What is Direct Mail Marketing?

An Overview and Benefits of Direct Mail Marketing

 

Direct Mail marketing can be defined as “marketing through a channel that reaches the consumer directly”. The channel is usually through a mailer. Direct mail marketing is also known as “Direct Response Marketing”. The recipient will look at the mailer and make a decision to take action right away, save the piece for further review when they have more time, or throw it.

 

Advertisers often refine direct mail practices into targeted mailing, in which mail is sent out following database analysis to select recipients considered most likely to respond positively. For example a person who has demonstrated an interest in golf may receive direct mail for golf related products or perhaps for goods and services that are appropriate for golfers. This use of database analysis is a type of database marketing.

 

What Makes Direct Mail So Popular

 

Direct mail has many advantages that contribute to its popularity.

-It is a ‘one to one communication’. Business can reach the customer directly. The business can inform the customer whatever it wants them to know.

-Cheaper to deliver. For the same expense as television ads for example, the business can reach a larger number of customers.

-Sending a series of postcards to the same target audience will achieve name recognition, produce leads, and generate customers.

 

According to the United States Postal Service Direct Mail touches people every day.

Many people look forward to receiving their daily mail. In fact, 98 percent of consumers bring in their mail the day it’s delivered, and 77 percent sort through it immediately. In addition to that kind of exposure, Direct Mail offers these benefits:

 

It’s targeted. Mass advertising (TV, print, radio, etc.) can be expensive and isn’t always an option for small businesses. But Direct Mail can focus on a smaller group of individuals who are more likely to respond to your offer, giving you more bang for your buck

 

Direct Mail Marketing Avoids Distractions

 

-While reading a newspaper, consumers will avoid looking at the advertisement insertions.

-When watching television, they go for a drink when the commercials are running.

-While driving people take a quick glance at billboards with many other things on their mind

 

These distractions are not the case with direct mail because it is ‘up in the face’ and thus the concentration level of the consumers is higher. The lack of any distraction means that the consumer makes a decision, after considering the validity of the offer and how valuable it is to them. Because of this the response rate of direct mail is higher.

 

Don’t overlook direct mail marketing when you want to get your message in front of your target audience. Using postcard marketing is a highly targeted, personalized, and low-cost way to get your name and message out to create leads. This type of marketing provides a vehicle to get the customer’s attention, the message is quickly readable, and the card is easy for consumers to keep handy or file away for use at a later time. Postcard direct mail marketing produces leads and increases your customer base.

 

 

Direct Mail Marketing Campaign Increases Results, Decreases Costs

Direct Mail Postcard Marketing Campaign – Increase Marketing Results With Decreased
Marketing Costs

Direct mail postcard marketing is a cost effective way to
attract, retain, and communicate with your potential and existing
customers, increase your response rate, and thus your bottom line.

Know your goal, target audience and message before you plan your
marketing campaign, develop a theme for your next three mailings and
support it with in store marketing.

Here are ten implementation techniques to create and manage your
successful direct mail marketing campaign.

1. Research – The important first step that helps you make better decisions.
• Know your competition.
• Know your customers and potential customers.
• Realize what you can offer to your customers that your competition can not or does not.
• Know your marketing budget by month and expected return on investment desired.

2. Goal – What do you want to accomplish with your campaign?
• Your audience and message would be different if your goal was to attract new customers for your generic brand items versus
  encouraging existing customers to tell their friends about you.
• Know what you want your outcome to be before you begin.
• Specific goal examples include:
• Get the customer to place an order.
• Get the customer to visit your store or office.
• Promote an inventory clearance sale.
• Get leads for a sales staff to pursue.
• Create name recognition.

3. Target Your Audience – Concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key market segments is the basis of target marketing.
• For marketing to be cost effective pick a target audience, or niche, to focus on.
• Not every person is your customer so your marketing dollars are better spent on those with common needs and interests.
• By marketing to your target audience, who already have a need for your product/services, you immediately increase your marketing
   campaign’s likelihood of success.

4. Headline – You only have 5 seconds to get the reader’s attention.
• Your headline should force your reader to want to learn more.
• It should ignite a certain emotion and intrigue them to read on.
• To achieve your desired response and to achieve reaction from your customer use powerful words. (ex. suddenly, now, announcing,       easy, compare, remarkable, bargain and hurry.)

5. Personalized Message
• Specific segmentation gives you the most effective opportunity to talk directly to their unique needs (motivators).
• The segment needs to have similar emotions, needs, wants, and desires.
• Write down how your product/service fulfills each of those motivators for that segment of your target audience.

6. Specific Message/Offer
• Talk directly to their unique needs, circumstances, etc.
• Your message should read like you are talking directly to the individual reader.
• Offer – Look at the big picture.
• Your focus should not only be on the short-term outcome of making one sale. The more substantial and profitable outcome is making a     customer.
• Think of an offer that is creative and of value to your potential customer.
• Make your offer fun, unique, compelling, and complimentary to your product.
• Ask yourself, “If I were receiving this offer what would motivate me to take action?”

7. Attention grabbing graphic
• Know what your customer’s needs/wants are and choose a graphic they will relate to.
• Use color or a complimentary graphic on the address side in case this is the only side they look at.

8. Stay in touch using Drip Marketing – The process of building and nurturing a business relationship with customers over time.
• Have you ever established a lifelong friendship with someone you had contact with only once? Probably not. Generally friendships (in
  this case – business relationships) grow as a result of consistent contact over time. This relationship must be nurtured so it grows.
• Develop a Drip Marketing campaign to stay in contact with existing customers and develop a relationship with potential customers.

9. Frequency vs. Reach – Always opt for less reach and more frequency.
• If you were given 800 seeds (reach) with enough water to water each seed once would you plant all 800 seeds and water each one once
  (frequency) or would you be more successful if you planted 265 seeds and water those seeds three times?
• Design a marketing campaign to send out at least three mailings to one of the segmented groups you developed during your research.

10. Follow-up – The most crucial step in gaining an increased return on your investment.
• Reinforce mailings with a phone call when ever possible.
• Inquire if they received your direct mail piece and ask if they are interested?
• To ensure follow-up is completed call ten people a day. This number can be done quickly and keeps the follow-up from becoming
   overwhelming or not done at all.
• You will vastly increase the response rate of your campaign if you pro-activity contact these contacts after the mailings.

Direct mail marketing postcards produce leads because they get noticed and your message is brief and targeted. If you have any further questions on how to implement your successful direct mail marketing program contact us.

Smart Marketing During A Slow Economy

Consumer spending is slowing to a crawl and you have inventory to sell. This economic situation strikes fear into business owners. Now is the time to beef up your marketing. Do not wait for an improvement in the economy to start a marketing campaign. You risk losing customers and your competitors have the advantage. When times are slow smart businesses can turn a bad economy

into their advantage. During any type of slow sales cycles you need to have a way to fight for every sale out there.

 

Marketing is designed to do exactly that. Trimming your marketing budget now is going to give your competition the advantage. Be consistent with all your messages and direct your marketing to a specific audience. Use your marketing

budget wisely to generate increased exposure, stay in touch with your customers, and generate leads. 

Keep your eye on the long-term prize. When the

economy slows down is the worst time to cut back on marketing. There are many studies that show businesses who continue their marketing campaigns through difficult economic times are the ones that come out ahead when the economy starts to turn around. And it will turn around.Companies that increased advertising during an economic downturn increased market share an average of 1.5 percentage points according to the Profit Impact of Market Strategy (PIMS) study conducted by the Strategic Planning Institute. Companies that cut budgets gained only 0.2 percentage points (from weaker competitors dropping out during a recession). Cutting advertising budgets hurts immediate and long-term profits and brand awareness.

Use high-return

marketing techniques. While your competitors are slashing their marketing budgets, you should be redirecting your resources to results-oriented campaigns such as direct mail marketing. Use this marketing tactic to gain the attention of targeted audiences such as your existing customers, potential buyers you’ve had some previous contact with, and prospects.

Marketing

campaigns during tough times will increase:
” Visibility: Competitors are reducing marketing efforts so you have the ‘marketplace stage’ to yourself. Now is when your marketing will get much more attention.
” Top-of-mind awareness: Every piece of direct mail you send helps your customers/prospects remember you.
” Your image: If you want to be seen as an industry player, present yourself as one. You are strong enough to endure despite market conditions.
” Customer dialogue: Keep your customers informed about how the economy is affecting your line of business. Informed customers are more loyal.

Marketing

during slow economic times allows you to propel out of slow times when the economy recovers. Keep your lines of communication steady and strong and you’ll emerge stronger and achieve more when things pick up. Now is a perfect time to create a unique selling proposition (USP), something that sets you apart from your competition. Consumers quickly cut out non-essentials. You need to determine which product or service you offer that is considered as ‘essential’ during bad economic times and use your USP in your target marketing  efforts.

The PIMS study showed a direct link between market share and the amount of

marketing  businesses do. Companies that are more visible than the industry norm sell more during the years following a recession. Those that advertise below the norm sell less after a recession. The PIMS study showed:
” Aggressive marketers achieved an average 0.2 point gain in the recovery period.
” Budget-cutters lost an average of 1.0 point in market share.
” Overall, the aggressive marketers outperformed the average of all businesses by almost 250%.

Consumer spending is slowing to a crawl and you have inventory to sell. This economic situation strikes fear into business owners. Stay the course and you will come out of slow times faster and healthier than your competition. Keep in mind that

direct mail marketing is a successful tactic to achieve steady, calculated, long-term growth. If you cut your marketing during a slow period it may be too difficult and too costly to rebuild your customer base later. As a smart business owner avoid the urge to pull back and you will make yourself/company more valuable and less forgettable.

For more information on marketing with postcards visit MyPostcardCompany.com