Things to consider when evaluating the value of a direct print campaign:

I love checklists - they keep me organized and I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I check something off.

And since I am sure I am not the only marketer out there that likes this sort of thing, I thought it would be fun to share my list of things I would consider when evaluating a pre-direct mail plan (and some post mortem items to consider too).

~ Your Market Segment and the most effective marketing tool to reach them
~ Size of your prospect market
~ Your Marketing budget
~ Design costs (In house or outside vendor / ad agency?)
~ Print costs
~ Database clean-up and prep costs
~ Postal rates and discounts, direct mail piece versus a corporate catalog have very different rates
~ Total program cost and what will it cost you per-piece cost before distribution
~ Response rate - for direct mail average response rates average .5 to 2% response rate
~ Conversion rate -This is taking the number of people who respond to the direct mail and who actually make a purchase
~ $$ generated per sale = your return on investment
~ Cost per sale - this helps with the post mortem and also contributes to the ROI story