Anyone can put anything in the post and be pretty sure that it will arrive at the correct address – after all that’s all direct mail really is right? Technically yes but whether anyone will actually want to read your attempt is a completely different matter. And if by some miracle they do read it, what then? How will you know that your campaign was actually delivered?

Well that’s why you need a plan and preferably a good one. Running a great direct mail campaign is most definitely not the same as running a mediocre one. Think back to the relay race on sports day – you need tactics for each sprint and you need each element to work together – it’s the difference between coming first and limping home last. So here are some tactics to get your strategic juices flowing.

Aim for Your Target

Sounds simple and boring but that’s what essentials are - where would your sandwich be without the bread? There’d be content but not a lot of substance and that’s exactly what your campaign will be if you don’t plan your targeting like a military coup.

Who are you aiming your campaign at? What are you selling? What story are you telling? Why are you telling it? Think carefully about what the whole point of what you’re doing is. Then make sure the people on your mailing list are a good fit and crucially actually still live there.

Always make sure you go through the motions of verifying addresses, suppression and bereavement processing. It’ll save you time and face later on. 

You can even segment your audience.. By dividing up your mailing list and really honing in on what group A like compared to group B, you stand a really good chance of getting your response rate up. People are individuals and making someone feel special makes them more inclined to do what you ask.

Maximise Response Rate

So once you have your amazing mailing list what are you going to do with it? Most direct mail campaigns have a response rate of between 1% and 3% some get 5% so there’s no excuse not to aim high.

Make sure you’ve made it obvious what it is you’re trying to get the reader to do. Give them a call to action; give them an offer they just can’t refuse – whatever it is – make it clear.

Make it imaginative because your campaign has to cut through all the other white noise that lands on the doormat every morning. Is it the shape of your mail that will make it stand out, the imagery, the material or what about offering incentives, offers or coupons? Because nobody ever says ‘oh goody, another flimsy A5 leaflet selling me a hearing aid’. But people do say ‘ooh 50p off dog food, I’m sold’.

Give people a chance to respond in a way they are comfortable with. Provide multiple ways for them to find out more or get in touch. Some people are old school and actually like talking to other people, so for some a phone number is a good thing. Others would actually rather conduct everything anonymously and go online or respond by text.

Analyse Your Findings

This is vital if you want to improve your next campaign. If you’re methodical about it, direct mailing will always give you a return on your time and quality of data. This is how you can refine your list to make sure that your targeting for next time is even sharper than it was this time.

You can also see what techniques worked – if you tweaked something for one group and actually found it dramatically increased response rate – start analysing why. Was it the tweak that made the difference or was it the audience themselves if so what was their common denominator?  Even if you don’t get the response you expected there’s no point wallowing in it, find out why and mark it off as a lesson learnt.

So there you have it – how to run a great direct mail campaign in three easy steps – who said it was hard?