Some of you will laugh at the very thought of direct mail, but I can assure you, it’s a great source of connecting with prospects and existing customers alike. Particularly in our overly-junked-up-email world where people tend to pillage their in boxes and delete anything that doesn’t require a personal response. People respond completely differently to direct mail that arrives on their doorstep than they do many other forms of media.

Direct mail can be as basic as a postcard or a letter on letterhead, or as complex as a full “shock and awe” box that has lots of stuff in it that gets your prospect really engaged like CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, books, magazines and just about anything you can fit in the box as we learned when we put a straight razor (sans blade), a shaving brush and more in our boxes that we mail out.

I sent out about 18,000 direct mail pieces last month, and I re-learned a few lessons, just like I always do. Maybe I can save you a few dollars, and a few lessons by sharing some of the most important things I’ve learned over the years about direct mail. And most importantly, if you’re not doing any direct mail, now is the time to start! Almost everyone else has backed off of it due to cost, and now you can swoop into people’s mailboxes and take new customers!

Below is a list of 10 very important things you should pay attention to when sending out direct mail:

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It’s a fact. More accidents, more crime, and more excitement goes on during the weekend than the rest of the week.

It’s bad enough that you have to take risks when you leave the house, but one thing you really need to be mindful of is the amount of risk, or perceived risk, you’re making your prospects take.

Especially new prospects who aren’t familiar with you.

Minimizing your customer’s risk isn’t just something you hear bantered about because “people say you should do it,” it’s something you really need to pay close attention to.

Especially nowadays when it comes to ordering stuff online. And especially if you’ve never done business with a prospect, or if you’re new in business in general, you really want to make people feel at ease about working with you.

So let’s talk about a couple of ways of doing this:

1. Testimonials. Most people think testimonials just credentialize your product, but they also speak to your integrity and your work ethic. That’s why they’re so important. And that’s also why having “big name” testimonials isn’t enough.

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Wording.

Sometimes just a little bit of a change in the way you phrase your message can make a big difference in how people respond to it.

To show you what I mean, go back to the title of this article, “When You Mail Your Next Postcard.” Notice that I didn’t say “If you mail a postcard.” I’m presuming that’s exactly what you’re going to do.

And that’s how you should approach the text and tone of your next message. Work from the assumption that your audience will do business with you. Of course, they’ll do business with you. Why should they go anywhere else?

Writing in this manner may seem a bit presumptive at first. But, I assure you it’s well worth your time to cultivate this very profitable habit.

Using this type of wording needs to become a habit. It needs to be the way your write automatically, without hesitation. In a very real sense, it’s about writing from the perspective that there is no other effective alternative for your reader, but your firm.

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There are times when it makes sense to spend a lot of money on a direct mail package For example, when you really need to make a giant splash, when your mailing list is small and you can afford a high cost-per-piece or when you’re doing a one-shot drop and you don’t have to worry about saving money for remailings.

However, there are times when going with a humble postcard makes a lot of sense. No one knows this better than retailers. If Nordstroms, for example, wants to announce a shoe sale, they don’t send you a letter in an envelope that you have to tear open. They’ll mail you a postcard that instantly screams “Get 15% off on all women’s shoes! Sale ends March 15!”

Yes, retailers know that postcards get read. But you don’t have to be a retailer to put these easy-to-produce, low cost self-mailers to work. You can use a postcard accomplish the following goals:

- Cost-effectively re-contact non-responders to your previous mailings and urge them to act
- Create an inexpensive monthly marketing campaign
- Drive people to your Web site with a special offer
- Tease prospects — let them know that they should be on the lookout for something valuable coming in the mail
- Announce a private sale for recipients of the postcard only
- Thank customers for their business
- Remind customers to do something: “Get ready for summer,” “Rotate your tires,” you name it

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Do you know what the 30 most important seconds of your direct-mail campaign are when it comes to your postcard text?

That’s right! It’s that crucial period when your reader gets his first look at your message. In those brief 30 seconds (at most) he either decides he’ll read on (still with no guarantee of action, though) or he’ll toss it the card in the trash.

Which is it going to be?

And how can you ensure that he’ll hang on to it?

No one can say with extreme confidence that if you as the mailer do A, B and C that he, as the reader, will keep on reading. But there are several steps you can do to increase the odds that those crucial 30 seconds move in your favor.

1) Make it memorable.

Do what it takes to make your copy and your postcard stand out. One writer has called this the purple cow effect. When you drive in the country you’ll pass cow after cow. And every single one of them is black and white, brown or some variation of that. But when you pass a purple cow, you’ll stop your car and say “Wow!”

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If you aren’t using brochures to further promote your business then you could be losing out on customers. Some people feel that since a brochure isn’t likely to generate immediate sells then it is a lost cause. However, that isn’t the case because statistics show consumers generally need to hear and see information about a given business several times before they will make a purchase. That is why you should consider a brochure to be a valuable tool that can help them get headed in the right direction.

Sharing information with potential customers is extremely important. That is why they internet has done so well. People can go online and type in keywords to get information about anything under the sun. However, brochures offer a way for them to have that information readily available. You can mail your brochures even to people that searched for your information online.

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