If you are considering sending out some direct mail to increase your customer or client base, you are not alone. Businesses in the United States spent about $44.5 billion in direct mail campaigns in 2014. When people receive promotional calendars, they tend to keep them for the full year. That is 12 months of your logo being displayed in homes around your area. At least 84% of consumers who get promotional items that have a logo on them will keep them. If you have decided to go ahead with this kind of marketing, your next task will be to find ways to save money on your printing jobs.
- Plan your marketing campaigns in advance. You can have a 24 hour printing job done (sometimes this makes more sense) but you can usually save money if you plan your printing jobs in advance. If you are planning to send out calendars in December, you do not have to wait until then to print them out. When you look at your plans for your direct marketing campaigns, try to plan out your year and work with your printing company to do them at the most cost effective times of the year.
- Be very careful with the documents you send your printer. You can save a lot of money on printing jobs by preparing your documents in house. If you have the capacity and staff with the skills, you can prepare great looking materials yourself. If you go this route, have more than one person proof read your materials. Use the spell check. If you have an outside company handle the design, you can have them redo the printing jobs if there are problems but it is all on your if you do it yourself.
- Consider letting professionals design your materials. Not every company can design great looking promotional materials. In many instances, it is more cost effective to have your printing company design your direct mail marketing materials. Remember, when your staff have to handle the design of your materials, they are taken away from the jobs you hired them to do. You may get more bang for your buck if you let professionals handle your design.
- Personalize your campaign. People are more influenced by personalized mail. If you have a list, it should be easy to make your mailers more personalized. These mail pieces may be a little more expensive to do but the return on investment is a lot higher when you add this kind of touch to your direct mail marketing materials that the added cost is usually worth it. Keep in mind that some experts have estimated that when a company spends one dollar on direct mail, they get $12 back in sales. That is a great return on investment.
- Find the right printer for your needs. Talk to a few printers. Different printing companies offer different services. Some are full service businesses that can handle every aspect of your mailings. They can design, print and mail your marketing materials. This may seem more expensive at first but having one company handle everything may end up being very cost effective. When the company that handles your printing jobs also handles the mailing itself, the process can be streamlined. Talk to a few printing companies, get some quotes and make sure you are both on the same page in terms of what the expectations are.
- Buy a list. While this does not cut down directly on the costs associated with your printing jobs, per se, it will make your direct marketing campaign more cost effective. Reputable firms that sell these lists can tailor it very effectively to your customer and client base. You can be very specific in what people you are trying to reach and who might be receptive to your message.
Sending direct mail can be a very effective way to raise awareness about your business and get more people in your door. There are some very easy things you can do to save money on your printing jobs and to make your direct mail campaigns more effective. Follow these tips and you will increase your return on investment for your direct mail marketing campaigns.
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