Direct Mail

Direct Mail

There are many pluses to direct mail advertising, but there are also many minuses. A plus to direct mail advertising is its cost, this is the cheapest method of sending an advertisement to a mass audience; but, the minus is that from this mass of people who are reached in an email campaign, most of that audience will disregard your piece of advertisement and slough it off into the garbage. There are many situations where you just don't know if your current marketing plan is actually working. This has been conveniently boxed together as the "deadly sins" of direct mail advertising.

One of the biggest mistakes that a direct mail marketer can make is by not putting themselves in the shoes of those they are trying to market their goods to. If you fail to make this connection, you will find that your materials will end up in the trash with all the other marketing materials from other companies with good intentions.

When you are looking at your next marketing campaign, put yourself in the public's shoes. Ask yourself a few questions to ensure that you are reaching the right target audience as well as the right gender and age of your potential marketing campaign. It is also not merely important to adhere to the demographics of your target market, but to also write at their level; meaning, using terms and speak in the same tone that the target groups would between one another. Whichever target group you are trying to reach in your direct mail campaign will only be as successful as the information printed on it. Graphics and fancy paper will not win over your target audience.

When you are looking to implement either a new, or rework an existing, direct mail campaign, and you are in effect tailoring your mailing list to fit the correct demographics, it is important to tailor the direct mail campaign to what your needs are. By taking the time to research the demographics of your list, you can ensure that your product will sell to the right audience, as they will be less likely to through your direct mail in the file marked "g" for garbage.

Now that you've researched and came up with mailing lists to market your product too, it is now time to sit down and write what you are selling. The most important "wow" factor that you can come up with is through the headline. This will be your show-starter or show-stopper. This will ensure people will keep reading or toss it away. The second most important part of your direct mail flyer or brochure is to hook your reader with not the price, but, the benefits first; you want to keep them reading and building up the anticipation that they simply cannot do without your product. Then you put the price at the bottom of your mailing, as you need to inform the customer on the product first.

Last but not least, ensure you have your payment methods clearly stated on the bottom of the letter so they know where to purchase or order your great product. It is also very important to look at having two or three different versions of your sales letter or brochure to test one against the other to see which has the higher response. By doing this, you are able to continue further direct mail campaigns with the one that worked.