Very interesting article by a US BASed copy writer..But VERY relevant to us !
In a down economy, company budget-cutters are usually in a rush to slash direct mail expenses. After all, they reason, if we can bring in the same revenue and spend less, our profits will increase.
That’s not a bad thought but unfortunately, events usually don’t work out that way. More often than not, we can improve the mailing’s profitability by adding to the package rather than by subtracting from it.
Although there are ways to cut costs without hurting the effectiveness of our mailing.
For example, we can trim the size of the package components to make them run more efficiently on the printing press, test smaller formats, use a less costly paper, remove the insert or drop the premium offer.
But we don’t want to act rashly.
Before getting caught in the stampede to cut direct mail costs, it’s important that we remember the mailing’s objective.
And for most of us, the objective is to make money–not save money. Saving money and making money are the same thing and this is a huge distinction.
You can enhance your mailing’s profit even as you increase its cost by:
- Feature an involvement technique. Add a survey, membership card, petition, name stickers, a certificate–anything that gets the reader involved with the package. You can’t, however, just add the involvement device to the package and expect it to work its magic. You must incorporate it into the copy and give it a rationale for being there.
- Use a separate insert to promote the premium. I’m a strong believer in premiums and need a reason not to include one. You don’t need to spend lots of money of the premium–it can be as simple as a decal, white paper, or a paper bookmark. The recipient, however, does to perceive the premium as having value..Some groups, believing that they cheapen the value of the organization, refuse even to test a premium. Yet most customers and donors respond well to them and, when used properly, a premium–despite its added cost–will increase the mailing’s net profit.
- Test a larger format. Mailing a bigger format is virtually certain to add to your production and postage costs. Yet because fewer groups are mailing the larger formats, they are virtually certain to stand out in the mailbox and help deliver greater response. Today, fewer groups are using oversize formats because of the higher costs yet in past tests, when nothing other than the format size was changed; I’ve seen response increase by 100% when using an oversize format.
- Emphasis your guarantee with a separate insert. The mailing’s recipient has plenty of reasons–real or perceived–not to respond to your offer and the guarantee helps remove any uncertainty that might otherwise endanger the sale. And by highlighting your guarantee with a separate insert, you’re calling attention to your promise of a good customer experience.
- Add a lift note. The lift note has many uses and should be signed by someone other than the letter signer and printed on a paper stock different from what’s used for the letter. Use it to customize the offer to particular list segments, present an endorsement, expand upon the offer and to give an added “push” to get the reader to respond.
- Spend money on list segmentation. Even the best mailing lists include names that won’t respond to your offer and every bad list includes names that will. And because selecting the right lists for your offer is the most essential element of a profitable direct mail campaign, investing money to refine your list segmentation techniques is money well spent. List modeling/profiling isn’t cheap but with improved segmentation you can maximize your response and even reduce your total costs by mailing fewer, but better targeted, mailing pieces.
Please understand, I’m not suggesting that you stop trying to cut costs. I am, suggesting, however, that making a profit should be our focus–not cutting costs. And, as professional direct marketers, we must now shift the conversation from how to cut costs to how we can maximize our mailing’s net income.
Hugh Chewning provides direct mail copywriting, strategies and consulting for consumer, nonprofit and business-to-business groups. Located in Irvine, California, Hugh provides proven tips on how to boost your campaign’s profitability in his free blog, Direct Mail Insight. To subscribe, and for information on his free, no-risk package critique, visit http://www.cdmdirect.com.
