Unsure what it takes to reach your brand’s perfect prospects through direct mail marketing? Forbes released an article on the top seven things to analyze to determine what it takes to create a successful campaign.
Forbes released an article outlining these top seven factors
We all hope when we start a direct mail campaign that it will give us the results that meet our goals. There are times when we get it right, and there are times when we miss the mark. It is extremely important when we miss the mark that we determine what went wrong so that we can fix it for the next campaign.
An in-depth analyzation of the campaign can yield many opportunities for future campaigns. Just because your results were not what you were expecting, you should not stifle creativity going forward — the more creative the piece, the more attention it will get. To evaluate and improve for your campaign, there are seven components you should focus your analyzation on. So, how do you get started?
1. Results: First, take a look at your results. Was there interest but no purchase? Was there no interest? Where did your numbers fall below expectations? Map out your customer’s journey and see if there were unexpected hiccups that could have stopped them from buying.
2. Offer: Have you tested this offer before? If not, the offer could be the problem. Did you test another offer alongside this one? Was there any difference in response rates? Take a mail piece to someone outside your organization and see if the offer is understood and resonates with them. You may have an unclear message that is not getting through.
3. People: Is this a list you have used before? Did you target the right people with your offer? Your list can make or break your mailing. It is critical to know who should be targeted with what offer. So double check not only your data but also the final output to make sure that the right list was used.
4. Size: What size piece did you send? Have you used this size before? Larger pieces stand out in the mailbox more; was yours too small? If you have used this size with success before, then that is probably not the issue. If this is the first time and your piece was on the smaller side, it may have been overlooked.
5. Design: This can take longer to analyze because there are a lot of factors that go into the design. It’s not only the placement of images versus copy — it’s also what images were used and which colors. Was there enough color differential between the overall piece and the call to action? Did the images used convey the right message? Was the piece an attention getter? Look at every aspect of the mail piece including the paper and compare it to mail campaigns that have had good results for you. What was different?
6. Copy: Now take a look at your copy. What size was your font? Should it have been bigger? Is the page too wordy? Did you highlight the most important words with bold or italic? Did you use simple language and stay away from acronyms? How does the copy compare with messaging you have used in the past? Is there any conflict between the copy and the offer?
7. Timing: This one sometimes has nothing to do with you, but your mail may have been impacted by hitting at a time that had high mail volume. There is always mail fatigue around election time, so it is best to stay out of the mailboxes until after an election. Another way timing can be a factor is if your product or service is seasonal and people are just not ready to consider it yet. Have you mailed around this same time before with different results?