Member Article

Getting Direct Mail Right

Small and medium sized businesses looking to boost their marketing should consider direct mail as an easy, cost effective way of communicating with customers.

Direct mail and marketing expert Tony Kemp, the brains behind online direct mail platform Hello Market, has advice for busy businesses who are unsure just where to start.

Said Tony: “Direct mail is an engaging and dynamic way of talking to potential and existing customers. Keep some simple guidelines in mind when planning campaigns and look forward to reaping the rewards.”

Direct mail can take many formats – letters, brochures and so on – but a good starting point might be a postcard.

“Have in mind what you want to achieve with your campaign and take it from there,” said Tony.

1. Be clear about the message you want to get across. Keep it simple. State your primary message in the headline.

2. Target potential customers within the relevant geographical area – don’t waste mailings on people who live too far away just because they happen to be on the same database. It is possible now to very specifically identify and target your audience.

3. Restrict yourself to the immediate timeframe. It is astonishing how many people try to give information months ahead – who knows what they’ll be doing more than a few weeks from now? It is much more effective to send out regular, timely mailshots rather than one big one to cover an entire year.

4. Empower managers – delegate creating mailshots to spread the workload in busy SMEs. It is easy to have a number of different users of direct mail software within the same company.

5. Be quick with reactions to opportunities. Direct mail can be through the letterbox within 24 - 48 hours of being drafted on the computer.

6. Be mindful of confidentiality. By using online direct mail platforms such as Hello Market sensitive data is kept secure as it passes through fewer pairs of hands.

7. One of direct mail’s great strengths nowadays is cost effectiveness as you only pay for what you print and mail out. Send to fewer recipients but be clever in using what you know about the people on your database to ensure they are the ones most likely to be interested.

8. Don’t be afraid to ask if you get stuck. The great thing about an online direct mail tools is there is a group of people behind it dedicated to helping you and they are only a phone call or email away.

The Hello Market direct mail platform allows businesses of all sizes to create tailored, personalised, dynamic direct mail campaigns. Hello Market software is free to use online and users only pay for what they print and mail. There are no set up costs and no minimum run charges, so it’s ideal for every organisation to use for some or all of its communications requirements. It is found at www.hellomarket.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by DMP .