Get your customers excited about their mailbox again
Without effective marketing, you wouldn’t have a successful business. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a few decisions like what platforms to use or whether to invest in social media, but it’s truthful. Instead of spending a small fortune hiring marketing experts to analyze what’s best for your business, we’re here to tell you—and the surprising answer is direct mail.
Although direct mail may seem like an antiquated practice, the DMA Response Rate Report proves otherwise. In 2014, 56.9% of all mail sent out was direct mail, with an average of 19 pieces of mail sent per week. But just because it’s sent, doesn’t mean it’s well received—right?
The numbers don’t lie—the study showed that 42% of recipients read or scanned their direct mail pieces, with consumers recalling ads 75% of the time (compared to 44% of digital ads). Now that you know the platform works, here are the five main steps to making it a successful one for your business:
1. Know Your Demographics
The most important part of any marketing strategy is knowing who you are targeting and how to make that information work for you. According to the DMA report, the highest response rate came from current and previous customers. That’s right—a well-designed piece of mail could potentially win back customers you may have lost over time.
It’s also important not to ignore a potential consumer base due to age. Although you may think younger age groups are less likely to respond to direct mail, the DMA report shows otherwise: the response rate for the youngest age group (18-21) rose 8% in the last year alone.
2. The Price is Right
Make sure the effort of direct mail is worthwhile by choosing the right offer for your mailer. Try to avoid making your offer too wordy, and keep in mind that dollars-off or free-item offers always out-perform percentage-off offers. A good test is to ask yourself if you would bother inconveniencing yourself to redeem the offer.
3. Hey, Good Lookin’
As with any other marketing ad, the better it looks, the better the response to it will be. Oversized mailers, such as postcards, tend to do better, according to the DMA report. Additionally, mailers that appeal to more than one of the senses—such as a textured, bright-colored mailer—will increase the motivation to respond by 20%. Other options like the laminated Acclaim Mailer postcard are a good choice if you want to stand out compared to the competition and garner a higher-than-average response rate. Of course, that doesn’t mean go overboard—lemon-scented mailers are not trending for a good reason.
4. Keep it Laminated
What good is putting effort into crafting a beautiful mailer if it’s bent or damaged before it arrives? Prevent wasted effort by using our Acclaim laminated mailer. The extra layer of lamination ensures that your offer will arrive in mailboxes as pristine and vibrant as the day they were printed.
5. Track the Changes
Instead of counting how many times your phone may ring after sending out mailers, it’s important to find a reliable way to track responses. Whether you opt to use a coupon code or website exclusively for the mail offer, or a specialized analytics program, invest in something that you understand. If you can’t fully see the results of your efforts, how do you know for sure that you were successful?
Navigating direct mail marketing for your business doesn’t have to be hard: we’re here to help. For more information on laminated mailers, or how we can help you increase your response rate, call us at 800-800-7741 or click the button below to get a price quote. We can’t wait to hear from you!