Direct mail campaigns can be expensive and the payback expectation can be low percentages. However, with the right message and target audience, these campaigns can generate significant rewards. Before undertaking any campaign, consider all costs generally associated with this marketing endeavor. Ensure you have the adequate budget available and you are delivering an appropriate message to the target audience you are approaching.
When Marketers are asked the average cost of a mailing, generally their response will be the cost of postage, and the print costs. However, the costs are far more when calculated correctly. From the minute you ask your IT team to make a data extract, or you export the data yourself from a CRM database, labour costs have been incurred.
To design and write the direct mail piece whether this is done through your internal Marketing team or an external agency, a cost has been incurred. For any art or photography you are looking to use, more costs.
You may also be conducting follow up responses, telephone calls etc. so when asked the cost of a direct mail campaign, if you consider the real costs, it is vital that it provides you with the return or investment you require, and the results you have predicted.
Taking all this into consideration, how can any direct mail campaign work if the fundamental part of it, your customer data, is not up to date and accurate. You have identified your target audience and made your selections, but have you confirmed the data you are working with is up to date and accurate? If the answer is no, make the change to yes! Don't mail deceased customers, remove all your goneaways and obtain a forwarding address for the movers you weren't aware of.
By using our https secure Marketing webportal, data8online, you are able to identify before print just how accurate your data is. If you have to remove a lot of suppressions you may not even have the target file size you need to mail. In 1 hour, files of up to 100,000 records can be processed, cleansed and delivered ready for your direct mail campaign to go to print. You can even do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Register now to improve your direct mail results, see the results before any commitment to buy.