Secrets Of Effective Direct Marketing Campaigns

It's not unusual for people who are embarking on a new direct marketing campaign to feel a slight twinge of terror, wondering if their hard earned money will be well spent. In today's economy especially, people are more adverse to risk than they were during boom times and that's quite a natural feeling.

However, one of the harsh realities of business is that "if you snooze you lose". You will lose market share, you'll lose sales, and you will lose profits if you do not market your products and/or services.

Essentially, if you do not take qualified risks and instead choose to rest on your laurels you may find yourself out of business in the foreseeable future.

In order forge ahead you probably know that you must advertise. And the results of direct marketing campaigns has proved, over the past hundred years, that it is one of the most cost effective types of advertising available to you.

And although no one has absolute foreknowledge that a particular direct marketing campaign will prove profitable, there are a number of things that you can do to enhance the probability of your success.

The top of your list should be that you make sure that you plan multiple mailings for your direct marketing campaigns.

Sales people who have been in business for any length of time know that most prospects will often say "no" at least five times before they say "yes". Why would this be any different for direct marketing campaigns?

Ultimately, the most effective campaigns are those that have been designed with multiple mailings in mind. Although each piece of mail is different it is built on what was sent before.

Some successful marketers send a minimum of seven pieces through the mail before determining that a prospect should be dropped from the mailing list. The least that most companies consider are three to five different direct marketing pieces. And, if you're marketing on the Internet rather than using snail mail, most marketers have ten, twenty, thirty, or more emails programmed into their autoresponders over the course of a year.

If you are use traditional mail and put postage stamps on your pieces you still should consider sending out at least three pieces.

People who receive your first mailing will either just toss it or, after reading what's on the envelope, open it and read it. Generally the response rate for a first mailing is relatively small.

The second mailing, which is usually sent out three to six weeks after the first, will also either be tossed or opened. If the prospect recognizes your name and reads your offer you are beginning to gain their trust and you should see your response rate increase.

Your third mailing should be sent approximately three to six weeks after the second mailing. It will either be thrown out by people who throw out every piece of unsolicited mail they get, or will be read by folks who probably recognize your name by now.

You will have gained the respect of many prospects who now feel you are not a "here today, gone tomorrow" company. If your piece is well written you should see a dramatic increase in your response rate.

Presuming that your response rate has been increasing, you should continue with this direct marketing campaign, and periodically mail out more pieces until you reach the point of diminishing returns.