It’s no secret that direct mail has a great response rate. In fact, the DMA has found that Direct Mail's response rate is 9 times higher than that of email!

However, if your direct mail campaigns haven’t been performing as well as you’d hoped, don’t stress.

This guide will give you some handy tips that are sure to help increase your direct mail campaign’s response rate.

1. Segment your database

Your direct mail campaign is only as good as the mailing list you send it to.

Segmenting your client database into lists based on interests, industry type, profession, location, purchase history etc. is a great way to ensure your postcard mailing is relevant to its recipients.

Sending out a targeted campaign means that you’re more likely to get great results.

2. Personalise your direct mail

Personalisation is a huge marketing trend for 2021!

New technologies have made it simple to integrate this into your direct mail campaigns. Your promotions, offers, images and copy can all be personalised to suit individual clients or your customer segments.

For example, you could send out a postcard mailing with an offer that’s personalised to your customer’s recent purchases. For a hairdresser, this might be a discount on a hair colouring treatment for one customer or money off a cut and blow-dry for another.

A direct mail campaign that’s personalised and relevant to your customer’s needs is a campaign that will get a response.

3. Define a clear call-to-action on your direct mail postcards.

All of your marketing campaigns should have a goal. This could be anything from increasing your brand awareness to converting more of your prospects.

This goal should align with both your call-to-action (CTA) and your offer. For example, if your goal is to increase sales, you should use a clear CTA like ‘Buy now at…’.

Top Tip: Using a contrasting colour for your CTA can help it stand out and encourage your direct mail recipients to take action.

4. Be creative with your postcard mailing campaigns.

The direct mail campaigns that get results are the ones that stand out!

Being innovative is a great way to ensure your direct mail campaign is noticed by your clients or prospects.

You could achieve this by sending your campaign in a bright, colourful, envelope, or by attaching a promotional product such as a promotional notebook, branded confectionery or customised pen. This is a great way of ensuring your postcard mailers are read and engaged with.

5. Use A/B testing in your direct mail campaigns.

Not every type of direct mail campaign will work for every business.

So conducting A/B testing is a great way to find out whether your message, offer and direct mail type (e.g postcard, letter, self-mailer etc.) is right for your audience.

Conducting A/B testing involves sending two (or more) different postcard campaigns to your audience and seeing which campaign performs better. The results will allow you to make more informed decisions when planning your next direct mail campaign.

6. Include an Offer

Offers and discounts are a fantastic way to encourage your prospects to take action.

If you want people to read your direct mail and then buy your products and services you could include a: discount code, product sample or a free trial of your services.

Top Tip: Be sure to include a unique offer code on your direct mail and ask your prospects to use it when redeeming their offer. This is a great way to track how many people took action after they’d received your postcard mailing.

Start planning your campaign:

Planning a direct mail campaign is simple and straightforward and can offer a fantastic return on investment for your company.

To find out more about how direct mail could work for you, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling 0116 259 9955 or email orders@soarvalleypress.co.uk . We’re always ready to get the conversation started.

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