You’ve got mail…

Are you ready for a quick test of direct marketing best practices?

How many “issues”, problems, or concerns (call them what you want) can you spot in this direct mail postcard?

I’ll give you the first two since they are not visually obvious (and IMO probably the most problematic).
1) The person this was sent to left this address 6+ years ago
2) That person is also about 7+ years past needing these services

So, there is clearly a targeting issue ? here. We can argue about the message and design (hint, some of the issues are about message and design) however sending marketing to the wrong person, at the wrong time, at the wrong location is a marketing fail and probably one of the many ways direct mail is used incorrectly.

I noted 6 other issues with this mail piece. What do you see that isn’t shall we say “best practice”? Leave me a comment with what you find.

Note, my goal here is not to embarrass anyone, but to help organizations improve their direct response marketing efforts. There is a difference between direct marketing and sending out a mailing. Direct marketing is all about the art and science of using the channel to drive results.

My guess is that this mailing will have poor results and the company might rule out the channel for future marketing efforts (assuming, of course, they are measuring the results). A missed opportunity since based on my personal experience direct marketing can drive significant ROI and response in the test prep industry.

What do you think?