Direct Mail Statistics

At some point most small or new businesses decide to try a direct mail marketing program. Direct mail is one of many ways for a business to market their product or services. One of the first things you need to consider are the Direct Mail Statistics and before you embark on a direct mail campaign you need to estimate what your typical response rate should be.

It can be very hard to estimate what the response rate might be on some campaigns, so it is helpful to keep in mind what the industry average is. The industry average response rate is around 2.6%. Keep in mind though that is just an average. If you count on getting a response rate of 2.6% you might be really disappointed when your response rate is possibly as low as .2%. Also take in to account your product or service. If you have a high-end product or service then a .2% response rate might be average for your industry and still a very good response rate.Keep in mind that these Direct Mail Statistics are the industry average.

A good way to figure out what kind of response rate your looking for is to figure out what your break even point is going to be. This is the percentage of sales achieved from the direct mail campaign that will be needed in order to cover the costs of the direct mail campaign. If your break even point is too high you might want to reconsider doing the campaign or maybe changing things to make it cheaper.  Direct Mail Statistics won’t help you figure out your own break even point, but they can help you decide if your campaign might be close to the goal of breaking even.

Direct Mail Statistics can help you to decide whether a campaign will possibly work, but sometimes it is best to just try out a small campaign to see If the smaller campaign works well then try increasing the size of it. If it doesn’t, then try making some changes before deciding it isn’t working. No matter what, always keep your expectations on the outcome at a reasonable level. It is better to underestimate and do better then you think you will, then to overestimate and do worse.

One of the resources I use all the time to test out direct mail campaigns is 1800postcards.com.  1800postcards is super cheap, has all sorts of printing services and will even do your design if you don’t have anyone on staff.  I used to use a local printer but switched because the prices at 1800postcards were just too good…

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Direct mail marketing is easy. It’s one of the quickest, cheapest, and most actionable forms of advertising. But it amazes me how many people don’t understand what they are doing when it comes to putting a good campaign together!

Here’s an example. I got an over-sized piece in the mail from a local bank. It’s about 4 inches x 6.5 inches. In big letters it says, “Does Your FREE Checking Account Earn 4.05%?” Then there are three rates underneath (and this ugly picture of a guy getting his toupee blown off..).

When I got it in the mail, I glanced at it, read the headline, and promptly threw it in the trash. In fact, I would scan it in and post it here – but I had to dig it out of the garbage can and don’t want to goo up my scanner.

Quite simply, this card didn’t do anything for me. There was no action step. There was no incentive. In fact, all it said was, “Visit your nearest branch and be WOWed!” What do I care? I am perfectly happy banking where I am at.

Like our friends at the bank, there are so many ways we can screw up a direct mail piece. Some are less obvious than others, but I want you to spend your money wisely. So we’re going to take a minute and go through ways to boost your response rate using direct mail..

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