Direct mail campaigns have many moving parts. To begin a campaign, data must be secured and segmented. Then a creative team needs to design a mailer with compelling imagery that speaks to the audience. Too often, marketers spend so much time on these two items they forget about one of the most important elements – The Offer.
The offer is what gets you noticed and makes people act. A creative direct mailer, sent to a good data list, can end in poor campaign results due to a poor or mediocre offer. In order to avoid this from happening on your next campaign, we thought it would be helpful to discuss what makes an offer successful.
What Makes a Good Direct Mail Offer
A good direct mail offer has some distinct elements. Keep these ideas in mind when crafting the offer for your next direct marketing campaign.
- Make the offer relevant. Are you offering something of interest to your audience?
- How valuable is the offer? Offers with greater perceived value increase your chance of response.
- Is your offer specific? When the audience reads your campaign’s offer, do they know exactly what you are offering? Just as important, will they understand what is expected of them to redeem the offer?
- Make your offer unique? Is this something your competitors also offer? A unique offer reduces the ‘So What’ factor.
- Is your offer realistic? If the offer seems too good to be true, even if it is true, no one will act. It’s always best to remain realistic.
- How easy is the offer to acquire? The easier you make it, the more people will respond.
Think about your last direct mail campaign – How strong was the offer? What were your campaign results?
