Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail is a unique medium because it physically and mentally engages the recipient. Unlike most mediums where you can just ignore the message, direct mail forces you to make an decision — respond or throw it away. While the typical 2% response rate can be very profitable, some mailings do much better than normal. When variable data is utilized, the response rates can jump to 7.5% or higher!

FAQ about Direct Mail
I tried direct mail and it didn’t work for me. Why should I try it again?
How do I determine if direct mail is right for my company or organization?
Isn’t direct mail expensive?
How do I combine Variable Printing with Direct Mail?

I tried direct mail and it didn’t work for me. Why should I try it again?
I have heard this from many clients who had tried direct mail BEFORE working with Blue Gator. We once had a marketing director who wanted to promote an event and was trying to decide which avenue would be the best one to promote her event. We suggested direct mail would be the best media since she had a niche target market. The problem was she had tried direct mail before for a similar event and had received NO responses. Not one single response. Since she was an already an excellent client, and we knew that direct mail was the best method for this particular project, we offered to do it for cost. We knew once she saw how well it worked, she would be hooked! The client agreed to go ahead with direct mail and we designed a cost-effective, one-color direct mail package. It explained the benefits, had strong emotional appeal, and gave clear directions for registering. We also planned several follow-up pieces as reminders. The client was ecstatic when she received over 400 responses and 320 attendees. They literally had filled the balcony! This meant she looked good, had received an excellent return on investment, and hosted an event filled to the brim with potential clients. That’s what we call success!

How do I determine if direct mail is right for my company or organization?
You need to determine whether it’s profitable. You need to look at long term profits as well as immediate. For instance, we used direct mail to recruit students for a law school. The school only had three years left in their endowment fund before they would have to close their doors. You imagine their relief when the very first year we helped them met their enrollment and application goals using direct mail combined with email campaigns and targeted advertising!

Sometimes direct mail is the only medium that will work cost effectively. For example, a client wanted to reach nutritionists to have them attend an upcoming tradeshow. The client was promoting their association at a trade show by offering a nutritional-information workshop. They had already marketed to the nutritionists using an in-house design, but had very few registrations. They asked if we would create a direct mailer to boost attendance. We created a fold-over postcard that was simple and economical to produce, but it contained important elements of good direct marketing: The benefits to the recipient, an offer of a free nutritional guide (which we designed) and a request and mechanism for responding. The response was overwhelming and they hosted two events instead of one to accommodate everyone. To try and reach a niche market like nutritionists wouldn’t have been cost effective with mass media. Direct mail was the right solution for this client’s needs.

Isn’t direct mail expensive?
Direct mail can more expensive than mass media to implement, but often gives a better return on investment. The typical direct mailer receives 2% response rate. With a compelling offer, high impact creative, and the use of methods such as variable data that personalize the mailing, you can increase your response rate.

We had a client who needed sales leads for their insurance agents who sold medical liability insurance to doctors. There were two big problems. The first problem was “who wants to meet with an insurance agent?” and the second one was “doctors are hard to reach.” Doctors are tight for time and have receptionists to open their mail, so we knew getting a mailer into the doctors’ hands was going to be difficult. We used tricks of the trade to create a direct mailer that would get past the receptionist and into the doctors’ hands unopened. The results? Over a 28% response rate!

How do I combine Variable Data Printing with Direct Mail?
Variable data printing allows businesses to personalize their direct mail for higher impact and response rates. Visit the Variable Data Printing section for more information.

Blue Gator has many years of experience with direct mail and has had phenomenal results with many companies, schools and non-profits. We can handle the process from the planning stage, brand and concept development, copy writing, design, printing, mailing list procurement, printing (short run, offset, web, and variable data) to mailing services. Call us to discuss your next direct mail campaign at 800-584-2684 or email us.