Please note that we are listing the first 50 tips; next month’s newsletter will contain the remaining 49 tips.

Direct mail is one of the most important pieces of your marketing plan. Developing and executing the campaign can many times be a thankless job. Today’s mailing regulations can get complicated–postage rates are changing and the flood of mail makes it harder to stand out. The right message is very important and must get to the target prospect in the right way on a frequent basis. Capturing your reader has to happen fast and your reader must be motivated to take action.

Here are the first 50 direct mail marketing tips to ensure that you get the right message to the right target–in the right way.

• Give a free gift to increase response

• Highlight the free-gift offer prominently

• Use short copy to tease the reader to read further or respond

• Minimize the use of buzz words

• Make your offer easy to respond to

• Prove any claims with details to add credibility

• Ask for the order right away

• Use graphics and color to support the message and text

• Offer a free trial to eliminate risk

• Hire a professional copywriter for your content

• Hire a professional graphic designer

• Make your offer easy to understand at a glance

• Promise many benefits

• Give many reasons to buy

• Use all the formatting available with taste

• Have your direct mail reviewed by an objective third party

• Use colored paper to make impact and save on printing costs

• Consult with a direct-mail specialist

• Use a reply card or other reply mechanism

• Put a headline on the envelope

• Survey customers about what they’ll respond to

• Include postage-paid return cards or envelopes

• End a page with the middle of a sentence to encourage more reading

• Personalize as much as you can

• Use a Post-It note for greater impact and attention

• Make the offer very prominent in the copy

• Use a no-risk guarantee

• Keep track of target recipients, replies and follow-up

• Tell the whole story

• Keep paragraphs short

• Break up long copy with graphics or white space

• Don’t dwell on history or background

• Offer a free-trial period

• State your geographical service area even if its global, national, regional or local

• Keep the sales pitch positive and highlight the benefits

• Include a call to action; tell your readers exactly what you want them to do

• Use a “P.S.”–its one of the most frequently read parts of the copy

• Make it easy to purchase: credit cards, terms, etc.

• Offer a discount for a quick response and order

• Make a simple order form for faxing

• Always put a sense of urgency and deadline in your copy

• Put a picture of a phone by your phone number

• Put testimonials at the top of the content and by the call to action

• Use typestyles that are easy to read, not a mix of them

• Have a call to action at the beginning, middle and end of your copy

• Use free information, free samples and a free demonstration as a marketing hook

• Offer a free consultation in addition to the free information hook

• Separate features and benefits (emphasize benefits)

• Use bullet points and small segments of information

• Use subheadings and subtitles

Hopefully you’ve found one or two–or even dozens–of tips for your next mailing. They’re easy tips for any business to use, and are guaranteed to increase your customer response rate.