Get Better Results with Direct Mail - By Design
By Joe Haddad
The rule of thumb for direct mail is to expect a 1 to 3 percent return rate. Yet some direct marketers regularly achieve double-digit response rates. How do they do it? Through smart planning and design.
Here are some of the secrets to their success.
They use colour. Studies show people are 55 percent more likely to pick up a full color direct mail piece before a black and white mailer. Adding colour is possibly the single most effective step to improving response – and with new colour printing technologies, it’s also economical.
They target. It’s far more cost-effective to get a 10 percent return on a mailing of 200 than a 2 percent return on a mailing of 1,000, even though both generate the same number of replies. Go for quality over quantity in your mailing list. That way, you save on postage, and you can spend more of your production budget on things (like colour) that further boost response rates.
They get personal. Research shows simply adding a name to a direct mail piece increases response by 44 percent. Personalizing content further improves response, and when color and personalization are used together, return rates skyrocket by as much as 500 percent! And thanks to digital technologies, personalization is more affordable than ever.They make an offer you can’t refuse. When a direct mailer engages the prospect – by offering a coupon, a chance to win, a special discount or a free gift available only to those who respond – response rates jump. When you place a deadline on the offer or offer an extra bonus for fast reply, response goes even higher.
They change their appearance. Want to get your direct mailer tossed? Then make it look like the last mailer you sent out. Successful programs constantly vary the colour, graphics, size and message to keep their mailings fresh and new. One note of caution: keep your mailer within standard postal size and weight regulations – or you could pay a fortune in added postage.
They don’t give up. The more often you reach a prospect, the more likely you are to get a response. Three mailings to 1,000 people will generate more replies than one mailing to 3,000 names, especially if you follow the last rule above. And, if you can create an integrated, multi-part direct mail campaign – for instance, if you send part of a puzzle every week for several weeks – prospects will actually start looking forward to your mailings…instead of throwing them away unread.