If you have a name, an address and — most importantly — a credit card, you get mail. Lots of mail. Most of it is designed to sell you something. If it interests you, you read it. If it doesn’t, you toss or recycle it.
Direct mail is one of the most powerful and effective means of reaching your customers. Junk mail is a term used by some for all mail solicitations, but much of that mail is desired. People enjoy receiving catalogs and sales flyers from companies they shop patronize, as well as new product announcements, magazines, gifts and special offers.
We like mail meant for us.
Mail from friends, from companies you like or deal with, mail from groups you admire or support. Mail that is appropriate, meant for and sent specifically to you, is always desirable. If the mail you send treats your customers with respect and doesn’t waste their time, your messages will be welcomed. More importantly, they will be read.
Direct mail is an element of customer service.
Small businesses that develop a mailing list as they grow have a great advantage over any competitors who don’t. Regular communication helps build a relationship with the customer. It also costs less to get an existing customer to buy from you than it would to get a new customer to do the same.
This is why direct mail programs to customers give small businesses a much better return than any other advertising program. A little creative effort in deciding what to mail to your customers to encourage their repeat business is more than worth the effort.
Too much of anything causes problems.
A common but very wrong idea is that the more advertising we do, the more effective it becomes. The opposite is true. Too much of anything causes a shut down of our senses. The goal is to close off whatever is bothering us. The result is that any offensive smell, sight or sound has less of an effect over time.
The same is true for offensive promotions. Too many ads, too many mailings, too many calls and people start to resist. If you sit through a television commercial break where 10 to 15 ads are run, you stop registering anyone’s message before long. If you mail a sales promotion every three or four weeks, you will see response drop off. It’s just too much.
What is junk mail? The simple definition is “mail you don’t want.” Too often, mail is sent out indiscriminately. This is a partial list of the wrong kinds of mail:
- mail offering something the recipient would never want.
- mail sent too frequently to the same audience.
- mail sent to the wrong audience.
- mail that is uninteresting, poorly written, poorly designed or poorly done.
- mail that doesn’t grab the prospect’s attention.
- mail that is deceiving.
- mail offering special pricing that isn’t all that special.
- mail making false promises.
- mail with (*) asterisks that add conditions to an offer.
- mail that arrives too late for a special event or special pricing.
- mail sent just to send something (anything) out.
- mail that has incorrect information or misspelled names.
- mail that is confusing or too difficult to read, and
- mail that offers no benefit.
Effective mail requires thought and planning.
It takes just a little effort to come up with a legitimate reason to mail something like a postcard or a letter to your customers. It has to be good enough to make opening the envelope or turning the postcard over, worth the effort.
When someone gets a piece of mail they have four questions:
- Why are they sending me this?
- Why should I look at it now?
- What’s in it for me?
- What do I do now?
Your job with your postcard or letter or flyer is to answer those questions as quickly and clearly as possible. This means you have to get into the habit of thinking like a customer. What do they want? What do they like? What do they think is important?
Don’t send mail hoping to unload bad buys or merchandise no one wants.
If you have to discount those things, do it in your store, take it to a flea market or sell it off to a reseller. You should never promote things that aren’t moving. It’s something that customers have already told you they don’t want, and promoting unwanted merchandise just sends the wrong message to your customers.
The first thing for your mailing piece (or any kind of promotion) is an offer. It has to be something that will get people to respond. I’m not suggesting a cut in pricing either, because that is a losing game. You also need to tell them what sets you apart from the competition. Next you need to tell them what this product or service will do for them.
Don’t wear out your welcome.
Do remember that even a piece of mail can be an intrusion if it’s something a person doesn’t want, or something that happens too often. Your mail must be something that your customer will be delighted to receive. A thank-you, a birthday greeting, an anniversary card, an offer for a piece of clothing in their favorite color, an offer especially for them, an invitation to a “pre-sale” event or any of hundreds of possibilities that a person would welcome.
It’s a communication.
Each advertisement or piece of mail you send out is a communication to your customers. It lets them know what you are thinking and how you feel about them and how much value you place on them. Mail directed to your existing customers is the most important and can be the most profitable advertising you will ever do. It is worth doing well.
Albert Saxon is president of Saxon Marketing, Indian Orchard, MA.
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