Top 10 Direct Mail Basics for Businesses of All Sizes

By The Printing for Less Team

At Printing for Less, we understand that the key to successful marketing is gaining attention. But it’s hard to captivate people fatigued by digital engagement methods. That’s why modern businesses have an engagement problem, not a reach problem. However, in today’s digital age, many businesses still underestimate the power of direct mail.

Whether you’re a small business owner just starting out or an enterprise looking to increase engagement globally, here are the Top 10 direct mail basics that will get you going on the right track:

1. Know Your Audience:  It all starts with understanding who you’re trying to reach. Develop clear buyer personas and segment your audience based on demographics, interests, and purchase behavior, if possible. What are their interests, needs, and pain points? What motivates them to act? The more you know about your target audience, the more you can tailor your direct mail campaign to resonate with them. The USPS’s the Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) service might be worth exploring for this. 
2. Craft a Compelling Offer: What value are you providing to your audience? Don’t just highlight a limited-time offer or new product; explain how it will solve a specific problem or improve their lives. Use a catchy headline, strong verbs, and emotional language to create a sense of urgency and excitement.
3. Personalization is Key: Go beyond just names! Use variable-data printing to personalize messages, visuals, and offers to individual recipients. This will make your direct mail more relevant and engaging. And it can work for small batch runs to huge campaigns. Industry statistics show that you will boost customer engagement by 4 percent to 10 percent when you use personalized marketing techniques.
4. Design for Impact: Use eye-catching visuals, high-quality images, and clear, concise copy. Flat mailers—such as postcards, flyers, and brochures—can serve a lot of purposes. The best designs are those that achieve the outcome you want for the piece. Whether you are seeking new leads or customers, announcing a new product, service, or event, or following up with an appointment or survey card, your marketing goal should always drive your design. The job of direct mail is to impel action.
5. Leverage Automation: While standalone direct mail solutions can have terrific impact, don’t ignore marketing automation. These tools can help you personalize campaigns at scale, schedule send times, and track results efficiently. Automating your direct mail operation, if possible, can save you time and money and allow you to focus on other aspects of your business that require your and your team’s expertise.
6. Track and Analyze: Don’t just send your direct mail campaign and hope for the best. Track key metrics such open rates, response rates, and website traffic generated. Use this data to identify what’s working and what’s not so you can tweak your future campaigns.
7. Test and Optimize: Don’t be afraid to experiment! Test different headlines, images, offers, messaging, and formats to see what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing can help you optimize your campaigns for better results. (Read a real-world example of how P F L aided University of Pittsburgh CTSI test different version of postcards with different graphics and message.)
8. Integrate with Digital: Use QR codes, landing pages, and trackable URLs to bridge the gap between physical mail and online engagement. This will allow you to track the customer journey and measure the effectiveness of your omnichannel marketing efforts. Research has found that the combination of digital and physical marketing is more powerful than either is on its own.
9. Build Relationships: Direct mail is a great way to nurture leads and build long-term customer relationships. Consider sending a series of direct mail campaigns over time, each with a different message or offer. This will help you stay top-of-mind with your target audience.
10. Use High-Quality Materials: Invest in good paper, printing, and envelopes. The presentation of your direct mail matters, and it reflects the quality of your business. Generally speaking, it is best to choose a thick, high-quality cover stock with a gloss finish for postcards. For catalogs, high-quality custom papers and specialty finishes and binding options can make your piece stand out. For tips on choosing paper for your mailer, visit this page.

Bonus Tip: Consider using eco-friendly options, such as recycled paper and biodegradable materials to align with your sustainability goals and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. Printing for Less—as does out parent company, P F L—takes being environmentally friendly very seriously.

By following these direct mail basics, you can create effective marketing campaigns that capture attention, drive engagement, and deliver measurable results for your business.  

About Printing for Less

As a company with more than 25 years of print and fulfillment experience, Printing for Less takes the top direct mail strategies into account to help you expertly execute direct mail programs from strategy and production to delivery.

We offer print and direct mail solutions that are:

Simple: We manage the entire process under one roof, from strategy and design to printing and delivery.

Engaging: Memorable direct mail touches from postcards and letters to 3-D mailers with logoed items gets recipients to act.

Personal: Use your own data to personalize mailers at any scale—from hundreds to millions.

Want to see how Printing for Less can help you with print & mail?