The Customer

The customer is the lifeblood of any organization. Every business is about creation and cultivation of customers. As Peter F. Drucker once observed "Companies are not in business to make things, but to make customers". So you need to understand your target market well viz a viz - in terms of what are their need and desires, and what is it that will motivate them to buy. Not just this you also need to cultivate your customers.

There is no tool stronger than direct marketing which helps in knowing and cultivating customers. Today with the help of technology, you can easily find out who are your repeat purchase customers, who are the one time buyers and who are the most loyal. Accordingly you can customize your mailers and achieve better results. So, know your customers well, and establish a relationship with them. Sales are simply the results of such successful relationships.

The Contents

Once you know your market well, you can design a content which appeals to it. Anyone can write a letter, but not everyone can write an effective letter. An effective letter is one which clearly indicates "What's in it for you". The reader should know instantly how he or she will benefit from the offering. The reader should feel that he is the special one. If you can give a personal tone to the letter chances of success are higher.

Enthusiasm is contagious. Show it in your letters. Write like a winner. Open your sales argument with your strongest sales points. The reader will definitely respond. Even though there are no rules yet some sentences always work. Like

1. I have something you want.
2. I want you to have this, but If I don't hear from you I'll have to offer it to somebody else.
3. You can still get rich. To these claims, if you can add something which makes those claims sound authentic, you have hit the nail on the head. To the above three claims you could add sentences like
1. Here's why or This is why I've chosen you for this offer.
2. That's because
3. This is what will happen

1. Open your letter with a question. It immediately and almost always involves the reader.
2. Use exclamation marks. the reader will exclaim with you!
3. Your contents should compel the reader to open the envelope. If you can do that, you have been successful. Consider this. You received a letter which says "Congratulations! You are our million dollar prize winner.". Chances are you will open the envelope.
4. Case studies have shown that a reader typically reads the first few lines of the letter and then his eyes go down the page to the P.S. So the postscript is your best buddy. Its always a good idea to incorporate the main points of the letter in the P.S. once again.
5. Always call for action at the end. Either ask them to call a toll-free number, or create a deadline. A deadline usually increases the rate of response.
6. "Brevity is the soul of wit" said William Shakespeare. He could not have been more correct. A short letter with short sentences and very simple eighth grade english always works.
7. The Golden Rule is that there is no rule. Before you launch your direct marketing, blitz test, test and test. If it works it's a rule! Follow these tips and you would be ready to make a rocking mailer.

The Contact

The actual people who receive a mail from you are very critical. You must have the right mailing list. A good database is a very powerful tool and companies go to any extent to build it. Gerber is a company known for baby food. The company entered into life insurance. While the baby food was sold off the shelf the company decided to sell its insurance policy by mail order. The insurance covered the child till he was 27 years old.

The slogan they used to market to the parents was "Ask your baby about us." Initially they had no database. However once the people applied, the company soon started targeting the children, once they became young adults. The mailer said "Your parents bought this life insurance for you when you were born and have been paying the premiums ever since. Isn't it time you started buying your own life insurance?"

The company had developed a relationship and was now leveraging that. Many of the children did stick to Gerber Life Insurance - just like their parents. If this was not enough, when the parents became grandparents, Gerber sent them a letter reminding them, how they had insured the lives of their children. Now wouldn't they want to do the same for their grandchild? Not many refused!

A mailing list afterall is not just a collection of addresses. It is a list of people who actually need your product or service. Gerber for one sure has developed a very strong and relevant mailing list. The falling birth rate in Britain was a cause for concern for C&J Clarks Ltd., Britain's largest shoe manufacturer. The retailers started stocking less and less of baby shoes. Magazine advertising was not helping much either. So the company decided to go direct.

They contacted 2,80,000 new mothers while they were still in the hospital and presented them with a "Bounty Box". It contained a letter offering a poster which could be hung in the infant's room and had a copy describing the various milestones the infant would pass through - like when would he start crawling then sitting then speaking then walking. When he would start walking he would need shoes. So the letter also described the benefits of buying the right "First Shoes" for the child. About 15% mothers wanted the poster. So Clarks soon had a database of 42,000 customers.

When the children of these mothers were about to start walking, the mothers once again received a letter from Clarks with a leaflet describing how to choose the right shoes and the hazards of choosing ill-fitting shoes. Of course as the baby grew he would require another pair and there always was a letter from Clarks to remind the family where to go to. These letters always resulted in increase in sales because they were targeting the right customers.

The success of any direct mail programme depends of the Contact list. Make sure its relevant. Otherwise it doesn't take long for "Bulk-mail" to become "Junk-mail". That's the razor's edge you walk on. So you need to select your prospect with care. Finally, remember studies have shown that it takes eight to ten contacts before people remember your message.

No wonder you see the same ads being repeated again and again on T.V. So don't stop mailing. Keep in touch with your customers constantly. Keep knocking on their mail boxes and keep reminding them about you and your product - they will take notice. If your mailer is well written and relevant they will respond. So go ahead reach out directly to them and say - you've got mail! It will work.