With social media and online advertising on the rise, you may wonder if direct mail is still an effective way to use your marketing dollars. Have you checked your mailbox lately? Chances are, most of the advertisements you receive go straight to the recycle bin. But there is always a post card, flyer, or insert that pulls you in and piques your purchasing interest.
Perhaps you received a post card for an air vent cleaning with free carpet steaming – just while you were thinking how dusty your house keeps getting and how disgusting your carpet is looking. Or maybe you received an insert announcing a sale on bath towels and a $5 off coupon – just as you dug out your mangled old towel from the dryer. Sometimes timing is everything.
Whatever the advertisement, you’re now thinking about making a purchase. Response rates from direct mail are usually lower than e-mail campaigns. But, as with all marketing campaigns, repetition and reinforcement are keys to reaching your customers. So how can you design an effective direct mail piece?
The basics are in your mailbox.
When you need inspiration, just go to your own personal direct mail idea vault... your mailbox! You probably receive tons of good direct mail each year. Set aside packages that catch your eye. The companies mailing these have spent thousands of dollars researching the best methods. Why not learn from their research?
Always try to beat your previous response rate.
Play around with the design before sending the mailing out again. See if minor changes make a significant difference in the response rate. Send out different versions of your design to similar groups in your database, and test to see which one results in the most responses. Whatever you do, test it, and then test it again!
Use words that grab the reader’s attention.
Here is a recent list of “Words that Grab Attention,” produced by Starch INRA Hooper Research Worldwide:
Announcing / Discover / Easy / Exclusive / Free / Guarantee / Health / Help / Immediately / Introducing / Know / Learn / Love / Money / New / Now / Powerful / Profits / Protect / Proven / Results / Safe / Save / Secret(s) / Today / Trust / Understand / You
Source: PostNet
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