PEOPLE LOVE to get mail. But, they hate junk mail, and unsolicited faxes and e-mail— facts that keep direct marketers teetering between subtlety and straighforwardness. Direct marketers can avoid audience alienation, experts say, by focusing on the basics: targeting the right audience with the right message, and using strong copy and creative elements.
The most important element is the mailing list, according to Matthew Staudt, president of Interactive Marketing Group, Allendale, N.J. “If there is any question about the validity of the list, all the other elements of what might be an otherwise successful campaign are suspect,” said Staudt. “List data becomes outdated on average approximately two percent per month.” He suggested ongoing, low-cost response mailings to purge the list as often as a budget allows. Making sure the names on a mailing list are viable prospects seems like a no-brainer, yet a recent survey by QAS, a division of Experian’s Marketing Services Business, indicates a majority of businesses feel their customer data is inaccurate and poorly
managed.
Scrub First, Then Target
Distributors’ first task, then, is to rigorously cleanse customers’ mailing lists, with data hygiene software, such as CASS and NCOA sorting, and United States Post Office’s merge, purge and de-dupe services. Next, refine lists further through well-defined objectives: are you trying to win new customers; hang on to or reward current customers; raise awareness of the organization/business; or solicit funds, legislative support or volunteers for a non-profit?
“Determining a goal is vital to determining the budget and developing a plan,” said Staudt. “Is the objective to collect information or present details in order to educate? Or, is it to look for immediate sales or to generate interest?”
Identifying the best customers’ commonalities is one tried-and-true method for narrowing a prospect list. Psychographics are just as important as demographics, noted Ernest Nicastro, direct marketing consultant and president of Positive Response, a Dublin, Ohio-based marketing firm specializing in B-to-B marketing. “What are the key motivators for your audience?” he asked. According to Nicastro, distributors should find the hot buttons and push them, and heed the old salesman’s chestnut of you-talk versus me-talk. “People don’t care about your product or service, but they do care about how it can benefit them,” he added.
Make an Offer
The message, offer or call to action is the second leg of the proverbial three-legged stool of direct marketing. It should be specific, unmistakeable and irresistable. Free samples are great, but obviously inappropriate for services, and bulky or pricey products.
Nicastro suggested evaluating top clients’ annual and lifetime dollar value to determine the best offer for winning new clients. A focus on the long-term ROI, not just that of immediate sales, coupled with offers that are fun, unique and compelling, will boost response rates, according to Nicastro. For instance, he said business offers should provide not just a guided tour to show off their business’ capabilities, but also send a limousine to pick up the prospect and enjoy lunch in the executive suite. He also noted that such personalized pampering can be well worth the expense if the prospect is carefully selected.
Instead of including a free premium in the mailer itself, offer a reward for the recipient taking action. The reward could be as simple as an upgraded version of the freebie offered to every prospect. Or, it could be a report of great tips, advice or trade secrets specifically crafted for the target audience (include a teaser in the mailing). Premiums typically provide four times the response rate of mailings without such freebies, Nicastro noted. “The offer itself can account for up to 40 percent of a mailing’s success,” he said. “People love offers on things they are interested in,” Nicastro said.
Get Creative
The final detail of an effective direct mail campaign is the creative elements, which includes both the written copy and its packaging. Regardless of trends, Staudt said, envelopes outpull postcards or self-mailers.
Colored envelopes and engaging teaser copy was strong in the mid-1980s, Staudt noted, with the personalized-letter look, 3-D packaging and quasi-Fed Ex/UPS envelopes, along with the “check” look coming in and out of vogue throughout the 1990s. “All will still work; it depends on the audience, the product or service, and the call to action,” said Staudt. However, he noted, “People do not like being duped with blind yet laser-printed mailings or vague teasers.”
Envelopes can resemble personal mail—no labels, windows, metered postage or corporate return address—or a billboard with teaser copy printed prominently on the outside. Nicastro noted both are effective, although the vast majority of long-term, high-response direct-mail campaigns utilize the flashier billboard style. He suggested distributors initially try both styles, each on a small sample, to gauge effectiveness.
Although e-mail campaigns are all the recent rage, marketers don’t want the rage coming from recipients. Staudt suggested using e-mail contacts as a second tier, only after getting an affirmative response from a postal mailing.
Bolstering this approach, a survey conducted by the United States Postal Service noted that 57 percent of households only check their e-mail once a week, whereas 98 percent collect and assess mail from their physical mailbox on a daily basis. Direct Mail News reported that 73 percent of snail mail gets opened, and more than 50 percent of adults prefer snail-mail to e-mail advertising campaigns. Staudt emphasized that headlines and P.S. sections of letters are generally the most-read copy on direct-mail pieces. Sub-heads, call-outs and staccato copy help recipients navigate quickly through a direct mail letter and assess its value.
Add Dimension
Clever packaging can dramatically increase response rates—often to double-digits, said Nicastro. Using promotional products, such as plastic water bottles, bank pouches, miniature trash cans or briefcases, conveys the theme in an unforgettable way. “Extreme-marketing dimensional mailers can generate numerous leads and quick sales,” Nicastro said, “but be sure to suit the mailer to the type of prospect you are targeting and the level of commitment or sale you seek.”
For instance, Nicastro sent a water bottle mailer to collision repair shops asking if they were thirsty for more business. It was successfully and creatively followed up with a “take it to the bank” message in a bank bag. These unique approaches not only boosted the company’s image, but also made memorable impacts.
Another successful campaign targeting CEOs sent prospects a locked metal briefcase along with a note directing recipients to a Web site. After entering a code online and viewing the marketer’s promotional information, respondents received the briefcase combination and their reward: a handheld GPS unit.
“You are limited only by your imagination,” said Nicastro. “Unusual packaging or detailed interactive components, such as stickers and die cuts, make mailings more memorable and can greatly boost response rates.”
“People will do amazingly detailed things in order to get something for free,” noted Staudt. He cautioned distributors against getting carried away with glitzy creative design and losing sight of the message, adding that premium incentives and interactive components will increase response, but also the cost per response. “You must generate a response rate that is high enough to justify the cost of the design and production,” he said.
Above all, Staudt advised distributors not to get discouraged. “Direct mail is an area where someone who fails 97 percent of the time is a hero.”
