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A Guide to Creating a Direct Mail Campaign incorporating Promotional Products

Written by: Elyse Cabral

Article Overview: This article is a practical How to Guide for any businesses looking at doing a Direct Mail Campaign for the first time. I use an example of an Unaddressed Mail campaign that incorporates Promotional Products and discuss each step involved from contacting Australia Post, picking your Promotional Product and submitting your letters for lodgement. Many companies are no longer using Direct Mail and so there is a real opportunity for businesses to dominate with little competition from other businesses. I have used an example that includes promotional products because according to the Promotional Product Association International the inclusion of a Promotional Product to a mail promotion can increase the response rate by 50% (Reference: The Power of Promotional Products – PPAI).

A Guide to Creating a Direct Mail Campaign incorporating Promotional Products

Marketers are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves from competitors and with many companies choosing to send the majority of their marketing through emails, there has also been a trend back towards Direct Mail so that companies can have their marketing look different from their competitors. One effective way of differentiating your direct mail from competitors is to include a Promotional Product. According to the Promotional Product Association International the inclusion of a Promotional Products to a mail promotion can increase the response rate by 50% (Reference: The Power of Promotional Products - PPAI). I believe this has a lot to do with the fact that as soon as the receiver sees or feels an item in the mailer they are more inclined to open it. You may increase your response rates even more by using a clear sleeve instead of an envelope that way the receiver can see the promotional item straight away.

Many companies are no longer using Direct Mail and so there is a real opportunity for you to dominate with little competition from other businesses. If you have never put together a Direct Mail Campaign before there are a few things to be aware of:



Please note that I am using an Unaddressed Mail Campaign in this example as opposed to an Addressed Mail Campaign and therefore the specifications may be different.

1. Your first step should be to contact the Unaddressed Mail Team at Australia Post whether by email or phone and ask for a copy of the Unaddressed Mail Service Guide, the Unaddressed Mail Service Information Sheet and the Delivery Points spreadsheet for your State so that you can check the amount of delivery points you want your mail delivered to.

There is no point designing a fantastic Direct Mail Campaign without first understanding any limitations involved in using Australia Post and the costs associated with having a thicker or heavier mail piece.

Remember that there are two types of Delivery Service - Regular Service & Select Service. Basically the difference between Regular and Select is that in Regular you are sending to all the private and/or business delivery points for your chosen locality as opposed to Select where you can nominate to target certain delivery points such as Street, PO Boxes, Courier Mail or Roadside Delivery Points. Select Service does have a higher price.

2. Now that you know how many delivery points and any size or weight limitations there will be you can order your Printed Material and Promotional Products

Having read through the Australia Post Guidelines you would be aware that there are two types of letters:

• Small Letters: Letters which are up to 100g, no smaller than 88mm x 138mm, no larger than 130mm x 240mm, and no thicker than 5mm. Rectangular in shape. There are 3 price categories dependent on your package weight - Up to 50g, Over 50 - 100g & Over 100-250g • Large Letters: Letters which are up to 250g, no larger than 260mm x 360mm and no thicker than 20mm. Rectangular in shape. There are 3 price categories dependent on your package weight - Up to 50g, Over 50 - 100g & Over 100-250g



Promotional Products suitable for Small Letters:

• Magnets

• Stickers

• Coasters

• Tattoos

• Egrips

• Small Rulers

• Calenders

• Seedsticks

• Mouse mat



Promotional Products suitable for Large Letters:

There is a lot more choice available when you are doing a large letter but some of the more popular items would include:

• Pens, in particular the Flag Pen is very popular

• Post-it-Notes

• Sliding Puzzle

Something also to consider with this is that just because your mailer fits into the size and weight specifications it may not actually suit the requirements. You can submit a sample to Australia Post if you have unusual packaging or are unsure and they will provide you with approval before you need to go further.

3. You should book your job with Australia Post as soon as possible so that you can pick up your mail trays. This will save you time and effort because now what you can do is provide your packing company the mail trays, printed material and promotional products and they will bundle it all reading for mailing. Letters need to be bundled into piles of 100 with two elastic bands on either end of the letter. Australia Post will also provide you with a guide to preparing your mail for lodgement.

4. The last step is to take your letters to your Lodgement Office which you would have nominated when you booked the job. You can ask your packing company to lodge it for you as long as they have the Mailing Tray Labels and the Customer Advice. Otherwise you can lodge it.

5. Measure your success. The most important aspect of all campaigns is measurement. You should make sure you record the geographic location of where your leads come from following the campaign. You can even do simple things like asking where the company heard about you from. One strategy we like to use is to include a limited time Special Offer on the mailer with specific instructions that they need to mention the mailer in order to receive the offer. That way clients will be forthcoming with where they heard about you.

Now just sit back and let your Direct Mail Campaign work for you. Hopefully it will have generated some leads for your business!

Please note the pricing for Australia Post was correct as of May 2009. Please contact Australia Post for their most recent prices.

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Article Tags: australia post, delivery points, direct mail, email, inclusion, information sheet, mail campaign, mail piece, mail promotion, mail service, mail team, marketers, marketing, promotional item, promotional product, promotional products, response rate, response rates, spreadsheet, ty



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