What is direct mail marketing and how effective is it?
20 July 2009
There are countless advertising tools that help people to succeed in marketing. From old-school mainstays to new up-and-comers, the amount of marketing techniques available to the public is staggering. What’s even more staggering is the effectiveness of these techniques.In business, direct mail is perhaps one of the most popular means of advertising. Direct mail involves advertising to potential customers via printed ads, letters, and other forms of solicitations. Costs are trimmed by designing bulk-mail campaigns and various targeting techniques for mailing lists maximize the response rate.The situations in which direct mail can be used effectively are virtually endless. For example, certain stores can use direct mail to advertise their new products. You see this everyday in the form of sales papers from grocery stores, retail stores, etc.
Direct mail also works well in
internet marketing, where a mailing list will be comprised of people performing searches in a certain “niche.” A bulk-mailer is then sent to the potential customers and the responses are always high.The basic idea behind a direct mail letter is to advertise using ideas that will hopefully appeal to a broad range of people in a certain group. Mail can be sent by zip code, a certain demographic, or an entire country depending on the mailer’s budget and expectations.Political campaigns use direct mail to gain voters’ support; the technique is also used by satellite companies who want your business, etc. These campaigns can be as far-reaching or as streamlined as the creator wants. Many advertisers find direct mail appealing to their particular business for many reasons. For starters, it delivers a message directly to the consumer. This is the most effective aspect of the marketing. It isn’t hit-or-miss as with newspaper and television advertising. It’s more personal. Not everyone reads the newspaper, and people are prone to change the channel on their TV, but everyone is more likely to read their mail. However, there’s no certainty that a recipient of the direct mail will actually read the advertiser’s mail. This has been one of the biggest problems, for both live mail and email, since direct mail became a respected marketing tool.To counter this and ensure that more people read their mail, advertisers work closely with specialists who formulate their messages in such a way that they don’t appear as “junk mail.” A recipient who is comfortable enough with the mail is more likely to respond positively.Direct mail is still a big hit in the business world. However, mailing to real people with real mailboxes is becoming less popular for new businesses. The huge draw today is email. Internet mailing techniques are basically the same as postal mailing techniques. The reason for the switch to internet-based mail isn’t only because of the speed and all-around convenience; it’s more to do with the price. There’s no cost other than the funding it takes to put together the ad, the responder, and the mailing list. The same ad can be sent an infinite number of times for the same price. Regardless of where or how the direct mail is sent, it’s still one of the most effective marketing techniques on the planet.
