Effective Direct Mail Campaigns
In a time of overwhelm, where people are bombarded with electronic and digital messages all day long, your Direct Mail letter makes a quiet entry into your customer’s home. It often happens at the end of the day, when folks are dragging home from work, and they take some time to see what’s arrived while they were away.
The CEO of McCann, the advertising agency of record for the U.S. Postal Service, calls this “The Mail Moment.” The agency’s studies show that the average American spends around 25 minutes a day with the mail – and that’s a long time. In fact, it’s far longer than the millisecond spent scrolling past a Social Media post, or the three to five seconds they’ll spend on your homepage after a search, or the eight seconds you’re hoping against hope they’ll spend on your email – if opened.
Your letter mail can still be that stopping moment where someone slows down to handle your envelope. With Direct Mail, you arrive at the home and speak to the prospect – almost person to person – about a problem they have that you can solve. But it doesn’t stop there. Because your Direct Mail letter can also be reinforced with Social and online marketing.
To make your Direct Mail letter effective, keep these tips in mind:
- Push the benefits of your offer – tell them what they’ll get – and use your copy to offer proof of these benefits. Testimonials are a form of social proof and are well received, by the way.
- Add risk reducers, such as free estimates, guaranteed satisfaction, same-day service and equipment warranties.
- Give your offer a time limit, stress urgency and potentially add a discount if they respond even earlier.
- Include a call to action – tell them what you want them to do – and make it easy to respond.
- Don’t forget to include a P.S. It’s not an afterthought but is a frequently read key element.