Direct Mail: Direct Mail Response Rates Low? Eliminate these Mistakes

Direct Mail Response Rates Low? Eliminate these Mistakes

Written by Alan Sharpe

Are your direct mail response rates lower than you expect? Check your sales letter or direct mail package against this checklist to uncover repparttar

reasons for your poor response.

LIST
You are mailing to people who are never likely to buy
You are not mailing to others in repparttar 150500 same business who influence repparttar 150501 buying decision
Your list is out of date
Your names and addresses are not formatted correctly for proper delivery
Your list has job titles only, not names

FORMAT
You are using repparttar 150502 wrong format for your audience (self-mailers to professionals, for example)
Your letter and brochure are not complete sales pitches in themselves
Your liftnote or buckslip confuses your offer or main selling promise

ENVELOPE
Your envelope gives too much away, so your prospects throw it away unopened
Your mailing envelope looks like junk mail
Your package is addressed to “Occupant” and not to a person by name

MESSAGE
Your letter lacks a strong, customer-focussed headline
The opening line in your letter is not compelling
You spell your prospective customer’s name incorrectly
Your letter lacks specifics about product size, weight, color and other vital details
You discuss product features but not customer benefits
You talk too much about your company and not enough about your reader
You do not create enough desire
Your letter lacks urgency
You do not offer a guarantee

Direct Mail Response Rate Boosters (10 of them)

Written by Alan Sharpe

1. Mail to a different list

Your list is repparttar most important part of your direct mail campaign. Who you mail to is more important than what you mail. So if you are persuaded that your offer is attractive, your creative is compelling and your timing is spot on, mail to a different group of people and see what happens

2. Change your offer

The offer is repparttar 150409 most important part of your direct mail package after your list. So if your response rates are lacklustre, change your offer (my thanks to fellow direct mail copywriter Bob Hacker for this counsel).

3. Improve your creative

Maybe your response rates are depressed because your package is depressing. Why not mail something else, something radically different? Instead of a letter, mail a postcard. Instead of a self-mailer, mail a dimensional mailer. Even hire a brand new direct mail copywriter, someone who will add a fresh set of eyes to your challenge. Just make sure that your new creative is different enough from your existing package that you’ll know that it made repparttar 150410 difference when your response rates change.

4. Mail at a different time

Timing is vital in direct mail. So check yours. Are you mailing to repparttar 150411 right people at repparttar 150412 right time of repparttar 150413 year and repparttar 150414 right time of repparttar 150415 week? Check and make sure. test your hunches by mailing during a different time slot and see what happens.

5. Offer better payment options

Offering payment by credit card boosts response. Offering a credit or “bill-me” plan will improve results by 50% or more (says Richard Benson).

6. Offer a premium

Instead of a cash discount, offer a premium (such as an Apple iPod).

Cont'd on page 2 ==>