Turn Your Direct Mail Campaign Into a Hit
 Turn Your Direct Mail Campaign Into a Hit
Direct Mail remains one of the most effective marketing strategies.
Some business owners express concern that this form of marketing might be considered junk. Here is my response. If you define your target audience and send it to those with an interest, it is no longer junk.
Just keep in mind that Direct Mail should be integrated with other marketing strategies.
Below you will find some valuable tips on how to warm up your prospect and get your mail piece read.
? Personalize your letter.
This will lead to increased response rates, as people like to see their name in print.
? Keep it pithy.
Don?t try to impress your prospects with fancy writing. Make your message clear, succinct, and appealing. Avoid hype and clichéd expressions.
? Research your target audience.
Learn as much as you can about your prospects. Look at your copy from a reader?s perspective. This way your copy will generate more sales. Captivate your readers with interesting stories, examples, or analogies that they can understand or relate to. What do you think would provoke them the most?
? Lead off your copy with a powerful headline.
Don?t settle for headlines that merely describe a product (For example: ?Gear Drive?, ?Spiral Ultrafilter?). Be more specific. Explain the product?s application. Describe the range of sizes, colors, models, etc.
? Stress the benefits.
A letter containing too much clutter will not have a desirable impact.
Focus on benefits, and put them before features. Benefits sell! Make your copy shine with convincing and powerful headers.
? Provide valuable information.
The purpose of Direct Mail is to inform, persuade, and educate your prospects. Remember one thing: every sentence counts and should make a critical point. Don?t forget that we compete for a few seconds of attention.
? Offer incentives.
Your prospects are more likely to place an order if it leads to saving money, boosting profits, increasing productivity, etc. A powerful incentive increases response. Provide a free-trial offer if possible.
? Use bullets.
Bulleted lists are effective and pleasing to the eye. The most effective way of using those bullets is when they follow the words ?you get? and ?reasons why?. This gives the reader the ability to know right away what they will get out of reading your copy.
? Embellish your copy with images.
Humans usually react strongly to pictures. Visual aspect is essential. But don?t let it dominate your letter. Your prospects should remember the product or service, not the design. It is the copy that does the selling.
? Use numbers and statistics.
It would be wise to bring numbers into the picture. For example: ?How to quadruple the number of hot leads each month by adding a White Paper offer to your home page.? Sounds more convincing, doesn?t it?
? Don?t forget a call to action.
People like to be told what to do. You are wrong if you think that after reading your letter they will automatically dial your number. What do you want the reader to do? Do you want them to call you, request additional information, visit your website, drop by your office, or make a referral?
? Timing is important.
If you send out your package between Christmas and New Year?s Day, it is more likely to get attention.
? Follow up by phone.
Make sure you follow up with a phone call to close the sale. That?s what turns single digit response rates into double digits.
? Do not ignore the most important factor!
Do you know what the most critical part of your Direct Mail campaign is? You think it?s the copy? The fancy graphics? It?s the mailing list! Even the most eloquent sentences and appealing artwork won?t do you any good if you do not carefully select your target audience.
That?s it for now. Put the above strategies into practice and build your profits fast. In my next article I will reveal the magic words of Direct Mail and many other effective strategies that will give you more exposure and increase your bottom-line.
In the meantime, good luck in all your endeavors! I?ll see you next time.
Article Archives [2006-10-04]
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