These direct mail promotion tips are critical to any successful small business mailing program.

Your house list will always outperform any rented lists you purchase from a list broker. Does that mean you shouldn't use rental lists? No, it just means that you need to do your homework first.

An advantage of using a rental list is that you will reach people that are not currently on your mailing list. There are really only two ways to grow your business; get more out of your current customers and find new customers. A rental list can help you acquire new customers.

My advice here is to be very careful of the list quality. When was the last time the list was updated? What is the source? What is the reputation of the list management company?

Use only lists that have been recently updated and try to obtain lists that are as targeted as possible. If you're unsure about a particular list or the list broker is not able to answer all your questions, avoid it.

If you'd like more information on list rentals, read the article Direct Mail Lists.

Here's my motto: If you can't track it, don't do it. Make sure your direct mail piece contains a way to track whether the customer took action. If you don't do this, you will never know if your mailing had an impact.

1. Mail a postcard that contains a promo code that must be brought into your retail store. If your mailing list contains house names as well as rented names, use a different promo code for the rental names. Collect the postcards when they come into your store to redeem the offer . You will then be able to match and calculate the response rate for both your house list and any rented names you used.

2. If your business is web based, use a unique promotion code that must be entered at your website when redeeming the offer.

3. If you are referring people back to your website, send them to a special page your regular web visitors can't access. Use Google Analytics to embed a tracking code within this page and you will be able to see how many visitors came to the page via your direct mail offer. Sign up for your free Google Analytics account at http://www.google.com/analytics/. Google will take you through a step by step process to generate your special HTML code. Your web person simply places the code on the page. It's an easy but powerful way for a small business owner to learn what people are doing on their website.

Remember, the more you can track and measure, the more you can adjust in order to create a more effective mailing the next time. Remember, if you can't measure it, don't do it!

In traditional direct mail, you roll out smaller test mailings first, monitor the results, readjust your campaign based on the results, and then do a larger mailing. For a small business, the mailing list is sometimes too small to roll out test mailings. In addition, test mailings typically take several weeks to monitor and measure the results.

Instead, look at the various promotions and marketing campaigns you have run through your email campaigns and website (you do have a website, right?) Testing offers on the internet takes days as opposed to weeks (and even months) for a direct mail test.

If you can determine what types of offers customers respond to on-line, you stand a much better chance of making prospects respond via a direct mailing. Every small business that utilizes direct mail should have a strong online presence as well.

Don’t have a business website?

If you don't have a website, get one now - even if you have to reduce your budget elsewhere. You simply must have a website in order to have a successful small business. It doesn't matter if you're a service business, a retail store, or just a 1-person operation working in your spare bedroom. Every small business owner must have a website. If you want a recommendation, check out Site Build It!. It's a complete small business building system that I use myself every day.

What exactly is your call to action? Make it clear to your customer what it is you want them to do and make sure your offer is clear and compelling. Below are some ideas to get you going.

Make sure you capture everyone's contact information so you can add it to your database. On your website, this can be as simple as having them fill out a contact form before redeeming the direct mail offer.

Direct mail is a great way to supplement a strong ecommerce marketing program. People need to be exposed to your message 6-8 times before they typically take action. Use these direct mail promotion tips and start profiting from direct mail today!

Four Direct Mail Promotion Tips