Direct Mail Marketing Isn't Dead - 3 Tips to Get a Better Response

All you hear about these days is “social media marketing this” or “Google that,” and it seems that people are starting to trend away from traditional marketing methods like direct mail marketing.  While it’s true that the internet has changed the marketing game, traditional marketing methods do still exist and they do have value that can be provided to your business.

On a monthly basis, I run direct mail marketing campaigns on a local scale, targeting a local demographic with invitations to educational events.  Once a month, we send out over 10,000 detailed mailings to prospects all over the Baton Rouge area.  I’ve heard many times that something like this could be done at a much lower cost on the internet, but would the results still be the same?  When it comes down to it, for our firm’s purposes, direct mail marketing of our event invitations is the most effective means of get a response to our invites.

Know Your Direct Mail Marketing Demographics

For our business, it’s all about who we’re reaching out to.  We work exclusively with retirement age prospects, many of whom are not using the internet in the same way that a 30 something would.  While baby-boomers are getting online at a tremendous rate, for this specific demographic and this type of campaign, the local response is simply stronger from a direct mail marketing campaign.

Depending on the type of business you’re in, direct mail marketing may still be a viable marketing option for certain campaigns, you just need to know your demographic.  If you’re selling to 20-30 year old customers, you’re more than likely going to try to use the internet to reach out to them rather than direct mail marketing.  Simply because it’s much harder to get a response from a generation who spends more time reading email than they do real mail.

Direct Mail Marketing Requires a High Quality Presentation

Don’t mail out 5,000 brochures you printed at home and expect to be well received, if your presentation is lacking, it’s most likely not even going to be opened.  One of the key elements to a successful direct mail marketing campaign is the presentation.  Your campaign has to be presented in a way that not only entices the reader to open your mail, but keeps them from immediately throwing it in the trash.

In our practice, we understand that if it looks like junk mail, it’s going to be treated like junk mail.  Fortunately, we work with a mailing company who understands this and continuously works to improve their designs and mailing styles to ensure that they’re getting the reader’s attention and capturing their interest.  When you’re designing your mailer, keep in mind that it can’t resemble any of the junk mail you throw away on a regular basis.  If you’re throwing it out, there’s a good chance everyone else is too.  Work up an eye-catching presentation, throw it in an actual envelope, and get it out to your prospects.

Have a Realistic Understanding of Direct Mail Response Rates

In my industry specifically, it’s understood that if you send out 10,000 mailers, you should expect a 1% response rate (100 people).  Of that 100, we generally get between 60-80 people over the course of two days who actually show up and attend our educational events.  Doesn’t sound good to you?  Keep in mind that in our industry, 1 or 2 good clients making an investment with us can pay for the entire campaign, including the cost of the event itself.

If you intend to use a direct mail marketing campaign for your own business, you need to work with a mailing company who can give you a realistic understanding of what type of response rate you can expect from your mailing.  According to Allison Schiff’s article:

“… the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has found that direct mail boasts a 4.4% [response] rate , compared to email’s average response rate of 0.12%…”

This number is going to be different for every industry, but what’s important is that you go into direct mail marketing with a good understanding of what type of response you’re actually going to get.

Does your business use direct mail marketing as a promotional tool?  Have you had success with your campaigns or scrapped the idea completely?  Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below!

Direct Mail Marketing Isn't Dead - 3 Tips to Get a Better Response