Sales & Marketing Authority, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Year after year, many businesses send out mailings during the winter holiday season.  These mailings are an effective way to spend a marketing budget.  They allow businesses to traget repeat customers and well known zipcodes to get the best results.  However, there are ways to make mailings even more effective, provided proper tracking methods are put into place.  The more targeted a mailing is, the more success a business will have.  Below are some simple ways to track mailings and make them more successful in the future.

1. Number your Promotional Mailings.  When you are putting together your mailing list, there are two different ways to number the mailing to allow for response tracking.  The first method is to number each mailing with its own unique serial number.  This allows you to note each response, which allows you to directly track each resulting sale.  The second is to label each neighborhood.  Labelling each zipcode can result in large waste as zipcodes are often much larger than the respone area.
2. Keep Track of which Areas Respond Best.  By tracking from year to year, your company can determine which areas respond best to your mailings.  You should always include former purchasers, but it would be best to also start eliminating areas that have poor response rates.  In today’s market, reducing marketing spending is increasingly popular, but the result is not always what one could wish.  The only way to trim marketing budgets without losing out on potential profits is through very careful tracking methods.
3. Focus on Neighborhoods, Not Zipcodes.  The mistake that many companies make is to mail out to entire zipcodes.  Since zipcodes often encompass several neighborhoods, the financial demographic can vary widely.  By targeting only those areas with excess income, you can get maximum responses with minimal expense.  Tracking each response will allow you to target neighborhoods successfully, rather than zipcodes.
4. Minimise Fraud.  Coupon fraud is an increasing concern for many businesses.  Some consumers use photocopied coupons to gain additional items at discounted prices.  Adding individual serial numbers allows businesses to track each one and determine that no fraud is taking place.
5. Maximise Market Penetration.  Creating highly targeted mailing lists allows companies to minimise their direct mailing costs.  Printing and postage can be expensive when a mailing list grows to thousands of potential consumers.  Tracking provides businesses with the ability to get their marketing materials out to the maximum number of interested parties.  Mailing to those who do not use the promotion is a waste of money.  Tracking allows the business to remove addresses that are not responsive.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

After the Internet made sending mass emails so much cheaper than bulk mailing, many businesses moved away from physical mail as an advertising method.  They are now realising what a mistake that was.  Bulk mailing is an inexpensive marketing method that has a much better response rate than bulk email.  When email was first introduced to the public, bulk email was a great marketing strategy, but as spam filters were developed and email became so common, the rate of response from emailed messages dropped dramatically.  Now, businesses are scrambling to re-incorporate physical mail.  The least expensive and most likely to be read style of bulk mailing is the postcard. Recipients see all the content because there is no envelope, and businesses see a better response rate.  Here are some basic tips for creating a successful postcard marketing campaign.

Working with the Right Printer

Choosing a printer is not simply a matter of going to the local office supply store and ordering some prints.  Printers offer a range of products and services and a business must be careful to only work with a company that can provide the results they are looking for.  A beautifully designed postcard that has smeared edges and pixilation on the final print doesn’t look like a quality marketing piece.  Make sure that you always get samples in a printed format before authorising the final print job.

Choosing the Right Materials

Not only is the quality of the final print important, but so is the paper choice.  Budget will have a lot to do with the final options that are available, but the thicker the paper, the more likely it is that your postcard will remain in good condition right up until it is read by a consumer.  Also, choosing something a little different can help your postcard stand out from the crowd.  Most postcards are printed on a glossy or matte finished paper.  If you have a printer that can offer a satin finish, that can help your marketing materials stand out from the crowd.

Choosing the Design and Distribution Strategy

Design and distribution often go hand and hand.  While you want a design that properly represents your company, you also need something that appeals to the demographic of the area you are mailing to.  If the area you are mailing to is predominantly younger people, you will want to include more humour in your postcard design and they are okay with more visual stimulation.  An older crowd will respond better to a more elegant appearance.  Work with a graphic designer to create the best postcard design for your chosen demographic.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

As businesses approach the fourth quarter, which for many is the time of year that they actually turn a profit, marketing strategies become more critical than ever.  One inexpensive way to maximise your marketing budget is through a postcard campaign.  Here are some simple strategies for getting the best results from a postcard mailing campaign.

Appearance – The visual appeal of a postcard is the single most effective part of the campaign.  If your postcard is filled to the brim with too much imagery, colour, patterns and other visually distracting items, then it won’t have the impact a cleaner design would create.  Simplicity is best when designing a postcard mailing.  Don’t try and tell your recipients everything about your company.  Focus on one thing and have all the information on the card consolidated to advertise the single, central idea.

Action Item – If you send out a postcard that simply gives customers information, they aren’t motivated to do anything else.  Always include a call to action on the card.  Don’t just tell customers about a sale, tell them they need to come in and make a purchase.  Keep the action item concise and convincing with a specified timeline.  Open ended offers don’t generate urgency, so always include a deadline for the action item.  Read your action item and honestly evaluate it.  Would you responds if you received this postcard in the mail?  If not, edit the action item until you find it convincing.

Include an Incentive – Don’t simply tell customers to visit your store, give them a reason to.  A discount offer can help bring them in the door and give your sales staff the opportunity to up sell.  Discounts on new products or services are a great way to market them to customers.  People that have never tried your service may be convinced to sample it while they have a discount offer.

Track your Mailing – Mailing out bulk postcards it great, but knowing who the most likely respondents are is better.  If you include a specific tracking number on your postcards or even regionalised tracking numbers, you will be able to better target future postcard campaigns.  All you need to do is include a line on the card that says the discount is only valid with the card present or if the respondent gives you the proper code.  Either method will allow you to keep tabs on which areas respond best to your postcard mailing.

Stand Out – If your mailing looks like all the rest, then it won’t draw much attention.  Consider using larger postcards or special shapes to gain interest.  A shoe shaped postcard advertising a shoe sale or a flower design for a flower shop, gives the consumer an instant reference for your business and catches the eye.

Evaluate your current postcard mailing for areas of potential improvement.  No strategy is perfect and there are always methods that can help increase response rates.  Implement the above strategies and start tracking the results with your next mailing.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Setting up a direct mail campaign correctly is important. You’ll put hours of work into getting the copy written correctly, designing the layout, and making sure your call to action is clear. The finished product will hit the mail and you’ll sit back to – well – wait.

There are, of course, a few extra things you can do to enhance the effectiveness of your direct mail marketing campaign. Here are some to inspire you.

• Offer a free gift with your call to action. Set a time limit on it. Those who reply by a certain date will receive a free gift just for responding. It doesn’t need to be a big deal, or anything expensive, but the idea of getting something for free really motivates some people.
• Offer a free trial of your product. You don’t have to give those on a free trial 100% access to all of your services or product perks. They need to see just enough to get an idea of how your services really work. It’s no harm if they don’t purchase – and better for you if they do.
• Keep your copy short. You can include as much information as you want, but make sure it is broken down into digestible nuggets. The shorter your statements, the easier they are to read.
• Are you on a budget? Instead of designing a full-color advertisement, design a high quality black-and-white or greyscale advertisement and have it printed on colored paper. The color will draw attention to the advertisement and you’ll save money on printing.
• Always include a “PS” statement at the end of your copy. When scanning your document, readers will always look to see if there is some sort of “PS” and what it says.

Make your copy informative, easy to read, and inspiring. Before you know it, the responses will be rolling in.

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker