The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) projected that over $44 billion would be spent on direct mail advertising in 2000, a number predicted to grow 6.4 percent per year through 2005. With national consumer direct mail sales expected to reach over $484 billion by 2005, direct mail marketing is one of the most effective means of soliciting orders and generating leads. Topped only by telephone marketing, more money is spent each year on direct mail advertising than on marketing through television, newspapers, radio and magazines.

According to Ron Ferguson, a Dyer, Tenn.-based direct mail copywriter and designer, to consider a direct mail campaign a success, you should get at least a 2 percent response rate from the total pieces mailed. While this number may seem small, it is still more cost-effective than other marketing tactics. Through a direct mail campaign targeting a specific list of buyers and prospects, that 2 percent return may be more valuable than what can be garnered by a print ad or radio spot with a less specific audience. In other words, your responses will only come from your intended audience — valuable buyers and serious prospects.

A selection of effective mail pieces used by craftspeople. (Top right) Postcard by Ann Light featuring her work as it appeared on the cover of The Crafts Report. (Bottom right) The cover of the mini-CD created by Sherry McCall to showcase her work, and (inset) a sample of McCall’s work contained on the CD. (Left) Eduardo Milieris of WatchCraft promotes his one-of-a-kind watches using eye-catching folders made from thick, handcrafted paper in a rust-like color, stuffed with jumbo postcards and other information.

It’s all in the list

The most important element of direct mail is most often said to be the mailing list. If you mail a beautifully designed piece with action-packed copy to the wrong audience, you’ll get no response. So first, consider your target audience. Most artists already have mailing lists compiled from years of tracking customers and prospects, but if you are just starting your business or want to supplement your existing list with some new names, there are a few options.

One option is to contact a list broker and rent or purchase a list created from the broker’s database. For example, at ThinkDirectMarketing, Inc., you can purchase a demographic subscription package for $395 per year and get online access to the company’s database. In the course of the year, you can download up to 20,000 names, addresses and phone numbers selected by a variety of specific fields. If you prefer to e-mail your direct mail message, expect to pay at least 18 cents per e-mail address.

Another alternative is to contact a craft-related magazine and ask if they will rent their subscriber list. Niche magazine will rent its list for $125 per 1,000 names, and will break it down geographically by request.

For those who exhibit at the American Craft Council (ACC) craft shows, a buyer label program is available. For 15 cents per name, plus the cost of postage, the ACC will mail your assembled direct mail piece to buyers who have attended the shows in the last four years. “We used to offer this program to everyone,” says Annette Fitzgerald, manager of information systems, “but the buyers don’t want to be overwhelmed with mail, so we only offer the service to our existing exhibitors.” Artists can use the entire list, or select names by specific fields, including location and medium.

9 Tips for Creating Effective Direct Mail Copy Sell benefits not features. Your reader doesn’t care how many teeth are on your machine’s gears. He only cares that your machine will grind his rocks into cement cost effectively. Tell him how your machine can do that. Sell him, don’t tell him. Your reader doesn’t have the time to peruse the family history of your company’s founding fathers. Sure, you can tell the company story. But you should try to phrase it in the form of a reader benefit. Example: Don’t say, “We’ve been in business for 50 years.” Say, “Our customers have been profiting from our grommet’s superior performance since World War II.” Be conversational. One of my early mentors said it this way: “Write it like you’d say it, then go back and take out all of the cuss words.” Damned good advice, if you ask me. Get to the point. If you dillydally around about telling your reader what you have to offer, you’ll lose him for sure. It’s best to get to the point at the very beginning of the letter. Preferably in the first five lines. Always include a postscript. Research shows that the letter is the first thing the reader looks at in the package, after the outside envelope. And, a majority of people will read the P.S. before they read anything else. So, always include a P.S. In addition, it’s best to restate your proposition in the P.S., just as you do at the beginning of the letter. Forget grammar. Please don’t interpret this to mean that it’s all right to sound stupid. It’s not. But, it is better to write like the reader reads than to write like Mrs. Lesile taught you in her 12th grade English class. Research shows that most people read at about the eighth grade level, anyway. That includes college graduates. Use words that are “active” rather than “passive.” You can increase response simply by using action-oriented copy. Always follow AIDA. She’ll never lead you astray: attract Attention … stimulate Interest … create Desire … incite Action … Do this every time on every direct mail component and you will surely succeed. Assume your copy is never finished. I think it was Stephen King who said, “There is no such thing as writing. There is only rewriting.” Type your project into the word processor. Edit it at least once on screen. Then, print it out. Edit it at least once on paper. Then, set it aside for a day or two, and go through the whole process again. I’ve been writing for direct mail for a quarter of a century, and this is the only way I know to turn words into power communication that sells. Source: Reprinted with permission. By Matthew R. Samp of Creos Direct Mail Inc., Omaha, Neb., (800) 243-5881, www.directmailtips.com.

The power of the postcard

Once you have your list together, it is time to develop your message. The DMA distinguishes three specific purposes that any consumer direct mail campaign should try to achieve: to solicit a direct order, generate a lead, or increase store traffic. One of the most popular and inexpensive ways to achieve any or all of these goals is through postcards. According to Modern Postcard, a frequently used source among artists for postcards and mailing services, postcards are an efficient way to catch the recipients’ attention as soon as they retrieve their mail. By using a professionally photographed image of your work on one side, or another attention-getting graphic, and concise copy on the back, a postcard can serve several functions.

According to Dennis Clark of Clark Cards in Willmar, Minn., your copy should not only include all of your contact information, it should clearly state a purpose. Whether you are informing buyers of your presence at a show, announcing the dates of an exhibit, encouraging them to visit your Web site, or following up with a buyer or a hot prospect, your postcard has to clearly state your intention in order for it to inspire the right response. “Ask for a response, and tell the reader how to respond,” says Clark. In addition, personalizing your postcard with a simple, handwritten note can go a long way in starting and maintaining a good relationship with your customers. A short, personal note can make them feel special.
The cover image on your postcard is your chance to remind current customers of how great your work is and to introduce it to new prospects. This is not the place to feature an amateur photograph; spend the money for a professional image.

Gourd artist Ann Light of Gourd Spirit Masks in New Providence, N.J., was recently featured on the cover of The Crafts Report and used a reprint of the cover on her postcards. “Because the look is different than the typical postcard with a photograph of just the work,” says Light, “I believe it attracts attention and adds a certain amount of prestige to my announcement. Two customers who bought earlier in my career [and who received my postcard] said they had better come buy another mask since I was becoming famous.”

On Modern Postcard’s Web site, you can design your own, four-color postcard online, or submit your art and copy via e-mail or mail. To print 1,000, 4.25-inch by 6-inch postcards, it will cost $145. At Clark Cards, to print 1,000, 4.125-inch by 5.875-inch postcards, it will cost $298. The standard postage rate for both is 21 cents.

Other creative direct mail options

If you decide to forgo the postcard, or want to supplement a postcard with other direct mail pieces, there are several options. Ken Cramer from Clay Company in Santa Rosa, Calif., supplements postcard mailings with two, pre-show mailings to his best customers. The pre-show mailings include new product information, show dates and order information to allow buyers to pre-order before a show. Each piece is four-color, printed on 8.5-inch by 11-inch stock. In addition, Cramer prints a catalog once a year to mail to buyers. National companies like Kinko’s can help you design and print a catalog or brochure through their Web sites, where you can upload your files to be printed in a brochure or catalog format. Expect to pay around $2,000 to typeset and print 500, eight-page, four-color brochures or catalogs on a digital, color laser printer. The price will change depending on the number of pages printed.

But catalogs aren’t the only option. Some artists include their postcards in a direct mail package. Alex Beitler, general manager of WatchCraft in New York City, where artist Eduardo Milieris designs one-of-a-kind watches, says they use folders made from thick, handcrafted paper in a rust-like color. Each is stuffed with equally impressive jumbo postcards, a bio and artist’s statement, business cards and a CD of images. By simply using heavier paper stock, and a unique folder to present all of his promotional material, Milieris’ direct mail piece reflects the same level of professionalism and creativity seen in his watches. “The response from recipients is almost always ‘WOW.’ In terms of sales, it is very effective because we stand out from the crowd,” says Beitler. “Buyers remember our literature, and it makes closing the deal easier.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

American Craft Council (800) 836-3470 www.craftcouncil.org Clark Cards (800) 227-3658 www.clarkcards.com The Direct Marketing Association (212) 768-7277 www.the-dma.org Ron Ferguson (731) 692-4297 guru@jaxn.com Kinko’s (800) 2-KINKOS www.kinkos.com Modern Postcard (800) 959-8365 www.modernpostcard.com Neato Products (800) 984-9800 www.neato.com ThinkDirectMarketing, Inc. (877) 288-3282 www.thinkdirectmarketing.com

Getting Technical

Another direct mail option is a digital business card CD. At about the same size as a business card, you can pack a surprising amount of information on these CDs. Sherry McCall of Stone Mosaic in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., uses this new technology to solicit her target group of architects and high-end interior designers. Her card consists of a video featuring her recent mosaic installations, her Web site and a slide show of her work. “The digital card far exceeds the usefulness of a brochure,” says McCall. “The cards are not widely used at this point, and the response has been, ‘Let me see that cool thing.’ The card impresses [my customers], thus my work is moved to a higher level.”

To create your own CD, McCall suggests contacting Neato Products to purchase the $49.95 HandiCD Creator Kit. This package will allow you to design and burn your own CDs, create labels and CD sleeves. Additional materials can also be purchased on the company’s Web site.

It’s now or never

When you’re ready to mail your piece or signoff on a proof to be mailed from another location, go over it with a fine-toothed comb and look for errors. You’re better off sending nothing than something with spelling and grammatical errors or no clear message. If your piece is a call to action, do the recipients know how to get in touch with you? Is their desired response clearly spelled out? If you’re alerting them to an event or show on a specific date, have you given them all of the necessary information and enough time to plan to attend? If you’re soliciting prospects, have you provided enough information about your work to interest them? If you’re not 100 percent confident that you’ve met all of this criteria, go back to the drawing board.

For your mailing list, be just as particular. Most brokers update their lists quarterly; you should consider doing the same with your own. Are you confident that every name is spelled correctly and all addresses are current? In addition, regularly purge your list of buyers or prospects that are no longer active. Penne Franks Simon, a glass artist from Blaine, Minn., puts a code number on the labels of her postcards. Every four years, she asks recipients who receive a code below a certain number to notify her if they wish to remain on her list. By being proactive, Simon keeps her list fresh and avoids wasting money soliciting clients who aren’t interested. By taking some time and applying the same diligence and care that you do to the creation of your art, your direct mail pieces can be just as valuable.