is time to get started. Decide on your offer and message, pick a good time for you and your audience, choose a captivating design and print, and come up with a plan to measure results. You’ll be on your way to increased sales in no time!