How To Direct Mail Advertise
INCREASE YOUR DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING
RESPONCE
If you want to start promoting this
business through direct mail advertising you need a quality mailing list to find
new customers.
We have written this report to assist
you in making your next mailings more successful.
Index
Factors that
Determine the Success of a Mailing
Besides a quality mailing list there
are several other important considerations which influence the success of your
mailing. Following are the most important factors:
The Offer
There is no question that if you do
everything else right but the potential customer is not interested in your offer,
your mailing will still not succeed. If your offer is of no benefit to the recipient,
is too expensive, is of no interest, etc., it cannot succeed. But the business
venture you are offering represent an important benefit to the reader.
Presentation
of Offer
Since the mail order buyer cannot see
the product or service, cannot touch it, and cannot smell it the presentation
of your offer is of the utmost importance.
Your offer should be presented in
a professional manner. The customer will form a quick opinion of your offer
by the material he receives. Your sales letter and other promotional material
should be clearly written so your reader will fully understand the offer. Sloppy
and unprofessional mailing pieces will be a definite turn off the reader. Daily,
millions of pieces of direct mail land in the nearest waste paper basket for
just that reason.
If you are writing your own promotional
material or sales letter, the most important rule to follow is:
- Place the emphasis on the reader
and stress what your offer will do for him. All the major benefits must be
clearly stated in your offer. Selfish marketing, that is writing about yourself
or your company, is of no interest to the reader.
His sole interest is: "What is this
going to do for me?"
Everything about your presentation is
important: The envelope, the sales letter, the brochure or circular, etch.
The Envelope
There are experts and consultants in
Direct Mail who will put Substantial emphasis on the appearance and presentation
of the envelope. It is suggested that the envelope will decide whether the recipient
will open it or not. In our opinion, as long as the envelope looks professional
the recipient will open it.
Remember, curiosity is a part of
human nature. Envelopes which are most likely to get tossed without being opened
are those that have a non-mistakable identity of junk mail. Like those window
envelopes that declare in huge bold letters that you are about to win a Million
Dollars.
Should you use a label, handwrite
the name and address, or type it? We do not think it makes a lot of difference.
No question a neatly handwritten, or typed address on an envelope will look
better than a label, but this may not make a great Impact on the overall success
of the mailing. Let's keep in mind it's what's inside that will determine if
the reader will reply to you, or make a purchase from you. If you are determined,
however, to improve the chances that the envelope will get opened use the following
technique:
1. Do not show name, or return address. The disadvantage with this approach
is that the Post Office can not notify you regarding undeliverable mail.
2. If you do decide to use a return address show only the address. It
will create curiosity.
3. If the envelope is typed or written, so much the better The curiosity
factor will definitely be on your side.
First Class
or Bulk Mail
Envelopes which weigh less than 1 oz
(32cents postage) should generally be mailed First Class. The comparable bulk
mail rate is 22.6 cents, but bulk mail takes longer, and even worse, some of it
is not delivered at all. The Direct Marketing Association estimates that from
5% to 15% of bulk mall does not get delivered.
First Class is fast, dependable
and makes more of an impact. If the weight, however, requires Postage of 55
cents, 78 cents, or even more the mailer generally has no choice but to go with
bulk mail.
Seasonal Factors
A great deal is written about "mailing
at the right time". We do suggest you ignore most of the information. The truth
is almost all mail order advertisers will mail on a year-round schedule, except
if the offer is of a Seasonal nature. We recommend you mail on a year around basis.
We do suggest, however, that you do not mail between December 15 and December
31. Additionally, it is advisable to plan so that your mailings do not arrive
just prior to one of the National Holidays. Based on our business over a number
of years Direct Mail Advertisers have ranked the months of the year in the order
of highest and lowest volume as follows:
February - January - March -April - October and September are generally the busiest
months.
November - May - August - July - June and December will generally be slower than
the above. They have, however, experienced a number of "surprises" and exceptions
to the above.
The Mailing
List
Choosing the right mailing list for
your mailing is critical otherwise all your other efforts and expenses will be
wasted.
Types of Mailing
Lists:
There are primarily 3 types of mailing
lists:
1. Built
Lists:
(also called Response Lists) These lists are built from advertising and direct
marketing responses/replies.
Most likely these are the lists
you will be using primarily. Most mailing list companies will either build their
own mailing lists, or will buy names from various mail order companies. The
names will generally have been obtained through responses to advertisements.
Other lists which have been generated through advertising are generally newer
names and will be more responsive.
There are many sub-listings under
the above, for example, opportunity seekers are individuals who are interested
in all types of new business and extra income ventures. MLM names (multi-level
marketing, also referred to as network marketers), are individuals who have
a keen interest in multi-level marketing business propositions, etc.
2.
Compiled Lists:
Names from these lists are taken from various directories, such as a telephone
directory, individuals on these lists have not responded to an offer, but they
fit a certain category, such as CPA's or Physicians.
3. Buyer
Lists:
These names are obtained from various mail order companies who make their customer
lists available for rental. Individuals on these lists have made a purchase.
Obtaining
Quality Names
Quality mailing lists are created and
maintained at considerable expense to the owner of the list. And when you buy
a quality list the results will speak for themselves.
We strongly recommend that you do
not seek out the least expensive list. Such a list could become the most expensive
list you ever rented. If you rent a "cheap list" and out of a mailing of 1,000
pieces you receive 200 "bad address returns", your cheap list has become very
expensive. Or even worse, you may not get any sign-ups.
Most mailing lists will deteriorate
at about 1.5% to 3% per month. This is unavoidable - people move, close P.O.
Boxes, and the computer operator makes errors when the data is entered. Therefore
a list of 1,000 names which is approximately one month old will subsequently
have somewhere between 15 and 30 bad address returns.
In-House Names
If you can determine that a mailing
list company generates its names "in-house", (generally through advertising),
you will most often have a considerably higher quality list. Ask the mailing list
company what the ad says and in what magazines it appears so you can check it
out yourself.
Hot-Line Lists
These names should be less than 30 days
old. if you buy such a list determine how old the names are. But don't get too
hung up on the age of the names. Whether a name is 5, 15, or 45 days old does
not make much difference.
Testing A List
A test of about 1,000 names should give
you a good idea as to the effectiveness of the list. Tests of less than 500 names
are quite unreliable.
If mailing First Class, responses/orders
will start coming in approximately 10 to 20 days. As a general rule, about 70%
of your sign-ups will come In the first 30 days and the remainder will come
in during the next several months, If mailing bulk rate, results will start
coming in after about 3 weeks and about 70% of the orders will be received within
approximately 60 days. The remainder will come in over many months.
List Performance
The most popular question by a long
shot is: "What kind of a response can I expect?" Unfortunately, there is no way
to tell. There are so many factors that will influence the Success of a mailing.
Some have been discussed here.
Other factors that may have an effect include some of the following: weather patterns,
national and local news which may Influence peoples thinking at any given time,
the price of the offer (generally, the higher the price the lower the response),
etc.
Some offers allow the seller to
make a profit at a response rate of 1.5%. Some multi.level marketers report
initial response rates of 3% to 10% and even higher. We suggest that before
you mail, determine all your costs and based on that you come up with a break
even figure.
The number of sign-ups you must receive to recover all your costs. Then carefully
monitor the results. Before you roll out the big guns, be sure the figures work
out okay. This may take some patience on your part and changes in the teaser
letter.
Be Positive
A positive mind set is an absolute
must for any entrepreneur, but positive thinking should not be confused with
unrealistic dreams. The primary Purpose of any mailing is to find new downline
members, not to get rich in a few months.
Please send
me your contibutions to this subject.
The Downline Support Area was
developed by:
Frank Bauer
August-Sievers-Ring 15
24148 Kiel
Germany
Fax: +1-413-403-2654 or +49-1212-5142-76-230
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This page was last updated: Februar 12, 2004
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