Direct mail can produce your highest response at lowest cost per lead or sales.
And direct mail is also among the costliest media sources.
So, what can you do to reduce your risk and make sure you have a success?
Let me give you examples from Zacks Money Management.
Zacks told me their problem. They had a very targeted group of the wealthy who were difficult to communicate with.
A broad reach would not work. As money managers, their minimum portfolio was $500 million or more.
The solution for them – and you – was a 7-point way of reducing your risk, making sure you don’t have a costly blunder, and maximizing your profitability.
The 7 critical points you should consider in a direct mail campaign are:
# 1: Target Audience
The beauty of direct mail is that you can target a specific audience. And with today’s new advanced data modeling based on transactional data, you can identify your most likely buyers as never before.
For direct mail with Zacks, we could target specifically Accredited Investors, who have estates of $3 million and up.
#2: Direct Mail Envelope Strategy
An envelope needs to follow direct response marketing rules. The only purpose of an envelope is for the prospect to rip it open to see what’s inside. With many audiences – business-to-business and consumers – a teaser envelope will out-pull a blank envelope even with high quality personalization.
But that’s not always the case.
When you’re dealing with a high end audience, where people are able to invest $500,000 and above, personalization is very important. That’s why we chose to use high-quality personalization on the envelope, which looks so authentic that no one can tell it’s not personally addressed.
#3: Powerful Direct Mail Letter
Letters are the most important component of the mailing package. For Zacks, we used a powerful 2-page letter that also appeared personalized and authentic.
#4: Direct Response Copy
Rather than use editorial or journalistic copy, we used direct response copy. We turned features into benefits, and used a strong “you” orientation and highly personal language.
And there was a strong use of personality in the letter. Letters signed by an individual build up credibility and increase response.
#5: A Tactical Lift Note
A lift note will increase response 10-15%, sometimes as high as 50%. In this case, the lift note used a question: “Your Zacks’ #1 rank 32% return numbers are impressive… but how do they apply to my investment portfolio? See inside.”
They opened up the short note where there was a powerful message. The message had a different theme than the main letter.
#6: A Powerful Response Device
We had a powerful response device with a strong positive acceptance statement (PAS). And the back of it added to the credibility by showing the investment committee team.
#7: A Great Direct Response Offer
The response device had a powerful direct response offer – four bonus reports. We called it the “Safety First Investing Kit.” Even the wealthy could not resist the powerful titles that we used, including “How to Protect Your Assets from the Market Downturn or Crash.”
Direct mail can give you a cost per lead and cost per sales that is less than other media. The secret is to follow the direct response rules.
Interested in doing a direct mail campaign? Call me at (310) 212-5727 or email me at [email protected] and let’s talk.
Here are the rest of this week’s articles:
