If you're like most of our zoo clients, you recently mailed your spring direct mail membership campaign. The results are coming in and we hope you're busy adding and welcoming all those new members!

Great! But now you may want to consider: How was this year's campaign? Did it find you fresh new prospects? Was it a creative "wow"? Did it open up new demographic and/or geographic markets?

This year more than ever, our zoo clients needed to revitalize their direct mail acquisition campaigns. Many feel their demographic and/or geographic markets are changing, the economy is hampering results, and competition from theme parks, science centers and museums is stronger than ever.

With tighter advertising budgets, zoos also need their direct mail packages to act as general marketing pieces to raise awareness, drive attendance and ultimately build a loyal base of zoo support.

S&W rose to the challenge and came up with some new—and some not so new—ways to renew our clients' direct mail campaigns. We think they're pretty good—because they're working—so I want to share some of our experiences with you.

Ten Ways to Reinvigorate Your Direct Mail Campaign

Get Back to Basics
After years of doing membership acquisition campaigns, a package can get cluttered or unfocused—with too much copy, graphics, inserts and photographs. Make sure your offer is clear, the copy is easy to skim and the design is clean.

Reevaluate What You're Offering
We've had great success reviving campaigns when we switched to a 10% membership discount (after many years of a 13th-month free offer).

Show the Value of Membership
Make sure people understand that "membership pays for itself!" through words, illustrations and charts. Repeat it often!

Sell the Entire Zoo Experience
Even if you have a great new exhibit, don't forget to sell the entire, ever-changing zoo experience. People want a different reason to come back again and again.

Sell the Whole Year
Talk about the highlights of the members' year to sell real value and show them more reasons why they'll want to come back throughout the year.

Test New List Selects
List owners are enhancing their files with demographic and lifestyle characteristics all the time—pick the list selects that most represent your membership base.

Analyze Your Responses Per Zip Code
This will help you pinpoint the best places to mail your package. Determine if you can increase your geographic area or, if it's better to concentrate on only those areas closest to your zoo.

Review Your Free Gifts
Whether you're promoting through the mail, e-mail or on-site, you should offer a little something "extra" for joining. One of our zoo clients realized a 15% increase in response when they added an inexpensive free plush zoo animal to the offer. This client also offered a free plush zoo animal for every child in the family through a targeted bilingual Spanish/English offer.

Profile Your Members
Understand the demographics and lifestyles of your active members and change your creative and list strategy to find new prospects. For example, we tapped into the "gardening enthusiast" market when our Member Profile showed that more than 70% of zoo members have a high gardening interest!

Make Membership Exclusive
Offer behind-the-scenes tours, preview parties, early morning hours or other VIP privileges. While the number one reason people join a zoo is value, exclusivity is often not far behind.

Like it or not, your direct mail piece has only seconds to answer those questions in a clear and appealing way—or it goes right into the recycling bin.

While your Zoo's attractions, your direct mail offer and your prospect lists are responsible for the lion's share of your success, your creative (design and copy) plays a vital supporting role too.

Before you start your next direct mail project, take a critical look at the copy and design from your last campaign. It's the best way to improve and learn from any mistakes as you move forward.

It's also helpful to review what your competition is mailing—so you'll know who and what you're competing against for your prospects' attention and dollars. Plus you'll be aware of any trends that may influence your efforts.

And when you review any new creative, take a long hard look at your envelope. It's the most important part of your mailing since it's the first thing folks see when they open their mailbox. Ask yourself: "Does it stand out amid a handful of mail? Does the offer jump out and grab attention? Are the biggest benefits easy to read?"

After evaluating your envelope, lay all the pieces out (letter, reply device, brochure, inserts, return envelope, etc.) and look at them as a whole. They should work together but stand out from one another. The offer and the "pays for itself" value of membership should be repeated frequently. It should be clear what to do: Fill out the reply and send in with your payment now! And filling out the reply should be easy as well.

Make sure your piece builds excitement about your new attractions but also represents the entire zoo experience. Show the zoo's signature animals and, just as importantly, show hands-on interaction between members and animals. We call that "the Zoo moment" and folks can't have it anywhere else!

Make sure your package reflects your zoo's marketing messages, images and graphics. When you integrate with your marketing, you're creating a package that educates, informs and acquires members!

Ask the Expert

Question: What levels of membership should I offer in my campaign?

Answer: The reply slip is the second most important piece of a direct mail package; it’s your “call to action,” so you want to keep it as clean and easy to follow as possible. That means limiting the number of membership categories.

In direct mail, you’re not using lists compiled of students or seniors, so these categories can be eliminated. Also, evaluate how many members you acquire at each level—chances are you can eliminate high-end membership levels because typically new members do not join at the $500+ levels.

For more information on how S&W can help reinvigorate your direct marketing campaigns, to ask more about any of our other membership services, or to submit an "ask the expert" question, contact us.

If you do not wish to receive further mailings, please send a message to mail@sw-inc.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line and you will be promptly removed.

Schultz & Williams Inc., 325 Chestnut Street, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Phone: 215-625-9955, Fax: 215-625-2701, E-mail: mail@sw-inc.com

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