Direct Mail has been a big hit during the pandemic. With the lockdown restrictions, digital fatigue has kicked in and with people stuck at home, receiving something interesting in the post seems to be a welcomed distraction. 

It makes it the perfect medium for any brand that targets their product/service at Joe Public, as they’re a sitting (bored) target. 

Did you know that direct mail campaigns recently have the highest response rates ever recorded by the Data and Marketing Association at 9%? For the same period in 2019, the rate was 6.5%, to read the article, click here.

Here at SSL, we completely understand that marketing budgets may have been cut, but it doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of having a go!  You can start small, segment your database, and create a lovely personalised piece.

Here are four tips to help you get started: 

1) Segment your mailing list

To segment means to split. So, split your database into categories, that might be into the industry, what they have bought from you, etc. you will only know how to split the data best when you have a clear picture what the DM piece is going to be about. 

How does the mailing pack, it’s content, or the offer relate to them?

How can you make it more personal to them? Which brings us to our next tip

2) Use a professional design

You need the pack to stand out on the doormat and keep the reader’s attention all the way through. If it’s boring and looks naff, it’ll go straight in the bin.

We have an in-house design team who have been designing awesome DM packs for a while now. You need to consider quite a few things when designing an item that is to be machine enclosed; however, if the quantities are low and there’s an element of personalisation matching, it might be as quick to do by hand and therefore less design restrictions.

3) Personalise the pack

You obviously need to personalise the outer, so it finds its way to the correct house. But go further than this and personalise the inside too and not just the salutation (Dear John), but other parts of the offer.

By personalising your pack, it increases the response rate as you’ve captured their attention.

We’ve seen a mailing piece addressed to the owner and all the way through the pack it referred to their dog or cat and their names were mentioned all the way through.  The data split here was dog and cat owners as the imagery (as you’d expect) altered throughout. 

4) Include an offer and also a call to action

Incentives and offers really work, whether its 10% and free delivery, a free audit, consultation, you name it they work. But be clear on how they need to respond by adding a clear call to action. 

CTA’s are more difficult with an offline-pack as there are no buttons to click, they offline call to actions are; Call us on…, email us here…or scan the QR code.

If you think you’d like to give it a go and would like to talk to us further to explore your options, please email us on hello@ssldirectmail.co.uk or call 01225 249035