There are the obvious direct mail mistakes like no offer or call to action, the wrong phone number or web address, or misspelled words. Most marketers don’t need to read an article to figure those out. This article focuses on lesser-known mistakes that can make the difference between success and failure. Here are 10:
1.Cheap Offers.
There is a tendency for marketers and business owners to worry about “giving away the house.” Offers like “10% off your next purchase” or “Free Shipping with you next order of $100 or more” are ok if you’re targeting current customers that need a small nudge to make an incremental purchase. But if you’re going after new customers, “Free” is always the most powerful word in direct mail. A new customer may cost you $200 or more (do the math!), so giving away something free at a cost to you of $50 or so, may be a no-brainer.
2.Short Copy.
There is yet another tendency for marketers to think “we need to keep it short and sweet.” They use clean graphics with few words. The thought is that interested prospects will call or go to the website. In direct mail, long copy (more words) usually outperforms short copy. Write as much as you need to fully explain your product and it’s functions/benefits. Don’t assume too much knowledge on the part of your prospect. Finally, get someone’s opinion that’s not an industry “insider.”
3.Small Card.
Small cards (regular postcards) are useful. They’re cheap and mail First Class for the same cost as Standard Class. If your product is simple, like a local coffee shop, or if your mailing to current customers that already know your brand and product, small cards are great. If your product is more complicated or relies heavily on branding (like photos of past work, or product photos), use a larger card. Larger cards get noticed more and can be chock-full of information.
4.No Frequency.
It’s rare that your mailing coincides with a prospect’s need to buy. Especially if you’re doing business-to-business sales. In most cases, you’re mailing simply places a “seed” of awareness so that when your prospect does need your product or service, they think of you. Those “seeds” need to be planted continuously or the awareness dies. There’s also research that shows that the more a person is exposed to your brand, the more that person has a “favorable” impression of your brand.
5.Bad Timing.
It’s very obvious that you don’t market snowmobiles in July. But on the other hand, we see home improvement businesses like landscapers marketing their product late in the summer and avoiding the prime marketing season in the spring. The rational is that, “I’m busy in the spring and I need business for late in the summer.” The better strategy is to market when prospects are buying. If you don’t have the capacity to do the work, offer an incentive to put the work off until you do have the capacity.
6.Small Mailing Quantities. Direct Mail, like just about all advertising medias, relies on small percentages of respondents. You mail out 100 cards and hope to have one call. On the other hand, if your testing a direct mail piece and expect the one call on mailing 100 cards to be your proof of success, you are sadly mistaken. The reality is that you may not get that call. Then, do you know if the mailing is a failure? Not really. You haven’t mailed enough cards to statistically be confident that the results are correct. To be statistically confident, you will need to mail anywhere from 3,000 (acceptable confidence) to 10,000 (higher confidence).
7.The Wrong Offer. Some offers are easy: “Bring this coupon in and get a free cup of coffee.” But others get to be more complicated. It’s difficult to sell certain software’s, products or services by simply saying, “this is what it does,” and “you get $100 off.” The more costly the service or product, the more a prospect wants lots of information. They need samples, or trials, or white papers, or webinars, or booklets. Instead of asking for the sale, offer free information to simply get the lead.
8.Standard Class Postage with Time-Sensitive Mailings. Standard Class can save you a substantial amount on your mailings. But if the “sale” announcement comes 2 days after your sale ends, the savings are moot. Standard Class takes on average 7 to 10 days for delivery, but you can’t even count on that. You cards will get delivered, but just never count on timing.
9.Standard Class Postage with Business Addresses. We’ve just had bad experiences with using Standard Class to mail cards to businesses. The feedback we get is, “many of my customers didn’t received the mailing.” If the address and contact information isn’t exact, they might not get delivered. Also, Standard Class mailings sometimes tend to get tossed out by mailroom clerks or other “gatekeepers.” The great thing about First Class is that if the mailing doesn’t get delivered, it gets returned to you.
10.No Contact Information. Ok, this is obvious. No phone number, no address, no directions, no web address, no e-mail address, etc. It happens all the time.
Go luck with your mailing! Feel free to contact us for more information, samples or advice. We print and mail postcards and folded mailers in 1-2 business days. We offer an online mailing list search tool and a free graphic design service for orders with over 500 mailers. shansen@printz.com or 612-436-0007
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