A large computer company approached us recently about a direct mail campaign in which they wanted to mail 25,000 prospects a CD-ROM, a white paper, and a press release about a new product.

The expense involved would be enough to dissuade most companies from mailing such a package, but here, budget wasn't an issue. Still, we reasoned that the campaign as proposed would do more than cost too much - it was also destined to generate much lower response than expected.

This is an extreme example of a fairly common (and misguided) direct mail strategy - campaigns designed to provide the reader every nugget of available information about a particular product in the hope that he or she will then be somehow compelled to respond.

Sometimes, as with the example above, companies send out product literature. More often, the package is a brochure posing as a direct mail campaign. Either way, when you tell the prospect too much about your product, you defeat the purpose of your mailing - namely, getting someone to respond. (You may interest someone in your technology by sending that person a brochure, but chances are you'll never know it.)

Don't send product information; make your prospects ask for it. You'll not only save money (by only mailing expensive brochures only to those who request them), but more importantly, you'll identify prospects that are actively interested in your solution in a way that enables a dialogue between them and your sales force.

Don't ask your direct mail to do too much. Sending product information (or a mailer that provides an excess of information about your product) is to pretend that the mailer is going to sell your product for you. (True, if your product costs $59, but otherwise, it simply won't work.) Much better to simply tempt the reader with just enough information to pique his or her interest, and then offer collateral, white papers, case studies, CD-ROMs and the like as the reason to respond.