Ten Tips for an Effective Direct Mail Postcard Campaign
Whether you need to reach a very broad or very targeted audience, few marketing methods are as effective as a well executed Direct Mail campaign. Due the rising cost of postage and the increased reliance on the internet for sourcing business, many companies have reduced or abandoned Direct Mail in favor of potentially less expensive and broader reaching promotional methods such as email marketing, social media and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While these are all good avenues to market a large or small business, and we completely believe in and promote them as well, internet marketing simply does not replace a well planned targeted Direct Mail campaign, but rather compliments it nicely. All of this being said, Direct Mail is not necessarily appropriate for all business models. Listed below are our top ten tips to keep in mind to help ensure the success of your Direct Mail efforts.
- Simple Designs, Simply Work
Design is key to initially capturing your Direct Mail recipient's attention. If the design is too involved and does not make a compelling case for actually reading the card, your card may end up in the throw away stack without ever being read. Think of the the front of your card as a tiny billboard; it's job is to be an attention-getter. If the design is too busy, your prospect may get confused and just move on. - Avoid Information Stuffing
Resist the temptation to jam copy into every nook and cranny of your card. Info stuffing can be overwhelming to your prospect and make your message get lost. A postcard is the not the place to try to echo everything that is on your website. - Keep Your Message Focused
One of the primary keys to the success of a mailing campaign is proper planning. The first step in proper planning is to determine what message you are looking to get out there. Once the target message is identified, stick to it so it does not get lost in a sea of other, lesser, information. - Strong Headline
Just like the design, the headline is there to capture attention quickly and needs to be readable in about 2 seconds. For example, "We Sell the Best Widgets on the Market Because They are Made Out of Super Strong Materials, Have a Lifetime Warranty, and are Only $20" is unlikely to be as effective as "Super Strong WIDGETS: 20 Bucks - Guaranteed Forever!" - The two messages are exactly the same, but the second one will get read a lot more. - Promote Your Website
Postcards are a great way to drive extra traffic to your website. The website is where the details of your offer and other relevant information should be kept. - Make a Killer Offer
If you played your cards right (no pun intended) with the design and headline, you will now have prospects actually reading your ad. Think about this from the standpoint of the reader; if the card is "pretty" and the title is catchy, but nothing of value is being offered, would you call? - Clear and Specific Call-to-Action
Ok, so your card avoided the "junk" pile, and captured your prospects attention long enough to read your compelling offer, now what? If you have a goal for your postcard marketing campaign (and you better), then this is where the rubber meets the road. The entire purpose of any commercial bulk mailing campaign is ultimatley to drive revenue and result in a high return on investment ("ROI"). The idea of an ongoing Direct Mail campaign is that when your prospect needs your product or service, they will complete some action that you want them to, whether it is to call you, send an email, subscribe to a newsletter, come to an event, make a donation, or whatever else your goal may be. If you want them to do something specific - you need to lay it out for them - "Call Right Now!", "Like us on Facebook", "Visit our website and enter offer code abc123", you get the point, right? - Mail to the "Right" People
This one falls squarely into the "easier said than done" category, but as one of the primary steps of the planning phase, this one cannot be overlooked. There are a variety of ways to get a good mailing list whether it is by building one yourself or buying a list from a company like Landy Marketing. Feel free to give me a call (my "call-to-action") and I'll be happy to help identify some list building opportunities for you, both online and off, and even procure a custom list for you. - Consistency
In the beginning of this post, I mentioned that Direct Mail is not appropriate for everyone. This can be for various reasons, but the primary one is the ability to maintain consistency in your efforts. Sure it is possible that, if your marketing message is dead on, the graphic design is phenomenal, your offer is irresistible, your mailing list is perfect, and your timing is great, you will get response and possibly even high ROI on one mailing, but in most cases, effective targeted Direct Mail campaigns are a part of an ongoing marketing effort. This means that you must plan, design, mail and repeat. Some designs, headlines, and offers, may also appeal more than others to different people on your list so mixing them up is important. Maybe the mailing with the really cute puppy did not convert well for cat lovers! - Timing
The fact is that it is impossible to get the timing just right for everyone on the list at once and many people may not read your card the first time they get it, but they may the second or third. Since the "right time" is different for everyone, all you can do here is make educated guesses as to the best time to mail and avoid obvious bad timing (like sending a Happy New Year's mailing in June).
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