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195Chapter 13: Mailing Direct to Your Market

Direct mail success factors

Direct mailers are among the easiest of all marketing communications to
monitor for success. With each mailing, you know exactly how many pieces
you’re sending and therefore how many prospects you’re reaching. And
because direct mailers almost always request an easy-to-track direct
response (in the form of a sale, an inquiry, a visit to your business, or some
other prospect action), within weeks you can count the responses to learn
the effectiveness of your direct mail effort.

To increase your chances for success, consider that the most successful
direct mailers all rely on these three important factors:

ߜ A targeted list: To be great, a list must reach genuine prospects for
your product or service. (See Chapter 2 for help in creating a prospect
profile.)

ߜ A compelling offer: The offer is the deal — the catalyst to which the
consumer reacts.

ߜ An attention-getting format: Some mailers involve nothing more than a
regular or oversized (jumbo) postcard. Others involve only a good sales
letter in a white envelope. Some are elaborate packages that contain
samples, and other enclosures (including brochures, CDs, or product
samples). Just be sure that your approach is consistent with the brand
image of your business (see Chapter 7) and capable of meeting your
advertising objectives (see Chapter 8).

Building your direct mail list

Direct mail programs are successful only when they involve mailing lists full
of names of people who match your prospect profile to a tee (see Chapter 2).
With all other forms of advertising, you match media selections to your
market profile in general, but with direct mail, your marketing investment is
aimed precisely at those prospects who possess the exact characteristics
that make them likely to buy from your business:

ߜ Demographic lists include addresses for people who match the age, pro-
fession, household income, and so on of those most apt to purchase
your products.

ߜ Geographic lists include addresses for people who live in the cities or
ZIP code areas that match your market area.

ߜ Geodemographic lists include the addresses of individuals in your tar-
geted geographic market area who also match the demographic attrib-
utes of your prospect profile. For example, a geodemographic list might
target prospects in a specific ZIP code area who live in homes assessed
at $500,000 or more.