Questions To Ask Before Printing Direct Mail Pieces
Before hiring a printing service for a direct mail campaign, it is important to conduct proper research. All you may be getting is the cost without the expected results, which can be disastrous.
When contracting out printing services it is important to do
research. Doing research up front can help you make your direct mail
campaign profitable with as few headaches as possible. We have put
together a list of questions you may want to answer before going to the
printer.
1. Who is your target market?
This is an extremely important question because it helps you answer
all of the other questions. Take a sampling of your customers. Identify
their gender, race, economic status and as much other information as
possible. Take that information and see what your customers have in
common. Once you see what the most common factor is, find the second
and the third. Than conduct your direct mail campaign to that specific
group.
For example, you may find that your average customer is female,
older than 40 and live in homes over $200,000. It is much easier to
develop a strategy that is effective for that group than a strategy
that is effective for everyone.
2. Based on your target market, at what quality should you print?
If you are targeting high end businesses and your flier looks low
end, you may not get as many responses as you planned. On the other
hand, the expense of high end mail pieces may not be justified if you
are targeting lower income individuals.
- Color or “Black and White? Printing: If you are
focused on a high end clients who may spend thousands of dollars with
your business you may want to use color because it gives a high level
of professionalism. On the other hand, if your customers don’t spend
thousands with your business and you depend on mass sales, it may be a
better option to use black and white so the cost doesn’t eat up your
profits. - DPI: Or dots per inch, is a measurement of
printing quality. The higher the DPI the better the quality. When
getting quotes always ask about DPI, because although some quotes may
seem similar, they may be at ver different DPI’s.
3. How much should you spend on printing?
There are often hidden charges in direct mail campaigns. They are
not really hidden, they are just not often thought about. For example,
letter addressing. Once you have a flier, you will have to address and
send it.
Depending on your situation it may be better to lower your printing
cost and spend more of your budget on actually mailing the flier. On
the other hand, it may be more appropriate to have a super nice mail
piece and mail it out to individuals who earn more than $200,000 per
year in your area.
If you are in need of printing servces , you can contact Better Letter and we can assist you with your printing needs.
About the author
Jason Capshaw is an SEO Consultant and Marketing Expert.
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