How to Develop Your Own Direct Mail Campaign

If you own a business and have never done your own direct mail campaign, this article is for you.  Many businesses have found direct mail campaigns to be one of their greatest marketing tools at their disposal.  The reasons are simple: mailing services are inexpensive, effective, and professional printing firms can handle both printing and mailing responsibilities. 
  
So, here is a step by step process you can follow.  Direct mail marketing is a powerful advertising method that will serve you well, but careful planning is required if you hope to be successful.  And the more direct mail marketing you do, the better you will get at it. 
  
1. Choose your product 
The first step in this process is to choose which products and services you will be promoting.  You cannot choose which direct mail tools you will use until you know which products and services you want to expose your customers to.  Many businesses have a large range of products, while others have more focused services.  Either way, you can’t move on to the next steps until you know what you want to promote.

2. Define your customer 
Once you know your products and services, then you can begin to define your customer.  Not all of your customers are interested in all of your products and services.  But you should be able to figure out which customers are more likely to make a purchase of the products and services you will be advertising through direct mail marketing.

3. Pick the list 
Once you’ve defined your customer, then you can begin putting together your direct mail list.  There are many companies that can do this for you.  You simply tell them the details about your customers, such as age, location, income, etc.  You can do this yourself, but consider working with a professional who may be able to help you target your audience more effectively.

4. Design 
Now you can begin to design your direct mail campaign.  If you are mailing postcards, design your postcards in such a way that your well-defined customers will be able to quickly connect with what products and services you're promoting.  If you are mailing catalogs, you can now effectively design for a specific customer.

5. Print and mail 
Work with a professional printing firm with direct mail campaigns. Regardless of the type of print advertising – postcards, greeting cards, catalogs – a professional printing company can make sure it looks great. Besides, most firms can handle the direct mail role right out of their own facilities.

6. Follow up and document 
Finally, make sure you follow up when you get a response, and document those customers carefully. Of course, it’s easy to follow up since you will probably be able to close a sale. Documentation is important so that you can improve your next campaign, and many businesses skip this part to their own detriment.

7. Repeat!

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