Last updated on July 24th, 2023 at 01:57 pm
Your company’s direct mail campaigns mustn’t be slowed by manual and inefficient processes. Fortunately, there are many direct mail vendors you can rely on for your needs. However, with the number of vendors in the market, it can be challenging to find a company that can meet your growing needs. Regardless of how big or small your business is, make sure to keep the following considerations when choosing a direct mail vendor:
Experience
When selecting a direct mail vendor, you’d want to ensure that it has extensive experience in writing ads and designing for direct mail campaigns. For instance, if you prefer self mailers for your campaigns, you should check if the company has experience in providing this kind of folded mail piece.
Keep in mind that direct mail has a short window to capture your customer’s attention. With this in mind, it’s wise to work with a vendor who understands what works best to hook your audience to read on. That said, don’t hesitate to ask your prospective vendor about how long they have been in the direct mail industry and ask if they can provide samples of their successful campaigns.
Data Security And Transparency
More often than not, direct mail vendors process sensitive information, including contact information, personal data, health records, financial records, and so on. You have to understand that your reputation depends on the security given by your subcontractors, and a data breach could lead to serious financial losses.
A direct mail vendor that pays importance to data security is worth your investment. This is especially true if they also practice transparency in their privacy policy and data processing practices.
Technological Advances
Choose a direct mail vendor that keeps abreast of times and leverages technological novelties. Despite a usual misconception, there are ways to improve direct mail with today’s advanced technology. With a direct mail vendor, you can lessen your intervention to mail lists and design problems. This will reduce your expenditures, upgrade your marketing, and lessen your delivery time.
Automation can also make your direct mail marketing efforts more coordinated and help you combine them with your digital marketing strategies. So when looking for a vendor, consider the ones that offer automation tools to optimize your direct mail campaigns.
Timelines
Timelines are one of the essential aspects when it comes to direct mail campaigns. With this in mind, ask your preferred direct mail vendors regarding their timelines to get advertising in the hands of the target audience.
Although a fast timeline is good, faster doesn’t always mean the best. Instead, understand the vendor’s process and the time every phase requires. Before you sign with any vendor, try to make a clear timeline and ask them if they could meet your goals for you to know which company is worth your time and investment.
Level Of Expertise
It’s better to work with professionals with sufficient experience in a certain field. In terms of direct mail, it’s the same. Be sure to select a direct mail vendor, such as Postalytics, that focuses on direct mail as their core specialization. The thing is that most business owners provide mail products only as one of their services.
For this reason, they may lack an understanding of the ins and outs of direct mail campaigns. These direct mail vendors might be able to provide you with quality advice on which mail piece to consider and how to get the maximum response rate or return on investment.
Clear Pricing
When shopping for a direct mail vendor, price is an important factor to consider. Pick a vendor that offers detailed information regarding their plans and pricing. You should also make sure to discuss the possibilities of discounts or price changes in the long run, depending on the length of your contract.
Complete Services
Look for a direct mail vendor that covers the entire process of mailing, from designing a mail piece to delivery. It’ll help you get rid of the need to coordinate some subcontractors and would speed up shipping.
By working with a direct mail vendor that offers complete services, you’ll be able to use your precious time on other core business activities while ensuring that your mailing tasks are handled properly.
Worldwide Delivery
If you’re operating locally and you don’t have any plans yet to expand, this may be irrelevant. However, if you want to increase your income and expand your reach, you might want to work with a direct mail vendor who offers worldwide delivery.
A vendor who can send your mail pieces to different countries will help you build a foundation for your business growth, which can be effective to widen your reach in no time.
Outstanding Customer Support
If you’re about to select a direct mail vendor, another thing you should consider is their customer support. It should be available anytime to provide assistance and answer your questions. It’ll make your operation more effective and let you gain experience from professional mailers.
If your preferred vendor doesn’t have customer support, you might want to look for another vendor that offers one. A good direct mail vendor always offers customer support that’s available anytime and via email or telephone.
No Minimum Orders
Several direct mail vendors have limitations on the minimum amount of mail pieces you should send each time you mail. They’ll try to secure their revenue without realizing the significance of flexibility in today’s market. However, with this kind of vendor, you won’t have a chance to test or customize your direct mail.
So look for a direct mail vendor that doesn’t have minimum orders. With this vendor, you’ll be able to test your direct mail campaigns, which will help you determine if there’s something you need to improve or check its success. For instance, you can send some mail pieces to a few groups of people and track their responses to get a clearer picture of your mail campaigns and rely on the data you’ve gathered for your future campaigns.
Conclusion
If you’re planning to incorporate direct mail campaigns more often in your marketing efforts, hiring the right direct mail vendor can make a difference to get the best possible results. A good vendor for your direct mail requirements won’t only make your job easier, but can also guarantee that they’ll make your campaigns more successful.
