Direct mail advertising is a great way to inform members about new causes your organization may be supporting. It is also a great way to attract prospective members and encourage them to support your organization. Nevertheless, to have a successful direct mail marketing campaign, there are guidelines you should follow and things you should consider such as your target audience and message. With that said, here are the top three tips to for direct mail advertising.
Consider Your Target Audience
First and foremost, you should think about who you are sending your mail pieces to. Your target group directly influences the content on your mail pieces and can even help you decide on the type of direct mail to send. Personalizing your mail pieces by adding the name of your member is one thing, but to individualize your mail pieces better, you should strive to know more about your members (specifically those in your targeted group). Knowing a member’s name, age, location, interests, and even brief family information can help you customize your mail pieces better in an effort to effectively appeal to each member. Considering those aspects of information about your member can also help you group/categorize each member accordingly and improve the operation of your direct mail advertising campaign.
Select A Mailing List
Another important factor in direct mail advertising is selecting the appropriate mailing list. By selecting a mailing list, you can better craft your targeted audience and even narrow down the recipients who will receive your mail pieces, based on your preferences. For example, if you want your mail pieces to be received by individuals who are over the age of 35, you can select a mailing list that specifically includes 35+ individuals. Do note, when selecting a type of mailing list, the costs and relatability to your organization’s preferences do vary. A few types of mailing lists are provided below:
- Specialty List: Specialty lists allow you to communicate with members who are directly related to your targeted group preference. In other words, if you wanted the target audience for your direct mail pieces to strictly be individuals who are farmers, then you can select a specialty mailing list that is exclusively aimed at farmers.
- Response List / House List: Response or House lists include individuals who have responded to your previous mail pieces or announcements or have expressed interest in your organization in some way. These lists can also include members or prospective members who have recently engaged with your organization in some form.
- Custom-Mailing List: Similar to specialty lists, custom-mailing lists allow you to handpick which members will receive your mail pieces, based on your desired criteria. For example, if you want your mail pieces to be sent to married women over the age of 30, you can personally tailor your mailing list to only have mail sent to married women age 30+.
- Cloned List: Cloned lists work best when trying to obtain new members. These lists allow you to find and send mail pieces to individuals that are similar to your best donors/members.
Decide on the Type of Mail Piece
After considering your target audience and the most appropriate mailing list, you should decide on the most effective type of mail to send to your members. The content that your mail piece will contain should be displayed correctly on the type of mail piece you select. You should think about your message or offer and ask yourself: Will my message look best in a letter format? On a postcard? On a brochure/pamphlet? These are questions you should consider before deciding on the type of mail piece. You should also ensure that the type of mail piece positively represents your organization and that is effectively showcases what your organization is about.
Valtim Can Help With Direct Mail Advertising
Direct Mail Advertising is complex, but with Valtim, it can be made easy. We provide professional assistance with direct mail advertising campaigns and effectively personalize and customize direct mail pieces, whether it’s a postcard, letter, or newsletter. We also provide assistance with targeted direct mail and include targeted content per mail piece. Let Valtim take on your direct mail campaign and help it succeed.
