Direct Mail Tips And Tricks To Boost Business

| Posted: 29-01-2007 | Comments: 0 | Views: 110 | Rating: (50)

(?)

There are a lot of direct mail tips out there that can help increase your business. This is by no means an "end all" resource. My hope is that I'm able to give you some direct mail tips and ideas that you can use now as a starting point to develop your own strategy.

Direct mail advertising can be pretty expensive, so it's best you know the ins and outs of it before you start.

My first of several direct marketing tips... It typically takes anywhere from three to five mail pieces before you get any kind of response, and sometimes it takes even more exposure. For an optimal response rate, it's best that you use a highly targeted direct mail advertising list.

To acquire a nice, highly targeted direct mail list, rent one that has some commonalities, such as the same industry, occupation, people in certain age rages, demographics, etc...

Once you have that list, write a headline that can connect with the target audience, one that will hit their hot buttons. If you write up a pretty good headline, mailing out to a solid list, there's not reason that you can't do better than the standard one percent response. Perhaps boosting it up to 3 to 5 percent.

Another one of my favorite direct mail tips is this... in order to find out what your audience is most interested, just ask them. Why would you want to mail out your offer to an audience that does not want it. Of course, this option is not available to everyone and some expense will be incurred in testing this, however once you have refined this process, the response to your offer will be much greater... translating into greater profits.

On with more direct mail tips... next we have postcards. They are not used too often by larger businesses and when you do find one, save it. They know what they're doing. It's an excellent way to reach out to your customers and clients at a fraction of the cost. It's cheaper to reproduce and mail out postcards, and it's especially beneficial when you can post all your content on one side and have a nice picture. I love this because the prospect or client will be forced to read your message.

Moving on with the direct mail tips... you should set up a system to track and measure all mailings you send out. You want to test the headline, offer, price, envelope, day of the week you're mailing, etc. Once you find a number that you're happy with, you can continue until you see the numbers dwindle, or try to beat it by testing even more.

Next, you should be using a two step process. Get your audience to first let you know that they are interested, then it will be much easier to market to them, as opposed to marketing to a cold list. Here's one of the most powerful of all direct mail tips, when it comes to writing your sales offer... you're going to want to use a deadline. It forces people to take action, instead of having them wait days, weeks or months, if ever to respond to your offer.

Start small, then work your way up. Test 500 to 1000 pieces first, adjust and track your numbers. The bottom line here, direct response advertising can be an effective tool, you must know how to use it. Maximize your return by testing and comparing your data, always trying to reach for the highest response. Use some of these direct mail tips as a starting point, and learn how to implement it in your business. Your business will thank you.

Rate this Article:

Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Tags: article, reprint

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/direct-mail-tips-and-tricks-to-boost-business-98112.html

Print article

Send to friend

Publish this Article

Author feedback

About the Author:
James Calvin is an avid studier of direct mail and direct response techniques. For more details on his most recommended products check out his website. Direct mail tips and other resources can be found here!

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Add new Comment

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Frequently Asked Questions

Oprah Winfrey Biography book/article
By: Cannucks | 16-05-2008
Looking for the best Biography book/article on Oprah Winfrey

Can a breast support garment help in the ...
By: mckinnis | 22-04-2008
can a breast support garment help in the prevention of cysts, tumors or breast cancer?

Correcting From Wikipedia to Google Earth
By: andywass | 31-03-2008
How do I get a Wikipedia article which I have corrected on their main site revised on Google Earth . Its 2 weeks since I corrected it but Google Earth is still showing the incorrect version.

I have not heard anything on the condition of the ...
By: ALM | 05-03-2008
I have not heard anything on the condition of the young child. I keep he and his family in my thoughts and prayers. This article says nothing about his condition except that he was listed in critical/stable condition, yet the headline says "KILLERS" of 6-yr old boy. Is he still critical/stable, or did he pass? Please let me know at trinityresources@yahoo.com.

Is it the complete article?
By: curioso | 02-03-2008
There is not missing something below in this article? I could think this is only the first page of a larger article. is it?

Write an article on the topic for exam..
By: megh | 08-12-2007
write an article on the topic success comes 2 those who will and dare...article

Q&A Powered by:

Latest Business Articles

The Basics of Creating a Filing System That You Can Benefit From Starting Today
By: Tracey Lawton | 19/07/2008
In my brand-new article, I'm going to share with you 7 easy steps for getting your filing system in place. The summertime is generally a quieter time with a more slower pace of business, so use this time to get one of your core office systems in place.

The 9 Things You Will Want to Include in Your Email Newsletters
By: Katrina Sawa | 19/07/2008
You probably get numerous newsletters across your desk each month. How many of those do you really read? I am sure that you scan certain newsletters for valuable information, while you just toss others. Then, of course, there those like mine (chuckle), which you read every last word of.

CEO Tips for Getting Staff to Understand You
By: Pamela Scott | 19/07/2008
This article is directed to the CEO, but it can help anyone in a management position communicate more clearly with staff.

Protect Your Internet Home Business
By: John McRae | 18/07/2008
Running an internet home business or any small business for that matter involves some degree of risk. The business could fail and if you are not protected creditors will be coming after you. There is also the very real possibility that your business could be a success and give you the financial freedom every person dreams of. With that new found freedom brings another creditor, the IRS.

How to Promote an Office Cleaning Business
By: Brent Wale | 18/07/2008
If you are either thinking about start your own janitorial/ office cleaning business, or if you already own and operate a cleaning business..Here are some tips on how to promote and market your cleaning company.

How to Establish yourself as an Expert
By: Katrina Sawa | 18/07/2008
Establishing yourself as an Expert in your field is a great way to get added exposure, publicity and credibility for you and your business which will ultimately bring you more sales and more money!!

Are Your Prices High Enough?
By: Stephen Oliver | 18/07/2008
Conventional wisdom dictates that you should discount to get the business at any cost. This article suggests that you in fact should be raising your prices instead and focussing on your most valuable customers instead.

Women Owning the Workplace: Tips to Guide Female Entrepreneurs
By: Melissa Mashtonio | 18/07/2008
Women are taking the business world by storm, and it doesn't look like they're backing down. According the Womenentrepreneur.com, women-owned firms are the fastest growing in the country. Women are looking beyond the traditional roles and moving ahead to a new role: entrepreneur. This does not necessarily mean women are...

More from James Calvin

Direct Mail Costs - The Biggest Expense Is Lack Of Testing
By: James Calvin | 30/01/2007 | Business
Direct mail costs can be high when there is no definite strategy outlined. However there's one things that makes it such a reliable method for bringing in new business, and that's the ability to test different versions of your sales offer, package and everything else involved. If you really want to...

Essential Direct Marketing Tips For Your Business
By: James Calvin | 30/01/2007 | Business
Direct marketing is not as difficult as it seems. Test, track and count your profits, that's how I do it. Let's break down some of the details in some of my most powerful direct marketing tips. Make sure you know your numbers... Figure how much income and units you need to...

Direct Response Tips For Increasing Your Response
By: James Calvin | 29/01/2007 | Business
The most important of all direct response tips I could give you is this... your list is the most important part of your entire direct mail campaign. Who you mail to is much more important than what you mail them. So if your campaign has proven successful, mail to other...

The 12 Month Millionaire-how To Use Direct Mail To Build Up Your Business
By: James Calvin | 29/01/2007 | Business
The World Wide Web has opened up new avenues for business opportunities and promotions. Email marketing is one of the most popular methods for advertising and promoting your products and services. For the smaller scaled businesses, the marketing of their product or services employing some of the direct mail marketing...

The 12 Month Millionaire-our Highest Recommended Direct Marketing Tool
By: James Calvin | 29/01/2007 | Business
In the direct marketing business, once you have identified a new market that you are sure is going to be open and profitable for your products and services, then you also are quickly challenged with a problem that marketing to that group is not a very easy task. The reason...

Vincent James Has Created The Ultimate Direct Marketing Guide - And How You Can Benefit From It!
By: James Calvin | 29/01/2007 | Business
Choosing the right method to market your business may be a hard decision at first... There are many methods for you to consider, however you may only have a limited budget, as most of us do. You'll soon find out that marketing one product or service is a pretty expensive...

Direct Mail Success-some Tips To Getting Your Mail Pieces Open
By: James Calvin | 29/01/2007 | Business
Direct mail success, it's easier than you think... When you send out mail to clients or potential clients, you can make your mail piece stand out from the junk mail that they receive. Here are a few ways to get their attention and achieve direct mail success. You can start by hand...

An Intro To Direct Mail Techniques And Direct Marketing
By: James Calvin | 28/01/2007 | Business
Many large retailers such as Macy's or Wal-Mart are using direct mail techniques in order to reach out to their customers. These large companies often mail out sales flyers that highlight what will be on sale in their retail stores that week. Retailers that have special sales often send them...

Article Categories

Article Marketing

Article Notepad

Stop Duplicate Content

Term Papers

Need Help?

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (1.63, 9)