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Back to the Help Desk
101 Ways to Improve Your Direct Mail Response
by Deanna Spencer
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1.
Mail to your customers more often. If you are now mailing 4
times a year, increase the frequency of your mailings to 6 or 8
times. If you increase your mailings by 25%, you should
increase your sales by at least the same percentage.
2.
Use a P.S. on every direct mail letter. This is second in
importance only to the headline.
3.
Don't forget to thank your customer for their order. Enclose
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a message with orders... and include
another merchandise offer with the "thank you" message.
4. Vary your mailing format.
Use self-mailers, lettergrams, computer letters, envelope formats,
catalogs. Change your format so that prospects don't get in
the habit of recognizing your mailing piece.
5. Ride on the coattails of
current events, e.g. energy crisis, elections, cold winters, etc.
When inflation increases, have an "inflation-cutting" special, etc.
6. Look for other products you
can successfully sell to your customers. Information on how to
make and save money is the best prospect.
7. Include more offers in your
mailing package than you already are. Study the mailings of
firms who packs a volume of material into their envelopes. See
if you can
adapt the idea to your own mailings.
8. Think about using simulated
handwriting for emphasis in your letters. Occasionally test a
handwritten letter, particularly if you are soliciting funds for
charity.
9. Try an unusual format you've
never used before.
10. Test selective distribution to
your list. Maybe only a portion of your list should receive
more mailings. Other mailings should go to the entire list.
11. Stimulate off-season business by
asking for it. If you normally have a summer slump, have a
special "summer sale" mailing in the summer. You can boost your
sales any time of the year you need a boost through effective direct
mail.
12. Word your offer differently.
Put a unique twist into it by offering a baker's dozen instead of a
regular dozen. Or sell 110 instead of 100.
13. You can even add a smell to your
envelopes. Check with your envelope manufacturer about the
special inks that can be used to make your envelope "smell" the way
your product does.
14. Change the size of your mailing
package frequently to create interest and appeal.
15. Test credit terms. You'll
find that accepting Master Charge/Visa will result in larger orders
than cash terms.
16. Let people "peek" into your
envelope with multiple windows on the face and back.
17. Test buck slip routing for
addressing, and use it to reach multiple prospects.
18. Try using illustrated letterheads
and test them against conventional letterheads.
19. Put a simulated check into your
mailing to emphasize a discount.
20. Consider using stamps, coupons,
early order bonuses, Etc.
21. Pack order starters - a special
offer that will get a person started on his order - into your
catalog.
22. If you can sample your product,
including one in your mailing.
23. Make more sophisticated use of
your own list and the lists you rent by looking for those segments
of people who... and forget the rest of them.
24. Test simulated telegrams,
mailgrams, and other imitation formats similar to the mailgram.
25. Test a tiny letter with a tiny
pencil accompanying it. Test a jumbo letter in your envelope,
maybe even mail it in a jumbo envelope.
26. What is your "wastebasket
readability factor" - and what can you do to get people to read your
mailing piece when it is sitting on somebody else's desk... or has
it already landed in their waste basket?
27. Put a wraparound on your catalog.
It gives you two covers instead of one.
28. Test your catalog approaches and
mailing dates.
29. Use teaser copy on your outer
envelope and test it vs. a blind envelope.
30. Acknowledge orders promptly and
include additional sales literature with your acknowledgment.
31. Periodically send a statement to
your customer that shows he's been missed... even if he doesn't owe
you any money.
32. Follow up inquiries promptly and
persistently. Make it easy to buy from you by giving the
inquirer a return envelope to send his order back in.
33. Tie in a timely topic (current
events, special problems, etc.)
34. Get to know your printers... not
printer, printers. Every direct marketer needs different types
of printers with different capabilities to come up with different
printed pieces.
35. Test multiple premiums with your
offer and give your prospects a choice of the one(s) he prefers.
36. Remail your mailing to your
better customers three or four weeks later. You'll do 60-75%
as well on the second mailing.
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37. Remember the 5 basic rules...
test, test, test, test, and test.
38. Don't be afraid to run without a
test if your gamble is small.
39. Use a bounce-back package
enclosure to get an extra order.
40. State your guarantee in the
strongest possible terms... and state it often.
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41. Spotlight your sales points in
your headlines.
42. Start your message on your
envelope and lead your reader inside.
43. Feature last-minute merchandise
on the back of your envelope or on a separate flier enclosed in your
package.
44. Offset delays in mail delivery by
extending cutoff dates.
45. Cultivate customers with special
savings, bonuses or premiums.
46. Use lightweight paper to save
postage and to allow more sales material in the envelope.
47. Use a "Publisher's Letter" to
give the prospect an extra reason for buying.
48. Put distinctive differences in
your catalog to add interest.
49. Stimulate action by featuring a
time limit at the top of your letter.
50. Show how merchandise solves
problems and enhances the stature of the user among his/her
contemporaries.
51. Use full-view envelopes to
display attractive literature.
52. If buying your product spells
numerous benefits, spell them out by number for maximum impact.
53. Increase customer goodwill and
purchases with advance notice of sales.
54. Use stock photos for much less
than the cost of making original shots.
55. Cultivate customers with special
catalog offers directed exclusively to customers.
56. Use unusual techniques to get
your customer into your envelope.
57. Use action stimulators to get
your customer to open your envelope.
58. Dramatize big news by using a big
format to present your message.
59. Can you use the inside of your
merchandise carton as part of your media mix?
60. Increase the impact of your
advertising with clip art, at minimum expense.
61. Express appreciation to your
customers for their past business. And enclose some extra sell
material with your thank you message.
62. Offer premiums that are unusual.
63. Include smart-selling stuffers in
envelopes, packages, etc.
64. Update your catalog with
supplements or newsletters.
65. Use a second letter in the
package to increase the impact.
66. Use a second letter in the
package to make a second offer.
67. Notify the customer if there is
going to be a delay in fulfillment, and include additional
merchandise offers with this notification.
68. Test post card deck mailings as
an inexpensive method to get leads/customers.
69. Put an unusual message on the
outside of your envelope.
70. Put an alternative offer in the
reply envelope to create bonus sales.
71. Try a massive display of stamps
on the outside of your envelope to emphasize a fact.
72. Try a pre-holiday mailing to
invite a former customer back.
73. Try a customized response vehicle
to get your customers to respond.
74. Offer to provide specific
benefits to the customers.
75. Offer potential benefits to both
customers and prospects.
76. Use customer gift lists as future
mailing lists for your prospecting.
77. Call your business reply order
form by some other name, such as trial order card.
78. A double coupon in your package
could double your response.
79. A reply envelope plus loose stamp
might be more effective than a B.R.E.
80. If a postcard can tell your
story... test it.
81. If a postcard is too small, step
up to a self-mailer.
82. Follow-up your prospect's
inquiries promptly with hard sell material.
83. Make the space on the inside of
your mailing envelope work for you by using it to sell your product.
84. Prove to your prospect that your
free gifts are really free.
85. State your guarantee boldly, in
strong words... and repeat it often.
86. Test allowing another mailer in
your envelope and vice versa.
87. Test simulated gram formats.
88. Develop a distinctive personality
for your business.
89. Make major anniversaries a plus
factor in your promotions.
90. Have your reply envelope
emphasize your prompt shipping service.
91. Present outstanding testimonials
in a big way for big impact.
92. Never stop selling the advantages
of direct marketing to your customer.
93. Consider using special formats to
make ordering easier.
94. Test different length trial
periods.
95. Promote seasonal products in
off-season times... and offer alternatives.
96. Ask customers their opinion of a
proposed new product.
97. Test the plastic record message
in your mail formats.
98. Use the negative to accentuate
the positive.
99. Use simulated handwriting in your
message.
100. Use match-up and comparison
tables to increase selection ease and accuracy.
101. Always offer an "extra" or
"bonus" to encourage a quick response.
Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer
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DeAnna is the publisher of the ezine, Prospecting and Presents.
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