Direct Mail Best Practices

The copy that you use in your direct mail postcards will have a huge effect on your campaign’s response rate and profitability. While great copy can make a campaign an incredible success, poor copy can make even the best offer unappealing.

If you’re just getting started with direct mail marketing, separating good copy from bad can be challenging. Writing great copy for your own direct mail postcards can be even more of a challenge, especially as an absolute beginner.

Are you struggling to write great postcard copy for your campaign? Read on to learn 10 simple principles of great postcard copywriting to help you hone your marketing message, engage with prospects and maximize your campaign’s response rate.

Would you like to increase sales and create attention for your retail boutique? The most successful retailers don’t wait for customers to come to them – instead, they use marketing channels like direct mail to communicate with their customers. When used effectively, direct mail can be an extremely profitable marketing channel for your retail boutique. The key to a successful campaign is a compelling offer that gives recipients a reason to become interested in your store. From exclusive discounts to a brand new collection, a wide range of offers can help your direct mail postcard campaign achieve its goals. Read on to discover four ideas for your retail boutique’s next direct mail marketing campaign.

Are you sabotaging your direct mail campaign without realizing it? If your business isn’t getting the results you expected to from direct mail, it could be due to a simple mistake that’s preventing your campaign from becoming profitable.

From the images you use in your creative to the specific choice of words that make up your call to action, seemingly small mistakes can sabotage even the best direct mail campaigns.

Luckily, most of these mistakes are easy to fix. Read on to discover five surprisingly common ways you could be sabotaging your direct mail campaign, along with easy ways to fix these common issues.

Each and every day, the average American views, hears, and reads more than 2,000 different advertisements. Is it any wonder that, given the chance, most people tune out to advertising instead of paying attention? 

As a business, standing out as an engaging, interesting signal amongst the constant noise of other advertisers is difficult. With all that noise, how can you ensure your target audience hears your message? 

More so, how can you reach out to your target audience and make it clear that your message is worth their time?

While direct mail may no longer be the dominant direct marketing channel, it still remains a power player alongside mobile, search, email, social and many other online options. The name of the game today is “integrated channel” marketing.  

Businesses are now using multiple channels to reach customers, prospects and generate leads.  What’s true for any channel, however, are three simple marketing basics:

-  Do we know our prospect and have the right list? (List)
-  Does the deal or offer we present tempt the prospect to take action? (Offer)
-  Does the marketing copy and design catch attention, set an impression and prompt action? (Creative/Design)

Have you ever prepared a brilliant postcard design, spent days writing the perfect marketing message, and taken every step to ensure your targeting is as relevant as possible, only to have the campaign fail to make an impact? 

It’s time for some hard truth, marketing style. Your prospects primarily care about themselves. They care about their wants, needs, and interests. They do not, however, care about you, your company, or your objectives.

When a prospect pulls your direct mail postcard or flyer out from their mailbox, he or she will ask a series of questions: 

• What is being advertised?
• Is it something I need?
• If it’s something I need, who is offering it? 

The last question – who is offering it? – brings your credibility into the spotlight and makes your reputation essential. It’s also a double edged sword – you need to reveal just the right amount of information, all without wasting valuable space. 

If you’ve studied copywriting or marketing in any respect, you’ve heard the phrase “focus on the benefits, not the features.” 

While the benefits of your product or service can have a huge positive effect on the success of any marketing campaign, it’s important not to forget about the immense effects that a product or service’s features can also have. 

Benefits are crucial – no doubt about it. Your prospects will only sign on the dotted line once they’ve understood how your products or services can benefit them. But the details and features of your product or service are important, too. 

From failing to double-check your copy before printing your postcards (and sending out thousands of cards with misspelled headings as a result) to ineffective targeting, every direct mail marketer makes a mistake at some point in their career.

While some direct mail mistakes can seriously affect your campaign, others are easy to avoid with the right preparation. Read on to learn about five common postcard marketing mistakes and how you can avoid making them.

Today’s small businesses have a huge amount of choice when it comes to marketing channels. There’s online, print, radio, television and a huge range of other options to choose from, even for the smallest or newest of businesses.

While other marketing methods may be more glamorous or trendy, one of the most effective ways to raise awareness for your business, create action, and generate real results is by delivering direct mail postcards to your target audience.

From prompt delivery and an immediate impact to value for money, read on to learn how direct mail – and in particular, direct mail postcards – can give your business a steady flow of leads, sales, and loyal customers.