How to Advertise a Business in the Mail

Even if the majority of your business is conducted in person, on the phone or via the Internet, it's likely that you still have occasion to resort to old-fashioned snail mail to attract new customers, reward existing customers, introduce new products and services, or announce a relocation and expansion. Here's what you need to know to ensure that the materials you're mailing don't get tossed in the trash without being opened.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A printer
• Professional stationery
• Matching envelopes
• Business cards
• Brochures
• Postage
• Mailing lists

1. Study the circulars, solicitation letters and brochures that you receive over the course of one week. Divide them into two stacks---the ones that are keepers and the ones that are junk. Examine your rationale for putting them into their respective stacks. In most cases, the ones that are keepers are those that appeal to a personal want or need; are professionally presented and packaged; are colorful and/or make effective use of graphics and photos; or contain a strong hook that either makes a promise, cites a startling statistic or asks a daring question. The mailers that embrace these concepts should be used as models to develop your own advertising materials.

2. Identify your target audience. For instance, if you are trying to court new clients, your mailer will need to contain a story about who you are and what you do than a mailer that is designed to encourage repeat business from customers who are already familiar with you. In both cases, there should be a strong incentive and a time-sensitive date for the recipient to take action (i.e., an introductory discount to newbies or an insider sales announcement to former or current customers).

3. Compose your advertising content and identify the best medium to deliver it. For example, if you're having a holiday sale at your shop, you will need to include the date, time and address. It would also make more sense to put it on a colorful postcard as opposed to a formal letter because the content of the postcard could be read easily and quickly. In contrast, a more complex call to action (i.e., recommending that homeowners review their insurance needs) would require the formality of a one-page letter. If you're introducing a new business to the community, you'll probably want to opt for a tri-fold color brochure that offers an overview and includes a business card for follow-up.

4. Purchase mailing lists if you're building a database from scratch. If you're watching your budget, Internet resources such as Affordable Marketing Tools (http://www.listsyoucanafford.com) allow you to focus on specific audiences such as schools, churches, media venues, health care, galleries and unions.

5. Check with your local post office on whether your business is eligible for a bulk-mail permit. Reduced postage costs are available for items such as circulars, catalogs, product samples, booklets, newsletters, merchandise, calendars and printed advertising matter. You can also visit the U.S. Postal Service Bulk Mail website at http://www.usps.com/bulkmailcenters/welcome.htm.

6. Use graphics and photos to help sell your product in direct mail pieces. When you stop to consider how many things people have to read in any given day, it's smart to reduce their eye strain by using pictures and short captions. That's a better way to generate a sale than if they have to read a full page to understand what you're selling.

7. Test your materials first on friends and relatives before you mail them to target customers. Another good strategy is to test them on college students who are majoring in advertising or marketing; you might pick up some helpful pointers.

8. Proofread your materials thoroughly before you send them to the printers. If your content is full of typos and grammatical errors, the message you'll convey to the recipients is that your product or service is sloppy.

Tips & Warnings

• The resources listed at the end of the article provide information on creative ways to make the most of direct mail campaigns. Online printing companies such as Vista Print not only do a professional job of printing postcards and brochures but also provide a mailing service to targeted ZIP codes. The tone of your advertising materials should always reflect the personality of the business. If, for example, you're selling clown noses and gags, a brochure that looks like a corporate portfolio full of statistics is only going to be confusing to the recipient. Products or services that meet a high level of NEED have a better chance of selling than items that only satisfy a WANT. If you're selling luxury goods, for instance, you need to pitch them in a way that transforms them into necessities.
• Don't let your database get stale. If half the people on it have moved since it was first created, you're only going to waste postage by continuing to send materials to them. Databases should be reviewed and updated at a minimum of every six months.

Resources

• Frugal Marketing
• Post Card Smart
• Direct Mail Marketing
• Small Biz Marketing Tips
• Vista Print