I have been talking about Twitter and other Social Media tactics so much lately, it is easy to think I have abandoned traditional marketing tactics completely.  But that is not true!  For most small business owners the best results can be found by combining on and off-line elements.

Direct mail campaigns, done correctly, can be a very powerful tool for small business marketing. The problem Most business owners don’t take the time to do it right!  Here are five simple steps which can significantly improve your results.

  1. Select a Target – 100 postcards sent to the right people will deliver far more results than 1,000 cards sent to anyone.  Spend a little time, and money to define your ideal client, and build a narrower, more targeted list of high quality prospects.
  2. Good Design – Direct mail is like a billboard coming to your door.  You have about the same amount of time to catch someones attention as you would if they were driving by at 60 miles an hour on a highway.  So keep it simple, eye catching and to the point!
  3. Create Urgency with a Strong Call to Action.  – Tell you prospects what to do next.  Include a strong incentive for your prospect to contact you and begin the process of getting to know, like and trust you.
  4. Test, Test, Test – You instincts on what will work may be all wrong. Instead of sending out one huge mailing, send out some smaller, test batches with different layouts, messages or offers.  Find the most successful one and send that one to your complete mailing list.
  5. Use a Two or Three Prong Approach -It is not enough to send one batch of mail and stopping. To effective, you need a multi-part strategy.  Add additional mailings as well as telephone calls to the mix and watch results multiply.

Sounds like work?  It is!  But without a bit of planning it can be a huge waste of time and money!