Many companies make the same mail marketing mistakes because they are more interested in appealing to their prospects’ visual side. This is just one mistake, but there are many others, so we will discuss the eight most common mistakes below:
1. Neglecting to Test
Neglecting to test your direct mail marketing campaigns means that you will not learn valuable information. When you fail to compare the response you receive from one campaign against another, you do not know what you did right, and you cannot repeat it. You also do not learn what you should not do, so you are likely to repeat an unsuccessful strategy.
2. Talking about Yourself
You must remember that prospects are interested in what your product can do for them. They are not reading your brochure or sales letter to find out anything about you. Direct mail campaigns must begin and end with the prospect as the main subject. Your sales letter must ask the prospect if they are having a problem. Then, you can offer your product as a solution to that problem.
3. Failing to Say the Words Your Customers Want to Hear
For example, your customers need to know that there will be “no obligation” to use your services after you offer something for “free.”
4. Failing to Begin with the Best Part
You do not have time to build up to the fantastic product you are offering. Your readers may read your brochure or sales letter for five seconds before they decide to throw it in the trash, so they will never see your fantastic offer.
5. Not Offering Your Customers Anything
The best way to encourage your customers to interact with you is to give them an offer, but it must not be the product you are trying to sell. Then, you can sell the offer rather than the product. When you discuss the offer, prospects will not necessarily respond, but if you are offering a free brochure about the product, more people will take you up on it.
6. Not Paying Enough Attention to the Mailing List
The mailing list is the most important factor in a direct mail campaign. The materials may encourage a lot of people to respond to your offer, but the right mailing list will cause even more people to respond.
7. Creating Beautiful Copy Rather Than Informative Copy
By focusing on giving your prospects informative literature rather than colorful tables and graphs, you will encourage more people to respond to your direct mail campaign.
8. Forgetting to Check Back at a Later Date
Not following up with prospects after they showed interest in your offer causes these warm leads to cool down. Many people do not spend any time on their mailing lists after they send out a mailing, and it is to their detriment.
You can become better at creating direct marketing campaigns, but you will need to put in a little effort. You can read a few books about direct mail marketing and begin to judge your direct mail materials by the results you receive rather than by the looks of the campaign. Then, the common mistakes listed above will be things of the past for your company.