One of the more reliable ways to get your business’ message out to customers is through a direct mail marketing campaign. But before you just stick something in the mail and hope for the best, here are a few ideas to encourage success.
Work with your printer early in the process
Good commercial printers are also excellent at staying on top of ever-changing postal service rules. Engage with your printer early; there’s no sense in designing a piece that either won’t work or will end up costing you extra for postage.
If you don’t want to buy a mailing list…
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), a service offered by the United States Postal Service, offers reliable ways for businesses to target specific geographical markets at a substantial cost savings. Postage rates are lower and you don’t need to know names or street addresses. EDDM is perfect for promoting sales and events, announcing grand openings, sending coupons, menus, calendars, special offers and more.
Track it
The best way to know whether your direct mail piece is working is by including a means for tracking. You must have a way to measure your success. The most common ways are to include a trackable phone number and/or URL, a campaign-specific email, a coupon code or QR code.
Remember your call to action
Don’t leave your customers hanging. Give them a little direction. Don’t waste your time and theirs with a generic postcard that simply reminds them that you’re still around. The call to action doesn’t have to be a sale or discount (although both are fine ideas). It could be advertising a contest or offering an incentive to complete an online survey. Whatever the case, just make sure you are encouraging a response.
Know when not to send
The late-year holidays are a crunch time, so avoid those whenever possible unless you’re sending a themed piece. Even then, you might not get much return on your investment. This year presents the every-four-year challenge of a presidential election. With so much pressure on the post office to deliver what could be a record number of mail-in ballots, sending anything timely between mid-October and the first week in November isn’t a good idea.
West Press’ talented staff is here to help you each step of the way — from graphic design to printing to mailing services to large format to website development. Contact West Press or your Account Executive at 520-624-4939 today.