Contrary to how some companies failed to increase profits in their direct mail campaigns, the direct mail technique does still work.  Using effective techniques in designing the layout and content of direct mail, you have better chances of hitting your targets.

Why use direct mail?

The term direct mail speaks a lot for itself.  Targeting customers whom you deem would most likely respond to your product or service is more logical than spraying bullets of advertising without the assurance of getting consumer response. 

Many companies that are in the process of launching new products in the market use direct mail for varied reasons. 

1.  Direct marketing.  Given that you’ve completed an accurate and timely market research, the next step is to build a marketing strategy that doesn’t waste one bit of effort.  This is the very essence of direct mail – you’re directly addressing your marketing strategy to a target audience that would most likely buy your product or service.

2.  Lower costs.  Why spend millions of dollars in advertising in print or broadcast when direct mail campaigns cost far less?  And, with the advent of the Internet the direct mail technique has become more and more cost-effective and efficient!  Sending mails directly to target consumers helps save a considerable amount of company time, efforts, and resources.

3.   Obtain results faster.  The typical advertising techniques can take several months to come out, thus, deferring marketing results and, consequently, profits.  A direct mail campaign involves accumulating results and completing them in just a few months after sending mails.

How to make direct mail work?

The purpose of direct mail is to revolve your marketing efforts around the right customers who, according to your research, would be interested in your product or service.  So it’s very important to stick to this purpose.  But how should you go over with that?

Learning from other companies’ mistakes helps you cross on the right path.  When using direct mail, it is imperative to ensure that its design and content suit to needs and preferences of your target customers. 

There are several formats from which you can choose, namely: postcards, emails, business letter, and 2-D or 3-D packages, just to name a few.  Keep in mind, though, to employ different approaches when designing printed mails (such as postcards or business letters) and emails. 

Direct mail is best to use when your aim is to target a small portion of the population or customers.  For instance, if your target customers are homeowners then why advertise to renters?  Using simple logic of if’s and then’s will help you come up with the right content of direct mail.

The offer is another critical element in direct mail campaigns.  Customers would almost always want to be rewarded for trying your product or service, aside from the positive brand experience they have with you.  Some companies send out product samples or coupons together with the mails, free product demonstrations, a downloadable article from your website, online ROI calculators, or additional information about your product or service.

Building an accurate and well-refined mailing list is also a crucial element in your direct mail campaign.  You can usually obtain your mailing list from the market research you just conducted.  An unrefined mailing list can possibly forfeit all your direct mail effort because you might just be sending mails to unqualified customers. Your design and effort could just be meaningless to customers who are least likely interested in your product or service. 

These three elements can all determine the success of your direct mail efforts.  Of course, don’t just stop here.  The web is filled with resources that provide tips on how to create a successful direct mail campaign.  But then again, make sure you choose only the most meaningful information.