. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your

With the proliferation of media choices available today, marketing to consumers has become more sophisticated—and seemingly more challenging and expensive—than ever before. Especially when some of your direct competitors are on local or even network TV, it can seem like your humble promotional efforts are meager at best.

Don’t believe it for a second. There isn’t any reason why a retailer with a less-than-TV-sized ad budget can’t be amazingly effective in promoting his or her store. In fact, some forms of marketing communications deliver a far higher ROI, on average, than a TV ad campaign.

At the very top of the list of under-appreciated media is direct response marketing. As the name implies, this marketing tool is geared for one objective—response. When you need customers in the door, cash registers to ring, and average sale totals to rise, it’s hard to beat a well-conceived direct mail program.

Direct response has the ability to help independents go toe-to-toe with better-funded competitors.

All it takes is commitment, a dose of promotional imagination—and an insider’s knowledge of what makes a direct mail effort work. With that in mind, here are ten tips the pros use to create a winning direct mail campaign:

1. Focus, focus, focus. One of the most common mistakes gift merchants make is putting too many ideas into one mailer. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your c

a second. There isn’t any reason why a retailer with a less-than-TV-sized ad budget can’t be amazingly effective in promoting his or her store. In fact, some forms of marketing communications deliver a far higher ROI, on average, than a TV ad campaign.

At the very top of the list of under-appreciated media is direct response marketing. As the name implies, this marketing tool is geared for one objective—response. When you need customers in the door, cash registers to ring, and average sale totals to rise, it’s hard to beat a well-conceived direct mail program.

Direct response has the ability to help independents go toe-to-toe with better-funded competitors.

All it takes is commitment, a dose of promotional imagination—and an insider’s knowledge of what makes a direct mail effort work. With that in mind, here are ten tips the pros use to create a winning direct mail campaign:

1. Focus, focus, focus. One of the most common mistakes gift merchants make is putting too many ideas into one mailer. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your

he name implies, this marketing tool is geared for one objective—response. When you need customers in the door, cash registers to ring, and average sale totals to rise, it’s hard to beat a well-conceived direct mail program.

Direct response has the ability to help independents go toe-to-toe with better-funded competitors.

All it takes is commitment, a dose of promotional imagination—and an insider’s knowledge of what makes a direct mail effort work. With that in mind, here are ten tips the pros use to create a winning direct mail campaign:

1. Focus, focus, focus. One of the most common mistakes gift merchants make is putting too many ideas into one mailer. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your

s commitment, a dose of promotional imagination—and an insider’s knowledge of what makes a direct mail effort work. With that in mind, here are ten tips the pros use to create a winning direct mail campaign:

1. Focus, focus, focus. One of the most common mistakes gift merchants make is putting too many ideas into one mailer. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your

. Focus your piece on a single offer or idea, and drive the point home with crisp, active copy. Better to sell one idea with dozens of powerful words, than a dozen ideas all at once.

A related concept is to focus on YOUR advantages, not on advantages anyone in your business can claim. Talk about your extensive selection of Hummels, or your close relationship with Christian Steinbach that makes you one of the best Steinbach nutcracker retailers in the area. Let your recipients know you have a frequent buyer’s club…or that you offer monthly signing events. Specifics set you apart and make you more appealing than your competitors.

2. Pile on benefits, not features. Obviously you want your mailings to have substance. After all, no one wants to spend money on copy that’s all fluff. But in your drive to deliver facts, don’t forget to sell. That means communicate benefits.

A feature of your shop may be your membership in the Herend Guild. The benefits, on the other hand, include better selection of Herend products…greater availability of limited designs…or inside knowledge of how to start or grow a Herend collection for maximum value. Transform your advantages using words that energize and entice, and you’ll enjoy greater response.

3. Create “social proof” using testimonials. People never believe testimonials, right? Wrong! Actual experiences from satisfied customers are among the most influential appeals you can make. Psychologists call it “social proof”—people want to know that others have successfully gone before them.

Ask your most loyal customers to stay and talk for a few minutes. Offer them a discount if they’ll tell yo