Direct mail

Direct Mail Roadmap

Starting with Direct Mail

You want to expand your marketing activities with a direct mail campaign (DM). Where do you start with direct mail? Below we have described the step-by-step Roadmap for the process of sending a mailing. It is a convenient tool for preparing, performing and analysing a DM-action. By accurately going through each step you will eventually come to a good direct mail with maximum benefits.

  1. Determine your strategy

Who do you want to reach with the mailing? Is the direct mail send to existing customers or only to prospects? Describe the most important goals of your mailing, for example:

  • Expanding your market by attracting new customers, generate more traffic on your webshop or local shop, realise upsell, positioning a product or service in the market.
  • Retain customers: do you want to strengthen the relationship with your existing customer by offering discounts or are you trying to reactivate former customers?
  • Cross-selling: do you want to offer your existing customers other products or services as well?
  1. Select your target group(s)

The addresses are selected based on your goal.  A well-selected address database could get you up to 15% more ROI on your mailing according to research carried out by the University of Groningen. You determine the selection criteria based on your goal – for example, geographic (postcode/home address) and demographic criteria (sex/age, etc), interests (hobbies) or industry criteria. These selection criteria are important for the relevance of the mailing. You can enrich the customer data with customer history as well.

 

Direct Mail Roadmap

Many companies handle their own database with data about the target group. This helps to differentiate between top, medium and small customers. This way it is possible to sort out the target group in order to make a special offer for that target group. If your company is using its own database it is recommended to screen and update it regularly. This prevents you from sending mailings to old addresses. You can also buy the data of the target group if you do not have that data yourself. There are various companies in the Netherlands where you can purchase up-to-date customer data for both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).

Direct Mail Roadmap
  1. Mail feasibility check – address optimisation

Before the direct mail is sent, it is advisable to perform a mail feasibility check at a company specialised in data services. This quality check removes wrong addresses from your base. The number of complaints about name and address data will also be reduced this way. You will save on unnecessary shipment costs, (postal) returns, printing company costs and fulfilment costs by performing the mail feasibility check.

  1. Direct mail content

After the target group has been selected and the address details have been checked on quality it is time to determine the content of the direct mail. Start by determining the message: what is the reason for the direct mail? Use the AIDA-formula for the text:

  • Attention -> Catchy headline to grab the attention
  • Interest -> Arouse interest in the reader
  • Desire -> Create a need in the reader
  • Action -> Make the reader take action: buy !

Incorporate a unique offer in the direct mail so that it is interesting for the reader to respond. Capitalise on buyers’ emotions of savings and give the customer a one-time offer, a temporary discount or a gift. Or add an interactive element, a competition or a game in which the customer can participate.

An announcement (teaser) of the main mailing generates more substantial attention and to keeping the main mailing itself. Sending a reminder after the main mailing will have the effect of increased responses.

Tips for more response:

  • Make sure that you can measure what the mailing brings in by adding a clearly specified response possibility, such as a reply form with a pre-printed return envelope, via a personal URL or QR-code, or specify the branch address of your shop.
  • Pre-print as many customer data on the reply form as possible.
  • Clearly specify all response options, such as website, e-mail address and phone number.
  • Offer plenty of choice: ‘Please send me more information’, ‘Yes, I want to receive …’, ‘Please contact me’ or ‘I will not take up this offer, but keep me informed’. Also offer the option ‘I am not interested, because …’
  • Capitalise on a momentum with the mailing by building on a specific moment in the life of the receiver or capitalise on a special event (birthday, national holiday, sports event, birth, etc)
  • Use risk-reducing elements: Add a sample or think of a testimonial, money back guarantee promotion or free returns.
  1. Direct mail creation

Four things are important when creating a good mailing:

  • Message,
  • Text,
  • Design and
  • Response-enhancing elements.

Likeability

The ‘likeability’ of the mailing has the most effect on the response and also contributes highly to the valuation of your brand. How do you increase that likeability?

  • Make sure that the mailing stands outfrom all other communication publications that your target group receives. This can be done in various ways, for example by eye-catching colours, a deviating size or other surprising elements.
  • Limit the use of a letter. Research has shown that a mailing without a letter is appreciated by 49% of the recipients as opposed to 19% of the recipients who do appreciate receiving a letter.
  • Also limit the amount of text in your mailing. Mailings with less than 25% of text can increase the commercial reach with 50%. In other words: A picture is worth a thousand words!
  • Add a gadget. The ‘bulge’ in the envelope or in the foil still incites curiosity. A premium can even increase the commercial reach with 33%.
  • The mail item has to fit in the letter box so it should not be too big. (Please note! There are general directives with which the mailing should comply, depending on the distributor of your choice. PostNL has described these conditions in its manual. Brochure terms and conditions for designing your mail consignments).
  • Mind the weight when sending mailings, given the postage costs. See our tips on > Saving on postage
  1. Direct mail production

The way of producing depends mainly on the volume. It is customary for small volumes to print the direct mail. In the event of big volumes, the direct mail is usually printed by a printing company or with the latest technology, full-colour inkjet. The advantage of digital print work is that you can personalise the text and image by way of variable data printing. A combination of the two forms of printing is also possible. The paper is first pre-printed by a printing company in, for example, the corporate colours after which it is printed on paper.  And there are certainly other possibilities as well. Ask a direct mail company for the possibilities.

Keep your eye on the expenses. There is a lot of price difference between paper types and finishing such as folding and scoring of the mail can bring additional costs. Also, the direct mail has to be put in envelopes, which of course also costs money.

  1. Test

Testing your direct mail takes a lot of time but it pays off.  When you split the mail base in half and send different versions to each group you can measure which mailing has the biggest impact. You will then optimize the direct mail with the best result so that eventually the mailing gets better and better.

  1. Send a follow-up direct mail

There are various ways to send the direct mail. You can find an overview with the various rates on the website of PostNL. The mailing can also be sent by other specialists and postal operators such as Nic. Oud. We work together with all Dutch postal services and are also specialised in international mail. We have a lot of knowledge about the distributing and delivery possibilities, nationally or internationally. It is often the larger direct mail companies who have volume contracts with postal distributors such as PostNL. It is possible for you to profit from these volume contracts with your post.

  1. Measure and follow-up response

An effective mailing asks for a well-organised and fast follow-up of the response. You should also determine a correct return address and make a plan for the return follow-up. Keep the following factors in mind:

  • Which return address do I put on the mailing for the returns?
  • Is it necessary to print a 2D-barcode for automated return processing?
  • Do we have enough people available to follow-up requests from customers?
  • Is there sufficient own stock of products and stock at the suppliers to meet the (increased) demand?

It is a good idea to open a free post number if your mailing is focussed on consumers and you expect a response by post. This lowers the threshold to respond to the direct mail and the response by post will be higher this way. It is advisable to inform staff, the departments involved and your call centre about the direct mail, the offer or the campaign. They can get up to speed with the direct mail so that they know instantly what it refers to should an interested person call.

Often an estimate is made of the expected response in advance.  This means that the capacity to process it can be taken into account. The first response days are crucial. 80% of the respondents respond in the first week. It is advisable to register this response in a database. This information can be valuable in the future. The reply cards should be counted to find out how many people responded. You can do this yourself, but if there is a big amount of reply cards it is also possible to transfer it to a fulfilment-party. The response can also be measured in the event of a link of a discount or promotion code to the direct mails. Haven’t received any response?  That’s a lesson as well. You could for example call a number of non-respondents to ask them why they haven’t responded to the mailing. This feedback can be taken into the next DM-campaign. Process corrections in names, addresses and wrong addressees indicated on the returns in your database immediately.  You can remove data from people who have indicated that they do not appreciate receiving the mailing from your mail base.

  1. Evaluation

The more a direct mail is sent, the better the mailing is in the end. It is therefore important to evaluate each mailing. What went well and what could have gone better? A result evaluation can show what could be improved next time.

  • Do the effects of the mailing justify the expenses incurred?
  • Compare your first estimates with the actual results. Do they match? Why or why not?
  • What are the lessons learned and what are the improvement areas for this mailing?
  • Which tests would you want to build-in next time?
  • A pre-test of your mailing makes it possible to get prior insight in the expected response without first having to go through the entire circle.

Make a plan for a follow-up action based on your evaluation.

Direct mail makes it possible to calculate the power and the result of the medium based on the number of mailings you have sent, the expenses incurred and the realised turnover. There are various tools on the internet which enable you to calculate this.

Contact

Wil je Direct Mail versturen?

Wij denken graag met je mee om maximale respons uit jouw printmarketing actie te halen. Neem direct contact op met één van onze direct mail specialisten voor advies. Of vraag een vrijblijvende offerte aan.

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