Direct Mail Strategy | Chewning Direct Marketing 3

Posts Tagged ‘direct mail strategy’

Direct Mail Testing and
7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

J. Paul Getty once said the three keys to wealth and success are, “Rise early. Work hard. And strike oil.”

That may be good advice. But for those of us who must depend upon something other than striking oil, I say the three keys to success for a direct marketer are to TEST, TEST, and TEST!

But before we test, we must recognize that not all tests are productive or cost-effective. My next post will be “What, How and When to Test” but in the meantime, here are 7 costly mistakes that you’ll want to avoid when testing (more…)

Tags: direct mail, direct mail strategy, direct mail test, direct mail testing, how test direct mail, test direct mail
Posted in Strategy, Testing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Cost of Giving Direct Mail Readers Too Many Choices

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

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One thing we can do to improve the profitability of our direct mail is to learn the lessons of a famous jam study.

That’s right. Jam. The stuff we spread over our toast.

In a gourmet market, Professor Sheena Iyengar of Columbia University and her research assistants set up a booth offering samples of Wilkin & Sons jams.

Every few hours, the researchers switched from offering customers a selection of 24 jams to offering a group of only six jams.

Each participating customer – regardless of the number of selections offered – received a $1 savings coupon and tasted an average of two jams.

Here’s the interesting part. (more…)

Tags: direct mail, direct mail copywriting, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing
Posted in Copywriting, Strategy, Testing, Thought Provoking | No Comments »

18 Ways to Increase Readership of Your Direct Mail Letter and Achieve Greater Response

Monday, March 15th, 2010

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Direct mail isn’t a complicated business. If you can get more people to read further into your letter, you’re going to achieve a greater response.

Successful direct mail is a conversation that motivates the reader to take a specific action. If we can get the prospect to listen more, or in our case read further along in our letter, we’ll have a greater chance of getting them to take the desired action.

Here are 18 proven ways you can increase readership of your direct mail letters and (more…)

Tags: direct mail, direct mail copywriting, direct mail readership, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, how increase readership
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Testing | No Comments »

Why Test Premiums
and 3 Ways to Make Them Work For You

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

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In my last post, I talked about when to test direct mail premiums. Now, let’s discuss 3 different types of premiums, why you’ll want to test each one and how to make them work for you.

First, let’s acknowledge that when we test a premium, we’re testing a change to our offer and nothing, other than list selection, will have as great an affect on our results.

We use premiums to motivate the reader into taking a specific and desired action. It isn’t to reward, inform or thank the reader but to promote response and increase the (more…)

Tags: direct mail offer, direct mail premiums, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, increase direct mail response, test premiums
Posted in Premiums, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »

There Are Only Two Occasions and One Reason to Test Direct Mail Premiums

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

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There are only two occasions when you should test direct mail premiums.

The first is when you’re not using premiums. If you’re not, you should test them now. The second occasion? When you are using premiums, you need to continue testing new ones.

Many organizations hate premiums. But most donors and customers love them and since this is a customer-driven business, I suggest you test them now.

Premiums don’t have to be expensive gifts. Often the best ones are unused merchandise sitting in a warehouse or the nearly forgotten informational pamphlet that’s begging to be used.

Countless organizations have enjoyed huge success by offering address stickers, note cards, decals, bumper stickers, iron-on patches, certificates of recognition, membership (more…)

Tags: direct mail offer, direct mail premiums, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, increase direct mail response
Posted in Premiums, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »

18 Ways For a More Effective Response Device

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

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The response device is one of the most important components of the mailing. After all, it’s used to complete the sale.

Yet too often, the response device is the last thing we get to when creating the package. Consequently, it’s rushed and doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

We work hard to make sure our envelope design grabs the reader’s attention. And we work and rework our letter copy until we get the reader fired up and ready to part with their money. Unfortunately, the sale is often lost once the (more…)

Tags: direct mail design, direct mail reply form, direct mail response device, direct mail response form, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, increase direct mail response
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Resource Center, Testing | No Comments »

Does It Really Cost Too Much Or Are We Leaving Money On The Table?

Monday, December 7th, 2009

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A number of years ago, I was at the county fair with a friend and, as we walked down the fairway, a “barker” came out and offered us one dollar for 50 cents. Immediately I gave him two quarters and accepted my shinny silver dollar but my friend refused. Why? She said, “I don’t want to spend the money.”

Unfortunately, that’s how too many people run their direct mail campaigns. And at some point in our careers, we’ll introduce a test idea that’s refused because it’s thought to cost too much. But does it?

For example, if a test package costs 36 percent more than the control, do we need to increase response by more than 36 percent to make it work?

Let’s do the math.

First, let’s make sure we have rollout cost.

A test mailing of 50,000 pieces is going to cost more than the same exact package when you rollout in larger volume. Get the rollout cost before you mail and use this number when evaluating results. (more…)

Tags: direct mail strategy, direct mail testing
Posted in Strategy, Testing | No Comments »

How to Use Graphic Devices to Boost Direct Mail Response Rates

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

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This is Part 2 of the findings of an extensive series of eye-camera tests conducted by Professor Siegfried Vogele of the Institute for Direct Marketing in Munich, West Germany. The tests traced eye movements as thousands of men and women opened and read all types of direct mailings and, at the same time, studied emotional reactions by observing body and hand movements.

Once your reader opens the envelope, they take no longer that 11 seconds to decide whether to read your letter or trash it

During this 11-second preview, Professor Vogele found that the reader’s eyes fix only on pictures and headlines — never on the body copy.

The Professor’s findings demonstrated that illustrations play a greater role in determining how the recipient reads your direct mail than any other graphic device.

Before any word of text is even noted, the reader’s eyes will be pulled to photographs and/or drawings. And by understanding the affects of graphics on eye flow, we can boost response rates by directing our reader’s attention to (more…)

Tags: direct mail design, direct mail graphics, direct mail response rates, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, how increase readership
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Resource Center, Strategy, Testing | Comments Off