Why Email and Direct Mail Campaigns Fail (and What to Do Differently Next Time)

Direct mail has the potential to reach people that are difficult to or simply cannot be reached online, but it costs money and the response rates are typically low.

Email marketing is immediate and inexpensive, but open and click-through rates are often low and if done poorly can flag your domain as spam to ISP's. So what do you do?

If you have experienced failure in direct mail or email marketing campaigns, it is likely a result of a combination of factors:

You are targeting the wrong prospects. The most critical factor for successful email and direct mail marketing is targeting people who match the profiles of your best customers. Marketing to people who don't have a strong interest in what you have to offer (or don't have the authority to purchase) is a waste of time and money.

Your message doesn't stand out. When potential customers are sorting their mail, size definitely matters. Small postcards are cheap to print and send, but they are also more likely to be dwarfed by the larger pieces of mail. To make sure your direct mail isn't thrown away without being looked at, think big. Oversized postcards are more expensive to print and send, but they are more likely to get noticed.

Me, me, me! Your message should be focused on what you think they should know about you - focus on what's in it for them and why they should care.

My name isn't John. If you have the recipient's name listed incorrectly (or flat-out wrong), it will immediately be deleted or go into the shredder. Personalization is a great way to make messages more effective, but for God's sake make sure you have the names right!

Boring! Interactive isn't just for digital media. Direct mail pieces can slide, unfold and open to create an experience for the recipient. Interaction gives the recipient a reason to engage with your direct mail piece.

Bad timing. Often, timing can be everything. Receiving your marketing piece just as there is a need for your product or service can significantly impact their purchasing decision. Since you can't always predict when that is, frequency (within reason) is your best bet to keep you top-of-mind and stimulate action. If you send an email or postcard about emergency roof leak repairs two months before a storm hits, there is no urgency. If you have your campaign ready to go out the day before a massive rainstorm, monsoon or hurricane they will receive your message exactly when they have a need.

Shotgun approach (blast messaging). Smart direct marketers know how to target who exactly gets their emails and direct mail pieces by more than just geography or location. Develop and then use real analytics with your list. Everything you know about your current and potential customers should go into a searchable database that you can use to segment your list based on the message you are about to send.

One and done. It takes more than one email or postcard for you to get noticed. Send out different messages with unique offers in different formats to become memorable and non-repetitive.

No sense of urgency. Put an expiration on your offer four to six weeks after they receive it to create a sense of urgency.

More is less. Don't write a novel or make the reader work to figure out your message. Going through the mail and reading unsolicited emails is not the highlight anyone's day. You have an extremely limited amount of time to get someone's attention, so get to the point.

If you have sent out unsuccessful direct mail or email campaigns before, here is the order of importance to figure out what went wrong and correct your mistake(s) the next time:

1. Improve your list. Make sure you are targeting the right people and that names are correct (and spelled correctly).

2. Improve your content. Get to the point with a well-written, easy to read, relevant, compelling, time-sensitive offer that the reader quickly understands what the value is to them.

3. Improve the physical look. Make sure the look of your email or direct mail piece looks professional, is appropriate for what you are communicating, and is well designed.

If you have any questions about direct mail or email marketing, would like feedback on a campaign you are about to launch (or recently launched) or would like assistance planning your next campaign, please email RoofPal@gmail.com. We can help you build and improve your mailing list, actually write the content and/or design and coordinate printing of the physical piece for you.