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7 Things to Know Before You Start Your Campaign
| 1. | What's your Direct Marketing plan for this campaign? |
| You'll have a better chance of achieving your objectives if you quantify them before you ever begin your campaign. Do you need to generate a certain number of leads per salesrep per month? Does your program need to achieve a certain level of profitability to be continued, or can you bring in new customers at breakeven? See our 8-Step Direct Marketing Plan Outline. | |
| 2. | Does your program have a chance of achieving the financial objectives? |
| Before a dime is ever spent on your campaign, you should know the chances of success for the campaign you're undertaking. A breakeven analysis should be run, to ensure the campaign - as specified - has a realistic chance of achieving your goal (whether to make a certain profit, or just to breakeven). | |
| 3. | What media, mailing lists, or email lists are you using? |
| Media and lists should always be decided before copy and design ever begin. This ensures that your copywriters can talk as directly to your audience as possible - and helps your designer plan a campaign look that will work across the media specified. Especially in direct mail, the list is considered the most important element - it should never be a last-minute project, or an afterthought. You want an experienced list pro helping you before creative ever begins. | |
| 4. | Is there a reason for the specific formats specified for each medium - and does everything make financial sense? |
| If your creative team recommends a 4-color
full bleed magazine ad, they should have a good reason for each specification.
And, more importantly, they should be able to show you through breakeven
analysis that their recommendation has a reasonable chance of achieving
your financial objective.
If the recommended direct mail package uses special paper, a special coating, a special fold, special ink, etc. - everything should be justified, both strategically as well as financially. |
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| 5. | Are the pieces to be printed all formatted to be as press-efficient as possible? |
| If your creative team is recommending non-standard sizes, have them justify why. (hint: "this is a format we like" is not a strategic justification.) Ask if changing the size to a more standard one could reduce the cost, or make better use of the paper size. Or perhaps your team can cite past successes with that format; if so, ask for specific numbers - in terms of what percent lift the format delivered in terms of sales (and how the increase in sales related to the increased cost). | |
| 6. | Will the weight, size, or address orientation of any piece to be mailed affect the postage rate? |
| Your creative team should verify weight - as well as adherence to USPS mailpiece design requirements - before work ever begins on a direct mail package. You don't want to discover a $.10 per piece postage surcharge surprise after you've already printed. Note that weight, overall size, the relationship of the piece's length to its width, and where the address is placed on the piece can all affect your postage rate. | |
| 7. | How will you remove duplicates between postal mailing lists (or email lists) if more than one list will be used? |
| Removing duplicates between your lists is a critical process that can greatly affect your response by individual list if not carefully considered BEFORE you begin. There are instances where you want a "looser" matching process, and other situations where you need a "tighter" match. And the ORDER of comparing lists can have a significant effect on individual list response if not carefully considered. | |
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"In my 15 years in the direct mail industry, I've worked with dozens of copywriters and
self-proclaimed direct mail 'gurus'. Karen knows more about direct mail than anyone else
I've ever run into. If you're looking for someone that really understands what it takes
to make your direct mail campaign a success, Karen has the right stuff." Ruben Leon, Spectrum Data |
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