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Get the Most from Your Direct Mail Campaign

It's not difficult to use the US Postal Service as a sales vehicle. All you need is a printer, some postage, and a little elbow grease. But extracting maximum value from your mail campaign can be a little more difficult. You can start from scratch and learn the practical lessons the hard way through trial and error, or you can follow these four simple rules to get a running start. It's partly a matter of common sense and postal pragmatism. See Top 10 Direct Mail Mistakes for more information on this topic.

• Mail postcards whenever possible. Even though the price difference may seem negligible, all those pennies, nickels, and dimes really do add up. More importantly, a postcard is more eye-catching than an enclosed letter and thus makes a greater impact on your prospects. It requires little or no effort to understand and to see the value in a well-designed postcard; meanwhile, an envelope has to be opened and a letter read to make a difference.
  
  To get the greatest impact from your postcards, use brightly colored card stock and a large typeface. Do not jam too much copy onto a small space. Your message should be brief enough to lend itself to a 4" X 6" surface. Any larger and you'll have to pay the full postage fee. The most important thing to remember about postcards is that they crumple. Use the heaviest card stock your budget allows.
• Establish a consistent look and feel. Since repetition is a key element of direct mail campaigns, it's important that your mailings leverage your company's identity or brand. Display your logo and tag lines consistently. Also, stick to a limited palette of fonts whether the mailing is an invitation, a coupon, or a traditional sales letter. Coordinate the look and feel of your mailing materials with other company documents. Big and small organizations often manipulate their company identity to fit specific sales campaigns and particular needs. This is a mistake as it confuses customers and prospects in the long run.
• Create a mailing calendar. Organize and plan the arrival of your mailers. If you can avoid mailing around the holidays, you should. Also, don't send two mailings to the same customer at the same time ? even if the mailings are for completely different purposes. If you need to send two mailings, alternate their schedule or combine the materials into a single mailing. Doubling up on mail to the same customers and prospects is annoying and gives the impression of a disorganized company. Read How Frequently Should I Do Mailings? for more on the topic.
• Use a postage meter. If you haven't already invested in a postage meter system, it may be time to do so. The main advantage of printing postage yourself ? in addition to the time saved and hassle avoided from doing away with stamps ? is to print exact postage rather than mailing in the increments prescribed by the stamps you have on hand. The savings can add up surprisingly quickly.

A successful mailing must reach the right person, be read by that person, and persuade that person to engage with your company.

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