By Chris Barr
Even if you have outstanding flyer or postcard designs for your small business advertising, you need to ensure that your direct mail plan is as efficient and effective as possible. The greatest ad in the world means nothing without the right distribution methods and techniques. Follow these 7 tips to better direct mail to make sure you are getting the very best out of your advertising.
Tip One
Know your delivery area thoroughly. You can facilitate this by drawing up a plan of your neighborhood or utilizing a street level map of your local area. Make sure you cover this entire area within your distribution plan so that you can avoid missing out any vital streets or areas that you could deliver to. You can target by Zip Code or by carrier routes (smaller sections of your Zip Codes).
Tip Two
Know the “average” customer in each area (apartment, home owner, business?). Within any delivery area there can be several different residency types to consider. In some streets you may be delivering flyers to single family homes whereas in others it may be flats, apartments, studios,student accommodations or other shared tenancies and more. Find out what type of residency you are delivering to first so that you can prepare enough flyers for each household.
Tip Three
Include some variation in your distribution (flyers, postcards, etc). Direct mail is the one sole distribution method that is widely accepted as the most economic and effective technique for advertising. However,that doesn’t mean you should ignore all other methods. Make sure you include additional distribution methods in your advertising strategy on top of a solid direct mail plan.
Tip Four
Use high quality full-color printing services. Don’t compromise on printing quality before your flyers have even been produced. A successful direct mail flyer printing campaign stems from high quality flyer design and color printing. Cutting corners to save money on flyer printing can result in a massive loss in profits later on.
Tip Five
Use a professional flyer designer. Just as you should ensure high quality printing services are used for your advertising campaign, you should also ensure that a high quality design is also used. This means employing the services of a professional design company or freelancer in order to produce high quality and effective flyer designs.
Tip Six
Always have flyers “ready to go” and engage in your direct mail distribution on a very regular basis. Many potential customers may accidentally lose, damage or lend their flyers to other people. This means they will need new ones or they may end up going elsewhere. Make sure that residents in your areas all have access to one of your flyers so they can contact you when they need your services or products.
Tip Seven
Order your flyers from an experienced printing and mailing company. When ordering from flyer printing companies, you should ensure to take advantage of their bulk discount offers. These offers can not only save you money on your orders but also ensure that your supply of flyers does snot run out at an inopportune time. Their experience with direct mail can be a lifesaver and help you obtain the highest delivery rate to your targeted areas.