How To Effectively Use Direct Mail Marketing To Grow Your Business

Many business owners may struggle with advertising their business. While much of this can be because of a wealth of competition in their niche, one of the primary drivers is that entrepreneurs often don’t know which form of marketing to use.

This is because there is quite a significant number to choose from, each with its pros and cons. One that’s proven to be popular has been direct mail marketing. Despite being relatively common for quite some time, many people may not realize how beneficial for their company it may be.

With the potential impact that it can have on your company, it’s worth looking at how the advertising strategy works and how you can fully take advantage of it.

What Is Direct Mail Marketing?

Direct mail marketing is precisely what it sounds like and involves sending correspondence to potential customers to persuade them to purchase your product or service. This typically consists of a letter or postcard with your company’s logo, contact details, and product or service description.

Types Of Direct Mail Marketing

When many people hear the term ‘direct mail marketing,’ they’ll intrinsically think of physical letters. While this is one of the more common types of the form, it’s far from the only one. This type has a few benefits, such as an enhanced open rate, although it offers various disadvantages, such as cost.

As a result, many marketing professionals have taken to several other types of direct mail marketing. One of the more popular of these is newsletters, which have increased in popularity in recent years. This is primarily because it can often be much more cost-effective than physical mail, although it could need more time to assemble.

Alongside these are a few other direct mail marketing types, including:

• Self-Mailers; These are typically brochures or postcards that don’t require an envelope to be sent, increasing the likelihood of a recipient seeing your message.
• Catalogs; These can showcase a large variety of products, which is their primary benefit. However, they can often be much more expensive to produce.
• Packages; These typically come alongside any online orders and usually include letters and other marketing materials encouraging customers to purchase again. Packages can also have a variety of free samples, which is one of the larger areas where they’re used.

When To Use Direct Mail Marketing

While direct mail marketing can be effective, it may not be recommended in certain situations or with specific niches. However, there are a few occasions where you can take advantage of the practice.

Perhaps the most notable is when you’re looking to promote a new product or service or even an event. Alongside this is when you aim to build brand awareness among a specific group of people or in a targeted area.

Much of this is because it can effectively build awareness in a highly targeted area or within a specific group. This can also work to remind many customers about your products or services.

3 Direct Mail Advantages

There are quite a considerable number of advantages when it comes to direct mail marketing. The first is that it can be a much more targeted approach to advertising. Businesses can purchase or develop mailing lists based on their specific need.

Some of the larger examples include specific association lists, allowing companies to target a certain sector or location. This can be much more accurate than blanket social media or online advertising.

It can also be much more measurable than companies might believe, especially when coupons and similar aspects are used. By including these, a business can track how many letters or flyers are used over a certain period.

Thirdly is the fact that direct mail marketing can be incredibly flexible. Much of this is because companies can include as much or as little in its direct mail campaign as they want. While information about the business will be necessary, you can have free samples and much more, which isn’t an option with many other strategies.

3 Direct Mail Disadvantages

While there are a variety of advantages to the practice, there are also a variety of disadvantages to direct mail marketing. Perhaps the most notable of these is that a large up-front cost can be associated with the practice.

Much of this is because you’ll need to purchase or develop a mailing list, which can often be expensive. Alongside this areare the design and copywriting costs associated with direct mail. Posting and printing will also be costly, with many people believing the ROI may not be high enough.

Alongside this is that the response rate can often be minimal, with some reports suggesting that this can hover between 1% and 3%, depending on how effective your marketing is. This can also make the practice much less cost-effective.

Thirdly, it can often be unpredictable, especially when sending out time-sensitive mail, such as coupons. As such, it may not be a recommended practice in this regard, with this unpredictability having a certain role in how cost-effective it may be.

Top 5 Direct Mail Marketing Do’s

Various things can be involved in creating a high-quality direct mail marketing strategy. However, many business owners may not know what to do when planning and implementing the system. There are a few things that you should focus on when creating it:

1. Have a clear and concise marketing message.
2. Have a compelling offer for potential customers.
3. Have a highly targeted audience.
4. Tailor your news to a specific audience.
5. Track your success.

Each of the above can be vital in ensuring your direct mail strategy’s success, each having its role. Tracking your progress, though one of the more challenging aspects of the process, can be one of the more essential parts of this, as it can inform future campaigns.

Top 5 Direct Mail Marketing Don’ts

Alongside the do’s listed above, there are a variety of things you should avoid when designing and implementing your direct mail marketing strategy. While some may be obvious, a few mistakes may be common. The most notable of these include:

1. I don’t have a generic message.
2. Don’t spam your audience by sending overly regular mail.
3. Don’t send to an untargeted audience.
4. Don’t use low-quality imagery or designs.
5. Don’t overlook the timing of your campaign.

By doing any of the above, you risk your direct mail marketing campaign being unsuccessful or less successful than you might want. As such, they’re aspects that you should avoid at all costs.

5 Tips For Growing Your Mailing List

Many business owners may have difficulty growing their mailing list, which can often be quite the most confusing and complicated part of the strategy. However, there are a variety of tips and tricks that you’ll be able to take advantage of when doing so.

While there can be many ways to do so, there are a few important tips. Some of the most notable of these include:

1. Divide your audience into segments and personalize your mail accordingly.
2. Ensure your content is clear, concise, and includes a call to action.
3. Avoid clutter in your design.
4. Track your results and adjust your campaign accordingly.
5. Provide value by including coupons or offers.

Though there can be a variety of other tips and tricks that you can take advantage of, each of the above should drastically impact your email list’s growth.

How To Create An Effective Direct Mail Campaign In 5 Steps

Many business owners will want to take advantage of direct mail marketing, although they may not know how to create an effective campaign. While the process may seem confusing and somewhat overwhelming, there are a few steps that you should take when developing and implementing it.

This includes:

1. Choose A Campaign Goal: Before you start your campaign, you should know the strategy’s goals. These can include increasing brand awareness, generating sales, and much more.
2. Identify Your Target Audience: Sending letters or other mail to everybody isn’t cost-effective. As such, you’ll need to identify your target audience and limit your mail to a certain group of people.
3. Create A Compelling CTA: Like many other marketing campaigns, you must encourage your audience to take action. To do so, you’ll need to create a compelling call to action (CTA) or offer your audience will want to take advantage of.
4. Design Your Mail: Once you have the above done, you’ll need to design your mail. During this stage, you’ll need to focus on both the overall design and the copy and images.
5. Schedule & Track Your Mail: Once your mail is sent out, you must track its success. This can be done in various ways, such as coupons or offer codes. By doing so, you can adjust your future campaigns based on results.

What Is The Average Response Rate For A Direct Mail Campaign?

Results are something that many business owners will focus on, as this can be the primary indicator of how high or low your return on investment is. Many people will want to know the average results they can expect with a direct marketing campaign.

While many marketing strategies will have a lower response rate than others, direct mail can be much lower than expected. On average, you should expect anywhere between 1% and 3%, considerably lower than many will want.

However, much of this can depend on how much effort you put into defining your target audience and how compelling your CTA and other design elements are.

How Much Does A Direct Mail Campaign Cost?

Before launching any marketing campaign, it’s important to note how much it will cost, especially per lead. Much of this is driven by the potential ROI you should see throughout a campaign. Direct mail marketing is no different, although there are a variety of factors that can come into play.

One of the more notable aspects of this cost is the design and copywriting cost associated with the campaign. Much of this can be avoided if you do these yourself, although hiring a professional can often be recommended unless you already have the necessary skills.

These can often cost several hundred dollars, depending on your chosen company. Alongside this is the cost of printing and shipping the mail, which can cost up to 3 and 35 cents, although discounts may be available for bulk purchases.

Lastly is the mailing list. Like many other aspects, this can range in price but can be free if you build it yourself. If you purchase a mailing list, however, it can cost up to $2 per contact, although this can vary depending on where you buy it from.

In general, the cost of a direct marketing campaign can be up to $1,000. However, once you’ve done your first campaign, you’ll have many of the required assets for future campaigns, so this should subsequently come down.

Top 10 Stats About Direct Mail Marketing

There are quite a significant number of direct mail marketing statistics that highlight how effective the advertising strategy can be. Despite what many professionals may believe, it’s still an effective way of promoting a business. Some of the more notable statistics include:

1. The response rate for direct mail is 4.9%, the highest it’s been in over a decade.
2. Letter-sized mail received the most responses, averaging 15.1%.
3. The average cost per response with direct mail is $49.20.
4. Direct mail ties with social media as the second most used medium, with 57% of people using it.
5. A staggering 81% of survey respondents plan to maintain or increase their direct mail usage in the future.
6. When making a purchasing decision, 76% of consumers trust direct mail.
7. Direct mail is 20% more persuasive than its online counterpart.
8. Over a third of people under 30, approximately 36%, look forward to receiving direct mail.
9. S. households receive over 120 billion pieces of mail every year.
10. Direct mail is the top purchasing influencer among Baby Boomers.

Despite costing somewhat more than many other advertising techniques, direct mail marketing can have many benefits. While much of this can depend on your target market, several advantages exist across every age group and demographic.

As a result, every business may benefit from its use. The key to taking full advantage of direct mail marketing is ensuring that your business is equipped to create a high-quality campaign that leads to many conversions. While much of this can depend on your business, you can maximize your results with the tips above.