One of the most often asked questions is "How do I get started?"

Due to differences in products and target markets, you do not necessarily have to methodically follow all 9 steps listed here, but most would help you achieve a higher response. Collectively, the 9 steps mean a substantial increase to the overall reaction to those you target. A quality list by itself is not a guarantee for success.

Response means those who react positively to your mailing - buy your products or ask for more details, a request for a salesman to call, or for you to send a catalogue, price list etc. Direct Mail can be used to either sell your products or to soften up your target market for a later sell.

We cannot, of course, guarantee you will receive an incredible response but, here are a few simple steps to substantially increase your chances of success and hopefully, convince you that selling by mail is "The" way to sell in the future.

Following most of the steps listed could increase your response.

1. TARGET USING THE RIGHT LIST
If your product does not appeal to large or small firms, select only those which are right for you. Careful targeting alone can double response rates and it may be worth spending time and extra money on selection than mailing a List which is too broad a coverage. Direct Mail is all about selectivity.

Boise Direct deals with many list brokers and can help you find the right list.

2. TIMING FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT
Try to avoid arriving on a Monday. This seems to be the time for bills and a high percentage of other peoples' mailings seem to get delivered as they are usually sent 2nd Class at the end of the week. The Post Office delivers them over the weekend/Monday. So it is a bad time to be received.

Best to Mail out MONDAY or at least no later than Wednesday to arrive mid/end of week for 2nd Class Mailing. Other timing factors to be considered are, of course, seasonal buying habits of your targeted market and holidays, which could also reduce responses.

3. ORIGINAL CONTENTS
How often have you received the same type of brochure/letters all looking the same and saying it in the same old fashioned way?

Yours should be different "Copy" which will make your audience look twice and find it hard to put it in the Bin.

Think what you can do to achieve a Mailing, which stands out from the rest, one that is not boring and really does make your services worth investigating.

4. STATE BENEFITS 
Just what are you trying to say. Don't cloud your offer with too many funny words. What are your unique selling points? Why are you better than your competitors? Include the benefits to your potential clients, perhaps put each benefit in Bolder Print to make them stand out, and then beef up the "Copy" to make it look more interesting and easier to read in plain English.

5. EASY RESPONSE
This step alone can make a big difference to responses. Put an addressed reply card or envelope in the mailing. Put an Order Form or ask them to check boxes for various types of action.

Put your Fax, Telephone Number or Email address for that quick response for those who can't wait for the Post Office.

6. BUSINESS NAME PERSONALIZATION
When you are mailing to Businesses, the best form of Personalizing is to use the Business Name in the Copy. Laser Letters can achieve this. For example, you could say something like this when mailing a company called XYZ Ltd.
 

Dear Productivity Improver, The Amazing new Rivet Machine Could save XYZ Ltd 50% Production Costs As one of the leading Precision Engineering Companies, I am sure that XYZ Ltd is always on the lookout for ways to improve productivity in reducing riveting time. Our new machine is designed to increase your productivity at a very competitive price. This fully guaranteed machine is an amazing feat of British Engineering and just look at the following features to save you production cost...etc..etc

This type of letter is lively, gets to the point quickly and spells out the benefits in plain English in the opening paragraphs.

Personalization can also be used to make the copy of the letter match the type of lists being mailed. In other words, change the copy to have empathy with the different types of Lists you have selected.

Incidentally, try to avoid the "Dear Sir/Madam" letter salutation. Instead, in the absence of a named contact, a salutation in key with the relationship of the type of product/person reading is better.

For example, "Dear Car Fleet Buyer", "Dear Training Course Attendee", "Dear Computer Stationery User", "Dear Delivery Service Purchaser". Surely you must be able to think of a more suitable salutation for your Products/Market than "Dear Sir/Madam"! In fact, let the salutation set the theme for the letter as we have done in our example letter above.

7. SPLIT TEST ANALYSIS
Try several different letters or different enclosures using the same List, but split into two parts. Test one letter or brochure against another to arrive at the best one. Then test another against the best previous one to see if you can beat it still more in terms of response. You must remember to put Codes on your Reply Literature so you will be able to identify which "Mailing Pack" the response came from.

8. REPEAT SAME LIST MAILING 
Why mail a List just once? As our Business Lists can be sold for multiple mailings, and not just rented only for one time use, you can mail our Lists as many times as you like. If the first mailing was profitable, it very often follows that subsequent mailings to the same List will also be successful. Indeed, many of our customers have mailed over and over again with consistently, good results every time. 

9. BEST CONTACT STYLING 
Not all Business Lists have a named contact, and indeed the ones that have, cannot be 100% up to date because of frequent changes. So styling to the most relevant person for purchasing your products is the best method of approach.

When you are targeting the larger Companies choose openings like "The Photocopy Buyer", or "The Office Equipment Manager", to pin down the person who will buy a specific type of product which you are selling.

 For more help call 208-375-1030 or click on the Contact Us link in the upper-left navigation bar.