Every Direct-Mail Campaign Needs a Little Weeding

Every Direct-Mail Campaign Needs a Little Weeding

Sept. 20, 2005

By Scott Swedenburg

I'm a farm boy, and by this time of year everything has been planted. Your field or garden is full of healthy, growing plants, but there could be a problem -- weeds. And if they're not eventually pulled, weeds will damage the crops.

Direct mail is the same way. Over time, weeds have sprung up in your direct-mail packages that are choking out the response. Take a look at your package, and see if there's anything that needs to go.

Weeds you may want to pull:

• A brochure that's found its way into your letter package. Eventually, someone will recommend a brochure for any number of reasons, including that there are not enough features listed in the letter. However, your brochure could be depressing responses. Test with and without to determine if it needs pulling.
• Too much personalization. A personalized package will usually outperform a Dear Friend package. However, take a closer look. I've gotten some letters and postcards with my first name plastered everywhere. My mother doesn't call me by my first name that much. Do away with the personalization overkill, and response may go up.
• The first couple of sentences or paragraphs of your letter. Does the first sentence of your letter really grab the reader's attention, or is the good stuff buried two or three paragraphs into the letter? Sometimes when you're writing, the good stuff doesn't flow immediately. Remove that initial filler copy, and watch your response grow.
• Four-color, award-winning graphics. There are some weeds that look better than the plant, but the weed never produces anything. Our direct-mail packages may fall into the same trap. They look beautiful, but never get any responses. We want award-winning results -- pull it.
• Information about you and your company. Potential donors really aren't that interested in you or your organization, per se. They're interested in what your organization does, how it helps, how it makes a difference. Tell them less about the inner workings of your organization and more about its work in the world.

  Go ahead -- get rid of these weeds and others. I guarantee you'll harvest a bumper crop.

  Scott Swedenburg is partner at Birmingham, Ala.-based printing and mailing services provider Mail Enterprises. He can be reached at 800.595.4945 or sswedenburg@mailent.com.