Why you need direct mail advertising

Every business will engage in direct mail advertising at least once. Weather it is through postcard mailings, catalogs, brochures, or coupon packets, direct mail advertising can be a great way to reach your target audience. Typically it will take about 5 different direct mail campaigns before you will see a response from your customers. If you have a good mailing list, you will get a faster response rate. You can create your own list, which is the best option, or you can purchase one from another company in your industry. Purchasing and renting mailing lists can give you exposure to new customers, but it can be pretty expensive and there may be limitations on how many times you can use the list.

Direct mail campaigns provide you with a captive audience. If you have a catchy headline or colorful brochure, your customer is bound to notice it. If it catches their attention, they will spend a few moments looking over the direct mail piece and possible order something. However, it may take a little more convincing, which is why it's beneficial to add a quick tagline about "for more information, please visit our web site." If you can get customers to go to your web site from your direct mail campaign, you have a successful campaign, even if they don't purchase anything. The goal is to expose yourself to a new audience, and it could take 2-3 more direct mail campaigns before they finally purchase something.

Companies that are tightening their budgets should consider using postcard mailers over other direct mail campaigns like catalogs and letters. You will save hundreds of dollars on printing and mailing costs. Plus, postcards tend to get delivered quicker than catalogs.

Every time you do a direct mail campaign, you need to have a system in place to track the customer inquires. Set up a promotional code or unique web page that will track the customer response rate. This will help you determine if direct mail marketing is working for your company or if you need to focus your efforts in other areas.

One of the great benefits to direct mail marketing is that you can install a sense of urgency in your customers. If you need to make money now, set a time frame on when your customers can use their promotional codes to get discounts. Installing urgency in your customers is a great way to track your response rate and to boost sales at the same time.

Whenever you are planning to do a large direct mail campaign, do a small sample of your mailing list and track the response rate. Pick out 100-500 names and send out the direct mail piece, if you get a high response rate, send out the rest of the mailers. If you get a low response rate, you may want to consider making some changes to your piece or you may want to hold off on the campaign for a few weeks.

When you are doing a direct mail campaign, don't try to take shortcuts to save money. This is a big investment; make sure you use nice printers to prepare the products that are going to your customers. You may not think they will care, but it does make a difference to them if you actually invest a little money into your direct mail campaign. If you can't afford to use a local printing company, consider using an online company. They produce high-quality printed items; you just need to supply them with a digital file type that meets their specifications.

Direct mail campaigns will require a large sum of money from your initially, but they are often the most successful type of marketing campaigns you can do. Always calculate your return on investment to make sure the direct mail campaign was worth it and if you should try it again in the future.