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Direct Mail Lists - 3 Tips for Successful Direct Mail

By Jonathan McCulloch

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 21Mar2012 Word count: 1465 Viewed: 117 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Creating a successful direct mail advertising campaign is no easy task, and anyone who says otherwise has probably never tried it. For a start, there's a lot to get right, including the product you're going to sell and the copy you plan to use to sell it. There's also the important matter of choosing the right direct mail lists, and it's here that a lot of would-be direct mail marketers give up, since there are so many choices it can seem almost impossible to make the right one. However, as with most things, the process can be simplified. There's no guarantee you 'll end up with a winning direct mail campaign, but you should be able to avoid the main mistakes, which should give you much more chance of success.

The first thing to think about is exactly what you're trying to achieve with your direct mail promotion. Most people would say the whole point is to make money, and that's true. But before you do that, you need to follow a sales process, and that will be determined by what you're trying to sell and the type of market you're aiming at. For instance, you could be trying to make sales directly from a sales letter, in which case the list should be as "hot" as possible -- meaning as large a percentage of the list as possible should be recent buyers of the same or a similar product or service. Then again, you might be trying to generate leads, and in this case the list could be less "hot" and still get a good result. If you are targeting people who regularly buy from catalogs, for instance, a specialist catalog mailing list would be the best choice.

Once you've decided what you're trying to achieve, you can look at choosing a mailing list broker. The type of broker you choose will depend very much on what you're trying to achieve, and it's usually better to choose a specialist broker, one with wide experience of your type of products or the market you're aiming at, rather than a general one. A specialist will be able to give you advice about the type of mailing you should use to achieve best results, and also give you advice about the format and type of copy to use.

Finally, whichever type of broker you choose, it's essential to ask questions about the lists on offer to make sure you're getting a good deal. A reputable list broker should give you answers to a lot of your concerns without being asked, but it's always a good idea to have a few questions ready. Some of these can include when was the last time the list was used, how responsive it is, and whether it's possible to do a test mailing to see how it responds to your particular offer. You should also be able to get examples of successful campaigns as proof that the lists do respond.

Creating a winning direct mail campaign does take a lot of work, and choosing the right mailing list is a big part of that. By following the steps outlined above it should be possible to find a broker -- and a list -- which gives you a good return-on-investment, and puts money in your bank account.

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