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How to Get Started in Direct Mail

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You've done your homework and you know your product inside and out and have developed a great marketing piece to use for your campaign. You even secured the services of a list broker. How you do get started in direct mail once everything else is set up. Here are some pointers for you to consider:

• Your target market: Before you start sending out any direct mail piece, you first have to know who your target market is. Who are you going to send your pieces out to? You don't want to send direct mail out to car dealers with you are a plumber. You must know who your target market is.
• Database: It is really important that you use a good database system that is up to date on the latest information. You want to make sure everyone in your database is current and does exist.
• List size matters: List size matters. If you have a small amount of names on your list, you won't get many responses. According to the industry, 5,000 pieces is a good number to start with. If you want to go higher than this you can try. The more you send out the better your response rate will be.
• Timing: The old saying in marketing is that timing is everything. In a way this is true, because if you try to market a sale you are having for Christmas items in November, you may be late with it. For Christmas, you should send out your direct mail pieces by September at the latest. This way each consumer can get the direct mail and have time to react to it before Christmas comes.
• Keep message simple: When you make up your marketing message, it is best to keep it simple. In many cases, when someone gets a direct mail piece, he/she will take one second to look at it and toss it away. So your message has to be simply written but also eye catching so the consumer doesn't toss it aside but reads on to learn more.
• Right direct mail format: One of the important parts of direct mail is deciding on which direct mail piece to deliver. You can use postcards, letters, packages, or maybe a combination of all three.
• Response mechanism: When you send out your direct mail piece, make sure to give the consumer a choice as to how to respond. What way will they respond to your direct mail piece? Are you going to request them to bring the piece in the store with them as proof so the consumer can get a discount? Or do they make a phone call mentioning a certain code placed on the piece? Or are you going to supply a business reply card or have them go to your Website? Whatever it may is you use, you have to give the consumer a way to respond with a call to action.

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