Direct mail is a powerful way to communicate with your target audience.  It can be personalized, it breaks through the clutter of digital messages and over 85 percent of people read or skim their direct mail messages.  Furthermore, print messages are shown to influence over 60 percent online brand searches.

When you’re creating your direct mail marketing campaign it’s important to follow a few simple guidelines in order to reap the full benefits of your direct mailer.

First, define your audience. Turn to your customer database or even a third party list for this step.  If you’re using an outside list, be sure to have strict perimeters set to ensure you’re sending to a targeted group of people who are most likely interested in your brand’s message.

Second, figure out what you want your audience to know about your brand.  Use your database to not only sort your target audience into smaller, more manageable subgroups, but also use it to get to know and understand your audience.  Spend time reading through and analyzing your database — When do they buy, how often to they make a purchase, what do they purchase and so forth… once you understand your audience, then create a message that is conducive to their needs.

Third, ask for something. This may seem simple, but is often overlooked.  Once you create a relevant message make sure you’re asking the recipient to respond to your message in some way — whether it’s visiting a website, calling or even coming to your store — make sure you have a clear and concise call-to-action.

Finally, record, measure and analyze.  Using QR codes, pURLs or simply measuring the number of people who redeem the offer from your direct mail piece, be sure you’re calculating how many people respond to your call-to-action.

Timothy Freeman

President

Print & Graphic Communications Association