People may complain about snail mail but they read it. Nearly 70% of people in the United States say they find it to be more personal than what they get over the internet. Most of us bring in our mail the same day we get it (98%) and even make a point to get it as soon as we can (72%). Nearly half of Americans keep the direct mail they receive to use in the future. All of that means that the welcome cards you send make it into the homes where you send them and stay there. Businesses use direct marketing because it works.
Can you make it work better? Here are some tips to make your welcome cards really hit home.
- Invest in a good list. If you are as busy focused on your business as you probably are, you do not have the time, resources or expertise to create a great mailing is. You can buy one. What you need to think about when you make this purchase is know who you are marketing to. There is a rule in direct marketing called the 40/40/20. This is for 40 audience, 40 offer and 20 everything else. Talk to a few list resellers and buy a targeted list. There are a lot of pet owners in America, for instance, so a veterinary practice may not be reaching all of the animal lovers in their area without a list.
- Make your mail actionable. There should be a reason you are sending people a piece of mail, other than to remind them that your business exists. Include some kind of offer in with your mailer. Maybe you are sending your mail out in the late winter. Send out reminders cards for the upcoming flea season with a coupon for a discount on flea treatment. All of the 88.3 million cats and 74.8 million dogs in America will need some kind of flea treatment. If you send out your mailer and put an expiration date on the coupon, you will see just how effective your campaign was.
- Make your mail stand out. People keep a lot of their direct mail pieces. That is good and bad for the mail you send. It is good in that you know they are not throwing it out. It is bad in that it has to compete with a ton of other mail. That just means you want it to look awesome. Be creative, while adhering to basic design rules. You should let a professional design your pieces. Make sure you follow that up with a professional print job. A great design can look cheap if done by a bad printer. If you have a great printer, you should also let them deal with the actual mailing. That can be a big hassle. You will save yourself time, stress and money by having the printer handle the mailing.
- Make your copy sparkle. When you send out those reminder cards about the flea medication you need to remind people how hard it is to get rid of fleas once they are in your home. It is much easier to prevent them from getting in on pets than to get rid of them. If you need to, you can hire a copywriter to make your mail really stand out. Just make the copy interesting and useful.
- Use the right kind of mail. You can send out a lot of different mail as a veterinary practice. You can veterinary welcome cards when people first come to your practice, veterinary appointment cards to remind your clients of their upcoming appointments or to remind them to schedule check ups for their pets and reminder postcards which can be for a number of things. You have to test and see what works best for your audience and customer base.
If you have a veterinary practice, you do already start from a good place. Americans love their pets. They are family. We want to keep them healthy and happy. When we get welcome cards from out veterinarian, we keep it. Direct mail for veterinarians is a great way to communicate with clients and remind them to bring their furry and feathered friends in.
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