Direct Mail isn’t what it once was, mostly because it’s gotten more expensive (thank you U.S. Postal Service) while at the same time response rates keep going down.

Nevertheless it works great for many people.

There are a few things you should know:

1. Sometimes people try and do small quantity mailings because of budgetary concerns, thinking if they send out half as many postcards, they’ll get half the response. Not true. There’s a volume below which you don’t get LESS response. You get NO response. Unfortunately there’s no certain way of predicting how much is enough. 5,000 is usually enough, less is a question mark.

2. Direct mail is mostly a TOMA tool. Top of Mind Awareness. Meaning you send out mailings again and again with the idea that WHEN they need what you are selling, yours is the first company they think of. Don’t send out a mailing once and expect to get rich – or even necessarily to break even.

3. The single most important factor in direct mail is the list. It used to be said that the list is 40%. I’ve now seen it said the list is 65%.
The more specifically the list targets PRECISELY those most likely to buy what you are offering, the more likely your campaign will be successful.
This is one reason a business-to-business direct mail campaign is often very workable. It’s often rather easy to target exactly the right prospects.

4. The first, biggest challenge in all direct mail is to get someone to read your piece. That includes getting them to open the envelope if you’ve mailed that way. This is one reason we love postcards. They are at least going to see your main image and probably your offer.

There’s more, but you’d better wrap your wits around these issues if you want to run a successful direct mail campaign.