Marketing and advertising can be a risky endeavor. In theory, it’s supposed to help your business grow and take you to new heights. But poor marketing and advertising, i.e. where customers aren't converting, can also be an endless pit where you dump barrels of money without ever seeing it again.
That’s why it’s important to measure your marketing and advertising efforts. You need to know where your money is being spent and how it’s performing. This is especially true for your direct mail campaigns.
Due to printing and postage costs, executing a direct mail campaign has more upfront costs than a large-scale email marketing campaign. These increased costs make tracking campaign effectiveness even more important than with email marketing (not that it’s not important). You simply have higher costs to justify the marketing spend.
If you’re running a direct marketing campaign and you’re not converting a lot your mailers into leads, then it’s time to assess what’s wrong. If you’re not quite sure what is wrong, here’s 5 reasons why your direct mail audience might not be converting.
The USPS states that 78 percent of Americans scan their mail daily. This is a huge opportunity, but if your packaging blends in with the rest of the bills, it will most likely get overlooked.
Follow the lead of top politicians like Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren by using four-color outers for your mailers. Grab the attention of your audience as they sift through white envelope after envelope.
What do you want the recipient of your mailer to do after she reads it? Make this clear; don’t make them guess.
Is there a domain you’d like them to visit? Do you want someone to call a number? Do not over complicate your ask. A QR code might seem nifty, but if you add that next to a domain and a phone number, you’re inundating your audience with too many options. Too many options can lead to inaction.
Failure to execute is what kills most startups. This also applies to marketing strategies. You’ve spent a great deal of time researching and thinking about your company’s marketing strategy. You’ve nailed down how you want to go about achieving your goals, but when it comes time to executing your strategy, you miss the mark.
Imagine you’ve spent a lot of time and money on a direct mail campaign that’s meant to generate new leads. Instead of having a call to action that asks someone to call your sales team, you ask people to follow you on Facebook. While there might be value to having someone follow you on Facebook, but does that align with the rest of your strategy? Make sure your strategy and execution align.
There are a lot of boxes to check off when you’re setting up a direct mail campaign. Coming up with your overarching strategy, acquiring the addresses of your audience, designing the mailer, it can become quite the task. Sometimes copy gets pushed down on the list of priorities. You might think, “It doesn’t matter what it says, as long as it looks good.”
Copy is particularly important when it comes to direct mail. What you write about and the cadence you write it in matters. One of the reasons why you choose direct mailing is because you can segment your audience with a certain level of precision. Your copy should reflect this precision. The same copy shouldn’t be used for each of your segmented list. Make sure you invest in strong copy writing.
A clear call to action is key to your direct mail success, but if your offer is unappealing, it won’t matter how clear it is. Know who your audience is and what would make them take action. Give them a reason to go to your website or pick up the phone. An offer just to have an offer doesn’t do anyone any good if no one bites. Make sure your mailer’s offer gets people excited.
Just as you would with a PPC or email marketing campaign, you must always be measuring your direct mail results. Test everything and make incremental changes, just as you would with any digital marketing channel. You must be vigilant with your direct marketing budget, so get the most out of it by constantly reviewing performance. If you’re stuck, look for these five reasons why your audience might not be converting.
