Direct mail campaigns are the shotgun of marketing. Basically, you send as many pieces of mail to your target market as possible and hope that interest will generate. There's only two ways you can tell if your campaign has worked though. You can go down the list of recipients and call, or you can wait for them to respond. If you call your list, you are wasting valuable time and negating the advantages of direct mail. However, research shows that, left on their own, only as much as 5 percent of recipients will contact you.
There are ways to increase the percentage of direct mail responders. You can use a list that is as narrowed and targeted as possible. You should make sure to use variety in the pieces you send to your recipients. An often overlooked key to getting responses is how you present your contact information. Hard to read phone numbers, or complex email or web addresses almost guarantee that no one will try to get in touch with you. Make your contact information highly visible, memorable, and simple.
A great tip to boost the response to direct mail campaigns is to provide benefits and incentives to do so. Discount pricing for responders should work very well these days. Complementary gifts could be an enticement as well, with the added bonus of your logo on each and every gift.
Conference calls are a great, mutually beneficial, addition to your direct mail campaigns. Include the date, time, number, and access code to a conference call you are hosting as an enticement. You don't see conference call invitations every day, and the uniqueness will be eye-catching. An additional bonus is that when you start your conference call, you get instant feedback on how many people responded to your campaign. All you have to do is count the participants.
