Timeless Truths That Make Direct Mail Work

When it comes to direct marketing, few names carry more weight than Bob Stone. Over the course of three decades, Stone helped shape some of the most successful direct-mail campaigns in the business. Through years of testing, learning, and refining, he uncovered a set of principles that he found to be effective more than 90% of the time. These aren’t fleeting trends, they’re enduring truths that still hold up today.

Know Your Customers and Nurture Loyalty

Direct mail success begins with understanding who your best customers are. Often, just 20% of your customer base will be responsible for 80% of your repeat orders. These loyal buyers are worth focusing on. And while a first sale is valuable, it’s the second purchase that truly signals a customer relationship. Two-time buyers are far more likely to return again and again, so securing that second sale should be a key part of your strategy.

Make Smarter List and Offer Decisions

Your mailing list is one of your most powerful tools, and how you use it matters. Always test recently active “hotline” names first—if they don’t respond, less targeted list segments probably won’t either. Merging and purging names across lists will typically outperform any single list, especially when you enhance those names with demographic or behavioral overlays.

The way you present your offer also impacts response. Providing a Yes/No option tends to outperform simple “Yes” asks, and negative-option offers (which require customers to opt out) tend to beat positive-only offers by a wide margin. Offering credit card payment instead of requiring cash up front doesn’t just make it easier to convert; it can also increase your average order value, especially in catalog marketing.

Timing, Urgency, and Incentives Drive Results

Timing your mailings correctly can dramatically improve outcomes. Sending a follow-up to the same list within 50 days of the original drop can yield 40–50% of the first response rate. And when it comes to creating urgency, time-limited offers with a specific expiration date almost always outperform open-ended promotions.

Incentives matter too. Free gifts tend to generate more response than discounts, as they offer something tangible that feels like added value. And while self-mailers are more affordable to produce, traditional letter packages with envelopes, response devices, and reply cards consistently convert better. Add in a pre-print of your upcoming space ad, and you can increase conversions by as much as 50%.

Focus on What Works in Direct Mail and Keep Testing

Reaching out to your existing customers with a new catalog can outperform cold outreach by 400% to 800%. And when it comes to boosting results, it’s often easier to increase the size of each order than it is to increase your response rate. Think upsells, bundles, and smart incentives.

For B2B marketers, qualified leads from direct mail tend to convert two to four times more effectively than cold calls. That kind of efficiency makes a strong case for direct mail as part of your broader sales strategy.

The bottom line? Direct mail isn’t a relic, it’s a proven, strategic tool that continues to deliver when done right. Bob Stone’s decades of experience serve as a guide for marketers looking to maximize their ROI. By focusing on your best customers, refining your lists and offers, and leveraging timing and incentives, you can build campaigns that drive results not just once, but over and over again.