Happy New Year! A whole new decade has begun, and with it comes colder days, slick roads, and the NFL playoffs. For us in Kansas, we have the pleasure of seeing the Chiefs march to the playoffs once again. And at the time of writing this article, Mahomes and company will host the Houston Texans this weekend. Go Chiefs!

Now for business. If you started your direct mail off right in 2020, good for you - keep at it. But if you’re struggling to get a campaign off the ground, here are a few things that might help.

Know Your Product

Know what you’re selling. This might seem obvious, but I’ve seen direct mail pieces with eye-catching art and great offers, but the copy lacked clarity. It’s important to remember that, while it might seem obvious to us what we’re selling, it might not be for our prospects. We musn’t assume our readers know what we’re always up to.

Strive for clarity in both copy and art. Read over each sentence and ensure that each one means only what it could possibly mean and nothing else. The same principle applies to artwork. Ask yourself: does each image, each graphic, each color on this mail piece lead the reader toward understanding the product? If not, then replace or cut it. Sometimes less is more.

Clean Your List

Second, just as your car requires regular maintenance, so does your list. Over time, due to numerous factors, what used to be a good list has devolved into something useless. People move. People lose interest. It’s just the way it goes.

If you’ve been receiving a lot of returns on your mail, it’s a good sign you might need to invest time into cleaning your list. What does “cleaning” here mean? It means making sure names are spelled correctly, addresses are correct, and that the names on your list are either your customers OR people interested in your list. A small, highly-targeted list will perform better than a massive amorphous list.

Create Enticing Offer

Even with a pristine list and clear copy and artwork, you still need more. Why? Because that doesn’t sell them yet. Most prospects need more to convince them. What prevents them from choosing someone over you? After all, a quick Google search will reveal that there are companies who do just what you do. So you have to do more.

That “more” involves creating an enticing offer, one they cannot resist. This is especially the case when someone is first encountering your product or service. The art might have caught their eye. Maybe they read through the whole copy and became convinced. But without that sweet offer, they won’t bite. So include one. Make it clear. Make it good.

To your 2020 Direct Mail Success,

Alex