Are you finding that you are questioning yourself on the direct mail campaign you just launched? You ask yourself, “Did I reach the right people? Was my mailpiece effective? Did I just lose a lot of money in my marketing investment?” These questions are all valid and can be a thorn in the side of any marketer. When mailing out information about your business to raise awareness, create interest, or present an offer, you want the get the biggest return on your time, money, and efforts. The obstacles to overcome? The US Postal Service’s requirements and creating a targeted marketing plan.
One of the biggest elements to focus on when embarking on your direct mail quest is mailpiece design. A mailing campaign can consist of thousands of pieces, so it’s highly important—and cost effective– to ensure that the design elements lay within USPS standards. (Check out their guide here) Here’s a scenario for you: Say you just created a beautiful piece with lots of relevant and gripping information and visuals. The piece is printed in such a way as to garner the attention of the receiver and leads them to follow your call to action. When you go off to mail the piece, however, the USPS informs you that you are not within a certain standard for a lower rate.
This is the question you must ask yourself: Do I change the layout of the design to save money on postage, or do I mail the piece out at the rate given, knowing that my return on the piece will be higher. Even though you may be saving money, by taking out crucial elements of your piece, you may be losing your prospect’s attention.
The second element to consider is the number of pieces you want to send. Targeted direct mail, when done properly, can save you a lot of cash. This means understanding who your audience is, qualifying them as potential customers, and segmenting them based on needs or their position in the buying cycle. So instead of having a large reach and sending out 10,000 mail pieces to randomized Dick and Janes, you can concentrate your efforts and send out 6,000 mail pieces to the Dick and Janes who have the prequalified capabilities of purchasing your product or service. Sure, you may not reach as many people, but those 6,000 receivers may count for so much more.
If you regard these two elements for your next direct mail campaign, you have a better chance of reducing high-cost postal rates and getting the most value out of your marketing dollars.
Written by Maggie Young
