Improved response rates build return on investment
With many enterprises depending on digital marketing campaigns, businesses that rely on direct mail have to ensure greater response rates in order to maintain competitiveness among the thousands of players in their particular industry. There's no question that mail recipients respond well to seeing their name on a letter. Effective direct mail campaigns first require address verification, but should also employ sound marketing tactics that will help increase return on investment.
Generating excitement through the mailer
Find the Edge, an Internet resource for business news and insight, indicated that an effective mailer instills the excitement that individuals used to get when they randomly got letters as children. By receiving the mailer, the consumer is immediately engaged on a level that can only be achieved through physical interaction. Consequently, as marketers try to recapture the childlike excitement that direct mail can potentially provide, there is a necessity to offer advice, a service, product or call to action that animates the target audience. The simple fact of sending the mailer is no guarantee the piece will be effective.
Animate the consumer and marketer to convert sales
A recent Business 2 Community article indicated companies that distribute mailers that ask recipients to call a phone number should have a way to measure the response rate. Incorporating this manner of tracking for lead generation can have a significant impact on how marketing managers proceed with further direct mail campaigns. Not only will enterprises have a better idea of what tactics are working, but they'll also be able to pursue the leads with greater efficiency.
According to the 2009 "Lead Response Management Study," the amount of time that a marketing professional takes before following up with a lead via a phone call greatly influences his or her ability to convert the lead into a buyer. In fact, a marketer that responds within five minutes of establishing a lead is 21 times more likely to qualify the lead than an individual who waits for an hour and one-half to make contact.
In the same vein, it's important to connect with customers to establish a relationship and engage them. If customers have not followed the directives of the call to action on a mailer, contacting them again to make sure they understand the service values and sales they are missing helps to improve marketing results. For example, if the mailer includes a code the recipient should enter into a website or use in a physical retail store, a follow-up message should be specific enough to indicate the percentage of individuals that have taken advantage of the deal and amount of money the consumer could potentially save.