6 Tips to Time Your Direct Mail Campaigns for Maximum Impact

Many direct mail advertising campaigns have a time-sensitive element. You need the mailers to be delivered by a certain date, so consumers know about an upcoming sale or event.

Alternatively, you may want to increase brand awareness and recognition before your busy season. This means that timing your direct mail campaign optimally is crucial to achieving your goals.

Properly timing a mail advertising campaign is important, but exactly how is it done? In this article, Troi Mailing Services explains.

1. Create a detailed marketing plan

The first step in timing your direct mail campaign for maximum impact is to create a detailed marketing plan. As the famous quote goes: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

This is particularly relevant to marketing campaigns. Executing a successful direct mail campaign takes planning, especially if you’re trying to do it on your own without the assistance of an experienced direct mail fulfillment company like Troi Mailing Services. Even if you are working with a leading direct mail company, planning ahead is still a good idea.

Ultimately, a detailed marketing plan will help your business reach its goals with fewer hiccups. It will keep you on-schedule, ensuring that mailers are delivered at the optimal time.

Plus, assembling a marketing calendar will reveal if your schedule is realistic. You are forced to consider the time needed to create, produce, and mail. Then, you can adjust start times or deadlines accordingly.

If you’re planning on launching a multi-channel campaign, combining both print and digital channels, planning is even more essential. After all, there are more moving parts to consider!

2. Start as early as possible

Your marketing plan should tell you when you need to start getting your direct mail campaign prepared. However, it’s a good idea to factor in some additional time. Things can compound and delays do happen, even with the most carefully planned strategies. Giving yourself extra time can save your business avoidable challenges down the road.

As you run more direct mail campaigns, you’ll begin to get a sense for what part of the process often encounters delays. Creation and revision, for instance, often take more time than you expect.

In addition, Troi Mailing Services has robust quality control processes to ensure the accuracy of mailing and delivery.

3. Plan for the busy seasons

You already understand the necessity of planning for the busy season when it comes to other aspects of your business. Between ordering inventory and ensuring you have adequate staffing, preparation ensures that you make the most out of every busy season. This goes for direct mail marketing as well!

Direct mail campaigns should be sent well in advance of your busiest times of the year, not on the cusp of or during. Of course, you can and should send additional mailers right before and during the busy season, but the initial campaign should have taken place months before.

You want consumers to know precisely when your best deals or product launches are happening. That way, they can plan to purchase or stop by your shop. Additionally, sending mailers early is the best way to beat your competition to the mailboxes!

You want to avoid last-minute marketing when your business is at its busiest. The best timing is to launch your initial campaign in the months leading up to the busy season (for example, in spring if summer is the busiest), right before it begins, and a few times throughout to stay top of mind.

4. Mail time-sensitive materials ASAP

You’re probably noticing that there is a trend throughout these tips—start early! It’s much harder to time your direct mail campaign optimally if you’re running out of time. Mailing late can compromise the effectiveness of your campaign and cause you to miss your goals.

This is especially relevant to time-sensitive materials, such as promotions, coupons, and events. Obviously, it’s very important that audiences receive these mailers before the sale ends or the event is over. Ensure that you’re mailing these items far in advance so that consumers have time to think about your offer and decide to purchase.

5. Be realistic about response time

Typically, direct mail campaigns get most of their responses within the first few days of delivery. Consumers visit your website, stop by your store, make a purchase, or subscribe while your business is most top-of-mind; that is, when they just received your mailer. However, there are still variations in delivery time and in response time.

If your campaign involves a large area, or if you intend for the mailers to be sent out on a Saturday, recipients may respond over several days depending on when they receive your promotional piece.

Furthermore, direct mail has a much longer shelf life than other forms of marketing. Consumers often keep attractive or relevant direct mail pieces for days or weeks, so it’s a good idea to have a longer window for responses. That way, your offer is still active when they’re ready to buy.

6. Communicate with your direct mail partner

Your direct mail partner is there to help you. At Troi Mailing Services, we have decades of experience launching successful and optimally timed direct mail campaigns. With our expertise, we can ensure that your campaign reaches consumers at precisely the right time.

Our team cross-checks the addresses for Canada Post Personalized Mail, verifies the postage, and prepares the direct mail pieces prior to mailing. Additionally, we work with trusted postal partners to ensure reliable delivery.

Optimally timing your direct mail campaign begins with discussing your deadlines and goals with Troi Mailing Services. Then, we work closely with you to ensure that everything happens exactly when it needs to.

If you’re running behind, don’t worry! This is a common situation for Toronto business owners. In these instances, we will expedite your projects, extend our production hours, and provide the fastest project turnaround time. As your one-stop shop for printing and direct mail fulfillment, we are extremely adaptable to your needs and deadlines.

Contact Troi Mailing Services for Mail Advertising in Toronto

Troi Mailing Services is Toronto’s leading provider of mail advertising campaigns. Launching a highly effective campaign takes a lot of time and expertise, which is why we’re here to help! We take care of the data, design, printing, and mail fulfillment so that your mail pieces are effective and delivered on time.

To learn more about mail advertising in Toronto, call Troi Mailing Services at 1-866-486-0423 or contact us online.