Direct Mail...Is it really only Junk or could it be a Gold Mine?Very few of us will not have been exposed to Direct Mail. This is simply any advertising that is received in the post, such as letters, brochures, flyers etc. It is a big industry with billions of items being delivered within the UK each year….and it tends to generate pretty negative attitudes such as....  ...Direct Mail does not WORK!If you are anything like me, the vast majority of DM that you receive will go into the bin. Logically, from this effect you would conclude that DM must be a waste of money. But consider this...
DM is a numbers gameTo successfully use this marketing tool you have to use it in the knowledge that most of mailings will probably go into the bin unread. BUT don’t despair with the idea and give up at this point. One of the keys to successful DM campaigns is to make sure that your mailing is so COMPELLING that people DO READ IT.
So the reason why you and I are bombarded with mailings, particularly from larger companies is that... ...DM DOES WORK!! Larger companies have spent enormous sums of money testing and refining their mailings so they know precisely what works for them and what doesn’t. And here is the rub...it is true that a lot of DM does not work, mostly from small or medium sized companies. Why is this? Simply because they decide to do a DM campaign without knowing what they are doing!
There is no disputing that if Direct Mail is done well then it can really make your profits soar! BUT if its done badly then it can really eat up your precious marketing budget.SO YOU MUST BE CAREFUL!
The Magical 1%It is a complete myth that a DM campaign will generate a specific conversion rate. When I have spoken to DM providers about this they tend to become very coy about what success level the campaign will achieve.There are a number of key factors which affect the conversion rate, such as the price of what you are offering. Naturally if you sell books at £14.99 then you will get a different response level compared to selling motor cars at £100,000 each. Remember – the % rate doesn’t really matter. What is important is whether the mailing is profitable for you! TestingSo nobody can really predict the response rate on a Direct Mail campaign. Testing it on a small scale first is therefore very sensible.
Why?
Testing is really important . Far too many people spend a vast amount of money on a glossy brochure, perform the mail out of 1,000 copies to a ”random” list and end up with a disastrous result.
TargetsThere are two obvious targets. A mailing to your existing clients, (which is one of the best sources of new sales) and separately to new customers.
There is an element of chance and speculation to this and to reduce the risk of failure it may make sense to get some outside help.
BUT remember:
To really make a DM campaign successful, follow up with a personal telephone call. This can increase the success rate x10.
Keep it legal
In the UK, it is possible for individuals and companies to opt out of receiving Direct Mail through the Mailing Preference Service. Any mailing list must be closely vetted to ensure that you do not send a mailing to someone who has opted out. Your own Customer Database is a good start point because you already have a relationship. If you choose to target new clients then it makes sense to purchase a screened list from one of the many providers of this information. You can typically expect to pay about £200 for 1,000 screened and targeted addresses.
FREE Special ReportComplete the following submission form to receive your FREE expert reports which should be part of the thinking for every Business Marketing Strategy - Can you really afford not to!!!Return from Direct Mail to Marketing
|
DM response is statistically predictable. In your test, if 8 people buy from 250 letters then it directly follows that 32 will respond from 1,000 letters. Equally, if you send a 1,000 letters and only get 1 response it is highly unlikely that if you increased the letters to 4,000 that you will have a profitable mailing.
