Characteristics of direct mail

It is addressed to selected, named recipients or at least to chosen people at selected addresses whether they be householders or managing directors. The quantity can be controlled, the message can be varied to suit different groups of people, and the timing can be controlled or at any rate estimated within postal limits.

Because of the controls mentioned above, it is economical in the sense that even the selected lists can be culled of unwanted addresses. De-duplication can be applied when a number of lists are being used in which certain names are repeated. It is also economical because in a mail shot more copy and illustrations can be used than would fill a whole page broadsheet newspaper, and at a fraction of the cost.

Unlike any other medium, except possibly the telephone, it is a one-to-one personal medium, like a conversation on paper. Generally, people like receiving mail, and if the recipient is well-chosen the mail shot will be welcomed. This medium is also personal in the sense that sales letters and envelopes can be addressed by name (personalised). Using special techniques like laser printing, dramatic and colourful effects can be achieved with the recipient's name inserted at various points in the body of the letter itself.

A direct mail campaign can be mounted very quickly, in a few hours if necessary given the facilities to write and reproduce a sales letter, and pack and post it with or without an enclosure. It is therefore a very flexible medium which can be used in an emergency.

For those advertisers who (a) have or can hire a reliable mailing list and (b) need to supply considerable information, direct mail can be their first line or primary advertising medium. In fact, they may use no other, except perhaps sales literature as enclosures. Others may use press advertising to produce enquiries or initial orders which provide a mailing list for future use.

A direct mail shot is usually consists of sales letter and enclosures. A sales letter is not just a business letter. It is a special form of copywriting with its own techniques. The length of the letter will depend on the extent to which the reader's interest can be sustained The letter may present a complete selling proposition, or it can be a covering letter referring the reader to an enclosure. The latter should not laboriously repeat the contents of the enclosure but highlight special features of it. Writing a sales letter we have a pattern to follow.

The main parts of a sales letter.

1. Introductory opening paragraph needs to capture reader’s attention.

2. The proposition is the heart of the letter.

3. Convincing the reader. There may be a price concession if the offer is taken up quickly, or the offer may have a time limit.

4. Final paragraph consists of instructions on how to respond or order.

Adopting the above four-point formula, here is an example of how a sales letter might be written.

Dear Mr. Brown

What do you do when your wife says the lawn needs cutting? Do you turn over a new leaf in the book you are trying to read? Or maybe you take the dog for a walk? If you haven't got a dog perhaps you pray that it will rain?

That's if you have an old back-breaker of a lawnmower that's agony to push up and down the lawn on a hot day.

With the new Smith and Jones electric lawnmower you don't have to push. You simply steer! The machine does all the work. It's a pleasure, really.

Your wife will be surprised how willingly you take your Smith and Jones out of the garden shed. She'll probably have a drink waiting for you afterwards, not that you'll be hot and weary. It will just be nice to sit down with her in the deckchairs and admire that neat, trim lawn. Nice work, Mr. Brown!

You can see the new Smith and Jones electric lawnmowers at the New Town Garden Centre – open all weekend sо you can call in when it suits you. It comes in a box you can put in the boot, and it's very easy to assemble. Why not bring the wife along?

Yours sincerely John Donaldson

Manager

When writing a sales letter it is necessary to use language which is appropriate to the medium, the product and the reader. The contents of the envelope should be kept to a minimum. Some mailings consist of so many items of different shapes and sizes that the recipient is bewildered and may well discard the whole lot! Good enclosures are those which supplement the sales letter. Some of the best examples of well-planned shots are the one-piece mailers which contain all the necessary information and the order form, making an accompanying sales letter unnecessary.

A printed envelope can be an advertisement just like the packaging of a retail product. It is the first thing people see. It can attract attention and invite curiosity about the contents, and if sufficiently interesting to the recipient the printed envelope could achieve priority over other correspondence received at the same time.

The size of envelopes can be controlled by the format of printed enclosures. Large leaflets in large envelopes can arrive in a very battered state whereas smaller leaflets in smaller envelopes are more likely to arrive in the same condition as when packed. So it’s better to use the small ones.

In order to send direct mail shots the company should create mailing lists. There are a lot of ways of creating or obtaining mailing lists. The information may be took from sales bills bearing the names and addresses of purchasers, from the response to advertisements, from yearbooks, annuals, directories and membership lists. They may be created by using a direct mail house or by hiring a list from list-brokers who specialize in this service. There are also firms which specialize in client's lists on computerized databases, adding and deleting names as requested, and so managing and maintaining a client's own list.

It is important to have an up-to-date mailing list, and it is bad policy to build a continuous mailing list which is never checked or revised. People do move, change their names or die. A mailing list of customers can be out-of-date after two years and in some cases in six months.

Not all direct advertising, or distribution of materials, is sent by post. A large volume is delivered door-to-door to houses, shops or offices. There are three types of mail-drop service:

1) by specialist door-to-door distributors;

2) by the Post Office;

3) in conjunction with the delivery of free newspapers.