With the advent and rapid growth of email, some may think that direct mail is a thing of the past. But make no mistake: direct mail is here to stay. Certainly, if not executed well, direct mail can appear impersonal to consumers. However, with a clear strategy, goals and the customer/recipient in mind, direct mail can be a significant marketing asset for your business.

To ensure an effective direct mail campaign, it's important to be clear about its strengths. Direct mail is a valuable, cost-effective way to tell your customers who you are and what your business offers. Specifically, direct mail campaigns offer customers a chance to learn about your business while helping you to:

Generate sales and orders

Promote a new product or service

Build brand recognition

Drive traffic to your store, site, etc.

Cultivate long-term customer relationships

In fact, many marketers consider direct mail to have advantages over other forms of advertising and marketing. Since it is targeted, it allows you to focus on a specific market audience. These resulting efficiencies make direct mail highly cost effective. And, unlike some forms of marketing, direct mail is measurable and able to be tracked.

Keeping these attributes in mind, it's important to determine how direct mail's advantages align with your product or service. Start by asking a couple of questions: Can you product or service take advantage of the targeting direct mail offers? And, are you selling a product that you could reasonably expect people to order or request more information on through a mailer?

If your answer to these questions is "yes," here are some important tactics necessary for the success of any direct mail initiative:

List, offer, creative This is the order in which you should focus the elements of your direct mail strategy. First, without a list that's reaching your desired target audience, no offer or creative will matter. Second, your offer is the promotion you are highlighting in this particular campaign - it should be tailored to what you know to be your customers' unique needs. Finally, the creative is the copy, text and/or package that presents the offer. Most people spend too much time on the creative when in reality, an unattractive package to a targeted list always will outperform a pretty package to an average, generic list.

Start a "swipe" file Keep a file of the recent promotions you've received that have caught your attention or motivated you to buy. Think about the various elements discussed above: what are the creative elements that stand out? What is it about the offer that attracts you or encouraged you to purchase? Make a list of these characteristics and continue to update it - it will serve as critical input for creating your own direct mail campaigns.

Test, test, test! Testing is critical when it comes to direct mail. In fact, a major benefit of direct mail is its ability to use test results to improve the results of a mailing. First, you must test the list. To do this, you must mail to a representative cross section of the list. There is a debate on what that percentage is, but to ensure relative statistical significance, you need to mail to 2000 names or 5% of your list, whichever is greater. Also, indicate the names you have mailed to so if the test is successful, you don't mail to them again. Then, test your copy. Take part of your list and mail them one letter; at the same time, mail a different copy to the rest of the list. Finally, test your offer. Do you offer one product in your mailing or several? Is there a gift or bonus? In the same way, you can test different price points.

Know the "math of success" Make sure you know the "math of success," that is, the formula that will show whether or not your direct mail campaign is succeeding. Before the proliferation of e-mail, response rates used to be at 2%; now, they tend to remain steady at 1%. Be sure that the math works: # of pieces mailed response rate conversion rate (those that actually send you money). If you can make money when all is said and done, then you're on the right track. Most important: while direct mail is an effective and proven customer acquisition tool, direct marketers actually make money of what is often referred to as the "second sale." Customer retention - and building valuable customer relationships - is the true goal of all direct marketing efforts. You're paying for the lifetime value of that customer - keep this top of mind as you are on the direct mail journey.

About the Author

Andrew Brown and Small Business Guru provide Coaching, Inspiration and Practical Advice for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs. Subscribe to the free, weekly newsletter at www.small-business-guru.com