Blank Scroll

With direct mail marketing, a decision postponed usually means “no response” to your mailing.

The most direct way to get a prospect to “act now” is to put a deadline on your offer. Use either a specific date or a more generic “respond within the next 14 days.”

The shorter the response time frame, the more likely your prospects will respond quickly. But it could also make them feel rushed and uncomfortable.

So…How long should the time limit be?

For business-to-business direct mail, most experts say a 20-day time limit seems reasonable: short enough to spur action, long enough to provide breathing space.

Note: The limited-time offer is most effective when you can justify why time is short. For example: “We urge you to hurry. Given the response to previous similar offers, you may have to wait longer than you’d like for this free offer.”

Most successful direct mail includes an offer to get something FREE simply for responding. The offer can take different forms, including:

Gift just for placing an order

Discount for paid-in-advance order

Free trial

Buy two, get one free

Volume discount

Favorable payment plan for orders placed by a specific date

Free catalogue

Free problem evaluation

Surprise gift with your order

Your offer should have no strings attached, and regardless of what you propose, a guarantee is essential. It reflects the honest, fair and open way you and your company do business. Use phrases like:

"Send no money now"

"Try it FREE for one month without risk or obligation"

"Risk-free trial"

"Money-back guarantee"

The goal is to build trust, reduce the recipient's sense of risk, get a response and close the deal.

A customer relationship doesn’t end with payment.

Customers want to have their problems solved.

Focusing on what your customer wants is more important than what you have to sell.

Your competition can copy everything you have. How you communicate with customers is the great differentiator.

Personalizing your message is an important key to marketing success.

Marketing is much more than a full-page ad.

Lead generation is only one small part of marketing.

Enclose your brochure, ad, flyer etc., in all your outgoing mail. You'll be surprised by who can use what you're offering.

Follow-up purchases with thank you notes, inviting customers to return with "this note" for a “private” 20% discount on their next purchase.

Print your best small ad on a card and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. A card can drive traffic to your website and generate sales leads.

Increase the number of mailings to your customers.

Enclose a thank you note with each order, as well as another merchandise offer.

Use a colored window in your envelope to make it stand out more.

Highlight
a message on the outside of your envelope to dramatize an important
point such as “Respond within 2 weeks and save 20%.”

Vary your mailing formats to generate interest: use postcards, brochures, personalized letters, etc.

Generate off-season business by asking for it: If you normally have a winter slump, run a “winter sale.”

Test the use of colorful letterheads against traditional stationery.

Make better use of your mailing lists by mailing more to repeat customers and forgetting about the others.

State your guarantee on your envelope in the strongest terms.

Follow-up prospects’ inquiries promptly.

1) Clearly define your target market: Determine what people want to hear, not what you want to tell them.

2) Include a personal letter in your package: One-to-one communication improves response.

3) Lead with your offer: Create a strong offer. Make it clear, simple and to-the-point.

4) Turn your features into bottom-line benefits: Show how your widget will save time, increase profits, improve competitiveness, boost efficiency, etc.

5) Highlight benefits with graphics: Use colors, a distinctive font, bullets, brackets, etc.

6) Offer choices with guidance: Clarify the readers’ options and show them that any choice is a win-win decision.

7) Keep choices simple: Giving your readers too many options will distract them from the benefits you’re really selling.

8) Enclose an action device: To bring the order home, use a simple order form, discount coupon, 800 number, etc.

9) Don’t get cute with your design: Don’t make your readers work to read your message.

10) Don’t send conflicting offers: Clean your mailing list so an individual doesn’t get more than one test offer for the same product on the same day.

11) Nix the jargon: Write to your audience, not yourself.

12) Don’t take anything for granted: Do the math for your readers. Don’t tell them they’ll save “half our regular fee”. Tell them they’ll “save $500”.

Marshall Field, founder of one of the most celebrated department stores of all time was one of the world’s wealthiest and most successful businessmen.

His list of important things for business executives to remember is worth consideration:

1) The value of time

2) The success of perseverance

3) The pleasure of working

4) The dignity of simplicity

5) The worth of character

6) The power of kindness

7) The influence of example

8) The obligation of duty

9) The wisdom of economy

10) The virtue of patience

11) The improvement of talent

12) The joy of originating

Don’t rush into a mailing program. Think first, let thoughts
percolate and ask for outside, expert advice.

Think about your customers’/prospects’ needs and then
fill them.

Make an offer recipients can’t refuse.

Design your mailing for pulling power, not for a design award.

Be truthful and realistic.

Allow enough time for the printer and mail house to work effectively
and efficiently.

Don’t assume anything. Triple check everything.

Use strong copy, but make sure the words, tone and message fit your
audience.

Sell the benefits of your product/service, not your company.

Offer a good guarantee and live up to your promise.

Use external resources to maximize your administrative time.

Don’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel.

Should you mail the same piece to the same people twice?

Yes! Generally, repeat mailings can generate as much as 40% to 60% of the original response. Your efforts should be 10 to 12 weeks apart.

In fact… Current direct mail thinking says you should "3 peat" contacts with the same pieces to the same audience.

A 2008 Pitney Bowes direct mail survey of more than 1,000 consumers, age 18+, in 10 major metro areas resulted in some interesting conclusions:

    * 64% said they examine their mail more carefully for promotional offers today than they did six months ago.

    * 85% said they looked at their USPS mail daily.

    * 94% claimed they took action on promotional offers received in the mail over the past year.

    * 68% reported they renewed a relationship with a business after a period of time because they received a mailing.

    * 52% of consumers, age 18-39, said they get greater enjoyment reviewing USPS mail compared to e-mail.

    * 41% of consumers, age 41-49, said they contributed to a nonprofit organization for the first time after receiving information in the mail.

    * 37% said they used a new business for the first time after receiving information in the mail.

Over the past 50 years, direct mail has included everything from simple letters to talking picture frames. But, a successful mailing can cost a lot less and be just as effective as that talking picture frame, which, by this time, is most likely buried under old hockey knee pads in someone’s basement. Here’s how:

Most people are intrigued by a good offer. It can be a discount, a free gift or a rebate. In any case, make sure you highlight it in your letter. Try putting it in a box above the salutation.

Emphasize your product’s benefits, not its features. Tell your recipients how their lives will improve when they use your product. So what if your lawnmower has a 10-horsepower engine. That’s only a feature. What’s really important is that it can make life easier by cutting 40 feet in 20 minutes.

Personalize your letters and include a P.S. Send letters with information that is meaningful to specific customers, and don’t forget to repeat your offer in the P.S., which is often read before the body of the letter.

Change the size or format of your mailer. If you generally send a letter in a #10 envelope, try mailing a 6” x 9” postcard. It will catch people’s attention, and could boost your ROI.

1. Have your headline clearly promise a benefit…don’t try to be cute or clever.

2. Make a FREE offer of information, product sample, gift or consultation.

3. Offer a premium for immediate action.

4. Include a toll-free telephone number.

5. Use an easy-to-understand business reply card.