In Direct Mail, Frequency Matters

How much is too much? A good direct mail campaign can do wonders for your business. But how often do you need to send things out in order to be effective? The frequency of direct mail is an essential aspect of your campaign. Here is a brief guide for getting the balance just right.

Concentrating Your Efforts

The first thing to remember is that a direct mail campaign isn’t the same as an e-mail campaign. In e-mail, you don’t have to worry about postage costs, so your frequency can be as much as every day, as long as you’re keeping your audience engaged. But with direct mail, you need to target your messages more carefully.

Who are your best leads? Which are your most faithful customers? Who is most likely to engage with the mail you send, rather than simply throwing it away? Focus on them as you implement your direct mail campaign. They say it’s more effective to send 1,000 people 5 messages than to send 5,000 people one message. In that respect, concentrating on a smaller audience and targeting their interests can actually increase brand awareness, for the same cost.

Cementing Your Message

So what should your frequency of direct mail be? Probably more than you think. Research shows that it takes at least three interactions to make an impression on your audience. Four is better. Four pieces of direct mail every six months is a good place to start.

But can you send more? How long until they get sick of you and start throwing your mail away? That’s up to you. If you can provide something of value to your customers (market information, exclusive deals, coupons, etc.) or target their specific interests in order to keep your audience engaged, then audiences will even start to look forward to getting the mail you send. How much is too much? When you stop being interesting and engaging, then you’re sending too much mail. Until then, the sky’s the limit.

What are some ways you can keep your audience interested in your brand as you increase your frequency of direct mail?