Ways to save money on direct mail campaigns
For companies that invest in the printing and mailing of marketing materials, one of the key concerns is getting the best return possible. Direct mail is still utilized by many industries and technological innovations have made the process more efficient and easier to manage. However, there are still a number of steps that can be taken to ensure the overall success of any outbound marketing campaign.
Ways to save money
Given today's postal rates, sending one item through the mail is expensive, let alone hundreds or even thousands. However, this is what organizations, such as nonprofits, are up against when it comes to mailing materials that shed light on a specific cause while simultaneously requesting financial donations to help further it.
In order to make sure that wasteful spending doesn't happen, American News Report outlined some helpful tips to make direct mail as effective as possible. Not just for nonprofits, but for any company. One of the best pieces of advice given by ANR is utilizing postal discounts whenever possible. There are many different types of mailing options available to companies that use the postal service for outbound marketing purposes. ANR suggests requesting an analysis on the materials that need to be sent out in order to maximize the postal discounts that could potentially be available.
Another simple yet overlooked tip is to be sure that materials have been proofread thoroughly before printing. Misspellings and grammar mistakes limit the impact of promotional materials with respect to the reader. If materials are mass produced with these errors, then additional money must be spent on corrections while the incorrect items are discarded by recipients.
Effectively using direct mail software
If a company or organization is going to design and print its own marketing materials that will be mailed out, then direct mail software is a good option. Because there are so many different tools available, it's very easy to purchase something that has advanced functionalities that seem enticing but may not be suitable for the task at hand.
According to WhatTheyThink?, this is referred to as feature trap and should be guarded against at all costs. This is one of the main reasons that direct mail efforts fail. Software should only be purchased if it fits the intended need and surmises that functionality should never be overlooked because of technology.