Many organizations/companies start direct mail campaigns with unrealistic goals. Expecting a one-time mailing of a postcard or offer to return substantial profits immediately is idealistic, but impractical. The key to getting your return on investment is consistency and a time-commitment.
I’m assuming you’ve taken the time to hire a professional advertising agency to create a great strategy, offer, and design. I’m assuming too, that you have a great product/service and call-to-action.
You should expect on your first mailing a response rate of about zero.
The key to direct mail is consistency; a company must give the campaign time to grow. In general statistics have shown it takes a person being exposed to an offer 2-4 times before they’ll even notice it. Then 5-7 times before they take any action on the offer.
This doesn’t mean you should flood your prospect mailbox with weekly mailings or even bi-weekly mailings. What I’m suggesting is giving your campaign time to mature, a 6-month time commitment minimum. Each month you can tweak the offer and the overall strategy. So by the 6th month your plan is 6 times better than before and your prospects have been exposed to the offer 6 times.
After 6 months you’ll notice a change. It’s a mistake to consider Direct Mail a cost. You need to think of Direct Mail as an investment.
