Direct mail presents a tangible way for you to connect with your customers and set yourself apart from the crowded online market.
In fact, during the COVID crisis, a record-breaking double-digit increase in the effectiveness of direct mail and door drop campaigns (JICMail) was reported. Meaning that there has never been a better time to incorporate direct mail into your marketing strategy.
However, many marketers find it difficult to execute a successful campaign and find it hard to measure their return on investment. Therefore, they are unable to identify the results that they have achieved.
To make things simple and straightforward for you, we’re going to guide you into creating a successful direct mail campaign, with measured outcomes, using our clear, concise approach.
Planning your campaign
Identify your target audience
The key to a successful direct mail campaign is getting your marketing collateral in front of the right people.
As with any marketing campaign, identifying a clear target audience can help ensure you achieve a maximum return on investment.
Creating buyer personas and listing your ideal client's pain points, interests (for a B2C audience) and industry (for a B2B audience) is a great way to align your messaging and ensure you are targeting the right people.
2. Define the purpose and goal of your campaign
Arguably the most important element of any campaign is considering your end goal. Ask yourself why are you running your direct mail campaign? What results would you like to achieve for your business?
Your campaign goal could be any of the following:
- Increasing your brand awareness.
- Connecting with your customers.
- Increasing sales of a particular product/service.
Deciding on a campaign goal may seem difficult, but once you’re aware of the results that you want to achieve, staging a direct mail campaign will be simple.
3. Develop a strong mailing list
Your mailing list is responsible for about 40% of the success of your direct mail campaign, making it vital that you get it right.
When deciding who to send your mailing to, ensure you keep your target audience at the forefront of your mind. Ensuring you only send your campaign to relevant individuals will help maximise your return on investment.
When building your list, it’s also vital that you eliminate any ‘bad’ addresses. Ensure you regularly update your client database to account for any customers who may have changed address. This will save you money in the long run and also ensure that your message is reaching your clients.
Writing effective copy for your direct mail campaign
Start with a striking headline
Your headline is the first thing your prospects will see when they receive your mail. Making it vital that it grabs their attention and encourages them to want to read more.
Potential ideas for a striking headline include:
- Highlighting the biggest benefit you can bring to your clients.
- Using the words ‘how’ or ‘how to’ to show that your content will be useful.
- Drawing attention to your latest offer.
- Asking a simple question that you know your readers will want the answer to.
2. Choose the right words
When you look at the best examples of direct mail, one thing stands out. Word choice is essential for keeping your prospects engaged and with limited space on your mailings, every word counts.
To ensure you choose the right words, consistently refer to your buyer personas. Use words that will appeal to their emotions and pick power words such as ‘now’, ‘immediately’ and ‘exclusive’ that will get them to take action.
3. Use psychology in your copywriting
Your prospect’s brains are wired to react in an anticipated way to certain triggers. Using this to your advantage, when writing marketing copy, can help you to drive sales and convert more leads through your direct mail campaign.
Some of these triggers include:
- Fear of missing out – using time-sensitive offers, with clear expiry dates, creates a sense of urgency and encourages your prospects to purchase due to fear that they’ll lose out.
- Social proof – your prospects are much more likely to listen to customers’ praising your business. This is because your customers hold an unbiased view of your products/services. Including testimonials in your direct mail is a great way to bring strength to your business from a customer perspective.
- Personalisation – Using your customer's name and company name in your marketing copy is a great way to grab their attention. Ensuring you consistently refer to their problems and keep the information relevant to them can also help ensure you keep them engaged.
4. Include a call to action
You must ensure your prospects are aware of what they need to do next. This can be achieved through the use of a call to action. Make sure you’re as clear and direct as possible, using phrases such as ‘visit us at..’ ‘contact us on…’.
Top Tip: Different colours elicit different emotions in your audience. Putting your CTA in a contrasting colour can direct your prospect’s gaze and make them more likely to take action.
Measuring the success of your campaign
You may feel that the success of your direct mail campaign will be difficult to measure. And rightly so, how do you measure return on investment for a print marketing campaign?
Although this may seem like a difficult task, there are a couple of proven ways to measure your results:
Integrate your online and offline marketing
One benefit of digital marketing is its ability to provide you with detailed analytics based on the actions that your prospects have taken. Integrating your online and offline marketing, allows you to quantify the number of customers responding to your direct mail campaign, whilst also taking advantage of the number of advantages that print offers.
Printing a QR code onto your direct mail postcards that links to your website, online company brochure or a free resource will allow you to track how many people took action after receiving your mail.
2. Unique discount codes
Adding a timely offer is a great way to encourage an immediate response. By including a unique discount code, you can effectively measure the number of people who ordered one of your products as a result of your direct mail campaign.
3. Enquires
Although this may be less accurate, you could also record the number of enquires you received after you launched your campaign. Take note of the emails, phone calls or orders you’ve received in the weeks following your campaign execution. When contacting a new lead ask them where they found out about you from. This will make it simple and straightforward for you to measure your return on investment and see how successful your campaign has been at achieving your long-term goals.
Want to know more?
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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