Measuring Your Direct Mail Performance.
(Modified from the original article published in BusinessWise 2005, 'How effective is your marketing?' by Ven Kurvari)

This is the hard part. Generally expected response rates from Direct Mail marketing campaigns are about 2-10%. While it's very important, the response rate alone may not be sufficient to evaluate your performance. High 'lifetime value' of a customer that is acquired using the mail campaign, for example, may offset some of the disappointment in lower response rate. To accurately measure sales, new customers, and other results, one would need a disciplined recording and updating of the response data. For most small businesses, this is difficult, but worth aiming for.

To be effective, the mail marketing must be periodical, and must be at a frequency that is fruitful without being wasteful. One of the major mistakes a novice marketer makes is to 'mail once, and conclude many times over'. The Direct Mail marketing must be part of a program repeated at least 4-6 times a year. In addition, you may have special problems if you are trying to sell to other businesses. For this reason, it's good idea to develop a follow-up plan using telephone and face-to-face appointments. In B2B marketing, reaching a decision maker using Direct Mail and telephone follow-up is not easy, since there are people in a company that are 'posted' as 'screeners' and 'gate-keepers', to let the company perform at optimum efficiency without getting distracted by unsolicited offers. Must be consistent and persistent.

We all know that not everything works the first time. Direct Mail campaigns must be tested using 'better' databases, offers, formats, etc. The results from each campaign and follow up campaigns must be recorded and integrated into a Customer Relationship Management application and an informational database such as Act! There are excellent Act! Certfied consultants available in DFW metroplex that can install and train the software for you. This CRM database would become an effective tool in developing future marketing campaigns across different marketing media including Direct Mail, advertising (radio, TV, bill boards, newspapers, etc), trade shows and event marketing, and internet and email marketing. Such a comprehensive CRM database also becomes single most important asset of any company in any industry, and helps to position the company for future growth and to generate greater value in the event of a merger or sale.