Try, Try, Again.
When I was growing up my parents often encouraged me to try something more then once. I was 9 when we moved to the suburbs, and had never ridden a bicycle till then. Unwilling to admit to my new friends I didn’t’ know how, I got on and rode, briefly and then I fell. Ok, so I actually rode directly into a mailbox, suffering multiple minor scrapes, and a huge blow to my ego.. But I got up, got back on, thought about what I did wrong, and tried it again, and again. Today, bicycle riding is still one of my favorite activities.
There is a lesson here for small business owners. Your first marketing attempt, eMail or direct mail may not necessarily generate the results you hoped for. Instead of abandoning the strategy, get up, review what you did, make changes, and try it again.
For example – with both direct mail and Email campaigns, consider re-mailing.
Sometimes people are simply too busy when your correspondence arrives, and the email drifts to the bottom of their in box or the postcard, to the bottom of the stack of junk mail. Resending it may allow it to arrive at a more convenient time. With eMail I would recommend scrubbing your list – creating a new group which does not include anyone who opened the first email) before your resend. This is only possible if you are using an email tool which allows you to track open and click through. While there are many good tools out there we prefer Constant Contact.
With direct mail, you have no way of knowing, and research actually shows response rates go up with a second mailing as people who were intrigued, but did not act on the first offer, call after the second one arrives.
Also, there is a possibility your mail was not opened because your tag line wasn’t compelling. Consider a modification before you try again. Or consider splitting your list, and testing two tags the first time. Then follow up with the one which received a more positive response.
Marketing Profs featured an interesting white paper on this topic, from an email company called Bronto