You may have seen headlines about the 2021 USPS postage price increase that takes effect on September 1st. We want to share information on the price increase and how you can actually use this to your advantage for your next direct mail marketing campaign.

According to the USPS, over the last 10 years, they’ve experienced a 28% drop in pieces delivered across the country. Are fewer people living in houses? Have people stopped checking their mail regularly? No! People and businesses are turning to digital forms of communication. However, this leads to a major mailbox opportunity for businesses that you can take advantage of right now.

Direct mail campaigns are more effective than ever when strategically aligned with your business goals. Less mail means more attention on what pieces do arrive. By planning ahead and budgeting for this USPS postage price increase, you can beat the competition by showing up where they aren’t — the mailbox.

Why the Postage Price Increase Helps You Beat the Competition

With careful planning and collaboration, you can beat the competition and take advantage of this price increase to achieve your business goals this year! To help you get started, we share how you can plan a results-focused direct mail marketing campaign by September 1st in just five simple steps.

How to Plan a Successful Direct Mail Campaign in 5 Steps

Follow this 5-step process for the best results from your mailbox marketing campaign! Each of these steps is crucial for reaching your target audience and encouraging them to take action.

Set Goals

The most important step of any marketing campaign is to set your goals! This is key for creating the rest of the marketing campaign and achieving the results that you want. Each campaign should have one SMART goal (S-pecific, M-easurable, A-chievable, R-ealistic, and T-ime).  You can sometimes have a primary goal and a secondary goal to help you gauge the results.

For example, let’s say that you’re sending 100,000 direct mail pieces on September 1st with a goal of 50,000 website visits and 25,000 purchases.

Choose Avatar

Make sure you choose your marketing persona or avatar for this direct mail campaign. Yes, you’re sending mail to households, but usually, your goal is for one household member to take action. So, create the direct mail piece for that person. If you’re a dentist and you’re trying to connect with mom, that’s a totally different direct mail piece than if you’re trying to reach dad. A direct mail piece for mom may have smiling kids on the front and ensure that your practice is family-friendly. A direct mail piece for dad may have information on how affordable your practice is and has flexible payment plans.

Decide Timeline

Choose when you want the direct mail campaign to go out and why. Is this a seasonal campaign? Does it have a time-sensitive offer? Are you prepared to handle the influx of customer interaction in the days after your campaign is deployed? Strategically decide when to send your campaign for the best results and make sure you consider the price increases when planning.

Create Design

Now you have your goal, target audience, and timeline; now you need to create the direct mail design that will have them reading and taking action! We have a full guide here for how color can make (or break) your campaign, but here are a few pointers. Make sure you use your brand colors for a cohesive look. Remember, less is more when it comes to design! Don’t pack as many images and text just because you can. A strategic design with one irresistible Call-to-Action is more powerful than anything else!

Set Up Tracking

If you don’t track the metrics, then you won’t know if you reached the goals you set in the first step! Make sure you choose the proper tracking for your campaign and follow through with reviewing them after the campaign is complete. This step will help you make the next campaign and be even more successful! Check out our resource for even more on tracking success metrics with personalization here.

Trust an Experienced Direct Mail Partner for Success

Our number one goal is to help small businesses succeed with direct mail marketing campaigns. It’s what we do best! Don’t let the price increase intimidate or deter you from this marketing strategy. With the right partner by your side, you can achieve incredible results. Are you ready to take the first step? All you need to do is let us know that you’re interested in working together by dropping McAdams Graphics a note here.