direct marketing and the internet

The owner of a business in a local market wrote in with this question about direct mail strategy for introducing a new product:

“If you had the option of mailing to several communities one time (maybe twice) as opposed to mailing to a few communities two (maybe three or four) times, what would you do ?”

Our answer to this type of question is “go with frequency.” It’s important your mailer be there during the critical time when your customer is interested in your product. And you don’t know when that will be.

For instance, you may have the best deal on dishwashers, but your offer will not register as people sort their mail…until the time comes when they notice their old machine is leaking, or they’re getting ready to sit down with their supplier and work out the kitchen remodel. If you’ve been mailing regularly, your offer will get their consideration. If you’ve mailed once, they’ve probably forgotten about it.

While frequency is important, it won’t do you any good to mail too frequently to the wrong list. That’s where testing comes in.

You should consider doing an initial mailing to several lists and tracking response . (Ask you employees know to ask customers who call or come in to your store how they heard about the new product.) If particular segments do better than others, and your mailing budget is small,  try following up with a program of frequent mailings to those top-performers rather than only one additional mailing to the broader list.

Segmenting and testing lists is an art, and much of it is influenced by how well you — and your list broker — know the lists you are using. It’s important to have direct marketing consultants who pride themselves in helping clients tailor the right lists to find the right buyers.