The Top 10 Strategies for Direct Mail Marketing Success

1. Target the right audience.

The most important part of Direct Mail Marketing is targeting the right people. How would you benefit from advertising your snorkeling products to a bunch of bean farmers in upstate New York? Let’s face it. You might as well throw your money out the window, along with the masks, snorkels and fins you wouldn’t be selling. How do you target the right audience? You make a small investment and get a lot of return on your money. BestPricedLists.com is a full service direct mail marketing company that offers a wide range of services including business, consumer, response and specialty lists at guaranteed low prices. Call 1-800-964-BEST today to speak with a sales representative who will help you find the list targeting the market that is perfect for you.

2. Make sure your mailing list is accurate.

The information in your list must be correct. What good would it do you to spend your money on postage for your direct mail piece, only to have more than half of them stamped “return to sender” and sent back to you? In this case you have not only handed money over to the postal service and received nothing in return, but also wasted valuable time and resources invested in the project. To ensure the accuracy of your mailing list, you need to buy it from a reputable firm where lists are updated at least once every three months. BestPricedLists.com is an established company that has been helping businesses with direct mail marketing since 1986. Lists are updated on a regular basis and are sold at guaranteed low prices. Call 1-800-964-BEST today to speak with a sales representative who will help you find the accurate list that is perfect for you.

3. Make your offer.

The first thing you want your offer to do is jump off the page and smack recipients in the face. Convince them your product is something they need, something they can’t live without. An excellent persuasive technique is adding testimonials to your direct mail piece. Ask your customers or clients to jot down a sentence or two about how your product or service has helped make them more money or has improved their quality of life in some way. This appeal to popularity has proved to be an excellent means of persuasion when used correctly. Another important part of your offer is giving them a freebie. People just love getting something for nothing. Throw in a free mouse pad, pen, calendar, bookmark, magnet or some other original gift that you can personalize with your company information. To speed things up a bit, stamp a deadline on your direct mail piece. Tell them that now is the time to take advantage of this offer that ends on the 31st of the month.

4. Personalize your direct mail piece.

Since you will be targeting the right market with a BestPricedLists.com mailing list, you have the opportunity to get very personal with your recipients. Take this opportunity, and use it wisely. If you are trying to sell backhoes and tractors to the bean farmers in upstate New York, you need to become a bean farmer while creating your direct mail piece. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. You are a bean farmer. You are standing in the damp green grass admiring your crop at daybreak. Your back hurts from the endless hours of shoveling, digging and harvesting. What would make your day easier or more productive? Come back to reality. Brainstorm. Write down some ideas. Now sell your farming equipment by creating a direct mail piece that bean farmers will be able to closely relate to. Focus on ways that they will benefit from your products.

5. Use eye-catching, effective artwork.

Graphics play an important role in the overall impact of your advertisement. The images you use should compliment the message you are trying to convey to your target audience. Instead of using an image of a bean farmer working his land with your backhoe, use a picture showing him walking away from the planted crop and farming equipment with a smile on his face. The sun is still shining bright. His job is done, and he can enjoy the rest of the day. Your product has made his day easier and more productive.

6. Use professional, easy-to-read fonts.

The font styles used in the copy of a direct mail piece should be chosen very carefully. Your images are only as effective as the copy surrounding them. If recipients have a hard time reading the text on your advertisement, they might misconstrue the meaning of the pictures you choose. The effect of your marketing campaign could be a negative one if you use a very feminine font, such as Edwardian Script, to try to sell your masculine machinery. The rugged bean farmers might even be offended by your advertisement.

7. Get them involved.

Action devices, such as scratch-offs, collectable tokens and numbered tickets are an excellent way to draw potential clients in. Start a company contest by coming up with playing rules and prizes to be won. Instead of just printing “You’re a Winner!” under the scratch off section of your direct mail piece, you should try a more innovative idea. Let’s say that your contest is a small one. Bean farmer direct mail recipients have a chance to win a fifty-pound bag of fertilizer if the word that appears in the scratch off area matches the winning word on your website at www.YourCompanySite.com/contestwinner. The more bean farmers you target with your marketing campaign, the more traffic you get to your website. By increasing traffic to your site, you have increased the opportunity to sell company products with banner advertising and online promotions. In some cases the production costs for scratch off, token and ticket games will be too far out of the marketing budget. If you find yourself in this situation, try using a simple contest entry form that they can fax or mail back to the company for a lottery type game.

8. Make a lasting impression.

If you create an effective direct mail piece following these guidelines, you will receive positive response from your target audience; however, not everyone will take advantage of your free offer, play your game or take the time to complete your entry form. These are the people that you want to impress with the overall presentation of your direct mail piece. Perhaps they didn’t have the time, money or need for your product at this present time, but at some point in the future they just might. You want them to remember your company and the products and services it offers. Make sure your company logo is the most prominent piece of artwork on the page. Having a catchy slogan that mentions your company name and products is an excellent way to be remembered. If you don’t have a company slogan, come up with an appealing headline that is short, sweet and to the point.

9. Stay up-to-date with technology.

The last thing you want to do is be surpassed by your competitors. Incorporating new technological advancements into your marketing campaign is a good way for you to stay on top of your market. In the example from tip seven, you sent bean farmers to your website to see if they won the fifty-pound bag of fertilizer. You could also use your direct mail advertisements to invite recipients to sign up for and participate in online games, Internet chat rooms and message boards.

10. Create and maintain customers.

Stay organized! Set a sensible schedule, and send your direct mail to the same target audience on a regular basis. In the case of the bean farmers in upstate New York, you would want to start your direct mail marketing campaign in the final winter months when these farmers are preparing for planting their spring crops. A sensible time frame for targeting this market would be six months, starting on the first of January, finishing on the first of June, when most bean crops have already started growing. In this case, it would make no sense to continue marketing your backhoes and tractors to bean farmers who will have no use for them until next year. Don’t forget to purchase an updated direct mail marketing list from BestPricedLists.com at least once every three months. Keep in mind that the more time, money and effort you invest in your direct mail marketing, the more you will get in return.

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