The Right Customer, The Right Offer, The Right Time

Direct mail works at its absolute best when it is accurately targeted and reflects the mood of the recipient. Unlike email marketing, direct mail has the benefit that it can be really personal and potential customers will take the time to read your letter if it reaches them at a timely moment. The trick is, as ever, to be putting up the right offer, to the recipient, at the right moment. So if we go back to absolute basics then the prime essential in planning any mailing campaign is to really know your target audience.

Selecting and buying data can be a minefield for the unwary. You need to purchase good quality data from a reputable source, which has been honed to fit the exact nature of your target audience. A quality list will not only reduce the number of returns from "Gone Aways", but if correctly skewed and targeted can catch the imagination of the potential customer to really increase your return on investment.

Investing in good quality data, which has been sourced to ensure that you are talking to people who are really likely to become customers, is a must – the more that you know about your target audience the more chance you have of getting the offer to those prospects who are ripe for a sale.

Once purchased even the best quality list will need attention. It is better to spend some time at this point in honing the data to make it as accurate as is possible before you embark on your mailing campaign. This could be through list cleansing, suppression or enhancing the Prospect list.

Once satisfied that your list is the best it can be, your mailing campaign can be further enhanced by using some of the cost effective new techniques that are available using digital print. These techniques can be combined with a good database to make your mailing even more personal – for example bespoke full colour leaflets, magazines or brochures that talk directly to your customers are a sure fire way of increasing response levels. These can be used in conjunction with PURLs and QR codes to make your message really personal.

Mailing Expert can help you source the ideal prospect list for your project and also help you hone the data so you're your mailing campaign is tailor made to appeal directly to your customers.