3 Common Direct Mail Mistakes To Avoid

Direct mail marketing, also known as print marketing, is one of the oldest and most influential ways of marketing. While it may not be as lighting fast as digital marketing, it has its advantages. For instance, almost half of Millennials will ignore digital ads, but only 15% will ignore direct mail. Direct mail marketing also yields an average 13-to-1 return on investment.

But before you run off to one of your local printing companies to start creating direct mail postcards and fliers, there are a few common mistakes you need to avoid making. Here are three common mistakes typically made in print marketing.

Unclear Or Missing Call To Actio
The goal of any marketing campaign is to have people respond to it. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get this response when you’re missing the call to action. You need to make sure that this call to action is specific and easy to follow. Highlight the great things a customer will get when they respond, and remember that this is all about the customer when you’re reaching out to printing companies. As previously stated, the goal of print marketing is to get a great customer response.

Designed Without Postal Regulations
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has many regulations on direct mail, and if you don’t follow them it can cost you more in postage. And since postage will be your biggest expense in any print marketing campaign, that means a lot of money wasted. Follow the regulations on where addresses can be placed based on your mail category, as well as the folding and paper-weight regulations. Make sure you know all of these things before you start printing.

Not Sending to a Targeted Mail List
One of the keys to a successful direct mail campaign is the list you mail to. Don’t make the common mistake of thinking that “everyone” could use your service so you don’t really need to target a specific population. Although this could be correct in theory, with direct mail you could be wasting thousands of dollars mailing to someone who doesn’t necessarily need your service. You should always look at your current customers, identify where they live and certain characteristics that make them unique so that you can try to find similar people. You wouldn’t want to mail a direct mail piece about baby formula to an elderly bachelor. The mailing list you send to will have a direct reflection on your response rate.

When you’re working with printing companies for your direct mail campaign, keep these three common mistakes in mind. You want to make sure you avoid them, as they could cost you time, money, and even affect your ROI!