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Design Direct Mail Postcards Back-to-Front to Boost Response Rates
Conventional wisdom says that the front of a direct mail postcard is for the picture and the back is for the address, stamp and a short message. But some savvy direct marketers design their postcards the other way around—and boost response rates as...
Direct Mail
Direct Mail The web is a most versatile and often misused medium for direct marketing. In this email, I will share tips and techniques to make the web a major advertising tool for your sales and marketing efforts. Do you have a website? A Web...
Direct Mail Envelope Tips For Successful B2B Lead Generation
In business-to-business direct mail lead generation, more prospects see your mailing envelope than will ever see what is inside. That's because prospects spend only a few seconds examining your envelope before deciding whether to peruse it or pitch...
Direct Mail Response Rates Mislead if You are Careless
I could tell you that the average temperature in the world is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But that fact wouldn’t keep you from getting sunstroke in Cairo. Or frostbite in Tuktoyaktuk. Averages tell you only so much. Direct mail results only tell you...
Hook Your Direct Mail Sales Letter Readers With Good Transition Sentences
Anglers in Maine catch trout using dry flies with barbless hooks. Unless they keep tension on the line all the way to the net, they lose the trout. Your sales letters must do the same. But how? One secret to keeping busy business readers hooked is...
Manufacturers Shift Marketing Budget Away from Direct Mail in since 2009
Marketing Budget Shifts Away from Direct Mail in since 2009 for Manufacturers
In early Q3, TR Cutler, Inc. conducted the largest North American manufacturer survey about anticipated marketing budgets in since 2009. Statistically significant...
Need New Direct Mail Donors? Look For These Three Qualities For Fundraising Letter Success.
New donors are a lot closer than you may think. And persuading
them to make that vital first donation need not be as hard--or
as expensive--as acquiring them in other ways.
But before you rent a list of names or drop anything in...
Postcard Direct Mail Marketing: 15 Ways To Grab Attention
If you use direct mail postcards to generate leads or sell a product or service, you need to create postcards that grab your prospect’s attention. The place to do that is Side A, the side that doesn’t have the stamp and address on it. Here are some...
Seven reasons to use direct mail for sales lead generation.
1. Personal Unlike an advertisement in a trade publication, which can be read by anyone, your sales letter arrives at your prospect’s place of business as a piece of personal communication from your mind to his. Also, unlike any other medium, direct...
Smart Alternatives to Direct Mail
From LAND OF ODDS
We at Land of Odds get many questions about what glue to use with rhinestones and other beading and jewelry-making projects. We're craftspersons and silversmiths, and we have a shop where we sell rhinestones, beads,...
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B2B Direct Mail Lists: Ask These Questions Before Renting.
If the most important part of any business-to-business direct
mail package is the list, how can you be sure that you have a
good list before you drop your money (and your reputation) in
the mailbox? Answer: Ask the right questions before you rent
that list.
1. Who is on the list, exactly?
Let's say your potential list is high-tech prospects. Are the
people on the list analysts, network administrators, product
managers, chief information officers or sales managers? Knowing
makes all the difference. So make sure you can select names by
job title or function.
2. What is the source of the list?
Is the list a compiled list, where names and addresses are
compiled into a list from directories, newspapers, trade show
registrations and other public sources? Or is the list an opt-in
list (such as subscribers to a particular trade publication, or
buyers from an online store)? Lists of names that are compiled
from phone books and directories usually age more quickly than
names from opt-in lists and usually produce more undeliverable
mail.
3. Are the names on the list known buyers?
The best B2B lists contain names of businesspeople who have
bought your product or service or one like it, regardless of how
they bought it (online, by mail, retail).
4. How recently did they buy?
In the trade, we call this Recency. Prospects who bought a
product or service like yours recently are better prospects than
ones who purchased years ago.
5. How often do they buy?
We call this Frequency--how often someone buys. Naturally,
someone who buys your product or service often is a better
prospect than someone who buys less frequently.
6. How much do they spend?
We call this Monetary value, and it's the third component in the
standard test of mailing list quality--Recency, Frequency,
Monetary value. Buyers who spend the most are the best prospects
for your mailing.
7. Are the people on the list "direct-mail
responsive?"
Sometimes a list owner or list broker will know if the names on
her list respond to direct mail offers. A good example would be
a catalog merchant who would know the percentage of names on his
list who buy through the mail.
8. How fresh are the names?
Some business-to-business lists decay at a rate of 25% a year.
In other words, at any given time, 25% of the names on a given
list will have moved (new address), been promoted (new job
title), undergone a restructuring (new email address) or quit.
Ask your list owner or list broker how often they update their
list.
9. When was the list last cleaned?
List owners "clean" their lists by comparing them against the
postal service's National Change of Address file. Ask how often
this is done.
10. How often is the list rented?
If the list is rented often, it is likely a good list (but one
that contains names of prospects who may have been inundated
with offers like yours). If the list is rarely rented, it is
either no good or it contains a highly specific group of
prospects that no other business except yours wants to mail to
(not likely).
11. How many other mailers tested the list successfully?
You should conduct a test mailing to a list before rolling out
your entire mailing. Ask how many other businesses tested the
list and then declined to rollout, and how many tested the list
and decided to rollout. The answers you get give you an idea of
the value of the list to your business.
12. Who else rents the list?
Do your competitors rent the list? See if you can find out!
About the author:
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About the author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and
lead generation specialist who helps business owners and
marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain
customers using business-to-business direct mail marketing.
Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and
sign up for free weekly tips like this at www.sharpecopy.com.
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