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Is your direct mail missing these key features?Welcome to the world of direct mail! Chances are you’ve seendirect mail just about every day in your mailbox. This has proven to be an effective form of marketing, and one that you should seriously consider. As with other avenues of marketing, direct mail works best when targeted. Unless you are Target®, Wal-Mart®, or Safeway®, for direct mail to be effective, it must go to your target audience. In this day and age, I am not personally happy with a 2% response rate on direct mail; and these are my personal techniques to make your direct mail get opened, and get responses. I shoot for a 15% response rate with direct mail – why don’t you? So let’s get to it! First of all, let’s start with the pieces you are mailing. You can send anything from sales letters to brochures to catalogues or pretty much anything that will help you sell your company. Postcards work great for an initial mailing – it gets your business name out there and visible in your target market. (TIP: Remember the Rule of 7 – your business name and logo will take roughly 7 viewings before your audience remembers it). Postcards generally don’t work to close a sale; but they seriously help get your name out there. The most effective postcards announce the grand opening of your business, a private sale (only to your best customers – one of my favorites!), a secret sale (“bring in this card by 6/16/06 and get 15% off your purchase”!), or any other notable announcement. In my experience, they work best as attention-getters, announce yourself loudly and passionately! I use sales letters as a follow-up to the postcard mailing; and I generally send them within 1-3 months after the initial postcard mailing. Study after study show that longer sales letters work better than short sales letters. They should all include very important information about your company and your product or service – but must detail the benefits to the user. I suggest using special codes in your sales letter (i.e.: visit www.my-business-site.com and enter this code for your gift) so you can track who responded to your letter, even if they didn’t respond to your mailing personally. The next step is to develop a good, simple brochure. Brochure mailings should be highly targeted. They can be expensive to mail out; thus you want your brochure to go to those people who have already visited your website, made a phone call, or visited your store based on your postcard or sales letter. These should be sent out 1-3 months after the sales letter, and should not be just a banner for your business. These brochures should give information – tips on how to succeed using X method, tips on how to make the most of your money – something the reader can implement immediately. The back panel of your brochure should include company information, special sales that you are highlighting, and a business reply card (postage paid!). Invite them to set up a telephone appointment with you, visit your website, or anything – as long as you invite them to do something! Let’s talk a little about the packaging of your direct mail pieces. In my opinion, using the old method of printed labels and mass postage implies that you are Big Business and generally doesn’t help get your mail opened. Take a day to personally handwrite all of the address on the envelopes and stick real stamps on them – people have a tendency to open mail that is personally addressed to them. Sometimes I even stick the stamps upside-down – adding another human element to the equation. (TIP: People do business with people, not computers, machines, or factories – so the more you show them that you’re a real person the more likely they are to equate you with someone with whom they can do business) To make this task a little easier on yourself, I’ve found that using neighborhood teens or family members is a great way to personalize your mailings. Generally teenagers will do the job for much less than your average adult. Their spirits will remain high while stuffing and stamping; and (for US-based companies, at least) you can get a tax break for employing these kids. (TIP: Send handwritten notes inside all pieces you send – it adds yet another personal element to the mix – and use it to invite them to do something or thank them for their time. Include your contact information on this note as well, and use their name!) Well, these are just a few of the techniques I use in direct mail marketing. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please contact me at info@trinityjacobs.com and mention “Direct Mail” in the subject line! Good luck, and happy marketing! ********************** Erin Banister is the president of TrinityJacobs – Your Personal Virtual Assistant. Erin’s expertise includes marketing and desktop publishing, amongst other administrative specialties. For more information, visit http://www.TrinityJacobs.com
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