Everywhere you look, marketing content is personalized. From grocery store receipts to your Amazon recommendations to postcards in the mailbox, companies are personalizing their communications to address who their customers are and what their customers need. Are you capitalizing on those opportunities, too?
Category: Direct Mail
Information about general mailing practices
How to Design Direct Mail That Sells
If it sells, than it must be creative.
David Ogilvy, a legendary designer and author, says that is the very first rule for designing direct mail.
But how do you know what sells?
Here are 5 tips to keep in mind when you design your next direct mail marketing piece to improve it’s chances of success.
Creative Coupon Ideas
If your organization is looking for unique ways to attract prospects and increase sales, here are a few creative discount and coupon ideas to consider:
- Try a BOGO campaign. In addition to the typical “buy one, get one free,” BOGO can have many creative variations. For example, consider “buy one, get one free on your next visit,” or “buy one, get one half off.”
- Offer the best of both worlds with a coupon such as: “$15 off or 15% off, whichever is higher.” This will also encourage customers to buy more to save more.
- Provide a certificate in lieu of coupons, such as a $10 certificate valid on a $50 purchase.
- Consider offering a bonus item to increase the value of your coupon and compete with your competition without actually lowering the price. For example, receive a free XX with any purchase.
- Create a reusable discount card that provides a specific discount (such as 10 percent off) every time they visit.
- Provide free delivery or free shipping to make the buying process easier.
- Create a “Friends and Family” discount and encourage employees to distribute these coupons. Reward the employee that has the most coupons redeemed each month.
- Offer exclusive discounts to various target audiences, such as senior citizens, students, veterans, teachers, nurses, etc.
- Offer incremental percentage off amounts based on what the customer spends, such as save 30% on $100 or more, save 20% on $50 or more, or save 10% on $25 or more
- Use easy to remember coupon codes like SUMMER rather than X6FHX20CVEK2 to make it easy to use during online checkouts.
If you’d like help creating the perfect coupon or certificate, contact us or stop by today!
Creating a Powerful Direct Mail Offer
In order to maximize the potential of your next direct mail campaign, it’s important to focus on one key aspect: your offer.
Here are a few tips for creating a powerful direct mail offer that your audience will notice and respond to:
Increase Direct Mail Responsiveness
Direct mail remains one of the most affordable and most effective forms of advertising. Here are a few tips to increase the responsiveness of your recipients:
- Consider postcard mailings, which are not only inexpensive, but don’t require opening an envelope, which often increases the chances it will be read.
- Build front of mind awareness by not only mailing regularly, but also by ensuring your mailings are relevant and interesting.
- Consider including coupons, such as a tear away coupon, statement stuffer insert, or a postcard designed as a coupon.
- Create a community effort, such as promoting a sale with 50% of proceeds benefiting a local charity.
- Highlight top customers by including testimonials and success stories that talk about ways your product benefits their business.
- Host a private customer appreciation sale that offers loyal customers an additional discount as well as a chance to buy at sale prices before the public.
- Send a fun and informative monthly newsletter that features new products, industry tips and trick, upcoming sales, etc.
- Create a monthly contest encouraging recipients to play along and look forward to seeing the winner in the next mailing.
- Send a thank you for a customer’s previous business and offer a future discount or coupons that are too good to ignore, such as “use this coupon anytime during December to receive 50% off any one item!”
- Offer reminders, such as including reorder forms in packages or sending a friendly reorder reminder prompt to order additional supplies before items run out.
- Include a postage paid return to increase response rates by eight percent or more.
If you need help creating the’ perfect direct mail campaign that not only increases awareness of your business but also boosts sales, give us a call today!
Creative Direct Mail Tracking Tips
One of the biggest advantages of direct mail is that it can be easily tracked and measured. Here are a few creative ways to track the results of your next direct mail campaign online or offline:
- Create customized landing pages with a unique URL that is short and easy to type. Or use different QR codes on various mailings that link to different pages. Be sure to use Google Analytics to benchmark traffic to specific pages.
- Use unique toll-free numbers or phone extensions to track responses.
- Change up your contact information to different staff. For example, campaign A directs to John Doe, which Campaign B directs to Jane Doe.
- Create customized response or key codes, and reward customers who use the code with an exclusive discount or free gift with purchase.
- Encourage customers to redeem an exclusive discount using your physical direct mail piece (postcard, coupon, etc.) Use simple identifiers that make it stand apart from similar direct mail pieces to other customers, such as an anniversary seal or stamp.
- Simply ask people. For example, in the Contact Us form on your website, ask people how they heard about you. Also encourage sales reps to ask new prospects and customers that request more information how they heard about your promotion.
Give us a call if you’d like help creating an easily measurable direct mail campaign that can not only boost sales but also overall brand awareness.