Almost all groups of people, companies and organisations have good times to mail and poor times to mail.   For most businesses December is a poor time to mail, for many August is also likely to give lower response rates than other months.

But beyond these generalisations there are bound to be times when the people you are mailing are more or less likely to respond - and the only ways to understand this are

a) Learn more about the behaviour and attitudes of the people you mail

b) Experiment.

Over the years I have conducted a fair number of experiments in relation to mailings to teachers, and found a range of variations in terms of response rates that can be obtained at different times.   These findings are of themselves quite interesting, but what is actually much more interesting is the way in which these times have changed over the years.  Months that were very poor in terms of sales and response rates suddenly improve - others fall away.

The reason for most of these changes can often be traced back to changes in the way that governments dispense money to schools - and of course such an easy link is usually restricted to areas where government is involved.  But other organisations are influenced by events also - accountants find their world revolves around Finance Acts and the date on which tax returns must be delivered.   Any organisation involved in the tourist industry is affected by the times at which people traditionally take holidays, and so on.

But there is another factor at play.   If you look at the industry you are targeting and draw the obvious conclusions, you can be fairly sure that your competitors are doing the same thing - which can mean a significant number of people will be trying to mail simultaneously.   To stay with the example of education, it is certainly true that teachers get huge amounts of mail in September to coincide with the start of the school year.  Indeed I know one direct mail company that tells potential customers that if they are to have any chance of making significant sales, they must mail the teachers in September.

Unfortunately for those who do mail in September there are other factors at play.  Firstly, teachers are swamped by direct mail at this time.  Secondly they are also swamped with additional duties - new classes, new syllabuses, new teaching colleagues - all of which make demands on their time.

So the most obvious time - indeed the time that at least one mailing house says one should mail out - is not necessarily the best time.   Which means that for whatever group of people you are mailing you should try to understand what goes on inside their lives and inside their jobs.   The more you know about the individual, rather than the whole group, the more you are likely to understand when to mail.

Free analysis of your mailshot

This article is written by Tony Attwood, Chairman of Hamilton House Mailings Ltd.  If you would like to discuss the writing or design of your mailing campaign, or indeed a single mailshot, with Tony, without cost or obligation, just call 01536 399 000, or email Creative@hamilton-house.com   You can also send Tony a copy of your latest advert and he will call you back with his thoughts on how your response rate could be raised - again without cost or obligation.