Money in the Mail

‘How to’

of Direct Mail!

Presented by Anup Tiwari, Director-Asia, Fund Development & Communications, SOS Children’s Villages International

& Yogesh Aggarwal, MD, Yellow Umbrella

Presented by Anup Tiwari, Director-Asia, Fund Development & Communications, SOS Children’s Villages International

& Yogesh Aggarwal, MD, Yellow Umbrella

Part 1: Introduction to Direct Mail

(45 minutes)(45 minutes)

How long has the Direct Mail been around?

800 Years ago by Eihei

Dogen

800 Years ago by Eihei

Dogen

Probably the oldest Fundraising Direct Mail

Source: Exhibit by Mal Warwick on www.sofii.orgSource: Exhibit by Mal Warwick on www.sofii.org

Direct Mail Now- butt of jokes

But still Direct Mail continues to deliver

What can you use Direct Mail for - 1

What can you use Direct Mail for - 2

Retaining Donors

Retaining Donors

What can you use Direct Mail for - 3

Converting DonorsConverting Donors

Envelope Letter Endorsement or Lift Letter or Lift photo /

leaflet Donation Coupon (Premiums &Mission Premiums) Business Reply Envelope

Key direct mail tactics

Key direct mail tactics - Personalisation

Underlining

Post Script

Questioning

Key direct mail tactics

Key direct mail tactics

Address Labels visible from back

of envelope

Key direct mail tactics

Key direct mail tactics

Key direct mail tactics

Plastic sheetPlastic sheet

Key direct mail tactics

Key direct mail tactics

Measuring success of Direct Mail 1

Response RateResponse Rate

Measuring success of Direct Mail 2

Measuring success of Direct Mail 3

Long-term value of donors

Long-term value of donors

Coding Your Direct Mail

Coding Your Direct Mail

Getting ready to sendGetting ready to send

Manual Mail InsertionManual Mail Insertion

Mechanical Mail InsertionMechanical Mail Insertion

FrankingFranking

Mail Sorting Zip or Pin CodeMail Sorting Zip or Pin Code

Using Postal ServicesUsing Postal Services

Using Courier ServicesUsing Courier Services

Always Seed Your Mail!Always Seed Your Mail!

Part 2: Direct Mail Pros & Cons

(10 minutes)(10 minutes)

Number of new donors brought in

• Does Direct Mail bring in More Donors as Compared to Other Methods?

Average Donation brought in

• Do Direct Mail Donors Give More or Not as Compared with Other Methods?

Quality of donors

• Do Direct Mail Acquired Donors Stay Longer or Not?

Scalability

• Can Number of Direct Mailers to be Sent Increased Quickly as per the Need?

Part 3: Choosing Databases- fluke or science (20 minutes)(20 minutes)

What is more important ?

• Creative design

• Quality of lists

• Mode of delivery

Data Selection

Compiled ListsCompiled Lists

List OwnersList Owners

List brokersList brokers

List vendorsList vendors

Using listsUsing lists

Testing listsTesting lists

Picking up a small samplePicking up a small sample

How big should a test be?How big should a test be?

The concept of random selectionThe concept of random selection

The concept of partial rolloutsThe concept of partial rollouts

Part 4: Direct Mail ResponsesA list owners perspective

(30 minutes)(30 minutes)

ByYogesh AggarwalGlobal Business Director

Yellow Umbrella Group

The Direct Mail Era

Critical success factors

• Realistic Expectations• Relevant Communication • Correct Timing• Correct Mail size• Correct Test Size • Correct Evaluation of Results • Understanding of Profile

Direct Mail Response

A List owner’s Perspective

1.Responds a factor of your knowledge on Chosen segment

2.HNI Syndrome3.Database options and cuts available 4.Living with list owners

Responds a factor of your knowledge on Chosen segment

• Major Flaws – Individual / Corporate misunderstanding on what Works / Worked or Doesn’t..

• Profile knowledge… a Failure in doing Homework before running campaign.

• Segment knowledge: Study Product / Market / Target Segment

• Target those who require / would respond and not to all…

HNI Syndrome

A little bit of TOO MUCH• A segment over-done.• Everyone wants a bit of HNI

– 100% database queries are for HNI– 100% companies wants to target HNI

Is HNI so Important ??Small Test…… Define it…..

Basic Questions to answer yourselfbefore Targeting HNI

• Why HNI?• How Do you connect to HNI?• Is HNI your Target segment?• What is your expectation from HNI?

HNI… HNI… HNI…

HNI SyndromeContinued…

HNI SyndromeContinued…

Purchase Behavior• It’s not the money that responds but the profile

and lifestyle of a person which does.

• Target the group by Profile, Educational balance…..

So how would you select the Data??

Largely a Psychographic study of the TA?Continued..

What is Database????

– a key component in Direct Marketing

You Buy Customers and not the Mailing Lists

Options & Cuts Available

Databases are available by deep segmentation on Psychographic & Demographic classification

Spending Patterns

Critical factors – Data selection

• What is your current donor profile? – By Location– By Age– By Occupation

– By Availability of Data with List owners

Now Lets understandPsychographic study of the Target Audience…

Psychographic Analysis

• It is a Technique of Geographic & Demographic study on psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, value, abilities, attitudes, buying motives and personality traits.

• Gender, Age, income, occupation, Location & even Religion play vital role in any purchase behavior.

• Psychographic data can be purchased from direct marketers or market profiles for general marketers

Database options and surrogates

Segment Surrogate

By Occupation CEO/MD

General Manager +

Business Heads

By Ownership Honda City + cars

Mutual fund owners of High value

By Business Directors , Proprietors

By Credit Credit Limit 1.5 Lakh +

By Residence Residents to Premium localities

By Age High Networth + Age > 40

By Ability to spend High value shoppers High value donors

Living with list owners

List owner is like your doctor • Share the objective• Share the communication• Share the expectations

– What ROI ?Do not look for immediate R.O.I (return on

investment).Building a good relationship with the

customer is possible only by winning loyalty.

Living with list ownersContinued…

– What Media?To maximize your R.O.I, It is vitally important to test your

campaigns.

– What Budget? & What size of campaign?Start small campaigns and test various things to find what

works(Vivid Segments / Different Creative / Different Offerings)

Then, just scale it up, your profit will scale up along.

Living with list ownersContinued…

– Method to measure?A homework on what works and what doesn’t is very

eminent before running a large scale campaign / or to derive at a conclusion

– What Time?Streamline your offers & campaigns with the current

situation / Market Trends

Communicate well- Your segment- Your interpretation of HNI

Last but not Least…

It’s a War..Direct mail vis-à-vis Email/SMS/Tele calling

Choosing Media - Media comparisonComing Soon….

Part 5: The Fundraising Stretch

(10 minutes)(10 minutes)

Scottish Fundraising Guru’s tip on “How to Ask”– Recruit donor, retain donor, convert to major donor– Ask at least 3 times in a letter

Finlay Craig’s Fundraising Stretch

Part 6: Choosing Media- Direct Mail v/s email/sms/telephone

(25 minutes)(25 minutes)

ByYogesh AggarwalGlobal Business Director

Yellow Umbrella Group

Media Comparison

Take a Pick… Its Choosing Media

Direct mail vis-à-vis Email/SMS/Tele callingConcerns• Getting email read is becoming harder and

harder. Bounces are very high• Target High Net Individuals / Premium base

over phone through SMS / Telecalling has almost become impossible due to DND (DoNotDisturb) listing.

• DND ratio is almost 50%

Mathematics

Mail Size Cost

Total cost

Response percentage Response

Cost to acquire

Email 100000 0.4 40000 0.03% 30 1333

SMS 100000 0.2 20000 0.020% 10 2000

Direct Mail 100000 6 600000 0.7% 700 857

Tele Call 100000 6 600000 1% 500 1200

Choosing Media

Advantage Disadvantage

Email Faster and cheaper for tests Primarily reaches to value seekers

Doesn’t covers most of wealthy Has limited shelf life

Reach is limited to individual to whom it is sent

Tele calling More persuasive Negative Image

Slow reach Doesn’t reach welthy DND

SMS Fast & cheaper Negligible shelf life Not enough space to communicate Doesn’t reach wealthy DND

Direct Mail Facts

Advantage Disadvantage

Reaches ALL High Initial Cost

Lot of space to communicate

Cuts clutter

No DND issues

Helps build brand

Read by multiple people at home

Direct Mail Facts Continued…

• Direct Mailer is not an expensive mode but Smart mode of marketing products / services.

• The open ratio of an email campaign / SMS response is far low & in fact equivalent to the volume of Direct Mailer campaign.

• Direct Mailer also works as a Reminder in many cases for recurring sale from same customer.

Mathematics for media option

To make this simple let us check the following:• An email campaign of 1lac with even 95%

delivered rate can fetch you open rate of 5k and unique clicks of 3k. Which simply means out of 1lac Target Audience only 5k have opened your email …

• Whilst a Direct Mailer campaign of just 5k will fetch you approximately 4 times more visibility per household multiplying your Branding.

Fight the Flaws

Understand what works and what doesn’t

Profile Understanding

Target who requires and who doesn’tIts not the Cost… It’s the Mode we

communicate through….

Part 7: Tips on writing a Direct Mail Letter (20 minutes)(20 minutes)

Writing a direct mail letterWriting a direct mail letter

Messages that stick

S

U

C

C

S

E

implenexpectedoncrete

rediblemotionaltories

Tell a storyTell a story

A human interest story

With a before & after

In a first person account

Short Sentences

LanguageLanguage

Story with a ‘still unfulfilled need’

Pitch a small & urgent gap

Key direct mail tactics

Next….

Let’s write one now

Writing- 25 minutesPresenting- 30 minutesWriting- 25 minutesPresenting- 30 minutes

Happy MailingHappy Mailing

For more information visit www.FundraisingAsia.orgFor more information visit www.FundraisingAsia.org

Thank Thank youyou