The key to a winning hand in direct mail is the King: content. Great content is what captures your audience and keeps them coming back. Great content also helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field, which breeds trust with your audience.
Even if you aren’t a writer, you can create relevant and engaging content with these three simple steps:
1. Ask: Who is my audience? What is your audience demographic – average age, gender, income, education, profession, household type, interests and activities, etc. If you own a family-themed pizza restaurant, for example, your target audience will be families with children under a certain age. If you own a dry cleaners, your target audience is probably working professionals within a 5-mile radius. Once you know who your audience is, you can use a mailing list service to find where they are. Then you can start to develop content that speaks to them.
2. Give your audience what they want – when, where, and how they want it. You must know what your audience wants from you. What do you offer that they are interested in? How do they want to receive the information you offer? Some audiences may want a small postcard that is easy to read and digest, while others might want a booklet with more detailed information on what you offer. Or maybe your audience wants a QR code on their mailer so that they can go directly to your website.
How do you know what your audience wants? Measure and test. Try sending a booklet and a postcard. A postcard with a QR code and one with just your phone number. Then measure response rates. As you measure and test, taking what works best and rejecting what doesn’t, you’ll hone in on what your audience wants.
3. Be consistent. Consistency in your content is key in building relationships with your audience. Even though your mailers might change from time to time, and the way you represent your brand should remain consistent. For example, if you‘re sending out a spring-themed mailer you might want to add images of eggs or a bunny. That’s fine! What about turning your primary-toned logo into pastel hues? Not fine – the colors in your logo (as well as the typeface, tagline, etc.) are part of your brand. And your brand is what defines you and makes you recognizable.
Tone is another important aspect of your brand, and one that should also remain consistent across your marketing materials. If you own a company that provides medical services to seniors, for example, your content probably uses a professional, authoritative tone. If you were to suddenly create a mailer with lots of exclamation points and cutesy language, not only would it strike recipients as very odd, but it would likely turn them off – and confuse them. No matter what your tone of voice is, keep it consistent.
Great content is relevant and engaging. It delivers to your audience what they want, and it consistently represents your brand. Click2Mail has all the resources you need for a winning hand in direct mail. Ante up at Click2Mail.com.
