Direct-Mail1

Digital and email marketing is just the C21st version of direct snail-mail. Why is it then that we despair when our email open rates are only 2%, when that is all most direct mail campaigns ever got?

I think we are looking at things from the wrong end of  the telescope.

Direct mail, and email campaigns can be hugely successful, we have all seen and heard of those successes, and when you look at them, the reason for the success is nothing tricky, but plain common sense.

The offer was personalised and compelling

The audience was engaged and willing

The communication channel delivered the offer with a minimum of fuss

The offer was easy to access

The creative in the communication was, well, creative and appropriate to the intended audience.

Those unsuccessful campaigns we see seem to concentrate on the above list in reverse order, worrying about the layouts smart photos, intriguing puns, and all the rest of the creative artifices, relegating the value of the offer to a specific audience, and the way that offer is communicated  to the bottom of the pile.

Want success with direct mail/e-mail, get the customer to the front of the queue, worry about the rest later.