Direct mail: How to avoid wasting time and money

You've got something to sell, and a list of names. Sending out a sales letter seems an obvious next step. But all too often, direct mail campaigns leave people asking why they didn't get the response they expected. So, how can direct mail work for you? Beverley Moore, founder of copywriting agency Writing Point, explains.

Direct mail response rates are low in percentage terms. With the proviso that there are many variables, Bob Bly, one of the US's leading copywriters, quotes the following B2B (business to business) figures:

• Solo mail shot selling a single item: 0.5 % - 2%




• Lead-generating mail shot requiring strong action e.g. calling you: 0.5% - 2%




• Lead-generating mail shot requiring milder action e.g. returning a response card: 1% - 3%

Of the leads you get, you can expect – eventually – to convert between 10% and 25%.

A mailing to 100 people could therefore bring you one or two phone calls. Going by the statistics, neither are likely to turn into business.