ANALYSIS:
Understand who your present customer is and who would be most likely to purchase in the future.
WHY MAIL?:
Some offers are best sold by phone or print. Is mail best to sell your offer? What advertising methods do your competitors use?
COMPETITION:
Study what your competitors are selling. How are they marketing themselves? Does direct mail work for them?
BUDGET:
Decide how much you can spend for your direct mail effort. Can you cover the cost of postage, printing, acquisition of the list, processing by a mail house, fulfillment of orders?
THE OFFER:
Decide what are your most profitable products or services. Decide if you want your business to grow in a certain direction.
SCHEDULE:
Realize there are many steps to take for a successful direct mail effort. Each step takes some time. Don't rush. Be patient.
A) Development of the mail piece.
B) Acquiring the list.
C) Printing of the mail piece.
E) Delivery time by the Post Office.
F) Analysis of the results.
QUANTITY:
How many pieces do you wish to mail? Should you mail more, or perhaps less? How many responses do you need to break even? How many do you need to show a profit?
COPY/ART:
Write the copy and design the art work. A professional artist and copywriter can be of great assistance. Their experience with numerous other clients before you makes their input very valuable.
HANDLING THE RESPONSES:
Plan a mechanism to answer the responses. Make sure your staff knows of any promotions being offered in your mailing. Do you have enough product, staff, etc?
BIDS:
Get printing bids for your mail piece. Get bids from mail houses as well. Remember; don't print until you double check with the post office to make sure your piece meets all postal regulations.
FINAL PROCESSING:
Have your mail piece printed and send it to the mail-processing center you've chosen. Make sure to specifically outline what is to be done and by what date. Will they take the mailing to the bulk mail center? Will they put on the postage? When will the job be mailed?
RESPONSES:
Begin tracking results as the first responses come in. Your best measuring stick of success in direct mail is analyzing the results. Determine, if possible, which elements of the mailing worked and which did not.
YOUR IN-HOUSE LIST:
Add the names of those that responded to your own client list. This is the best list you will ever have. Keep it updated and mail it often.
REPEAT YOUR MAILING:
After changing the items on your mailing piece that did not work, try again. Try another paper or ink color. Mail on a different day of the week or month or year. Test and re-test. See what works best. Compare and contrast the results. Responders could be waiting for an offer just like yours.
NEXT STEP: Place a Secure Online Order
Looking for further information, please select from the following links:
