When you contemplate your next direct mail effort, aren’t you sometimes tempted to bust out from convention, break some rules, and try something that you and only you will ever think of? You know, the kind of package that someday will land you in the direct mail hall of fame? (Well, at least there’s a book by that name.)
But that’s an exercise in wrong thinking and you know it. Because if direct mail is about any one thing, it’s about sticking with what works and doing so with creative gusto and keen marketing savvy.
Printed newsletters, for example, never seem to go out of style. They are old school to the core and yet remain successful as a direct mail category because they say to each person on the mailing list: “You’re one of us.” And who doesn’t enjoy that feeling?
How to Get the Most from Your Newsletter
By the very nature of them, newsletters are most effectively employed by service businesses, medical practices, financial planners, accounting firms, clubs and organizations, and others with an ongoing story to tell. That’s who can benefit most from an ongoing newsletter campaign. Here’s the how part of the story.
- Send them on a scheduled basis, such as bi-monthly or quarterly. You don’t want their arrival to seem random.
- Use the pages to inform and not overtly sell. Once you’ve earned a customer’s or member’s trust, the sales aspect will take care of itself.
- Include “special offer” coupons, if appropriate, for members or customers only. That’s one way to demonstrate that your newsletter is just for those who have stuck with you.
- Keep the content interesting even if the subject matter is technical and inherently boring. It never hurts to sprinkle the pages with such add-ons as “strange but true” facts, recipes for people who don’t have much time to cook, little known facts about your community’s past, and so on.
- To help you put the lid on copy length, use QR codes linking readers to your website for more information on topics that can’t properly be covered in 400 words or less. Linking people to your website is a great tracking mechanism, too.
- Two-pages usually make for a long enough newsletter…make four pages the maximum. Otherwise, your little newsletter can become a quarterly report. which is the last thing you want to let happen.
- Include a “letter from the president” or “owner” …your readers want to know that even at the highest levels, your team is accessible and responsive.
- Add a newsletter sign-up graphic and page to your website that includes a PDF link to the current issue.
In closing, I know what you’re thinking. Why bother with a printed newsletter when an electronic version would cost considerably less and be just as effective? Yes, it would cost less, but no, it would not be just as effective. We’ll cover that in a future blog. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by.
