Direct Mail

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Direct Mail

• Advertising Strategy Chapter 11
• (Alstiel and Grow)

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According to Direct Marketing Association

• Purposes of direct marketing are to
• Solicit a direct order
• Generate a lead
• Drive store traffic
• American companies spent more than 200 billion
  on direct marketing in 2004 even split between
  business-to-business and consumer. Generated
  sales of about 2 trillion

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What is Direct Response?

• It is a marketing transaction between the seller
  and buyer with no intermediary (such as a
  retailer or distributor) involved. The
  information from the seller to the potential
  buyer can be distributed in a number of different
  ways.

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Examples of different ways

• TV programming As in home shopping programs and
  infomercials
• TV commercials with toll-free phone numbers
  (Operators are standing by)
• Interactive TV commercials/programs. Click on the
  icon to buy the product
• Magazine ads with coupons, toll-free numbers, Web
  sites promoting direct sales

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Examples of different ways

• E-mail solicitations These can range from the
  sleaziest spam to respected permission marketing
  programs
• Telemarketing A direct call from some boiler
  room precisely timed to interrupt your dinner or
  favorite TV program
• Internet Search engine marketing, whole Web
  sites, and ads on web sites
• Direct mail From advertiser to consumer

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Why Direct Mail?

• Its specific With good data, an advertiser can
  zero in on specific demographics and lifestyles
  to create a more powerful message
• Its direct to an individual As close as you can
  get to one-on-one marketing
• It can be high impact If you correctly tap those
  wants/needs, you provide something of real value
  to the recipient

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Why Direct Mail?

• Its flexible You can use virtually anything you
  can mail flat or put in a container
• It can be localized A mailer for a nationally
  advertised brand can include the names and
  addresses of local retailers
• It can generate sales where there are no stores
  In other words, it generates a direct response

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Why Direct Mail?

• It can help gather information Given the right
  incentives, many people send back mail surveys
• It can be used to encourage trials of new
  products Samples, discount coupons help launch
  many new products

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Why Direct Mail?

• It delivers instant results You know almost
  immediately if your mailing is successful, based
  on direct sales, phone orders, return of reply
  cards, or other measurement methods
• It can be used as part of an integrated marketing
  program For example, requests for information in
  a magazine ad are fulfilled by sending direct
  mail you can direct people to a Web site for
  more detailed and interactive messages.

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Why Not?

• Your direct mail is only as good as your mailing
  list (garbage in, garbage out)
• People hate it its unwanted, mistrusted, and,
  in some cases, feared
• Companies misdirect and screen mailings
  Remember, about half of all direct marketing is
  for B2B

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Why Not?

• Its difficult to create economical and effective
  direct mail that doesnt look like junk mail
• Its costly The cost per thousand is very high
  in most cases. Elaborate print pieces and
  three-dimensional mailers can be very expensive
  to produce, and postage prices keep climbing

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Database Marketing?

• The value of your direct mail depends on the
  quality of your mailing list
• Most creative concept no good if it goes to wrong
  person.
• Income, residence, age, gender, marital status,
  children, occupation, education, vehicles owned,
  recreational vehicles owned, recreation/ leisure
  time choices, vacation choices,
  health/disabilities, propensity to buy, current
  or former customer status

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Where to get names?

• Magazine/ newspaper subscription
• Warranty card submission
• Web site visits, Coupons
• Toll-free phone numbers
• Literature requests, Show registration
• Credit card holders
• Opt-in lists, Compiled lists and custom selects

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Types of Direct Mail

• Every component has a purpose, even envelope
  itself. Basic components include a letter, a
  brochure, and a reply device, such as prepaid
  reply card
• Outer envelope must say Open me
• Envelope mailers (letter packages)
• Teaser copy It could be a special offer or some
  twist on the message. For example, on envelope
  for a Florida resort said, Open carefully
  contains white sand, dolphins, seashells and
  coconut palms.

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Types of Direct Mail

• Envelope mailers continued
• Blind envelopes Usually standard-sized envelopes
  that suggest normal business or personal
  correspondence rather than direct mail
  advertising. Sometimes a stamp is used rather
  than a meter stamp to make it look more like
  personal mail
• Official envelopes These look like govt.
  correspondence, a check, or a telegram. While you
  might get some immediate attention with these,
  youre more likely to annoy people by deceiving
  them

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Types of Direct Mail

• Envelope mailers continued
• Personalized copy Sometimes this is effective.
  Other times it may offend people who wonder, How
  do they know so much about me?

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Types of Direct Mail

• Flat self-mailers. Contains mailing address on
  some part of the piece itself rather than on an
  envelope.
• They claim a letter package will always outpull a
  self-mailer.
• A letter is more personal, while a self-mailer
  shouts, Im an ad! However, a well-designed
  self-mailer can be cost efficient and effective
  from a creative standpoint

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Types of Self-mailers

• Postcards
• Folded mailers one fold, two folds, multi-folds
• Brochures and pamphlets
• Newsletters

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Types of Direct Mail

• Dimensional mailers some of the most innovative
  (and expensive) direct mailers are 3D. Can be
  anything that can be mailed/shipped. Often, box
  will include a separate item, sometimes called a
  gadget. This may be a sample, a premium item that
  might have some use, or something totally
  off-the-wall that makes a selling point. The
  limits to 3-D mailers are governed only by your
  imagination and your budget

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Internet direct mail

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Direct Mail Campaigns

• Repeatability with multiple mailings
• Numbered series of mailers Recipients get clues
  in each mailing and need to save all mailings in
  the series to claim a prize
• Repetition of the same mailer Assumes that
  recipients may miss some of the mailings or need
  to be hammered repeatedly with the same message

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Direct Mail Campaigns

• Repeatability with multiple mailings
• Multiple format mailings A series of flat
  mailers with business reply cards. If recipients
  continue sending back the cards, indicating
  interest, they receive a 3-D mailer with a
  premium

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Direct Mail Campaigns

• Extendability with integration in a campaign
• Direct mailers with product samples and coupons
  encourage recipient to visit retailer
• A reader sees a magazine ad and calls for more
  information, and the fulfillment house mails
  product literature
• A new brand image campaign is launched with
  print, TV, radio and outdoor. Direct mail is used
  to provide detailed product information that cant
  be conveyed in other media

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General Tips

• AIDA
• Attention
• Intention
• Desire
• Action
• DAGMAR
• Awareness, comprehension, conviction, and action

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Tips and Techniques

• Get attention Some 44 of mail is never opened.
  If youre using envelopes, do something to make
  your recipients open them. If its a self-mailer,
  use a strong headline to invite further attention
• Be personal Your database has given you the
  information, now get to know the recipient. Dont
  write to the masses, write to the individual
  and nothing is more individual than direct mail

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Tips and Techniques

• Stimulate action Cover all the areas of the
  transaction. If its a direct sale, provide a
  toll-free number, Web site, or other means to
  spur immediate action. If the sale is through a
  retailer or dealer, get recipient to visit the
  store right away
• Study your own mail What do you open? What
  attracts your attention? Why? Can you apply that
  to mailings you create?

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Tips and Techniques

• Measure it Youll know if your mailer worked or
  not by the response rate and ultimately sales.
  Agree on a reasonable return objective with the
  client.
• Test it If you have two or more different
  approaches, do a split run. Measure the results
  and figure out why one pulled more response than
  the other
• Dont tell every detail in mail Important if it
  doesnt cover the whole transaction

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Tips and Techniques

• Think campaigns Each mailer in a series should
  stand on its own and work with others. Got a
  great idea? Can you come up with a whole series
  of other great ideas?
• Use simple language, avoid ad jargon
• In retail-oriented mailings, repeat the name of
  the product or store often
• Use captions for illustrations

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Cover letter outline 7 steps

• Promise benefit in the headline/ first para.
  lead with strongest sales point
• Enlarge on your most imp. benefit
• Tell the reader what he is going to get
• Back your statements with proof and endorsements
  (testimonials)
• Tell reader whats lost if he doesnt act
• Rephrase benefits in closing offer
• Incite action set time limit. Buy now

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Cover letter style 7 steps

• Start with short opening paragraph four lines
  or shorter
• No paragraph should be longer than 8 lines. Vary
  length of paragraphs
• Use deep indents center bullet points
• Close with a two- to three-line summary
• Dont forget the envelope (teaser)
• Dont forget a follow-up letter. Reinforce the
  message, refine your data mining

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Ideal gadgets

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