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10 Elements Every Direct Mail Piece Should Have
Don’t want your direct mail to end up in the trash with the rest of the unread mail? Studies show an effective direct mail campaign should draw a .5 to 1 percent response. These 10 tips will help you get the results you want: 1. A clear, bold...
5 Direct Mail Tips to get the Envelope Opened
If the truth were told literally millions of dollars a years is being thrown down the drain on direct mail campaigns that fall flat on their face all because the envelope containing the offer is not getting opened.
Think of it - you can work...
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 - For Small Businesses
We hear a lot of talk about junk mail nowadays. Many people will tell you that they dump it straight in the trash. But why do you think so many organisations send out so called junk mail - because it works! I dump most of my junk mail just like...
Direct Mail --- The Followup Letter
Everyone know the importance of the sales letter. But many people fail to use one of the most critical elements of direct mail --- the followup letter.
Everyone knows to send out the sales letter. Most everyone knows to put in a reply card for...
Direct Mail your money
I did a quick, very unscientific survey of 25 of my friends. I asked them to put the mail that they do not open or read in a specific trash bag. At the end of one week they gave it to me to be weighed. Guess how much the bag weighed? Remember, most...
Improve Your B2B Direct Mail Response Rates With Premiums.
Premiums are an effective way to increase your direct mail
response rates. Whether you are selling a product or service
directly through the mail, or whether you are using a sales
letter to generate leads, premiums can help you boost...
In B2B Direct Mail Lead Generation, Work Backwards
Business-to-business lead generation is one of the few times in life when you should start at the end and work backwards.
Before you write a single line of copy or design a single element of your direct mail package, sit down with the sales people...
Using Direct Mail to Improve Business
Direct mail continues to be a very targeted and effective way to market to customers. It's far more likely to be read than e-mail promotions. Especially when coupled with offers, such as coupons, the medium can be a very cost effective method of...
Using Internet Direct Mail To Increase Your Company’s Profits
“I want to sell my company’s products on the Web, but how do I get potential clients to visit my site,” a client asked recently. The answer is a strategy that has proven extremely effective for many different businesses…Internet Direct Mail. ...
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Increase Direct Mail Response Rates (And Revenue) By Segmenting Your List.
If you want to increase revenue using direct mail, you have two
options: sell more to the customers you have, or find new
customers and sell to them. The tricky part is knowing how to do
that.
I recommend that you start by segmenting your house list.
Dividing your customers into groups that share a common interest
helps you understand your customers better. Let me illustrate.
Assume you are a business that manufactures and markets a line
of polo and golf shirts that businesses issue to their staff as
casual uniforms. You examine your house list to find out who
buys what, and when and how. You are looking for patterns,
trends and opportunities.
Gender
You discover that 75% of your customers buy shirts for male
staff only, even though you carry a line of women's shirts.
There may be an opportunity here. You may be able to find
customers in similar industries as your customers, but in
businesses that are operated by women and that have female staff.
Industry
Looking at the SIC codes in your house file, you learn that a
large percentage of your clients are retailers. This means you
can look for other retailers in other industry segments that may
also be interested in your product line.
Buying cycle
Another piece of data that you uncover is that a sizeable
segment of your customer base prefers to have their shirts
embroidered with their company logo or slogan. What do these
customers have in common besides that? Are they in similar
industries? Are they all involved in the hospitality industry?
You may spot a new market for your products. Or find a way to
upsell existing customers when they renew their orders.
Trends
You discover that one shirt is more popular this year than it
was
last year. Is this a fad? A trend? Look carefully and find
out. Maybe you can capitalize on this new development to grow
your business with existing and new customers.
Frequency
You also learn that many of your customers order their shirts in
the Spring. Is this because the weather is growing warmer,
because your Spring prices are always lower, or because your
clients must hire all new staff each Spring? Each of these three
reasons presents a different opportunity.
Payment method
Your customer database also tells you that the most popular
payment method is cheque, followed by credit card and cash. The
most popular medium is your catalog, followed by your website
(although your website is growing in popularity). Are there
opportunities here for reducing your promotional costs by moving
your entire catalog online? Or for sending promotions by email
instead of postal mail?
As you can see, the advantages of segmenting your customer
database are great.
* you get to understand your customers better
* you uncover opportunities for creating special offers for
unique segments of your list
* you discover trends that help you modify your product line
* you gather the knowledge you need to make intelligent
decisions about which prospect lists to rent
* you discover potential markets that you had not even
considered before
About the author:
----
About the author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter who
helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads,
close sales and retain customers using creative, cost-effective
direct mail marketing. Learn more about his sales letter writing
services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at
www.sharpecopy.com.
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