Posted On: Jul 26, 2016
Posted By: John Duff
Direct Marketing Tips

Digitalization has transformed the way marketing was done. But still traditional marketing approaches like direct mail campaigns continue to occupy a well-deserved place in a wide range of marketing campaigns. There companies who prefer direct mail marketing over other forms as it offers them the flexibility, affordability, and user-friendliness for creating a well-organized and effective marketing program.

So, if you are thinking to leverage the real potential of direct mail marketing then before giving a bang on start to your strategies, have a look at the following five essential steps.

Knowing Your Customers

In order to turn your leads into sales, the foremost thing you have to do is know your customers better. A detailed understanding of your customer’s profile like their age, gender, shopping and purchasing behavior; attitudes toward trends, products, marketing and media and their lifestyle habits can help you frame your direct mailing campaign for the targeted list more effectively for increased sales results. This knowledge can help you in selecting the messages to be used while communicating with the leads.

Building Targeted List of Potential Customers

Gone are the days of doing mass marketing. Now, marketers are well aware of whom to target and are not in a mood to spend money and time both on unnecessary campaigns. Going with the market trend, today marketers are more inclined towards utilizing the benefits of target marketing. If you are one of them, then it becomes necessary for you to build a targeted list of customers whom you want to target with your direct mail efforts. Building such list may be little expensive but the results are worthy of investment as they increase response rate and the number of future loyal customers.

Selecting the Type of Mailing List

No one can deny the fact that a proper direct mailing list is the key to a successful direct mail program. A correct mailing list acts as the database of your most valuable prospects. So, you have to be careful in analyzing and selecting the right customers who are in need of the products or services you offer, giving you better chances of success. Depending on the cost and appropriateness for your market, there are different categories of mailing list available including the specialty list which is meant for identifying target audience; the custom mailing list to help you select the customer criteria meeting your needs and the cloned list that allows you to find customers similar to that of your best existing customers.

Creating Direct Mail Message

Once you have a mailing list, it is time to create your direct mail message. The direct mail piece you create delivers your message. The piece represents who and what you are. Make it consistent with what you’re selling. If you are offering a high-quality professional service, your direct mail piece needs to reflect that quality.

Evaluation

It is very important to evaluate the outcome of the efforts you are putting into your direct mail marketing campaign. By analyzing the cost of the campaign and quantifying the rate of response of the targeted customers, you can find out whether your mailing has turned to be profitable or not and can act accordingly. Every time, a direct mail campaign is conducted, you get the chance to know your customer even better as the results give you the opportunity to refine your upcoming campaign by preventing you from the mistakes you committed last time. This continuous process of learning can help you make each mailing even better than the last one.

So, waiting for what? Success is just a step away. Start following these simple steps and get started with generating more leads by better communicating with your customers.