1. Your list is the most crucial element of your mailing. It can account for up to 60% of your mailing's success. It must reflect your primary target market, include names (for business, titles are not enough,) and it must have been recently updated. In addition, lists are "rented" to you for one-time or n-time use, and are "seeded" with names to ensure compliance to usage terms. Names are sent directly to your mailing house or lettershop. Only those individuals that respond to your mailing become your property.

   Mail order/buyer/response lists contain the names of people who have either inquired about or purchased certain products or services, and may contain information as to Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value (RFM) of their purchase. These are the most valuable lists since these individuals have responded to direct mail solicitations in the past. Subscription lists contain the names and addresses of people who have subscribed to a particular publication, and are useful for obtaining names of individuals with very clearly defined interests. Compiled lists are derived from public or published sources, such as telephone directories or census data, and the list is only as good as the original source.

   List rental costs: Expect to pay between $75 and $140 per 1,000 (M) names, plus $5-10/M per select. Selects allow you to get a more narrowly defined list. For example, to get the names of all university professors who teach English in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, you may need to pay for five selects (the names, the subject taught, and three geographical regions.)
   
   

2. A standard lead-generating direct mail package contains an outside envelope, a one- or two-page letter, plus a reply device. It may contain an inexpensive brochure if it is important for prospects to see your product. A package can outperform a self-mailer by a ratio of 4:1.
   
   
3. Your no-risk, no-obligation offer should encourage prospects to contact you for more information NOW. Your primary objective is to generate interest and to obtain the prospect's name and contact information. Offer free information, a free trial period, a free product sample, or a money-back guarantee. Use a time-limited offer, or some pressing issue (i.e., Y2K, an impending price increase, or limited truckload shipment) to provide urgency.
   
   
4. Mail to a person-not to a title or company. And if your budget allows, use a lettershop service to personalize each letter and reply form. Print the name and address on the outside envelope, or use a window envelope and ensure that the personalized information on either the letter or the reply form shows through. Examples: "Dear Electronics Enthusiast," Dear Mr. Jones." Talk to your audience. Use "you," and "your."
   
   
5. The outer envelope must motivate your reader to open your package. If you can't get them to open the envelope, your mailing goes into the garbage. Use a strong benefit statement, irresistible teaser copy, testimonial, offer, or question that ties in with the letter. Example: "Learn how to earn $5,000 per month in your spare time." Use a more subtle approach for business-to-business mailings.
   
   
6. Experts are divided on the effect of metered mail versus a stamp on response rates. Metered mail will give you a bigger company image because only small businesses use stamps. First class postage adds to the perception of personalized correspondence, but it increases both costs and response rates, since third class (or bulk mail) is considered "junk" or mass mail.
   
   
7. The letter: body copy. Long copy gets read-but you must hold your reader's interest.
   • Use simple language that an eighth grade student could understand-even if you're mailing to a university professor.
     
   • Forget proper grammar, and concentrate on simulating a conversational tone. Use short, but varied sentence and paragraph lengths, contractions, sentence fragments, em-dashes, parentheses-whatever "sounds" like natural speech.
     
   • Use a signature that looks real.
     
   • Hook your reader in the first five lines of your letter with a strong benefit statement or your offer. Try a PAR (problem, action/solution, results) approach. Example: "The inability of an accounting system to properly manage the intricacies of GST could potentially cost your construction company thousands of dollars. The XYZ accounting system calculates […] which will ensure that you only pay the GST that's due."
     
   • Use a headline to grab attention and pull your reader into the body copy. Use subheads, bulleted and numbered lists to facilitate reading and to emphasize major points. Use a PS (post-script). After the envelope and letter's headline, it's the most read copy. Reiterate your [time-limited] offer, or a strong benefit statement.
     
   • Provide both an emotional and logical reason to act. Unless you strike an emotional chord, your prospect won't be motivated to act. However, they need to justify their decision on a logical basis, especially in business.
     
   • Never finish a sentence or paragraph at the end of a page. This will force the reader to keep reading. The end of each page should provide instructions. Example: "Please turn over," or "Continued on next page."

8. There are two parts to getting a response: asking for a response, and offering several ways for the reader to reach you. Ask the prospect to do something-ask them to go to your Web site to download a demo, call you for a demonstration, or mail in a reply card for more information. Response mechanisms include a [toll-free] phone number, fax, Business Reply Envelope (BRE), e-mail, a store visit, or registration via your Web site. If you use a postage-paid BRE, you'll only pay postage for each response you receive.

Tip of the month:

A simple direct mail package will generate up to four times as many leads as a self-mailer. You need an outer envelope, a one- or two-page letter, and a reply device.

© 2000. Danna Yuhas, Market Impact. All rights reserved. For more information call (416) 410-5608 or reach us via e-mail at results@market-impact.com. Or visit our Web site at www.market-impact.com