What Is the Average Direct Mail Response Rate?

Direct mail marketing can be an excellent way of generating more leads and improving your conversion rates. Combined with your other marketing strategies, it can be instrumental in getting your business off the ground. Still, you’ll first need to ensure that you’re getting satisfactory direct mail response rates. 

So, how can you do this? What is an excellent direct mail response rate? How about the average direct mail response rate? Well, let’s find out. 

What Is a Good Response Rate for Direct Mail? 

Primarily, it’s essential to know what direct mail response rates are. Put very simply, they are a form of measuring the success of your direct mail marketing campaign, and they serve to reflect the percentage of people who respond to it. 

Last year, the average direct mail response rate was 9% for house lists and 4.9% for prospect lists. This is significantly higher than the response rates most businesses get from their email campaigns or even paid searches. 

However, when it comes to the question of what is an excellent direct mail response rate for your business, the answer is not so straightforward. A good response rate for your business can be well above the average, or even well below it, it all depends on your goals. 

If your goal is spreading brand awareness, for example, then a response rate of less than 1% can be very good. The ultimate goal is normally increasing conversion rates, and for this, you’ll need a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes direct mail marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and more. 

The response rates for each can vary, but a holistic approach brings the best results. 

How You Can Improve Your Average Direct Mail Response Rate 

Regardless of your marketing goals and objectives, your direct mail response rates can always be improved. Partnering up with a reliable company is the first step, and following these tips can help immensely: 

Segment & Personalize 

Sending the same direct mail to everyone on your list won’t be very useful as you won’t be able to address the unique needs and wants of your leads with a generic message. So, it’s crucial to segment your mailing list and divide it into different categories. 

To take it a step further, you should personalize your direct mail. An overwhelming majority of marketers agree that personalized, branded, and integrated direct mail is the most efficient approach. It gets the highest response rates and is effective at sparking interest among your leads. 

Have a Clear Call-to-Action 

It’s crucial to let your leads know what they should do after reading your direct mail. Whether that’s to visit your website, come to your store, or give you a call doesn’t matter. As long as you tell them precisely what you want them to do. 

Focus on the Design 

It’s said that the global attention span is shrinking, so you have a very limited amount of time to capture your leads’ attention with your direct mail. The easiest way to draw attention is with an appealing and professional design. 

Be creative not only with the contents of the mail but with the envelope as well. After all, it’s the first thing your leads will see. 

Offer a Valuable Incentive 

Everyone loves discounts, and you should use this to your advantage. Include coupons, discounts, or even free trials with your direct mail. The more valuable your incentive, the better response rates you’ll get. 

How United GMG Can Help You 

UnitedGMG - CTA1

As the leading printing and direct mail services experts, United GMG can help you ensure the utmost success of your direct mail marketing campaign. You can rely on United GMG for everything, from design to paper choice and client database management. 

Contact United GMG and enhance your direct mail response rates, lead generation, and conversion today!