Direct mail is considered by many to be the most difficult direct marketing technique. You may be inclined to dismiss it in the age of email marketing, but direct mail and promotional postcards are still an important part of a successful direct marketing strategy. As with email marketing, many consumers have become immune to some of the strategies that were effective in earlier years.
Tips for a Successful Postcard or Direct Mail Lead Nurturing Campaign
To be honest, in order to get good results from direct marketing, you need to work harder than you had to in past years. It’s true! However, with a bit of effort, you can still see an excellent return on your direct mail strategy.
Related: Old School Marketing: What Direct Mail Is and How It Can Work for Your Business
Tip #1: Offer a free gift
One of the best ways to increase the number of response you get from your direct mail marketing campaign is to offer a free gift. Do not include the free gift in the package. Instead, offer to send the consumer a free gift if they reply with their information. Make sure to highlight the free gift offer in a prominent place.
Tip #2: Use short, energetic copy
People these days have short attention spans. You need to use short, energetic paragraphs to grab and keep people’s attention. If you include paragraph have more than three sentences, many people will stop reading. And that’s one thing that you don’t want your business marketing to do.
Tip #3: Don’t use too many buzzwords
In recent years, the use of buzzwords has become very popular. However, many experts are now recommending that people cut down on their use of buzzwords. Readers have come to recognize these buzzwords, and they automatically categorize a piece that has many buzzwords as a sales piece.
Tip #4: Make it easy for readers to respond
One of the most common mistakes seen in direct mail campaigns is making it difficult for readers to respond. You need to make it as a quick and easy as possible in order to increase your response rate. One good way to do this is by including a form that already has as much of the customer’s information filled out as possible. For example, the address should already be filled out as should the customer’s name if you know it.
Tip #5: Back up your claims
Consumers have become immune to some of the extravagant claims that marketers once recommended. These days, it is more effective to use more realistic claims, especially those that you can back up with a great deal of data. It is important to remember that consumers are somewhat more skeptical of marketing campaigns than they used to be.
Related: 3 Direct Marketing Ideas You Never Thought Of
Tip #6: It is worth it to hire a pro
Copywriters are not cheap. Their prices lead some companies to attempt to write their own copy. However professional copywriters can use their considerable experience to write more effective copy than you can yourself.
Tip #7: Use quality materials
Consumers are so used to getting marketing pieces in the mail, they can tell a lot about the quality of the content from the quality of materials used. Quality may cost more, but in this case it is definitely worth it. Just exceeding the quality of the other pieces that are typically sent out gives you much greater chance of attracting attention and avoiding getting your messages thrown in the trash. Keep in mind that you may be able to get a bulk discount when buying materials.
Direct Mail and Postcard Inspiration
The tips included in this article can help you maximize the return on your investment in your direct mail marketing campaign. This return will be significant enough that a direct mail campaign will be more than worth it for your business. Direct mail campaigns have been around for a while, but they’re still going strong, and at SILKCARDS, we want to be your resource for developing the quality materials that will be attention-getters directly from the mailbox. We’ll show you our premium print processes; request a FREE sample.
