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Direct mail tips for manufacturers' letters

Most of our manufacturing clients can't afford elaborate, expensive, or time-consuming marketing activities. Direct mail programs offer many manufacturers the ability to reach potential target customers defined by industry, geographic location, SIC code or NAICS code, and type of products made or services offered, in a low cost manner. The tips that follow are those we have put together to assist our manufacturing clients produce high quality direct mail pieces which yield good responses.

The Direct Mail List
The Envelope
Your Letterhead
Postage Use
The Letter
When to Mail
The Direct Mail Program
Marketing 101 for Manufacturers

The Direct Mail List - Get the right list and get the list right.

Set your criteria for recipients.
Criteria can include company size, types of products it manufactures or distributes, their SIC or NAICS code, number of years in business, and other key criteria. Don't use a "shotgun approach". Make sure your list mailing employs a "rifle" approach.
Getting an appropriate list.
Direct mail marketers often cite the 60-30-10 Rule. Translated that means 60% of your mail success depends on the list, 30% on the offer and only 10% on the creativity. It is critical to obtain, or generate, a mail list with the correct target companies or audience for your products, services, and the most important first step. Consider using a list broker to identify the list that meets your needs most concisely.
Make sure the list is current.
If it is 12-18 months old, and many are, up to 30% of the information may be inaccurate!
Eliminate the duplicates.
Don't send the same letter to the same company unless it is to different locations or different names who are identified with titles that make them likely decision makers for your product, service, or offer.
Always mail to a person, not a title.
Obtain accurate first and last name, with correct spelling, and the titles of the intended recipients. If you have questions about the data obtained, verify through state, regional, or local manufacturer's directories, association lists, trade publication lists, or simply call the company to get the correct information. Misspelled names, company names, or addresses can doom your mailing to the trash basket without a second thought on the part of the recipient.
Clean up truncations.
Many lists are sold with truncated company names "Co", "Corp", "Mfgs", "Mfrs", Assocs, and many others. Other data items have truncated titles. Don't send out a letter to "John Smith, "Treas." or John Smith, "Pres." This will likely send your envelope or mail piece direct to the trash basket.
Don't allow your list to be used until these truncations are cleaned up and expanded.
If you get more motivated, make sure you clean up all the address truncations, "Dr", "St", "Ct", "Ave", "Trl", "Blvd" etc. Clean them up to ensure your envelope address looks as much like a personalized letter as possible.
Mine your customer list.
Your best potential for new sales lies with companies you have already produced for or serviced. Make sure past and current customers know about all the services or products you offer, not just the ones they have taken advantage of in the past.
Check existing customers for the right contact.
Look at the titles of those you usually work with at your existing customers. Determine the titles of those you deal with most often. Then target those titles when you seek list data for your contacts with your new mailing campaign.

The Envelope

Use quality envelopes.
Many companies want to save direct mail costs and purchase low cost envelopes or use low quality imitations of the their normal company letterhead envelopes. If the envelope looks cheap, the recipient may not be inclined to open it. Don't sell yourself short.
Never use labels!
The large majority of direct mailing envelope addresses are generated using labels, white stock or transparent. This may be a time saver, but it can doom your direct mail program. Label use communicates "DIRECT MAIL" to the recipient. If you want the envelope to get opened, custom print each envelope. This is costly and time consuming, but it will raise the likelihood of the letter being removed from the envelope. If the envelope is never opened, the direct mail program will fail miserably. If you have to compromise, consider - as a last resort - see through envelopes for the address.
Use standard #10 or card sized envelopes.
Upper level managers often have their assistants open their mail. In fact, over 50% don't open the mail themselves. Half the remaining 50% have their mail screened. You have to get your envelope past these gatekeepers! The more professional, personal, and high quality the envelope looks, the more likely it is to get past the gatekeepers.
Consider using a message on the envelope.
For certain applications, consider using a printed teaser on the outside of the envelope. Depending on the purpose of your direct mail program, this may not be desirable.

Your Letterhead

Use quality paper.
Make sure you use quality paper in your letterhead and envelopes. You want to look professional to the recipients, so make sure your paper is professional to send the right message. Consider 20# paper the minimum weight for paper stock. Using 24# is better. Use a high rag content - 25% is good. Don't ever try to sell the quality of your manufacturing processes, products, or industrial services using low quality paper just to save a few dollars. You just sent the wrong message!

Postage Use

Use metered mail.
You will find some controversy on this subject, but individual stamps and metered mail are opened at the same rate and get virtually the same response according to recent studies. This will ensure your recipient knows he or she is receiving a business letter. In business to business mail, metered mail is not only acceptable, it is considered professional. Today, many business envelopes with individual stamps signal a letter from someone seeking a job.
Definitely avoid using pre-printed permits (indicias).
Studies show that Fortune 500 companies route 30% of bulk mail to the wastebasket immediately. It is not delivered internally.
Mail first class.
Yes it is certainly cheaper to use third class postage. If you really want a customer's business, don't send the message that you are a third class operation.

The Letter

This is obviously the most critical part of the direct mailing. You got the right target companies, you've found the name and title of the correct decision maker for your product or service, the envelope has made it past the gatekeeper, and the letter has been removed from the envelope. Now your letter needs to be good! If your letter has made it this far, don't lose the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Ensure the message matches the target audience needs.
Make sure the offer of your products or services matches the needs of the recipient of the mailing. Don't make your pitch to a company president if your message only applies to the engineering staff.
Get to the point quickly.
If you begin your letter with general information and do not make your point, you will lose the reader. It is critical you make your point in the first few lines of the letter, at least in the first five.
Be clear and concise.
John Wayne once said "Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much." That is darn good advice Pilgrim! Enough said.
Sell benefits - please!
Many manufacturers, especially those founded and run by entrepreneurial engineers, love to list and discuss product features. Don't ignore the potential buyer. He or she wants to know how using your product or service will benefit them. Go ahead and list your features if you must, but make sure you include the end-user benefits. If your drill offers X, Y, and Z-axis control, make sure you indicate this speeds up the drilling process by 22% saving time and labor costs and increasing accuracy and reducing scrap by 8%. Now the recipient knows your product can improve their operation.
Sell - Don't tell.
This isn't easy because we all aren't comfortable selling. Look at your words. "Koch Group has been in existence for over 40 years." That's a statement that tells. What if we said, "Koch Group has been assisting small and mid-sized manufacturers profit from our industrial marketing services since the mid-60s." Now we are selling.
Keep it personal and conversational.
With today's access to current data, there is no excuse to sending out a form letter. Personalize each letter you send out in your direct mail campaign. Write like your talking to the recipient of your letter. Be conversational, but make sure you clean up all the dirty language!
Use letters to generate leads - not sales.
A one-page letter is an excellent tool to generate leads and interest, but it is far too short to effectively sell products or services. Your goal is to generate a response, whether it is a return mail card, a fax, an e-mail, phone call, or fax. You just want an opportunity; you can't get the sale from a single direct mail letter.
Hand sign it - make it personal.
If you are sending out a mass mailing, it is easy to have an administrative staff person sign your name, or get a machine to do it. Make your letter look as personal as possible and sign it yourself with blue ink. Digital signatures look good if handled correctly.
Write to eighth grade readers.
Write like you are writing a letter to your son or daughter in eighth grade. Regardless of the education or I.Q. of the recipient, most of us read at an eighth grade level. Don't use big fancy words, make the letter easily understandable. Use technical descriptions when you have to, but simplify your language as much as possible.
Use a P.S.
Response rate testing indicates that the typical letter recipient's eye moves down the page to the P.S. before they read everything in the letter! If possible, restate your selling proposition in the P.S.
Use white space.
It is hard for the reader to wade through lots of endless text. Use short paragraphs. Use bulleted or numbered lists to make points. Give the reader a break. Make it easy for them to get through the whole letter.
Keep it to one page.
Most presidents, purchasing agents, plant engineers, or other targets are busy. Make your point, sell the benefits, make it easy to read and keep it to one page. The readers don't have lot of time.
Use active tense.
Active is always more powerful than passive tense. Say "Call our toll-free number now, 800-470-7845, to receive a free copy of our article "Working With Reps, 10 Ways to Improve Success", and improve your manufacturers' reps efforts" rather than "If you'd like to improve your manufacturers' reps efforts, contact us at 800-470-7845 for a free copy of our article "Working With Reps, 10 Ways to Improve Success."
Make a no risk offer.
Offer the recipient something - and make it no risk. Offer free information, an article, some industry tips, free tutorial, or product sample. Make sure it is clear there is no risk or obligation on their part. Use this as a "door opener" not a "sales closer".
Create a deadline.
Whether there is a real deadline or one you create, make one. Usually, the imposition of a deadline increases the rate of responses because the recipients understand they have only a limited time to act.
Call to action!
You have got to ask for the order. "Call our toll-free number, 800-470-7845, for a free industrial marketing needs consultation". Don't just end your letter with a whimper and go away.
Use postage reply mail.
Include a business reply card or reply envelope if you want a mailed response. Make sure it is postage paid. Don't lose a legitimate inquiry for the cost of a stamp! Even in today's high tech communications age and the world wide web, direct mail research studies indicate a good percentage of responses come by mail.
Include a guarantee.
If you can offer a guarantee, do it. Some products or services do not easily lend themselves to the offer of a guarantee. Then guarantee your follow-up, your delivery, your customer service, or the best pricing. By offering a guarantee, you offer credibility to your manufacturing products or services.
Include testimonials.
Nothing speaks better for your product or services than an end-user that is totally pleased. If you use names and companies, make sure you get a signed release. You don't want the beneficiary of your marketing piece to be a former customer's attorney!
Include all your contact information.
Include your name, your phone number, your toll-free number, your fax number, company web site URL, and your e-mail address. People respond in different ways - give them the option.
Follow the rules.
Direct mail has been effectively used for decades and decades. It has generated rules based on success. If you follow the rules, your likelihood of success will increase.

When to Mail - Deliver on the lightest mail days

Tuesday.
This is the day you want your mail piece delivered. It is the lightest mail day in the U.S. and having your letter delivered to a busy executive, purchasing agent, or plant manager, on the day they receive the least mail increases your likelihood of the piece being opened and read. That's your first goal!
Wednesday.
This is the second lightest day. If you can't hit a Tuesday delivery for some reason, shoot for Wednesday for all the same reasons.
Monday.
This is the heaviest mail delivery day in the country. This simple fact may decrease your response rate regardless of the accuracy of the list, the conciseness of the target company selection, or the correctness of the information.

The Direct Mail Program

Mail multiple times.
A good mail program contacts the target multiple times each year. You should consider mailing at least quarterly if you want the customer or potential customer to recognize you and respond. Do not assume a single mailing will generate the response you want.
Follow Up.
Get a mail list with phone numbers and call target companies that best fit your criteria. Don't be afraid to use the telephone to support the direct mail program.
Vary the themes and messages.
Surely this goes without saying, but ensure each letter contains a new exciting message, and is not a repeat of the previous letter.
Test for results/Measure the response.
No one approach works the best. Test your responses with specific messages, envelope size, type of company responding, title of person responding, etc. Tailor future mailings based on the best return results.
Update your list data to keep current.
This also seems obvious, but many manufacturers keep using the same list they bought two years ago for new mailings. Companies are bought and sold, key contacts leave the company or retire. Keep your mailing list up-to-date with current names, addresses, titles, phone numbers and other critical data!

Marketing 101 for Manufacturers

For many manufacturers, marketing, in any form, is a little bit of a mystery. Most of our manufacturing clients make excellent products, with high quality, good pricing, and on-time deliveries. Many struggle with the marketing aspects of their businesses. Here are two quick tips to make your marketing life easier:

Find out what your customers and prospects want and give it to them.
Make it easy for them to contact you.

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If you would like more information about how a well crafted targeted direct mail program can help your company achieve your sales goals, please call us at 630-941-1100, use our contact form or email us at info@kochgroup.com.

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