What is a good response rate for a mailing?

This question might be the most frequently asked about direct mail marketing. The response rate is determined primarily by three factors: the mail list, the appearance of the mail piece, and the offer. Of the three, the mail list is the most influential – 60% – while appearance and the offer account for 20% a piece.

Factors tied to the mailing list include the overall list hygiene (accuracy of the addresses and age of the list), how often the list is used for mailing, and whether the list is appropriate for the offer being made.

In a January 2007 white paper, The Winterberry Group noted that the three key factors influencing consumer buying decisions in response to direct mail marketing are timing, personalization and relevance. For most mailings, a response rate of 1-2% would be considered good.

Post Card and Self-Mailer Design

When designing a post card or self-mailer, it is important to consider what the recipient will see first. Mail arrives in a bundle, arranged from smallest to largest piece and with all the address panels facing forward. Therefore, what the recipient will see first is the side of the mail piece that contains the mail panel. We mention this because of assumptions about the size and location of the mail panel, and the consequent inclination to think of the side without the mail panel as the most important part of the self-mailer.

There is no requirement that the mail panel take up the entire right hand half of the mail piece. To qualify for a postage discount, the mail panel can be as small as 5 inches wide and 3 inches high (as measured from the lower right hand corner). Provided the individual address lines are of standard length, this is enough room to locate the outbound address and the USPS-required bar code in the proper location within the mail panel. By reducing the size of the mail panel, you will provide additional information for a sales message and an attention-getting graphic.

In the debate over whether to use traditional direct mail or e-mail for marketing your company’s product or service, beware of using your personal experience or preferences to determine the marketing campaign strategy. To be blunt: your personal preferences are not a representative sample of the target audience, and so are irrelevant.

In the debate between direct mail and e-mail, each individual in your target audience gets the final say-so as to which method is better. You can make some educated guesses based on demographics such as age or whether the individual is a consumer or buying for a business, but ultimately you won’t know until you ask. Since that may be impractical or even impossible, the safest course is to use both direct mail and e-mail. In addition, response rates go up when more than one communication method is used.

Avoid the problems that can arise by assuming that your personal experience or preferences for being contacted can be generalized to the target audience. Base your marketing strategy on actual research and proven facts.