Don’t Spray and Pray Your Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail has always been an effective strategy for marketers, even though sometimes it gets dismissed as an imprecise approach. That’s especially true when a spray and pray tactic – hitting as many recipients as possible indiscriminately and hoping for the best – generates unimpressive response rates.

Today’s targeting tools and printing technologies have refined the way marketers deploy direct mail campaigns. They’re now able to hit the right prospects with relevant messages that boost engagement. This approach may reach fewer prospects, but the prospects are far more promising. It’s better to approach 500 qualified clients with an effective piece rather than blitz 5,000 random people and pray enough of them respond. You can channel the money saved from print and postage into more memorable production with eye-catching embellishments that improve your chances of producing your desired results.

Direct mail driven by targeting, technology, and content takes more planning and time investment, but the end results are worth it.

Start with Better Targeting

Precise targeting results from effective list segmentation, based on clean data. The more information you have about your clients and your prospects, the easier it will be to create pieces that attract their attention.

When you’re segmenting, keep your direct mail objectives in mind. Common goals include brand awareness, more repeat business, new business, new product introduction, higher traffic, or driving clients to a landing page in a cross-media campaign. 

Think about who will be most open to your offer or message and determine which data points are key to identifying your targets. Include multiple parameters beyond basic age and income in your data selection. You might examine customer shopping history, for example. If you’re in a B2B segment, think about prospect job titles and pain points. When buying a list, go beyond identifying prospects by only their zip codes and ask for other relevant data points.

Also, don’t send direct mail only to older generations. All studies and evidence suggest that print is a hit with younger people. Having been pinged to death with electronic messages, they view relevant direct mail as a welcome change.

Printing Technologies Make Targeting Easier

Digital printing technology makes it affordable to do short runs that target select customers. Print service providers can customize each piece to provide the most value. In a well-executed 1:1 campaign, can you change names, colors, type face, images, and text on each piece to increase engagement and relevance. When you target and personalize, you make your messages relevant. 

Printing can also tie your cross-media campaigns together with elements such as QR codes or barcodes. You can even include personalized maps to drive clients to a particular brick and mortar location.

Printers today can even execute an ongoing campaign for you, printing and distributing direct mail pieces to a chosen list based on a pre-arranged schedule. The direct mail experts at TMDMS will suggest mailing schedules that take advantage of postage discounts that keep your mailing costs low.

Content — The Last Piece that Ties the Process Together

The content of your mailpieces must be tied to purpose to have impact. Good design, the right balance of images and type, and most importantly, the right call to action are the elements that make direct mail effective. Consider what you want a recipient to do once they read your piece. Tell them clearly and make it simple for them to do it, whether it’s going to a website, calling for an appointment, or using a coupon.

Take the guesswork out of direct mail. Sending fewer pieces with a focused message to an audience with a higher probability of response drives the bottom line and increases ROI.