Top 5 Mistakes in Direct Mail Campaigns

Once you have been on the journey of a Direct Mail campaign, you have probably been tempted by one or more of these "shortcuts" which will dramatically reduce your desired results.

Direct mailing in this electronic emailing and blogging society has a place for many marketing campaigns. This article discusses the mistakes made not the reason to engage in direct mail.

Here are the Top 5 mistakes.
1. Not using a real stamp for envelopes and post cards. No metered mail.
2. Not personally signing each piece in blue ink. No electronic signatures.
3. Not being consistent with mailings. It is a campaign not an event.
4. Not tracking results. Why bother?
5. Not clearly defining your target audience that will respond to direct mail. This is a subset of your customers.

Let's explore each of these mistakes or sometimes called shortcuts.

Certainly for expense reasons, many small business owners will opt for a frugal metered mail approach. After all, when mailing 300 pieces a week, why pay 2 or 3 times the cost to mail? The reason is all about the psychology of seeing a stamp. It screams personal touch and will garner 50% higher open/read rates.

When is the last time you wrote a thank you note or an invitation? In today's evite, text and pda era, much like the stamp, the real signature captures the attention of your customer. Sure it takes a lot of time to sign each piece, but you don't want great content obfuscated by a generic bland electronic signature that shouts; forget what I said -- you're really just a number to me!

The underlying theme to not being consistent is not determining a budget and designing a proper direct mail campaign. Research indicates it takes 5-6 customer pings before they bother to act. Design your campaign to reach the customer a minimum of 4 times before the event or year end. The first exposure piques curiosity. The second time creates a trend. The third engagement creates awareness. While the fourth begins to drive customer interest. They move from I "want" to I "need".

Finally, not only do you need to define your customer base, you need to refine it to those customers that have the greatest propensity to get your desire result from the content of your mailer. Ask yourself the question, "Why am I mailing these DM pieces to my audience?" Then ask, "Of all my potential customers, which ones are most likely to respond to my DM campaign?"