Many times direct mail campaigns fail because there are no clear goals. To prevent this, start by setting your goals. Don’t let your fear hold you back. By not setting goals, you are not giving your direct mail campaigns the opportunity to shine. We have put together a list of how to set goals for your direct mail.

Get started:

1. Specific: Don’t just say your goal is to earn X number of dollars that is too general. You need to be very specific. Improve your goal until you can no longer get any more specific. It helps to sit down with your team and work on it together.
2. Realistic: A 100% response to a particular offer is not realistic. There is a fine line between challenge and realistic. Find the sweet spot. Something big that is achievable.
3. Flexible: The reason for flexibility is that things can change quickly. This is especially true with direct mail. You many find after the first mailing that you need to modify your original goals. That is great. The better you define your goals the more likely you are to achieve them.
4. Challenging: Getting out of your comfort zone will allow you to achieve greater accomplishments. You do not know what you can achieve if you are not reaching higher.
5. Meaningful: You need to decide what is really important to you and your organization. What is the purpose of your direct mail? You direct mail goals need to further the overall company goals in a meaningful way.
6. Supported: Your goals need to be supported by your company as well as your team. Otherwise you will not reach them. When everyone is on board you can achieve more than you ever thought possible.

You must write down your goals and post them so that your whole team can see what you are trying to do on a daily basis. Sometimes it is necessary to select a few goals from a long list. Focus on the key goals is the best way to reach them. In order to achieve your goals you need to be able to measure them. That means you need to have metrics to track how you are doing. If you can’t track it, it can’t be a goal. Post the metrics at scheduled intervals so that you all know where you are in reaching your goals.

Many times we find that customers are not tracking at all or are tracking the wrong things. We suggest that you first set your goals and then find ways to track them. There are so many more options today for direct mail metrics than ever before. If you need help with how to measure a specific direct mail goal talk with us, we can help you.

Contact us today. We are glad to help!