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A recent Forrester Research study states that direct-mail is the most cost-efficient means for obtaining new customers...

Helpful tips from the US Postal Service
Marketing tips to use in designing your template
Marketing Tips to maximize your campaign results

Helpful tips from the US Postal Service Direct Mail Research:

Personalization is key. Today, people demand to be spoken to as individuals. It’s no longer viable to send a mailing to “current resident.” The more you know about your customers, the more effectively you can use that information to speak to them — and the more likely they will respond. Content that is tailored to the individual is far more compelling and will typically outperform generic,
one-size-fits-all copy. Personalization adds importance and credibility to a mail piece. Digital printing not only allows you to incorporate the person’s name, but also include personalized variable text. So you can customize your offer based on audience segment, perceived relevance or information value with far greater results. Personalization can also give consumers a sense of trust by connecting them with a company agent or representative. By including a photo and other specific agent information, consumers get a sense of familiarity that can help with follow-up contact and relationship management. Bottom line? The more personalized the message, the greater the potential return.

Define your target audience. Deciding whom to send your marketing communication to is one of the most important parts of a Direct Mail campaign. It’s not just a way of reaching your market — it is the market. One way to define your audience is through data modeling. Modeling relies on data intelligence to help identify prospects who are more likely to respond to your offer. Use what you know about your customer. Information such as age, income, product affinity and purchase history can help you segment future campaigns and tailor them to your most viable prospects. This will enable you to match the most relevant message and offer to that prospect. In addition to targeting specific messages to a more narrowly defined market, modeling can help you increase response rates while decreasing mail volumes.

TARGETED MAIL WORKS HARDER. Personalized communications can take many forms and be defined in many ways. The more customized they are, the more likely prospects will notice your message and maybe even respond. From audience definition to targeted messaging, be sure to consider a number of best-practice strategies to strengthen the effectiveness of your direct marketing campaign and “hit it big” with your customers. Personalized by player name, point total, award level and rewards list. Insight  Successful Direct Mail requires more than just a clever execution and postage. It’s about connecting on a deeper, more personal level...really relating to your customers one-on-one.

Reach without Frequency = Wasted Money
Marketing is the process of building a business relationship with potential customers. Have you ever established a lifelong friendship with someone you had contact with only once? Probably not. Generally friendships (and all relationships for that matter) grow as a result of frequent contact over time. Even when the potential to form a great friendship is there at the first encounter, it is unlikely it will grow without nurturing.
Seth Godin in his book Permission Marketing uses an analogy of seeds and water to demonstrate the importance of assuring adequate frequency in your promotional campaigns. If you were given 100 seeds with enough water to water each seed once would you plant all 100 seeds and water each one once or would you be more successful if you planted 25 seeds and used all of the water on those 25 seeds?
While intuitively and even conceptually we understand the importance of frequency to successful promotional and sales campaigns, somehow when it comes to actually implementing the campaign, we opt to sacrifice frequency for reach. And then we complain about the ineffectiveness of our promotional efforts. Undoubtedly one of the biggest wastes of marketing dollars is promotional activities that are implemented without adequate frequency.
When faced with the decision of mailing one direct mail piece to 10,000 people or mailing to 2,500 people four times think about the fate of those 100 seeds you can water only once. Unless you have water rights and can obtain additional water, opt for less reach and more frequency.

Marketing tips to use in designing your template

• Give information that is personalized to increase response
• Use short copy to tease the reader to read further or respond
• Minimize the use of buzz words
• Make your offer easy to respond to
• Prove any claims with details to add credibility
• Use graphics and color to support the message and text
• Make your offer easy to understand at a glance
• Promise many benefits
• Use all the formatting available with taste
• Personalize as much as you can
• Make the offer very prominent in the copy
• Tell the whole story
• Keep paragraphs short
• Keep the sales pitch positive and highlight the benefits
• Include a call to action; tell your readers exactly what you want them to do
• Use typestyles that are easy to read, not a mix of them
• Use free information, as a marketing hook
• Offer a free consultation in addition to the free information hook
• Separate features and benefits (emphasize benefits)
• Include a toll-free number if you have one
• Put in a photo of yourself or an associate's to personalize it
• Make promises; keep promises
• "Free" is still a motivating word--use it and highlight it
• Guarantee customer satisfaction
• Offer proof of the benefits
• Restate your offer often, especially at the end of the communication
• Use captions, sayings or titles under all photos
• Measure results and calculate ROM (Return on Mailing) dollars
• Use color
• White space is good--a clean look is professional and easy to read
• Postcards are very efficient; usually both sides are looked at
• Put your website address on all mailing pieces
• Never, ever, ever, use mailing labels - it’s cold and impersonal
• Either print envelopes or hand-address them
• Sign every letter, or laser print your signature with a good enough laser printer that you can’t tell it’s printed

Marketing Tips to maximize your campaign results

• Keep track of target recipients, replies and follow-up
• Mail frequently to your list
• Follow up with a phone call