Direct mail is considered a traditional marketing approach. With all the new marketing technologies and trendy strategies, many people make the mistake of thinking a traditional marketing strategy is an outdated marketing strategy. And that is dangerous mistake from a marketing standpoint. Small businesses do themselves a disservice by ignoring direct mail in their marketing plans.
There's a reason direct mail has earned the term "traditional." It has been around for decades, and its longevity is only matched by its consistency in providing real marketing results to those who use it.
Direct mail is a proven, time-tested marketing tool that delivers results time and time again. But why? What makes it so successful? And how can we trust that it will continue to produce results into the future? There are three reasons.
1) Building Trust and Credibility Through Repeated Exposure
The key to direct mail is repeated mailings. By implementing a regular mailing schedule, you give yourself consistent opportunities to build brand awareness in your prospects' minds. The more often prospects see your postcards, the more they will see your business as credible, and the more they will trust your brand when it comes down to a purchasing decision. Plus, recipients realize that creating a mail piece takes care and effort - more than an email. They don't mind receiving it in their mailbox - unlike an email they didn't ask for. This builds trust, too.
2) Targeting the Right Prospects
Direct mail, done correctly, uses targeted mailing lists to deliver your cards to prospects that are already likely to buy from you. Instead of simply promoting to random passersby with billboards, or hoping your prospects are not skipping your TV commercial with their DVR, mailing lists enable you to narrow down your target market to only ideal prospects. Then, you can send cards to only individuals who fit that criteria. Once you determine which demographics have the greatest need for your products or services, you can obtain a mailing list of those prospects. Then, an effectively designed postcard can turn them into leads, which your sales people will turn into revenue.
3) Getting to the Point: Benefits and Special Offers
Direct mail postcards come in a variety of sizes, but it is vital to communicate one clear message immediately. That means there is no room for filler and fluff. A postcard must get right to the point and tell prospects exactly how your company's products or services benefit their lives. Additionally, no postcard is complete without a tantalizing special offer. This combination of a clear benefit to the prospect mixed with an offer that gives them incentive to act is what makes direct mail postcards such an effective and long-lasting strategy. Those principles are marketing bedrock, and you can count on them to continue to produce results for as long as you employ them.
Direct mail is not only effective; it is incredibly versatile. It is best used as the lead generating foundation of a multi-platform approach with online tools like Google, Website Analytics and Call Tracking. There are many inexpensive, creative ways to use these tools together. This opens up more opportunities to maximize your direct mail response, and turn it into more revenue.
Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania. Joy began PostcardMania in 1998, with nothing but a phone and a computer, never taking a dime of investment capital. Joy originally started PostcardMania as a full-service postcard marketing company helping clients create turn-key marketing campaigns with graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services. Since then, PostcardMania has expanded to offer its clients more services including website and landing page design and development, email marketing and full marketing evaluations â¬" all while continuing to educate clients with free marketing advice.
In 2012, PostcardMania reached almost $44 million in annual revenue and the company now employs more than 195 people, prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards each week, and has more than 53,000 customers in over 350 industries. Please visit www.postcardmania.com for more information. To learn about using direct mail as the foundation of an integrated marketing system, or to find out what it can do all by itself, call 1-866-826-0877. Download a free, handy 3-step marketing checklist by clicking the download button below!
There's a reason direct mail has earned the term "traditional." It has been around for decades, and its longevity is only matched by its consistency in providing real marketing results to those who use it.
Direct mail is a proven, time-tested marketing tool that delivers results time and time again. But why? What makes it so successful? And how can we trust that it will continue to produce results into the future? There are three reasons.
1) Building Trust and Credibility Through Repeated Exposure
The key to direct mail is repeated mailings. By implementing a regular mailing schedule, you give yourself consistent opportunities to build brand awareness in your prospects' minds. The more often prospects see your postcards, the more they will see your business as credible, and the more they will trust your brand when it comes down to a purchasing decision. Plus, recipients realize that creating a mail piece takes care and effort - more than an email. They don't mind receiving it in their mailbox - unlike an email they didn't ask for. This builds trust, too.
2) Targeting the Right Prospects
Direct mail, done correctly, uses targeted mailing lists to deliver your cards to prospects that are already likely to buy from you. Instead of simply promoting to random passersby with billboards, or hoping your prospects are not skipping your TV commercial with their DVR, mailing lists enable you to narrow down your target market to only ideal prospects. Then, you can send cards to only individuals who fit that criteria. Once you determine which demographics have the greatest need for your products or services, you can obtain a mailing list of those prospects. Then, an effectively designed postcard can turn them into leads, which your sales people will turn into revenue.
3) Getting to the Point: Benefits and Special Offers
Direct mail postcards come in a variety of sizes, but it is vital to communicate one clear message immediately. That means there is no room for filler and fluff. A postcard must get right to the point and tell prospects exactly how your company's products or services benefit their lives. Additionally, no postcard is complete without a tantalizing special offer. This combination of a clear benefit to the prospect mixed with an offer that gives them incentive to act is what makes direct mail postcards such an effective and long-lasting strategy. Those principles are marketing bedrock, and you can count on them to continue to produce results for as long as you employ them.
Direct mail is not only effective; it is incredibly versatile. It is best used as the lead generating foundation of a multi-platform approach with online tools like Google, Website Analytics and Call Tracking. There are many inexpensive, creative ways to use these tools together. This opens up more opportunities to maximize your direct mail response, and turn it into more revenue.
Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania. Joy began PostcardMania in 1998, with nothing but a phone and a computer, never taking a dime of investment capital. Joy originally started PostcardMania as a full-service postcard marketing company helping clients create turn-key marketing campaigns with graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services. Since then, PostcardMania has expanded to offer its clients more services including website and landing page design and development, email marketing and full marketing evaluations â¬" all while continuing to educate clients with free marketing advice.
In 2012, PostcardMania reached almost $44 million in annual revenue and the company now employs more than 195 people, prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards each week, and has more than 53,000 customers in over 350 industries. Please visit www.postcardmania.com for more information. To learn about using direct mail as the foundation of an integrated marketing system, or to find out what it can do all by itself, call 1-866-826-0877. Download a free, handy 3-step marketing checklist by clicking the download button below!
