One of the most effective forms of advertising, direct mail is a quick way to deliver your message to thousands of people. Though it may seem like a simple strategy, direct mailing is actually quite complicated and requires a lot of effort and time to come up with the most effective mailing efforts. Theres a science behind direct mailing and advertisers spend millions of dollars each year trying to find ways to get better responses from direct mail efforts.
The most important rule to keep in mind when thinking about direct mailing is the rule of seven. Basically, the rule of seven says that a mail recipient needs to see your marketing message at least seven times before they even realize you and your business exists.
With so many different businesses running direct mail campaigns, recipients receive hundreds of ads in the mailbox each year, so your business can often get lost in the shuffle. If they see an ad more than once, its more likely to stick in their head and theyll begin to recognize the brand.
You may think that if your marketing material is really unique, detailed, informative and just very impressive overall, a potential customer would only need to see it once in order to become interested in your products or services.
Unfortunately, this is completely untrue and recent studies prove that the repetition of an advertisement outweighs the quality. Recipients respond better to poorly designed advertisements that have been sent to their homes numerous times than they do to quality marketing materials sent only once or twice. Unless youve got the funding to send your marketing material to the same recipient at least seven times, its a waste to even begin a campaign at all.
Another important thing to consider is the kind of mailing youre sending to consumers. Are you using a postcard or an envelope? Though these seem like simple decisions, there have been several studies that show which mailing methods generate more responses than others.
For instance, an envelope with a window is opened more than one without and postcards or envelopes with stamps are read more often than those with metered postage. The method in which youre mailing your marketing material can make or break a campaign and should be considered carefully.
Another choice to make is what kind of message youre trying to convey to consumers and what form will be most effective in getting that message across to them. You can achieve this in two ways, either by creating a catchy slogan and tag line, or by providing valuable information that is more useful to a recipient.
The first strategy tends to draw more mental connections between a consumers needs and your product, while the second builds trust with potential customers. When done correctly, direct mailing can be a useful and highly profitable, but each detail counts and will have an effect on the success or failure of your campaign.
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