Do you use postcards, letters, newsletters and other direct mail pieces as a part of your promotional strategy?
I’ve received a direct mail piece that I still can’t figure out. The offer is for a land / vacation home package at a price that caught my attention. Not only was the mountain view and home appealing to me, but the price was definitely of interest and one which I am well-qualified to buy. They obviously had purchased the right list. The problem is that I have absolutely no idea where the land / vacation package home is located.
I examined the direct mail piece looking for a map, driving directions to the property, or an address to the sales center that would help me to discover whether or not this vacation home was situated in an area that would appeal to me. To obtain more information, I hunted for a web address, but one wasn’t provided. There were other flaws with the piece but the chief flaw was that the only way I could obtain more information about the land and homes was to call the phone number provided.
Even though I am at heart a salesperson and love to buy, I am the typical consumer. I prefer to have a little more information prior to making contact with a salesperson.
So here’s the tip of the day for making consumer response easier on your direct mail pieces: part of the success of every direct mail campaign is to make it easy for consumers to respond to your message.
Tell them how to contact you and get more information about your offer in multiple ways. Think beyond a phone number to web addresses, driving directions, locator maps, hours of operation, property address, your sales office address and more.
Is that rocket science? No, but for some reason so many people make it difficult for the customer to contact them.
Someone spent a great deal of money getting this vacation home offer printed and distributed to what I would imagine was a very large database.
I find it very hard to believe that the piece was professionally designed, and I am thinking that they could really use our help. You’re getting this advice for free. They are going to pay for it. I hope you will take this under consideration the next time you invest in a direct mail piece so that you aren’t wasting your money.
Also, please don’t forget the call to action! Every direct mail piece needs to have one.
By the way, I collect direct mail pieces, ones that are done well, and ones that are done poorly. If you recieve a direct mail piece that you think I might be interested in adding to our collection, please forward it on to me at: Deborah Fisher, Fisher & Company, P.O. Box 550711, Jacksonville, FL 32255.
