You may (or may not) have noticed a decrease in the junk mail that
lands in your snail mailbox every day. With the move toward email and
online marketing many companies have all but abandoned direct mail
marketing altogether. Does this mean that using postcards, letters and
other direct mail campaigns are not considered to be effective?
Direct Mail is Alive and Well
With everyone making a mad dash to use online marketing for its
effectiveness and cost effectiveness, now may be the perfect time to
use good old fashioned direct mail. If all of your competitors are
using online marketing then you may be able to stand out from the crowd
by implementing a direct mail campaign through the United States Postal
Service.
So if you have a database full of mailing addresses for prospects,
current and past clients, now may be the time to put it to work. This
is especially true if your business can benefit from the upcoming
holiday season. So put this 3-step direct mail campaign process in
place and test the results.
Frequency is the key. Sit down and sketch out a postcard campaign
that drops two different postcards per month over the next three to six
months to the same group on your list. The frequency and duration of
this type of campaign will allow you to test the list and the
effectiveness of a direct mail campaign for your business.
Follow-up with the responders. Depending on the call to action you
include on your first direct mail piece (call, email or get them to
register online at your website or on a special landing page),
follow-up to the people that respond with a second direct mail piece or
email. This direct mail or email piece should move them up to the next
level of your marketing plan. So if the first direct mail piece got
them to register for a free report on your website, then the follow-up
piece should urge them to register for a webinar you’re giving, get
them to register for a free trial or provide them with a discount
coupon on their purchase.
Clean and scrub your list. When each mail piece is sent at each
stage of your campaign, be sure to scrub and clean your list on the
postcards that are returned for bad addresses. This should be done
after each mailing in order to keep your list up-to-date. This will
also save you from wasting money by continuing to pay for printing and
postage for pieces that aren’t reaching the intended recipients.
Stand out from the online marketing crowd. Use offline direct mail
marketing to gain the attention of your current, past and potential
customers. With more mail piling up in their email inbox, their snail
mail box is feeling empty. It’s the prime opportunity for you to engage
them the old fashioned way—the direct mail way.
For more information on creating marketing plans and campaigns, visit http://wp.me/ptLrh-1.
