A successful direct mail campaign does not result from designing a flashy-looking series of postcards. While it may look good, a pretty direct mail piece isn’t enough to move a prospect to purchase your product or service. What does? A professional and clever campaign that incorporates solid marketing strategy with consistency and follow-up will get you the results you desire.

Here are five tips for creating an effective direct mail campaign:

1. Set goals. The first step is to determine what you want the campaign to do. Is your goal to make appointments with prospects, to get your prospects to call you back or to make a sale? With a clear understanding of the desired result, you’ll have a focus for finding the words to communicate clearer to your prospects.
2. Write top-quality copy. The heart of your direct mail campaign is the copywriting. The key is to create copy that is direct and clear and that communicates the desired call to action that was determined in step 1. Keeping the desired result in mind, start by writing the main points you want to communicate through the campaign. Remember not to overload each direct mail piece with messages—you should emphasize one major point in each mailing. Before finalizing the copy, every direct mail piece needs to be carefully proofread and edited.
3. Get an accurate list. Don’t waste a well-written direct mail campaign to the wrong prospects. When building your mailing list, make sure you have the correct names of the decision-makers for your product or service. Mailing your direct mail to the wrong person or just to the company is likely to get it thrown away before anyone reads it. A successful direct mail campaign gets your message into the right hands. You’ll also want to make sure that you’re targeting the appropriate companies for your product or service determined by size of the company, location and industry.
4. Be consistent. The implementation of your direct mail campaign is what really drives results, and the key to success is consistency. The more times you can communicate to your prospects, the more chances you have for them to notice your message, get to know your product or service and at least take your calls. To get the most from your marketing budget, it is far more effective to mail five times to 100 people, than one time to 500 people.
5. Plan your follow-up. A direct mail campaign involves more than mailing. Effective marketing uses many different mediums for communicating with prospects and ultimately convincing them to buy from you. Think about the other ways you are going to employ to get your prospects to learn more about you. Are you going to make follow-up calls or emails? Are you asking your prospects to visit your website or contact you for more information? It is the follow-up steps of the campaign that make sales. These steps need to be carefully planned and applied in conjunction with your direct mail.

Notice what is not on the list? Design. As mentioned above, successful marketing comes from a campaign that is not just another pretty face. While it is important to have a clear layout that is professional and supports your copy, the five steps listed above are dramatically more important to having a successful campaign.