Uncategorized | Direct Mail Journal - Part 8
 

Direct Mail Journal

Direct Mail and Marketing Tips

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social-icons

Can Social Media Work With Direct Mail Marketing?

It’s no secret that social media has taken the world by storm. There are 3.5 billion active social media users worldwide and the average amount of time spent on social platforms is over 2 hours every single day.

This is a huge group of people who are heavily invested in their screen time and interaction with a social media app. This opens up doors of opportunity to find and engage with new customers/clients. However, it’s also a very busy competitive space. 

When combining traditional mail with digital marketing, you can enhance the reach and impact of your campaigns. In this article, we’re going to focus on the connection between social media and direct mail and look at some simple ways you can integrate the two. 

Direct Mail to Hook, Social to Follow

Direct mail should act as your hook. It’s a hugely successful way to get your message in front of a highly targeted audience. It’s a far less competitive space in 2019 compared to the digital world and it actually carries more trust. Believe it or not, because direct mail is tangible and ‘real’, it’s proven that recipients trust it more and feel as though it has more authority than a digital message. This is really important when it comes to getting attention and building a connection of trust which eventually results in action. 

The other reason to lead with DM is that the demographics are much better developed and more precise.  If you were to target Dentists in New Jersey who have purchased a Chevy in the last 12 months, that is doable with a direct mail list.  It would be difficult to find anything like this for email or social media. We already know that “the list” is 70% of our success.

Once you’ve got the attention of a receiver, you can easily direct them to your social media channels if this is your goal. If it’s not a primary goal, simply including your social media handles (e.g @yourbusinessname ) and the platforms you’re present on can drive people towards them in the future. 

Use Social Media to Communicate

Depending on your audience, you could use social media to collect responses. Facebook messenger is a very popular way a brand can communicate with their customers directly and privately. This type of campaign would probably be more effective when targeting 18-35-year-olds because it’s a group of people that will already communicate with businesses in this way. 

In general, we should let customers contact us in ANY way they prefer – phone, fax, email, social media. Any additional channel we can give potential customers to reach us is a really good thing. If they prefer Facebook, then we want them to be able to use this.  The same goes for other forms of social media.

In one of our recent articles, we discussed using premiums as a tool to collect responses. This is one way you can get customers to interact and make contact in order to redeem an offer. 

Shout-out

Here’s another idea. Use part of your mail to focus on your offer and drive responses to that (whether that’s a call center or website). Use the other part of your campaign to shout about your social channels and what happens here. If you share exclusive discounts, giveaways and company info that will benefit customers on your social channels, let them know! Let them know why they should follow you on Instagram vs everyone else. What will they gain? 

If you sell home-ware will they gain interior design inspiration, ideas for easy storage and ‘Insta-worthy’ décor tips? If you’re in real estate, will you share newly available homes on your Facebook page the minute they go up for sale? There has to be an advantage for someone to jump on their device and seek you out. You can post all sorts of fun content, contemporary new home designs, homes of the rich and famous, homes of different peoples (Eskimo’s, cliff dwellers, houseboat users…). The key to social media is entertainment.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

palm-trees

Reasons to Send Business Postcards This Summer!

Postcards pack a punch at any time of the year and Summer might not be an obvious choice to focus on these types of campaigns. However, the holiday season might seem more appealing, right? But have you considered these 5 reasons to make the most of postcards this Summer?

It’s Postcard Season

Even though you’re not sending a postcard from a sunny vacation, the fact is, friends and family might be. If a postcard turns up in Summer, it’s more likely to be read with anticipation. Even when the recipient realizes it’s not a vacation postcard, by this point you’ve already got their attention. If your messaging and offer is strong, you’re ahead of the game. 

Reduce Marketing Costs

If you want to reduce costs on your marketing campaigns this Summer but still maximize output and return, postcards could be the answer. They are one of the most cost-effective forms of direct mail because they are inexpensive to print and easy to scale. 

Less Competitive Season

Summer is actually one of the best times to send mail because it’s a much less competitive season. There is no major influx of mail during this time like there is during the holiday season. 

More Receptive Time of Year

With an increased number of people off work, recipients are more likely to digest the information, with less going on in their day-to-day lives. When consumers are in a relaxed frame of mind they notice things more, take in more information and have the time to read into things a little further. 

If the messaging is especially memorable, some people put them right on the fridge so they won’t forget them. How powerful is it to have your message hanging on the door, of one of the most used appliances in the house, for months at a time? 

Easy to Test

You can roll out a new offer and test it on a smaller group of recipients to determine how successful it might be when rolled out to more people. It’s very simple to run multiple tests to compare the response rate of different messaging and designs. 

They Don’t Waste Time

No one likes things that waste their time. This is one of the reasons many consumers dislike commercials because they interrupt TV shows and can often feel like a waste of time. Postcards are quick and easy to digest. If the offer is of no interest to the recipient, they are small and easy to dispose of. Hopefully, your offer is irresistible and once that postcard has been read, it’s up on the fridge waiting to be redeemed or followed up. 

Easy to Redeem In-Store

If you’re sending promotions that customers can use for money off or for collection of premiums from your store, postcards make it simple to redeem. Small in size but stand-out in nature, they are easy to slip into a pocket or handbag and bring in to store. 

Depending on your business, Summer might actually be one of your seasonal peaks. In this case, it’s a no-brainer to make the most of a direct mail campaign during this time. One thing to consider If you do send postcards over the Summer is to remember that many households are away on vacation during this time. Try to factor this into your offer, perhaps allowing for a longer validity than usual. 

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

pink-mail

Direct Mail Premiums As Response Devices

Everyone loves a freebie, even the most simple and basic items that aren’t worth a great deal are well received when they’re free. From a consumer’s point of view, premiums build trust, create excitement and make the receiver feel valued as a potential customer. From a business point of view, they act as a great way to start a positive relationship and build brand awareness.

Lumpy Mail

When businesses send ‘lumpy mail’ with premiums like free samples or free merchandise, research shows that open rates are much higher. Even though direct mail is, of course, tangible, ‘lumpy mail’ makes it even more so. However, the cost and time involved in sending a campaign with premiums included are much higher. With this in mind, rather than focus on sending premiums as a tool to increase open rates, why not use them as a response device?

Opens vs Responses

Open rates are, of course, the first goal when it comes to any direct mail campaign. From here though, any open would be less valuable if it didn’t result in a response. Responses are your next goal, and of course more important than opens. 10,000 opens and 100 responses are far poorer than 5000 opens and 500 responses. You can see where we’re going with this…

Enough responses = a return on your investment. So focusing all of your attention on using premiums as a way to boost open rates could add a lot to the time and expense involved in sending a campaign without the desired result. Of course, you know this. But what if there was a better way, a way to almost guarantee that every receiver of a premium is a ‘warm lead’?

Here’s an Idea….

What if you made receivers call or visit your website to claim their premium? Short snappy messages such as ‘Call to Get Your X Today’ should push responses rather than opens. Open rates might well be lower because you’re losing that ‘lumpy mail’ advantage, but expenses should be less and responses higher. With this approach, you’re only incurring extra costs for those clients who are truly interested in your offer. Overall ROI could well be higher as a result of higher quality leads.

We couldn’t say without a doubt that this approach would work better than sending a premium in the initial campaign, but it makes sense to give this a try. The only real way to know what will work better for you is to test both methods in an A/B split test style approach, keeping everything else the same throughout the campaign. We recommend you start testing small quantities to find something that works for you and then turn up the dial once you have a winning formula.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

online-marketing

How to: Combine Direct Mail & Digital Marketing

How do you successfully fit direct mail marketing into your overall marketing strategy and combine this with digital marketing efforts? It almost seems like a backward concept doesn’t it? Once upon a time, businesses contemplated how to make digital work and how they could expand their strategy to dovetail with offline efforts. Now the direct mail marketing space has become much less crowded it STANDS OUT above all that digital noise. But that’s not all, it’s also a very different place to what it was several years ago. It’s crucial to recognize how consumers search for information following brand introductions and how they interact with advertising both online and offline. Here are things to consider for a more integrated marketing approach:

Matching Data Files

Target the same customers across multiple platforms by uploading your direct mail data file to places like Facebook advertising or your email marketing list. Of course, this requires that you have email addresses for the same group of people you’re sending direct mail too. Email addresses could be more challenging to acquire for non-customers, but it’s a very good tool for re-marketing purposes or upselling. Increasing prospect exposure to your offer is usually very effective, as long as it’s not overdone. If you have time-limited or limited availability offers, sequential online ads could act as a real-time way to let customers know how much time is left, or how many spaces are still open, following on from the initial message.

Streamlined Messaging

Even if you’re not targeting the exact same group of people across multiple platforms, it’s still important to keep all branding and messaging the same with your online and offline campaigns. [This is super important. Consistent branding/messaging is key.] You could use color or image variations in adverts, as long as they are clearly connected. This means that if the same person does see more than one advert, they can make that brand connection instantly. This is where online campaigns really support offline efforts and visa versa.

It is important that brand/message is consistent, but we also don’t want it to get stale, otherwise, people just mentally ignore it. To deal with this advertisers can change the visuals slightly to keep it interesting, but keep the messaging the same.  Check out this example from Fresh Sep Kitty Litter. This same concept can apply to our dm and digital campaigns.

marketing

Create Combined Funnels

You might use a direct mail campaign to initially reach new potential customers and generate responses. However, those responses could be online. From here you could follow up with a thank you email and continue immediate communication (in relation to that initial offer) online. You can and should use direct mail to generate responses that happen in the digital world. The direct mail campaign has played its part in grabbing attention and creating action. The digital side takes over to continue the conversation in a place that customer (no doubt) spends a lot of time… on a device.

Direct mail and email as tools both have strengths and weaknesses.  Email is a very effective tool for building a rapport once you have a relationship with a customer.  Because of the volume of SPAM these days, it is a very poor tool for prospecting or finding new customers. One of the strengths of direct mail is the ability to target – the lists and demographics are very well developed.  It can reach every household and business in America. Plus, it is a welcome form for initial engagement. That argues for a strategy that starts offline and then morphs online with periodic touches offline as well.

email-marketing

Combining your offline marketing with your digital side enhances your messages and supercharges your impact. The takeaway points here are to stop thinking about direct mail and digital marketing as two completely separate funnels and start looking at them as a way to compliment each other. It can be a real shift in your approach to thinking about marketing campaigns, but as with anything, if you’re in doubt … always test it first. : )

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

people

Basic Principles for Reaching the Right People

Put simply, marketing is the process of effectively communicating your product or service to a customer. This could be through branding, advertising or product position. Marketing is not just the advertising and promotions that take place. How your business is perceived all comes down to marketing and positioning your service or product as you want it to be viewed. Conducting market research also forms a part of marketing; it’s very much a collective term.

Understanding the problems of your customers

Have you heard the saying ‘sell the problem you solve, not the product’? One of the major principles of marketing is understanding the problems your target market faces and using that to create something (be that a product or service) which solves that particular problem better than a competitor.

Every business solves a problem of some sort, even if it’s not immediately obvious at the surface. However, there is a difference between knowing the problem and really understanding it. How does the problem make your customers feel? How does it impact other areas in their lives? Conducting market research is one of the best ways to gain a full and true understanding.

If you offer a quicker service for something that’s usually drawn-out and stressful, don’t focus your messaging on the ‘quick service’ part. Again, focus on the problem you solve; ‘less stress, less worry’.

Demonstrating Value

Showing the value of your business is key to acquiring new customers. This can be challenging because there are limited ways to do this successfully. Offering trial periods or free samples is one way to hook in would-be buyers, but this can be costly. If you go down this route you would need to monitor the ROI closely. If this approach doesn’t work for your business model, you could showcase customer reviews and case studies as a way to create ‘social proof’ of your value.

For example, if you have a 5-star rating on a well-known platform, you could include this in all marketing material, both online and offline.

Building Positive Relationships

When you generate a lead you are forming a relationship with a customer. When you send out promotional content you are starting that relationship. Before a buyer commits to any kind of purchase they already have some form of a positive relationship with that brand. At the point of transaction, you have built trust between you and the customer. You have created an understanding that you’re aware of and care about the problems that the individual faces.

Many brands continue to build on that relationship with follow-up content that does not directly sell. Tips, tricks, and support in the form of newsletters, direct mail, and social media content. This is possible when you know exactly who your buyers are and you really understand the other challenges they face that surround your industry.

Here’s a very specific example that covers the 3 principles discussed above:

A local acupuncture business wants to reach more pregnant women who are suffering from morning sickness or lower back pain. They understand that for women struggling with these problems it has a huge impact on their ability to continue work leading up to their maternity leave. It can leave them feeling very low and take the enjoyment out of their pregnancy due to constant suffering. To demonstrate value, the practice offers 70% off the first session and promises to help women enjoy their pregnancy to the fullest, taking away the symptoms that are causing stress and discomfort.

After a customer has completed a course of acupuncture, a monthly newsletter offers them advice on staying healthy as a new Mom and looking after their mind and body as they face new challenges.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

blue-orange

How to Create Direct Mail That Stands Out

How can you send mail that builds trust, delivers your intended message and grabs attention? Is there a formula for success when it comes to winning with direct mail marketing? We think so! Of course, there are other factors involved in a successful campaign, like mailing to the right target audience and having a product or service that is worth investing in. Assuming you’ve got those things covered, how can you create mail that stands out?

Postcards That Punch

You can be as creative as you like with a postcard design, but generally, you can pack a lot of punch into a postcard campaign. They are low-cost but can generate a high ROI due to their attention-grabbing capabilities. You can use these in between bigger sends; for example, if you post catalogs then postcards in-between catalog sends could keep customers interested.

Personalization applies to postcards as well.  This can include the text, like the name of the recipient, and in some cases the image or offer used. If you’re sending offers to previous customers this might include something different to what you would send to new potential customers. You can personalize many aspects of postcards.

Be Bold

We have already learned the formula for success is 70% list, 20% offer, and 10% creative.  So, if we have the right list and the right offer, how do we use a creative to grab attention and close the deal?

Bold colors, bold images, bold words. Think bold if you want to be heard. It’s no good sending out a piece of mail that looks like every other piece. So, forget what you already know about direct mail and re-define the space for yourself. The first rule to standing out is not to be afraid to stand out in the first place! This means no holding back during the creative process.

To use a postcard as an example, think of it as a little (or little giant) billboard in the mail.  The advantage to a postcard is that you don’t need an open to get an impression. The person receiving your postcard will see your message – we already know that.  So, make it stand out from the crowd. Use personalization, use color in unique ways, use an image that grabs attention and begs for a spot on the fridge. Now that is the gift that keeps on giving.

Snap them Back

Snap-packs stand out for a different reason to postcards. They look like official letters from places of authority. With a snap-pack, you have limited space to work with. You need to be direct and to the point.  Chatty just will not work with this format. It will look like an official document (PIN number, rebate, contest notification, …) on the outside. You will probably want to continue with that theme on the inside – official: direct and to the point.

You’re almost guaranteed opens so you’ve covered that first difficult step. Once opened, you need to generate a response through wording and content that still engages. Don’t just connect, make the recipient take action.  We need an offer so compelling people have to respond. Make the offer so good that they will have regrets for weeks if they don’t respond.

Crystal Clear

A message that is simple but absolutely crystal clear will win. Use headlines and subtitles when necessary. Bullet point to reduce wording (for example on postcards). Don’t confuse the receiver in any way, use a strong call-to-action that is EASY to action. (take action on).

Extreme Messages

So even though your message needs to be crystal clear, that doesn’t mean it can’t be EXTREME! Extreme messages get attention. However, you must deliver on that message otherwise you lose trust and value. In the online world, it’s known as ‘click bait’ and often extreme headlines or video titles do not deliver on their promises. This only annoys the receiver and as we said, breaks trust. An example of an extreme message could be the following: ‘Change Your Life Today’. If your product or service is genuinely life-changing, then this could work really well. If it would be underwhelming in reality, then you wouldn’t go for this technique.

Headings should be concrete, and benefit-oriented.

  • Be Debt Free in 30 Days
  • Cut Your Mortgage Payments in Half
  • Experience the Best Vacation of Your Life – For Free

Sometimes the use of numbers, and concrete concepts help with visualization and credibility.

If you have tried sending mail in the past that seems to follow the rules above but hasn’t resulted in any success get in touch. We have mailing lists that might suit your product/service better and can offer expert advice when it comes to design, mail type, and deliverability. Creative design is easier said than done, so let our experts guide you if this isn’t your forte.

Right now, we’re offering YOU a FREE, no obligation, direct mail assessment. Our DM experts will spend up to 2 hours consulting with you, critiquing your current DM piece (message, offer, response device), your target audience, and suggest ideas for even more powerful future campaigns. ($280 value) Contact us today on our toll-free number.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

strategy

New to Direct Mail Marketing? Here are 5 Things You Need to Know

Many businesses are reading about new digital trends and how to embrace the digital world for the first time. Many other organizations are so accustomed to the digital space that this isn’t even needed anymore. They are no longer ‘new’ to digital marketing but well established in their approach to this. So, it’s ironic really, that here we are talking about being new to something that was happening long before the digital world even existed. The thing is, direct marketing is actually a less-crowded place for marketers to be. It’s a medium that actually converts better for marketers, compared to digital methods, when done correctly.

On that note, you might be surprised to learn these five things about direct mail marketing.

Mail is More Memorable

57% of people say they are most likely to remember a message by mail. With digital ads and promotional messages, as regular smartphone users we see so much information through our screens it’s extremely difficult to remember messages from businesses. A memorable digital message has to work 10 times harder than a direct mail message. It’s tangible, it feels more real and as a result, it’s better remembered.

Mail is Authority

Many people still prefer to receive bills and statements through the post because it gives them something physical to deal with. This connection between physical mail and authority carries over into promotional mail too. However, in the case of a branded offer, it’s a different type of authority that comes across; one of trust.

Mail Hangs Around Longer

On average, advertising mail is kept for 17 days before being disposed of. When you think about this, it’s huge for a marketer! Yes, in some cases that mail might get pushed aside and not looked at, but for others, it’s something that might sit openly on the counter side, kitchen table, pin board or even on the fridge. Compare this to a digital ad and it’s something that’s seen for a few seconds. 51% of email actually gets deleted after just two seconds. Even if a digital ad is repeatedly shown to a user, it’s not always there in the same way.

Mail Drives Digital Action

It’s a common misconception that if you require a digital action (email lead, website sale, etc,.) that direct mail will not deliver the same results as a digital funnel. 92% of people will be driven online after receiving a form of direct mail.

If you’re still skeptical about the power of direct mail and you’d like to ask some specific questions, please feel free to contact one of our team. We can guide you through every step and even look after all elements of the process; providing you with a contact list and assisting with design work for promotional postcards and more.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

happy-easter

Add a Little Promotional Sprinkle this Easter

You don’t have to sell chocolate to add a sprinkle of Easter into your promotions this April. It’s beneficial to get involved with the holidays even if it’s just for fun. Generally, people are very receptive to holiday-themed promotions because most of us celebrate and embrace them. Easter is a happy time, a holiday of bright color and light-hearted fun. This can be reflected in your marketing communications and even across your website if you like to go the extra mile.

Here are some simple ways to get noticed this Easter:

Throw an Easter Sale

It’s very common to use Easter as a promotional sale. If you can afford to and it works for your margins, perhaps an enticing Easter discount could tempt more customers your way this holiday. Now, just because other brands and businesses are doing it doesn’t mean you should too. However, unfortunately, in this very consumer-led world, people have come to expect it. If a competitor is having a sale and you are not, this could be damaging unless you offer something even better.

Offer Easter Freebies

This is another example that leads off an incentive. If you have a physical store you could offer Easter freebies like free chocolate with every purchase or Easter balloons for your younger customers. If your B2B, why not give something else of value this Easter. It doesn’t have to be directly related to the holiday itself, the holiday is just an excuse, a tool in your toolbox this April.

Even something as simple as ‘Free Shipping this Easter’ is worth shouting about.

Easter sweepstakes [or contests] are also very popular and a nice way to put your business on the map.

Splash Your Socials with Easter

Holidays, trends and national themes are really good ways to get involved at a social level. Coming up with new social media content that really engages your intended audience can be hard work. Keeping it fresh is even harder. For B2C, social media is purely fun. No one heads on to Instagram to be sold too. You should always aim to have 80% of your social media content that is there just to entertain or inform. Easter provides an opportunity to do this. For example, you could share a Facebook poll and have people vote their favorite Easter egg.

Try a game, like the Easter egg hunt.  How is this useful? It gets people talking and posting on content that has come from your brand. It builds top of the mind brand name awareness and it keeps your followers interested.

Say It with a Postcard

Say ‘Happy Easter’ to your customers with a special postcard. Use this chance to include a reminder about your service or product and why it’s still number 1! The receiver gets a nice Easter postcard which adds a personal touch and along with that, they’re reminded of your business offerings.

[What if you use variable data to put a specific number on each Easter egg postcard.  Then, have the customer bring it in to see what prize is in their egg.  They could check online as well, though you would have to build a portal for that – Zairmail can help.]

Zairmail provides everything you need to get your postcard campaign in the basket of your ideal customers. Bet they will love the Easter treat! Get in touch today.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

marketing-message

What Makes Marketing Messages Stick?

With consumers constantly inundated with advertising and promotions, it’s a battle to deliver a powerful message that is well remembered. Is there an art to this or is it largely luck? Well.. you probably guessed it. Like everything in marketing, it’s about your creative thought-process behind that message. Whether it’s a TV jingle that you just can’t get out of your head or a slogan that you’d recognize a mile off, they’ve all been designed to evoke emotion.

Emotion Is the Key

We remember messages by an emotional recall. The exact emotion could be anything, as long as it activates that emotion long after the receiver has engaged with that content.

Here are two examples:

  • A radio advert for a new local cleaning service might have a theme tune that is so silly it becomes humorous. This creates an emotional response because as you listen, you might laugh at the lyrics or sing-along because it’s so outrageously silly.
  • A postcard sharing a new local charity helping animals in need might have such a strong visual that it creates empathy in the form of compassion, or even sadness, that in turn means we don’t forget that message for the rest of the day, week or month.

Some messages are designed to make the receiver take action there and then (like the charity postcard). Other messages, like a TV or radio advert with a memorable jingle, are also created to build brand awareness and association for future needs. When you hear a radio advert for home insurance it’s unlikely you will need to renew your insurance around that time. However, if you can recall the song and the name of the business, it becomes etched in your memory for that point at which you are looking for a new home insurance providers.

Humor, happiness, excitement, outrage, sadness, compassion. Generally, it doesn’t matter what type of emotional response a receiver has, as long as it’s not a neutral one.

No response = no impact.
But it is worth noting that if your message generates outrage or sadness that this is your intended response. This type of response would only work for select businesses, like non-profits or political campaigns.

You should initially try to select an approach which you feel connects best ‘for that specific audience’.  It all starts with identifying the specific audience and trying to understand which appeal will really connect (disrupt) them.

When Length Matters

It’s simply not true to use a blanket statement like ‘short and snappy messages are always better’. This completely depends on the message itself (the complexity of the issue) and the media being used. When running a direct mail postcard campaign, a short hard-hitting message is very effective. With a postcard you want to say as much as you can with very few words so short, snappy and packing punch is the way to go.
If you sell something a little more complex, although you still don’t want to overwhelm receivers with too much information, you also don’t want to neglect key selling points.

Finally, ask yourself, is your message even worth remembering? What’s so great about it? What makes it different? The message itself is still very important. Are you simply selling local cleaning services or are you RE-DEFINING domestic cleaning in family households?

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

CTA

The Call-to-Action in Direct Mail Marketing – Are you Winning?

The call-to-action (CTA) is one of the most important elements of any promotion. It doesn’t matter if it’s an online or offline promotion, without a call-to-action your audience is left with no direction on what do to next. With offline direct mail marketing, CTA’s aren’t about just ‘clicking here’ and taking action in this way, but they are still about direct actions and direct results.

The Rules of a CTA

To start, ask yourself, what do you need customers to do first? If you’re in real estate and your end goal is to close that sale, how does that process start? Possibly it’s with a phone call. Your CTA would, therefore, need to be something like ‘Call Us Now’ followed by a phone number. In this example, the CTA could be even more enticing, so read on to find out how to take this further. Remember this key rule for a CTA: a CTA should be big, bold and explicitly clear!

Eye-catching creative isn’t enough if it fails to deliver responses via a strong call-to-action. It might stand out amongst other mail and it might well be read, but you must make it clear what the receiver should do next. They won’t take the time, or expend the energy, to discover this on their own, it needs to be explicitly clear.

So, step one is to ask what you want customers to do first. What action do you desire from them? The second part is to ask yourself, what benefit am I offering them? Finally, are you driving an incentive to make them take that action? Why should they take that action?

The incentive is called the “offer”.  The offer is the second most important piece of direct response (mail, tv, …other) campaign.  The CTA is an explicit request to take advantage of the offer.

The formula for successful direct response is 70/20/10 – 70% list, 20% offer, 10% creative.

We know that when we get the right offer, in front of the right audience, good things happen.

Creative helps us break through the clutter (get noticed or interrupt).  The offer is what compels people to respond. The offer needs to be compelling enough that no one in their right mind would ever be able to say no – though we still need to make money.  We can look at the first promotion as acquisition cost if it leads to regular ongoing orders (lifetime customer value).

The offer should be non-threatening or low perceived risk.  We also need to reduce/remove any barriers. You see how people say free, no obligation, complete money-back guarantee, free signup, not credit card required…?  These are all designed to reduce barriers for responders.

Enticing CTA’s

You could really make your CTA’s enticing, rather than the standard ‘Call us Now’ or ‘Visit our Website’. Add to this with powerful phrases such as ‘40% off when you call us today’. [This is the offer + CTA] You can add time-sensitive incentives or just give them a direct message such as ‘Call now for an exclusive quote’. If you don’t have the capacity to take calls, or this isn’t your desired action, then you might want to focus on driving website visits. This might seem like a difficult task without ‘click here’ buttons that you would find on a digital promotion. However, you can strategically position your web address with a CTA such as, ‘Visit our website for 20% off new sales!’.

Design is Key

The design of the CTA is also incredibly important and should be taken into consideration along with the overall design of the promotion (whether that’s a postcard, flyer or snap pack). Think about the different elements of the design, from the color of the CTA; does it pop against the rest of the design? The position of the CTA; could you place it higher on the design rather than at the end? Finally, think about the size of the CTA. You want it large enough to be seen, but not too dominating that the key message/benefits you’re trying to convey from the promotion get lost.

If you’re new to direct mail you could benefit from a FREE direct mail design session with one of our design team members here at Zairmail. We have everything you need to get your campaign off the ground, including targeted direct mail lists and free direct mail sample kits.

We have already helped 100’s of customers enhance their direct response programs and supercharge returns.  Can you afford not to produce the same results for your business?  Click here to schedule a free consultation and start driving greater business growth now!

<< Click Here – Grow Your Sales >>

 

 

About the Author

Wilson Zehr is a Direct Mail Industry Expert, Direct Marketing Specialist, and CEO of Cendix (www.cendix.com), the leading provider of Web-to-print solutions that increase sales both online and offline. He is also the founder of Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), the company responsible for many "industry firsts" in direct mail.

 

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