These 6 direct mail tips will help you reach your target audience and boost your response rates. If you want your direct mail campaign to be successful, this short refresher course will give you some suggestions to move the response needle from “meh” to great!
Segment Your Audience:
Before you send out any direct mail, you need to segment your audience based on demographics, behaviors, or preferences. This allows you to tailor your message and offers to specific groups, increasing the relevance and impact of your mailers.
The top segments in the water quality market include:
- New Homeowners
- Families with children
- Homeowners by Credit Score
Invest in Compelling Design, Copy and Photo
Your direct mail piece should grab the recipient’s attention immediately and clearly communicate the benefits of your product or service. This means you need to invest in eye-catching design and winning copy.
One of my favorite direct mail tips has to do with images. Whoever said pictures are worth a thousand words was totally on point. We are in an image-oriented world. People look at photos first, copy second.
You need to use compelling and concise language to convey your message.
Use phrases that conjure up clean, fresh water
- Better tasting water
- Tastes great right from the tap
- Water the way it was meant to be
- You can taste the difference
Direct mail tip: don’t forget that white space is important. Give the important pieces of your direct mail room to stand out.
Personalization:
Personalization can significantly improve response rates. Every study shows that personalized mailers feel more relevant and engaging. And, it’s not just using someone’s name. You want to customize the content based on people’s interests, past interactions with your brand or how you’ve segmented your audience.
For example, we know that response increases when you personalize your marketing by name. But it’s not just about the name. You also know something about this person. You know their audience segment. It’s not just Dear Dale – but its Dear Dale who lives in a certain area, has a specific household composition, a particular income level, a home of a certain value.
Because you know more about “Dear Dale” than just her name – you can market to her in a more personal way.
For example, Dale may have teens in the household and live in a zip-code where you know the water is full of calcium and other hard-water chemicals. Because you know this, you might tailor the marketing to Dale to focus on providing a softer water experience for her family. You might use a photo of a happy family with shining hair. You might offer a great smelling, alkaline-free shampoo as your CTA (call to action).
Call to Action (CTA):
Your direct mail piece needs to have a clear and actionable CTA. Make it stand out (remember what I said earlier about the white space?). Whether it’s to call a phone number, visit a website, or fill out a form, the recipient should know exactly what steps to take next.
Tell people exactly what you want them to do. Use concise language that leaves no room for ambiguity. For example, instead of “Click here,” use “Buy now” or “Subscribe to our newsletter” or “Call today”.
Your CTA should also highlight the benefits of why. For example, explain what users will gain by clicking the CTA. Focus on the value proposition, such as “Save 20% on your installation when you call today” or “Learn how to boost your productivity when you subscribe to our newsletter.”
Direct mail tip – tailor your CTA to your audience.
Create a Sense of Urgency:
Creating a sense of urgency in marketing is a common tactic used to motivate potential customers to take immediate action. It’s based on the idea that when people feel like they need to make a decision quickly, they are more likely to make a purchase. Think FOMO (fear of missing out).
Limited-Time Offers: Promote time-limited discounts, sales, or promotions. For example, “Get 20% off for the next 24 hours” or “Sale ends at midnight.”
- Expiring Coupons: If you offer coupons or discount codes, make sure they have an expiration date to create urgency.
- Seasonal or Event Tie-Ins: Connect your promotion to specific seasons, holidays, or events to make it time-sensitive.
A quick caveat – It’s important to use these tactics ethically and genuinely. You want to to create a legitimate sense of urgency that encourages action without compromising your company’s integrity.
Track and Measure:
Use tracking mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of your direct mail campaign. You can use unique phone numbers, QR codes, or specific landing pages for each campaign to monitor your response rates. Analyze the data to refine your future campaigns and optimize your ROI.
For example, I ran an A/B test on this email, testing different subject lines to see which ones YOU opened more. That’s the subject line I’ll use next time. It’s the same premise in direct mail, you may test two different offers to see which one resonates better with your audience.
- Free designer faucet with purchase
- $200 off installation
Remember that consistency and testing are key to improving your direct mail marketing over time. That’s one of the most important tips I can give you.
Experiment with different designs, messaging, and audience segments to find what works best for your audience.
Direct mail works well for water quality dealerships who do their research, are consistent in their approach, test what they do and tweak it until they have it right. Once you have a winning direct mail piece, it’s clear sailing ahead!
“Fantastic!”