Is direct mail marketing outdated?

While many people seem to think that direct mail marketing is outdated, it is simply not true. Direct mail marketing is still used in marketing plans today. In fact, every great marketing plan should include some type of direct mail marketing. The reason for this is that direct mail marketing is a very effective form of marketing, even when it is compared to email marketing. Not to mention that direct mail marketing is an inexpensive way for businesses to increase their business by bringing in new and old customers. The way this works is that direct mail marketing is a targeted offer to a wide customer base.

To properly use direct mail marketing there are a few things that you will need to know about ahead of time. Here are some things to know about when it comes to using direct mail marketing.

Number one: Mailing list

You will need to obtain a mailing list if you plan to use direct mail marketing. With the mailing lists, you have two different types of mailing lists that you can choose from. You can choose the saturation mailing list, which will give your business a greater value per name than resident lists. You also can choose a resident mailing list, which has the advantage of allowing your business to pull names from a narrowed type of criteria. For example, with a resident mailing list if you were looking for customers within a certain age group you would narrow your list to just that age group from the broad resident list.

Number two: Mail

You will need to design a piece of mail that you can mass-produce, which will be used to get old and new customers into your place of business. The most common type of mail that you will find businesses using is a postcard that includes some type of incentive to come into your place of business. For example, on the postcard you will offer a coupon for 10% off their next purchase, a certain dollar amount of their next purchase, or even a free item when they make a qualified purchase.

Number three: Marketing message

In the marketing message that you are including on your direct mail marketing piece you will want to ensure that you make it perfectly clear what you expect from your recipients, but also what your recipients can expect you to do. Once you have stated clearly, what can be expected from both sides you need to make sure that your business follows through with what you have promised. For example, if you promise to never give out your subscription list to a third party, never do it. This can be hard because many times the offers might be tempting because you can sell the list, but to gain trust with your customers and build up your customer relationships you need to keep to your promises.

Number four: Personalize mailings

When you are getting ready to mail out the postcards or letters, you will want to take a second to personalize the mailings. Either when personalizing the mailings you are going to use the recipients first or last name, depending on which one is more appropriate for your marketing campaign. This is effective because it makes the person who is receiving the advertisements feel more like a person rather than just a number in a long line of advertisements. This can also help improve the chances that the recipient is going to read the postcard or open the letter and read the letter, instead of treating it the same way they treat the rest of their junk mail.