Direct Mail Marketing is a powerful secret weapon — Unlock it right here!
Psssst!
Direct Mail programs gain leads, conversions and sales at a much higher rate than email, banners, retargeting, or other online methods. It's the most powerful medium of Direct Marketing.
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Yes…Direct Mail.
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It's a discipline that takes time and money to learn, so it's often been the red-haired stepchild of ad agencies and companies, and marketers who like to show "glitzier" things in their portfolios like TV and web animation..
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Few companies explore or master its tools. Those that do swear by it (good swearing!). And if you've explored "Direct" and it hasn't worked, it may be because — faceplant! — key fundamentals or nuance were missed. Shift happens.
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Is direct mail worth the investment? Does Direct mail really gain a strong ROI?
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Proof is most successful companies employ direct mail for strong ROI in their marketing.. Check into almost any Fortune 500 company's promotional mix, and see if it isn't a profitable segment of their lead generation, brand-building, cross-selling, and more.
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No, it's not good for every company, or every program. That's why training and experience is critical to approaching this powerful beast.
In fact, many survey results show that direct mail…
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conveys information and is easier to understand than online advertising
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converts prospects to customers much faster
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produces a stronger emotional response
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gives you an infinite range of 2-D and 3-D formats… from stark to "glitzy"
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it's more memorable -- it gives you more than double the recall
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breaks through the media overload of the internet, and puts something physical — and credible — in the hands of your prospect
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response rates are generally way higher than email and online, when done well
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An integrated approach — using direct mail, along with email, and other advertising such as banner ads, publications, or a range of other media — is always the most effective approach. Always. (Part of the trick for increasing response and profitability is reducing costs as you measure and fine-tune a proven program.)
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the best way to heat up C-Level and top executives, and cold or warm contacts? Go with on-target messaging via Dimensional Mail
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Is Direct Marketing or Direct Mail "The Magic Silver Bullet"? These 3 shots need to hit the target:
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Sorry, there is no Magic Silver Bullet. No instant Guarantee of success. However, the is no medium that combines targetability, flexibility of formats,promotional control and more, than Direct Mail Marketing.
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To be successful at this unique orientation to business promotion, you need to do well in these 3 primary areas.
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LIST/DATABASE — the intended audience, segmented and targeted
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OFFER — "What's the deal" you're offering, why should the prospect (or customer) respond?
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CREATIVE — have you engaged your audience and persuaded them using the powerful techniques of direct marketing?
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Of course your competitive research, product development, strategy and branding, testing your approaches (then rolling out to a wider audience) and more will be keu, but these 3 areas underscore the potential of direct marketing success.
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"But wait, there's more!" When your Direct Marketing programs become more refined, you may want to consider these business and marketing factors…
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Your campaign does not operate in a vacuum, there may be other factors in play that affect campaign response:
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Is the product or service offering clear, powerful, and irresistible?
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Have you tested the approach (especially critical with larger mailings; test, then progressively re-rest, then "roll out"
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Is this mailing a "solo" piece, or part of a campaign that makes multiple impressions?
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Is the mailing part of a larger campaign, supported by other media, such sa social media, blog posts, advertising, outbound sales followup…
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Have you or competitors promoted something similar recently (are they "tapped out? Have they stimulated interest?)
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Are there other marketplace factors which could affect your results — a competitor joining or leaving your field… technology or manufacturing innovations… service offerings that are packed better than yours
It can be tricky to differentiate all of these factor if they're in play, so you just want to be aware of them, and plan for them as best as possible. And if you're really focused on making impact, combine these factors in a synergistic matrix!
And, yes, under certain circumstances you very accurately predict response.
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Done well, the right offer in the hands of the right prospect with a compelling creative pitch at the right time is killer.
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MarketPower has produced strong results for a wide range of clients, and we have multiple certifications in Direct Marketing, Inbound Marketing, and more
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Our Chief Lightbulb, Joel Alpert, is multi-certified in this realm — with huge print and digital experience in email and direct mail, producing results for Fortune 500 and SMB companies.
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Wanna see some of those results?
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And, yes, direct digital or print can be used in an integrated program, driving leads right onto online systems.
If you've used Direct Response Marketing before, and it's only given you ho-hum results...there are lots of wires that might not have been hooked up right. It's time we connected, so you can energize your marketing!
Bob Stone's 30 Timeless
Direct Marketing Principles
Bob Stone (on the left) wrote “The Bible” of Direct Marketing — Successful Direct Marketing Methods (8 editions, translated into multiple languages.
Joel Alpert (middle) worked at Stone & Adler, and worked directly with Bob Stone — and fellow industry icon Martin Baier (on the right) — on a complex program for a major energy conglomerate.
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Over his exemplary career, Bob Stone identified a number of direct marketing principles that continue to prove fundamentally true, and a few need to be adjusted to our times.,
All customers are not created equal. Give or take a few percentage points, 80 percent of repeat business for goods and services will come from 20 percent of your customer base.
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The most important order you ever get from a customer is the second order. Why? Because a two-time buyer is at least twice as likely to buy again as a one-time buyer.
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Maximizing direct mail success depends first upon the lists you use, second upon the offers you make, and third upon the copy and graphics you create.
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If, on a given list, "hotline" names don't work, the other list categories offer little opportunity for success.
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Merge/purge names — those that appear on two or more lists — will outpull any single list from which these names have been extracted.
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Direct response lists will almost always outpull compiled lists.
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Overlays on lists (enhancements), such as lifestyle characteristics, income, education, age, marital status, and propensity to respond by mail or phone will always improve response.
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A follow-up to the same list within 30 days will pull 40 to 50 percent of the first mailing.
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"Yes/No" offers consistently produce more orders than offers that don't request "No" responses.
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The "take rate" for negative option offers will always outpull positive option offers at least two to one.
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Credit card privileges will out-perform cash with order at least two to one.
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Credit card privileges will increase the size of the average catalog order by 20 percent, or more.
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Time limit offers, particularly those which give a specific date, outpull offers with no time limit practically every time.
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Free gift offers, particularly where the gift appeals to self-interest, outpull discount offers consistently.
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Sweepstakes, particularly in conjunction with impulse purchases, will increase order volume 35 percent, or more.
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You will collect far more money in a fund-raising effort if you ask for a specific amount from a purchaser. Likewise, you will collect more money if the appeal is tied to a specific project.
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People buy benefits, not features.
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The longer you can keep someone reading your copy, the better your chances of success.
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The timing and frequency of renewal letters is vital. But I can report nothing but failure over a period of 40 years in attempts to hype renewals with "improved copy." I've concluded that the "product" — the magazine, for example — is the factor in making a renewal decision.
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Self-mailers are cheaper to produce, but they practically never outpull envelope enclosed letter mailings.
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A pre-print of a forthcoming ad, accompanied by a letter and response form, will outpull a post-print mailing package by 50 percent, or more.
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It is easier to increase the average dollar amount of an order than it is to increase percentage of response.
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You will get far more new catalog customers if you put your proven winners in the front pages of your catalog.
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You will get far more new catalog customers if you put your proven winners in the front pages of your catalog.
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Assuming items of similar appeal, you will always get a higher response rate from a 32-page catalog than from a 24-page catalog.
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A new catalog to a catalog customer base will outpull cold lists by 400 to 800 percent.
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A print ad with a bind-in card will outpull the same ad without a bind-in up to 600 percent.
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A direct response, direct sale TV commercial of 120-seconds will outpull a 60-second direct response commercial better than two to one.
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A TV support commercial will increase response from a newspaper insert up to 50 percent.
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The closure rate from qualified leads can be two to four times as effective as cold calls.
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Telephone-generated leads are likely to close four to six times greater than mail-generated leads.