Direct mail is probably one of the most misunderstood channels. There are a number of contributors that determine direct mail success and failure. The reality is that creative isn’t one of the primary drivers. There are a number of factors that are likely to impact response more than creative.
Don’t get me wrong; if the creative doesn’t hit the core insight and grab the reader’s attention, you definitely won’t have a successful direct mail campaign. Good creative is often measured by having a strong translation of the strategy and insight. If you don’t deliver effectively on the insight for a given group, you might not get their attention to read through your mail.
Creative needs to grab the reader’s attention, but once you are fortunate enough to have that attention, how do you get someone to respond? There are a number of contributors that drive response.
The reality is that targeting, offers and direct mail mechanics tend to be more critical in driving successful direct marketing and defining a successful direct mail campaign. Here are 10 contributors that are likely to influence response more than creative.
1. Not reaching the right people.
Many marketers still aren’t leveraging predictive modeling and other targeting techniques to ensure effective spending of marketing dollars. This is one of the key reasons that direct marketing programs fail and don’t deliver on expected results. Targeting is the number one driver in delivering a successful direct mail program.
Direct mail is meant to move people that have a likelihood to purchase. Direct mail is generally most effective at moving people from maybe to yes, but isn’t typically the most effective channel to create awareness, or try and convince someone they have needs. This is one of the reasons that direct marketing best practices employ targeting techniques that help differentiate those most likely to respond from those less likely to respond.
2. Not including an offer that instills action.
Ensure your offer is motivating a certain action. One of the core attributes of an effective incentive is offering something that the recipient will find motivating to drive them to sign up or take the desired action. It should be clear that in order to receive the offer, the recipient must take an action.
There are a number of other factors that define an effective offer. Exclusivity and clarity are also critical attributes of a motivating and response-driven offer.
3. Ignoring direct marketing best practices and mechanics.
There are a number of direct mail best practices that will influence a recipient’s likelihood to respond. These techniques include strong letter content and layout, inclusion of a sidebar, use of a P.S., as well as incorporation of a response device that includes multiple ways to respond. Direct marketing best practices are more of a science than an art.
Even the copy should be written from a specific perspective, with an action-oriented tone. While copy should have language that ties into the concept, it is critical to apply direct marketing best practices for copywriting to drive action and response.
4. Not providing all the reasons to sign up.
This is one of the most controversial direct marketing best practices in many people’s mind. The reality, however, is that one of the core direct marketing best practices is to make sure you provide all of the necessary information to get the target to “yes.”
You need to tell the reader the entire story if you are defining success as responding via mail. If your goal is simply to get someone to a landing or web page, you can be much thinner in your storytelling.
5. Not providing information more than one way.
In direct marketing studies, we’ve found that not everyone consumes information in exactly the same way. This is why a direct mail best practice is to include a letter and brochure in each package, presenting redundant information in different formats.
Additionally, the direct mail letter should present the information in two different ways. The content should include full content in paragraph form in the body, with key bullets called out in either the right-hand column or within the letter itself. This allows the audience to read the content however they prefer, i.e., in-depth or by scanning.
6. Not incorporating personalization into direct mail.
For years, successful direct mail campaigns have been defined by delivering relevancy. Today, relevancy equals personalized information. Personalization can help make a process easier by including account information. It can provide details around appropriate features and products based on behavior and current product ownership. Personalization can help build credibility. Consider the barriers to getting to “yes” when determining the best strategic approach for personalizing direct mail content.
7. Presenting too many choices in mail.
One of the golden rules in direct marketing is providing people with a choice that requires a yes/no answer. Giving people multiple choices in direct mail is a big no-no. This direct marketing best practice is predicated on the human behavior that it’s easier for people to say “yes, I want this,” or “no, I don’t,” than weighing the trade-offs of a number of options.
There are certain communication channels appropriate for that level of shopping. Specifically, search, content marketing and social media are pull channels, in which the user is in a shopping mind set. Disruptive media such as direct mail require a streamlined, simple approach, typically in which the user can say “yes, I want to respond,” or “no, I don’t.”
8. Not providing multiple ways to respond.
One of the key misconceptions I hear marketers discussing is that the majority of their responders are coming in through a landing page; therefore, they don’t need to provide a phone number or printed response device. The reality is that today users want and expect options. They are accustomed to having alternatives on ways to respond.
In general, we still find that about 20 to 25% of target customers will respond using the printed response device, i.e., they will mail back an enrollment form. This is because the printed response device in direct mail serves as both a physical and subliminal reminder to respond.
9. Over-crediting recipients’ ability to take action.
By nature, many people are procrastinators. Direct marketing best practices have always preyed on this human behavior and insight. A successful direct mail campaign is generally built off direct mail letters that underscore the urgency in making response easy for the user. A standard direct mail best practice is to provide a call-to-action multiple times within the direct mail letter, and to be extremely clear on the desired action. A rule of thumb is a minimum of three times within the letter alone.
10. Not getting to the point quickly.
The average person gets 9,000 emails a year, and that number is conservative for many of us.1 Digital media has increased the number of messages that inundate prospects and customers. A fundamental direct mail best practice has always been ensuring clarity in what action is required.
Simplicity in messaging is more important than ever. Successful direct mail campaigns are clear on the desired action. Copy shouldn’t be so clever that the reader has an ambiguity in why they should respond.
Ensuring successful direct mail campaigns requires discipline and adherence to direct marketing best practices.
1. ExactTarget 2012 Channel Preference Study
Topics: Direct Marketing
