Direct Marketing – When and How Often?

Clients often ask, “How often should I send direct marketing?” The question they really should be asking is: “What will it take for the right people to respond?”

Generally, it takes 7 “touches” for your message to resonate in the mind of your customers. That “touch” can happen in the form of word-of-mouth, multi-media, advertising or in-person contact. Direct mail is one of the best ways to be sure that the right marketing communication gets to the right person. 

For retail marketing and quick sales, “showering” potential customers can work. Multiple direct mail and email marketing bursts, sent a couple of days apart, can generate buzz, create a sense of urgency and build fast sales. Personalizing your messages – based on your individual customer’s preferences and past sales history – will make your offer more valuable to each customer. Backed up with POP, social media and advertising, this concentrated approach can succeed for short-term promotions.

For most B2B marketing and large ticket sales the marketing goal is to put your company FIRST in each customer’s mind. Since the “ripe” time for a customer’s purchase is often unpredictable, a steady, consistent stream of direct marketing would be the best approach. For instance, sending a direct mailing every 3 or 5 weeks allows your direct mail piece to arrive at different points in each customer’s monthly work cycle. Personalizing direct mail messages – based on what you know about a customer’s individual needs and industry demands – will make your message more significant.  

When designing subsequent direct marketing offers, stay committed to the theme but allow offers and graphics to be tweaked based on campaign performance and client responses. Engaging in a regular schedule of direct marketing communication will pay off; clients who do so generally see an 8-10% increase in response rate over the course of the year.

Regardless of individual marketing challenges, presenting useful information and attractive offers will always resonate with customers for both short-term and long-term marketing promotions and campaigns.