4 Ways to Ensure Direct Mail Results

I talk about direct mail quite a bit around here – about its strengths and weaknesses, about its ROI potential, and about its potential for your business. And we firmly stand behind the value of direct mail, but today I want to take a slightly different look at direct mail. Rather than talking about the nitty-gritty details of ROI and conversion tracking, I want to talk about ways to get your mailer noticed – the more creative side of the direct mail world.

Mail Habits

The first step to getting your direct mail piece noticed is understanding how people interact with their physical mail. For most people, their mail all goes through an initial sort – half ends up in the trash and half makes the cut for further inspection.

The first goal of your direct mail piece is to get past this initial sort. Spammy and false urgency advertisements are likely the first to end up in the trash pile – nobody falls for those old tricks anymore. Instead of relying on clever tricks, try being abundantly clear. What benefit are you offering? Lead with that, make it clear, and watch your direct mail perform better than ever.

Making your value clear needs to be the number one thing you consider when designing a direct mail advertisement. You have about 2 seconds to make an impression – so spend enough time crafting your headline.

Encouraging Action

Making the initial cut is only half the battle. It will ensure your mailer is read, but to be successful you need to push the recipient into action. In other words, you need a clear and compelling call to action. That’s two things: clear and compelling.

• Clear: Find the one thing you want people to do, and ask them to do it. There’s no need to hint around here – be as clear as possible. Want phone calls? Ask for them. Want website visits? Tell people to visit your URL. It boils down to this – want results? Ask for them.
• Compelling: Here’s where things get more difficult. Your call to action should not only be clear but also compelling. Saying ‘call us today’ is clear but not very compelling. While a simple change to ‘call today for a free consultation’ makes the CTA much more compelling. Make people want to follow your direction!

Discount Motivation

Calls to action are great for encouraging phone calls and website visits, but if you’re looking to get customers through your door there is nothing better than a coupon. As with the call to action, make sure you’re featuring a clear and compelling discount offer.

One popular method is to include a plastic coupon that feels more like a gift card than a traditional cut-out coupon. The initial cost might be a little bit higher, but the ROI is surprisingly high. Getting people motivated to take the effort to come to your store isn’t easy – but a quality discount will go a long way toward that goal.

Lasting Impressions

One final aspect to consider before investing in a direct mail campaign is finding a way to stick around. This means providing some sort of value outside your sales pitch. One of the most popular methods is to include a sports team schedule on the back of your mailer (other common methods include calendars, pens, local events and tips). This takes up valuable real estate, but the lasting impact is absolutely worth it.

Direct Mail Advertising

Direct mail advertising is a powerful tool – and with professional copywriting and design it can perform even better. Fusion Group USA offers in-house copywriting and graphic design services, along with printing and mailing services. This makes us a one-stop direct mailing provider – if you’re ready to implement direct mailing into your advertising plan give us a call today!