The Perfectly Planned Direct Mail Timeline

Gearing up for a new direct mail campaign? As we’re sure you know, there is a lot that needs to happen between the time you settle on a new campaign and the minute that mailer hits the mailbox. With so many moving pieces, launching a new campaign can quickly become overwhelming. The best way to reduce stress and stay on track? A perfectly planned timeline for your direct mail campaign.

Here’s how:

1.) Keep Seasonality in Mind

Timing is everything. Think about the product you’re promoting. Would it best be served at a certain time of you or in a particular season? Heating an insulation services, for example, are best marketed just as the weather starts to cool down. Always keep seasonality, as well as holidays, in mind.

2.) Think Outside the Envelope

Roughly four months from the time you plan to send your new mailers, set aside some time for a solid brainstorming session. What are the goals of your campaign? Is there a promotion or event you can organize to help you attain it? Do you want to use a unique feature or freemiums to draw attention to your mailer? Get creative and take good notes!

3.) Spend Some Time with Your Database

Here’s a fun-filled fact you may not have known - it costs roughly six times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an old one. So, don’t limit yourself, and your chances of success, to strictly new audiences. It’s important to make sure any and all past customers are included on your mailing list. If enhancing that database is simply too overwhelming or time consuming for you, no problem! A qualified professional can help you create a comprehensive list and find the most cost effective way to deliver your pieces.

4.) The Early Bird Gets the Win

At least two months in advance of the target delivery date, get in touch with a professional print company. You don’t want to wait until the last minute and risk missing the target delivery date, or worse yet, compromising quality in order to meet time constraints! The success of your mail campaign relies on perfect timing, and that means timely delivery of mailing lists, due dates, target delivery dates, and artwork sent in a compatible format. It takes time to review those materials and generate a time estimate.

5.) Review the Blueline More Than Once

After receiving your artwork and files, you’ll receive a blueline and color proof that will need to be reviewed and approved. It is vital that you set aside a good amount of time to thoroughly review it, because any errors on the blueline will end up on your printed materials. Pay attention to everything you see – copy, line breaks, page breaks, borders and cropping. Aim to have the blueline reviewed and approved about 45 days before it’s due to be sent out.

6. Gather, Measure, Repeat

Once your mailers hit the post truck, the tough part is over and done. Congratulations, you did it! Now all that’s left to do is measure the response rates. You can expect the biggest boom in the first two weeks after delivery, but leads may trickle in for up to six months afterward. Use your measurements to gauge how successful your campaign was and how you can use those results to improve your next one.

How do you organize a campaign timeline? If you have any other tips or suggestions, tell us in the comments! 

Ways to Save on Your Next Direct Mail Campaign

Despite what the rumors might have you believe, direct mail is far from dead. In fact, with 92%of Millennials preferring to read something in traditional print over its digital counterpart, it’s quite the opposite. Given the right planning and execution, a direct mail campaign can produce incredible results for businesses of any industry and size. The trick is figuring out how to create an effective, compelling and unique campaign suited to your business’s needs without breaking the bank.

Here are some ways you can save on your next direct mail campaign:

Spend Some Time on Your List

It’s not good enough just to have a list. It has to be a smart list if you want it to be effective. That means creating an up to date list that is targeted at an identified and responsive audience. Updates to your mailing list should be done yearly in order to keep it in top shape for every campaign. Remember, your campaign is only as good as your list.

Set a Budget and Learn to Compromise

Nobody likes the word budget, but alas there comes a time when we all must adhere to one. Creating a new direct mail campaign is one such time. Set a clear-cut budget and stick to it. That may mean you need to be willing to compromise on certain aspects on your mailer, as some materials and mailer dimensions may put you in the red. When working with a tight budget, talk to a professional print company about how you may be able to create the best quality mailers at the best price.

Don’t Eat Up Man Hours Internally

Even if this is not your first time creating a direct mail campaign, attempting to keep your efforts in-house may prove to be more hassle than expected. After all, you already have a job to perform, so the less time you or your staff spends on marketing tasks, the more time there will be to focus on other priorities.  Not to mention, a professional print company can bring years of experience and expertise to your campaign, optimizing it to reach its highest potential and therefore giving you more bang for your buck.

Do you have any other tried and true tactics that your business uses to save on direct mail campaigns? Share them with us in the comments! 

Direct Mail Tips for Non-Profits

If you’re working with a non-profit organization, chances are you already know that the company purse strings are tight. The restraints of a small budget means that your marketing efforts need to pack a punch. Direct mail is the perfect outlet to accomplish that goal. Nearly one-fifth of all donations are attributed to direct mailing, so make sure that your DM pieces are as effective as possible with these how-to tips:

Newsletters are Important

This is key for all non-profits, but especially if your organization is small or just getting on its feet. Write a semi-annual or quarterly newsletter with updates on current events and activities, donor contributions and how they've helped the organization to get closer to the goal, and donation information. And always be sure to include an addressed return envelope to encourage donations.

Personalize Your Pieces

Want to up the chances of getting a tangible reaction out of prospecting? Write for the target audience rather than taking a broad all-encompassing approach. Add personal touches such as hand written signatures or a short letter from the president of the company. If possible, always finish off each year with a holiday card and thank you notes to donors and volunteers.

Don’t Neglect Past Donors

Repeat after me, your housefile is always important. If you don’t already know, a housefile is the list of any and all former contributors. Make sure to include it any time you run a direct mail campaign. The people on that list have donated in the past because they cared about your organizations goals and the chances are they probably still do. Stay in touch.

Measure, Measure, Measure

Measuring the success of your mailers is vital to both the organizations goals and its bottom line. Rather than spending the money to send your mailers out to thousands of prospects and hoping for positive return, choose a small portion of the group to send the mailers to first. See what the reaction is. If it’s not what you’d hoped for, revise the mailers wording, theme, appearance, etc. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t and you’ll have saved some precious marketing dollars.

The Secrets to Getting More of Your Mailers Opened

Of course we all want every mailer sent out to be opened and adored by potential customers, but unfortunately we can’t pin the success of a mailer (or a business, for that matter) on hopes and dreams alone. Rather, it takes hard work, great data, and a few tips from our list of best kept secrets on how to get more of your direct mail pieces gaining the attention they deserve.

1. Be Useful

You’re great at multitasking, right? Why shouldn’t your mailer be, too? Beyond your company information or a great offer, give consumers another reason to keep your mailer around by making it useful. Give it dual purpose by providing your information and call-to-action on something that can also be used in other areas of consumer lives, say for instance, a task sheet or to-do list. Be as creative as you want with it. Just make it useful.

2. Go in Strong

Easing in on your consumers is overrated. Start strong. Lead your mailer with the offer or value up front. You have only a small window of time to catch a consumer before their attention is shifted elsewhere. It’s the first thing the consumer will see and may be all you have time to squeeze in, so lead with your best offer.

3. Lumpy Packages Get Opened More Often

Simply put, make your mailer lumpy. The allure of what’s causing the envelope to be misshapen is too much to be passed over by many consumers. It may seem silly, but the near 100% open rate isn’t. Trust us, lumpy is good.

4. Be Unique

Gather your team for a brainstorm session and get your creative juices flowing. How can you deliver the message of your mailer in a more creative way? Think outside the box. If it costs a little more than usual, don’t fear it. Just be smart and reduce the amount of prospects you send to – in this case, it’s about quality, not quantity.

5. Create Lasting Power

The easiest way to linger in a prospects home? A small tchotchke, but as stated in Secret #1, make it useful - a branded pen, a magnet, etc. Your prospect may throw out the mailer, but they’ll likely hold onto the token, so even if you don’t receive business immediately from it, you’re business’s name is being seen over the long haul. 

Make the Most of Your Print Marketing – Track It!

What’s your most successful print piece? Could you say without a doubt, or would it all be a guessing game? If you’re unsure where and how your ad dollars are going, it’s time to learn one of the most important tricks of the trade – tracking your print marketing ROI.

Check your call-to-action. What do you want your prospects to do with your print piece? How strong is the message, and is it clear enough that recipients will know what to do next? The call-to-action is vital and will serve as the core of your ROI tracking efforts. Be sure to include it on any and all promotional pieces.

Choose your tracking strategy. There are many choices when it comes to tracking the source of sales and leads. However, some of the most popular, and most successful, include customized website landing pages, QR codes, and coupon or promo codes tied to special offers.

Set up a control. In order to set a control, you need to track all of your print pieces at the get-go to see which campaigns are most successful and which are not. That way when it comes time to re-order from your print company, you know which offer performed best and can use it as the control piece. Now all that’s left to do is make adjustments to the weaker pieces using a new code.  

At the end of the new campaign, compare the results against the control. If the new campaign has performed better, it will replace the old control and the next campaign will be run alongside it to try to further improve response rates and ROI.

The Big How-To. Ok, now that you know what the basics, here’s how to track your ROI:

1.       Website Responses

·         Track web responses through PURLs (personalized landing pages), complete with a code customized for each user. PURLs can help guarantee more consistency between print and electronic media, but you can also use analytic tools, such as Google Analytics, to track the flow of the customer buying process.

2.       Response Codes

·         QRcodes, coupons and promos can all be used to track responses. The best way to encourage prospects to actually use them? Offer them something good. The better the offer, the more likely consumers are to use them, which in turn means, the more clear your ROI results will be.

Bonus Tip: When handing out materials, use a location-specific code so that you can see which regions are most responsive to your product or service.

So remember, get cracking on your ROI tracking and soon you’ll be seeing the fiscal rewards!

Do you have a great tip or strategy on tracking ROI you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments!

That’s a Wrap – Time to Prepare for the Holidays

Summer is on its way out the door, so you have a plan for holiday season, right? “But, it’s only September?!” you might be saying. Correction – it’s already September. Mid-way through September, might we add, and that means that if you haven’t started planning for your holiday mailers yet, you need to stop puttering around on blogs and get going already! Here’s a little nudge to get you going on the right path:

Aim to Send in Early to Mid-November. You want to get the attention of prospects early, before their mailboxes are overflowing with direct mailers – at which point most of those well-planned pieces will go straight from mailbox to trash bin, never having been seen. Begin prep work on your holiday pieces now, so that you can be sure they are clean, neat and finished by November. Be sure to contact your direct mail company early in the process to set deadlines and goals.

Be Jolly. You may be thinking Football season and bonfires now, but mentally fast forward to Thanksgiving as you prepare your piece. The holiday season is supposed to have a warm, festive feel so make sure your piece reflects that.  Add something fun and interesting to your mailer, or an incredible offer, to standout among all the other shiny glittering offers in the mail box. It is the season of cheer, so give your prospects something to be cheerful about!

Create, Send, Repeat. Repetition is key during the holiday season. Shoppers and customers are busy and distracted with the chaos of the season, so you have to give them a gentle reminder every now and then. If you’re first mailer goes out early, you’ll have plenty of time to send multiple rounds without pestering your prospects.

Befriend the Internet. Using direct mail to drive online traffic is a tried and true effective marketing technique. Be sure to include information about your online presence on your mailer. That way, you’re not only targeting the traditional brick and mortar shoppers, but the internet-savvy demographic, as well. Boom. That’s what we call the DM one-two punch.

How have you started planning for the holidays? Tell us in the comments! 

Save Money on Your Direct Mail Campaign

Are you spending too much on your direct mail campaigns? The answer is probably yes. There is plenty that you can do to save a bit of hard-earned cash on your mailers; it’s just a matter of knowing where to start. Think of this as your rulebook to a more profitable campaign.

Tip #1: Narrow Down Your Mailing List

Really, what are the chances that a high-powered Manhattanite is going to purchase your commercial-grade farm equipment? So why would you waste money sending a mailer to this type of person?  Refining your mailing lists will save you a lot of money and target prospects who are more likely to convert into customers. And don’t forget past customers, as well! It isn’t just about expanding your customer base, it’s also about retaining past purchasers.

Tip #2: Tweak the Size of Your Mailer

You may have requested that a piece be made to fit particular dimensions, but is it absolutely necessary that your mailer be that exact size? Your print vendor may be able to help save you big bucks simply by making teensy size alterations. Why, you ask? Depending on the dimensions of the mailer, your printer may be able to use a different, more cost-effective, press that won’t sacrifice quality but will make a difference in price.

Tip #3: Be Realistic About Needs

It may not be necessary to put a big dent in your budget depending on the goal of your message. Rather than creating a colorful mailer with all of the bells and whistles, could your goal be achieved by sending a simple, personalized letter to a core group? Letters are less expensive than many other alternatives. Consider what type of campaign would be best to help your business be successful in its campaign.

Tip #4: Use and Reuse

You remember that template from your last campaign? Yeah, it’s still good. You can reuse both your template and your mailing list again. Most experts agree that companies aren’t getting enough mileage out of their materials. So safe yourself some money by making a few small changes and send them back out!

Tip #5: Seek Professional Help

Does this all seem like too much? Maybe you’re just too busy to be bothered. If that’s the case, the best thing you can do is partner with a print company that you trust. We’ve prepared countless direct mail campaigns and have more than a few insider secrets to keep your costs low. All you have to do is ask! It can’t get easier than that.

With these budget-minded tips and tricks, you’ll soon find that stretching your marketing dollars further is simpler than you may have thought. Contact us today to get started saving! 

How to Create a Successful Direct Mail Campaign Timeline

So much to do, so little time! At least that’s what it feels like when you’re gearing up for a new direct mail campaign. Between the time you decide a new campaign is in order and the moment your DM pieces hit mailboxes, there’s a lot that needs to happen. How can you help manage stress and stay on track? Keep your campaign organized with a well-planned timeline. Here’s how to create your own:

1.) Look at the Big Picture

When planning a new campaign, the first thing you should do is consider the timing. What are you selling or promoting? Air conditioning services, for example, are best marketed just as the weather starts warming up. Always keep seasonality, as well as holidays, in mind.

2.) Get Creative

About four months from the time you plan to send mailers for your new campaign, gather your team or grab a strong cup of espresso - whatever your method is of brainstorming - and get those ideas generating. Think about the goal of your campaign. Is there a promotion or event you can organize to help you attain it? Do you want to use a unique feature or freemiums to draw attention to your mailer? Get creative and take good notes!

3.) Brush Up Your Database

Did you know that it costs roughly six times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an old one? That’s why it’s so important that you make sure to include any and all past customers on your mailing list, in addition to reaching for new audiences. A well-made mailing database is vital to achieving campaign success. If you’re not sure how to build or enhance your database, a qualified professional can help you create a comprehensive list and find the most cost effective way to deliver your pieces.

4.) Get the Deliverables In Early

After you’ve decided what the goals of the campaign will be and how you plan to achieve them, get in touch with us at least two months in advance of the target delivery date. The success of your mail campaign relies on perfect timing, and that means timely delivery of mailing lists, due dates, target delivery dates, and artwork sent in a compatible format. It takes time to review those materials and generate a time estimate. You don’t want to procrastinate and miss your target delivery date, or end up compromising quality in order to meet time constraints.

5.) Check and Double Check the Blueline

After receiving your artwork and files, you’ll receive a blueline and color proof that will need to be reviewed and approved. Be sure to carve out the time you need to thoroughly review it, because any errors on the blueline will end up on your printed materials. Pay attention to everything you see – copy, line breaks, page breaks, borders and cropping. Aim to have the blueline reviewed and approved about 45 days before it’s due to be sent out.

6.) Measure the Responses

Congratulations! Once your mailers hit the post truck, the tough part is over and done. Now all that’s left to do is measure the response rates. Expect the biggest boom in the first two weeks after delivery, but leads may trickle in for up to six months afterward. Use your measurements to gauge how successful your campaign was and how you can use those results to improve your next one.

How do you organize a campaign timeline? If you have any other tips or suggestions, tell us in the comments! 

Direct Mail Marketing for Non-Profits

Unfortunately, non-profit organizations often do not have the budget that privately owned for-profit organizations have to work with. This means that your marketing efforts have to go further and be more effective in order to lure in the largest amount of potential donors without blowing a tight budget. With nearly one-fifth of all donations attributed to direct mail, it’s important that non-profits have the know-how to deliver an effective direct mail marketing campaign.

1.)    Reach Out to Former Donors

In the marketing world, this list of former contributors is called a ‘housefile’. Make sure that anytime your organization is set to run a direct mail campaign that the housefile list is always included. These are people who have clearly cared about your goals and cause in the past and, more than likely, still do. Stay in touch.

2.)    Write a Newsletter

This is important for all non-profits, but especially smaller or new organizations. Write a semi-annual or quarterly newsletter including information about current events and activities, donor contributions and how they’ve helped, and donation information. Be sure to include an addressed return envelope with the newsletter to encouragedonations.

3.)    Personalize and Connect

It may seem like writing broad letters, newsletters, etc. is the best approach to reach many different types of people. However, honing in on a certain target group is more likely to get a tangible reaction out of prospecting. Write for the target audience. Add personaltouches where you can further connect with potential donors, whether it be hand written signatures or a short letter from the president of the company. And don’t forget to send holiday cards and a thank you note to donors and volunteers each year!

4.)    Measure Success

Rather than spending the money to send your mailers out to, say, 30,000 prospects and hoping for positive return, choose a small portion of the group to send the mailers to first. See what the reaction is. If it’s not what you’d hoped for, revise the mailers wording, theme, appearance, etc. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t and you’ll have saved precious marketing dollars.

Effective direct mail marketing is vital to the health and longevity of any business, so for all of your direct mail marketing needs, seek out the help of qualified professionals, like the experts at Tray Inc., for the best results.