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Generate Gems, Not Junk, with Direct Mail
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Business New Haven
9/22/1997
By: Deborah Ketai
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Will your next direct-mail piece lead to a gold mine-or straight to the landfill?
“Direct-mail campaigns represent a substantial investment of both time and money that can be very rewarding if done properly - and a waste of resources if results are poor.”
So says Jon Sinish, president of Sinish Communications in Stratford. First, he advises, set specific goals and identify your target market. “What do you want to accomplish: Get leads? Sell an item? Be as precise as you can.”
“Do the math,” says Sinish. “If a project costs you X total dollars [creative, printing, mailing list, mailing, postage, fulfillment of order], figure out how much you need to sell or how many responses you need to meet your goals.”
As soon as you have a rough idea how many pieces you want to mail, and where, call New Haven's Postal Business Center (203-782-7198) or the East Hartford center (toll-free 800-264-7505). Going direct to the source will help clarify the U.S. Postal Service's confusing new classification system and allow you to budget more accurately.
Next, select your list - probably the single most critical element in your direct-mail campaign. The most valuable (read: best targeted) list consists of your own customers and qualified prospects. If you're looking for leads or new markets, though, you may want to contact a list broker.
Says Gene D'Agostino, president of the Marketing Place Inc., in North Haven, “The trend away from mass marketing and toward much more specific demographics makes list-selection more important than ever.”
Advances in technology have made even the largest lists available to small mailers. Some national providers, including Metromail, will now sell you the exact number of names available in the category you want - no more minimum orders or “cost per thousand.”
Some local businesses and organizations, including the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, likewise rent lists. Lorna Lamoureux, the chamber's director of programs and systems, works with both member and non-member mailers to find the most advantageous solution: mailing labels for up to 2,600 people at 1,200 businesses and organizations, or “piggy-back” pieces that go out as inserts in the chamber's own mailings.
“The label route is a little more flexible,” says Lamoureux, in that the chamber will sell partial lists in specific categories or areas. “We try to work with people and give them exactly what and who they want.”
Whether you mail 50 pieces or 50,000, you'll get no response unless people read your message. Patricia Blanchard, owner of PB Graphics in Cheshire, warns that more and more recipients consign anything that looks like junk mail straight to the trash, unopened. “The piece has to be attractive, or no one will look at it,” she says.
In general, Sinish suggests: “Tailor your creative approach to your prospects' needs. Picture yourself in their position as they open and glance at your mailing. Make them want to act on it.”
Finally, remember that each mailing is only one small piece of your overall marketing program. Explains Sinish: “Keep careful records so you can test, test, test. Reaction from your market itself, not your predictions, will determine how well your effort is working. You'll want to know what variable helped the response rate to rise.”
Nancy Pernal, marketing manager for Costco Wholesale in Milford, agrees. Referring to direct mail as “indirect advertising,” Pernal notes that her store is “always testing, trying something new.”
Besides, Sinish chuckles, “It is really fun to watch those responses come back.”
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