5 Crucial Steps to Boosting Your Direct Mail Response Rates

It can be really frustrating when you put a lot of time and effort into a particular direct mail marketing campaign and you don’t obtain the kind of response you were hoping for. With a little time and effort it is possible to significantly increase your response rates. Here are 5 steps you can follow to improve the conversion rates of your direct mail campaigns.

Personalised Marketing – Get Your Targeting Perected

These days you can’t afford not to personalise your marketing. Everyone is used to brands customising their advertising messages and it simply isn’t enough to just use the customer’s name on direct mail. If you want to compete with the key players in your category you need to take personalisation a step further. By drawing on a customer’s account data and purchasing history you could make a reference to a product they have previously purchased and send them a targeted offer. A customer is more likely to respond to a promotion that is ideal for them and addresses their specific needs.

Be Different and Impress the Consumer

If you copy your competitors or simply use the same old direct mail tactics the rest of the market is employing, chances are your letters, catalogues and pamphlets are going to simply blend into the mail pile and potentially end up in the bin, unopened. Strategies as simple as using boldly coloured envelopes or striking graphics on your pamphlets can serve to stop consumers in their tracks and pay attention to your message.

Make it Very Easy

You might have a beautifully designed direct mail piece but if you make it too difficult for consumers to work out what you want them to do, it is unlikely they will respond to your campaign. Make sure the action you want them to take is clear, obvious and practically jumping out at them when they open your direct mail item. If you want the consumer to call a number place it in a position where the eyes automatically go to first on the page. Don’t put it only at the end or on the back of your letter, pamphlet or flyer. If you are proposing an offer, explain the steps clearly in a such a way that it appears extremely quick and easy to follow. For example:

To take advantage of this fantastic offer simply follow these 5 steps.

1. Go to our website
2. Add the product you wish to purchase to your cart
3. Go to your online checkout
4. Enter the discount code found on the coupon when prompted at the point of payment
5. Complete your order

Tidy Up Your Mailing Lists

It is important to maintain your database and clean up your mailing list regularly. You may wish to remove people who haven’t opened recent campaigns or perhaps provide an incentive to subscribers to get them to re-engage with you. Make sure you don’t have duplicate listings of the same address and work with your preferred mail house to remove any known bad addresses from your list.

Make Your Direct Mail Marketing Part of An Integrated Campaign

In this fast-paced day and age we are bombarded by advertising messages and general correspondence in both print and electronic format. Reminders are vital if you expect your target audience to act on your message. We expect to get sms reminders from the doctor or beautician when we make an appointment so why wouldn’t we expect to get follow up direct mail? A series of related direct mail letters and pamphlets integrated with emails and even text messages is going to keep your offer or product news front of mind and ensure that when your customer does have time to pay attention to your message they will easily be able to find it.