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 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.

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

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