Budget, smudget. Can’t you just work off a guesstimate of how much money you’ll spend on your campaign? Sorry. Go that route and you’ll likely spend much more than you anticipated, which could keep your campaign from giving you your desired return.
Compiling the hard numbers upfront also will help you determine what tradeoffs are necessary, like printing the piece yourself vs. hiring a professional, or opting for fewer colors but higher quality paper.
Key questions for setting a direct mail budget
You’ll need to do your research when preparing a budget. Answering the following questions can help you figure out what kind of campaign you can launch and how to put it together:
- How many mailers am I sending?
- Will I need to rent a mailing list? How much will that cost?
- What is the optimal size and format for the mailing? What postage will it require?
- Should I outsource my creative, printing and mailing tasks? What’s the cost of doing so?
- What quality of materials do I want to use? Will I be using custom photography or stock images?
- What kind of testing will I run?
- Will I include a special offer? What costs will be associated?
- Will I need to hire help to handle responses from the campaign?
- What are the costs of other media I may use to complement my direct mail efforts?
Direct mail can accommodate any budget. Let the financials be a starting point for your campaign planning to ensure you can produce the effort that best fits your needs.
Direct Marketing 101, Small Business
