At times when the Internet allows us to communicate instantly with anyone in the world, the concept of relying on Canada Post to market your business can seem counterintuitive. But for countless small businesses, direct mail marketing not only gets the message across, it regularly attracts new customers.

Basically, direct mail is a type of marketing service that consists of sending cards, flyers and even brochures and other printed items directly to the mailboxes of hundreds or even thousands of customers and potential customers. Whether your business serves individual consumers or other businesses, direct mail can help you maximize the return on your advertising budget by focusing on the addresses most likely to respond to your message.

This is because direct mail creates a one-to-one connection that is difficult for other media channels to match. It allows you to embed coupons, reply cards, QR codes, URLs and other reply mechanisms. In short, direct mail is an excellent connector between your brand and leads, traffic and sales.

Direct Mail: Tips for Using It Better

Considering that most direct mail services handle all aspects of a campaign, from design to submission, there are a lot of things to remember when getting started. To get a better idea of ​​some of the best practices involved in direct mail, we’ve put together some tips on how you can get the most return on your investment in a direct mail campaign.

1. Know Who You Want to Reach

A direct mail campaign can only be successful if it is sent to the type of customer you want to attract. This means that you can use the data you have already collected from your customers, for example, to attract them again. But while this method will save you money in the long run, not every direct mail campaign should be based on an existing customer base – you often want to attract new faces. If that’s the case, you’ll likely get your list directly from the company you hire for the job. RayaCom, for example, sends direct mail to you in the Vancouver and Burnaby area.

In either case, you are usually able to identify exactly which addresses or businesses you want to target with your mailers by selecting specific criteria such as household income, region of town, male or female, single or married, and many others.

2. Get Their Attention

It makes sense that an attractively designed material works better than an uninteresting one. It should have clear, easy-to-read fonts, relevant graphics and clear images. You should also make sure that the material does not contain any spelling or grammatical errors, as they will be visible. If you struggle in this area, there are mailing services that have an in-house design team to help you create the most effective mailers to meet your specifications.

3. Call to Action!

Your direct mailings need to have a strong call to action – that is, they need to include a reason to make that potential customer want to buy or use your products or services. This can be made easier when you offer them a promotion to new customers, like a percentage off a purchase if they bring the direct mail to the store. It’s that call to action that can be the difference between an interested customer and a quick path to the trash.

Also, don’t expect much of a response if you’re only offering a dollar off your next purchase of $100 or more. Make the offer as attractive as possible while still being profitable for you. You may need to experiment to strike the right balance between response rate and profit margin.

4. Track Results

Even if direct mail is not a digital service, you can still extract meaningful data from your campaign. Many direct mail providers have built-in methods to track the return on investment of your direct mail campaign. With the numbers in hand, go analyzing what works best for your company.

But always remember that, like any marketing action, this one also works better if it’s taken over a longer period of time. After all, not all of your potential customers who received your direct mail today will be interested or can buy your product right now. But they might want it in a few months – it’s what we call the purchase curve. That person’s needs or financial situation may have changed, so this should also be taken into account.

Canada Post Direct Mailers

Finally, it’s worth remembering that if you’ve decided to include direct mail in your marketing strategies, we can help you every step of the way. In addition to having a design team that can be responsible for the graphic part, we also send the material to a mailing list selected according to the characteristics you indicate. To contact us, click here.