Direct mail is one of the most critical pieces of your marketing plan. The key to success lies in your approach, as proper planning goes a long way to creating a significant return on investment. Here are seven tips you should consider when planning a successful direct-mail marketing campaign.
Know your audience inside and out
An essential part of any direct mail campaign is understanding your audience - knowing exactly who you are sending your mail to. There are a lot of variables in creating a successful campaign, but everything becomes easier if you can identify your target audience.
Basic demographics such as gender and age range are a great starting point. However, a deeper understanding of daily habits will allow you to craft your message better and increase conversion rates. Consider your target demographic’s shopping and lifestyle habits; think about their daily goals and challenges.
Database technology can allow you to gather an enormous amount of information on the geographic, demographic, and behavioral profiles of your prospects through sign up forms on your website, social media analytics, online questionnaires, or even telephone surveys. Use that information to gain a deeper understanding of your target reader.
Know your goal
Having a good knowledge of your target audience is vital, however, it is challenging to implement the right strategies and tactics to achieve the desired outcome if you don’t have a specific goal in mind. Are you trying to build awareness of your company or communicate new information about a product?
To get the best results from your campaigns, know what you want to accomplish, and prepare strategies and compelling pieces to match.
Combine math and magic
Knowing your numbers is necessary for marketing; however, if you fail to pair those numbers with creativity to make a meaningful connection to your audience, you will fall short. Emotions underly data. Therefore it is necessary to understand the drive behind the data and then create campaigns that touch on those emotions to connect to your potential customers to you on a more personal level.
Tone and terms
How you say something is just as important as what you say. A good letter is like a conversation and adapted not only to suit the context but to the sender and recipient as well. Elmore Leonard said - “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” Conversational content that is not filled with ‘salesy’ type words and is relatable to the reader will instill trust and connection.
Know your KPIs and OKRs
Monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of your campaign will help you understand what is and what isn’t working, allowing you to adjust plans and programs to improve the key performance indicators in support of your strategic goals. Having defined Objectives and Key Results will keep you on track towards achieving your goals.
Design a direct mail template
Developing a direct mail template that you can use with every direct mail campaign you create will help you establish brand identity allowing you to communicate a consistent message to your audience. A consistent and strong brand voice is essential for building brand awareness and trust.
Choosing the right sized paper
Once you have all the steps in place - you know the who, why, and when for your direct mail campaign - you need to establish the how. Different paper and envelope sizes can communicate different messages to your audience. A half-letter which contains a moderate amount of text is a great size for a more generalized message. Consider using letter-sized paper for more space and to speak to your customers in a more personalized way. Our postcard size is excellent for accompanying other goods such as a gift pack or sample pack.
Finish Up With The Personal Touch
Studies show 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. Creating a direct mail campaign using the Scribeless handwriting platform will level up your approach and allow you to inject a more personalized connection, creating more interest and impact with the reader. By utilizing the seven steps above, paired with a more personalized handwritten touch, you can get in front of your prospects with targeted, relevant, and appealing marketing that influences decision making on products they need or didn’t know they were missing.
