Direct Mail Marketing

You have the ability to target a very specific group of consumers that you believe need your products or services. This means you must choose your mailing list carefully; make sure you purchase your list from a reputable vendor who updates the list regularly. Additionally, the mailing list must have been scrubbed against the NCOA database (National Change of Address) to correct or remove any undeliverable addresses.
Direct mail marketing is a great choice for small to medium sized companies who may not be able to afford the more expensive forms of advertising such as TV, newspaper or radio. Regardless of your budget, direct mail advertising is always a viable choice. In addition to the flexibility offered by adjusting the quantity mailed, you can also control the cost by modifying your mail piece. You have many choices to fit every situation and every budget; here are some examples:

· Letters are generally used to address personal matters or by professional service organizations such as attorneys or CPA’s.

· Postcard direct mail marketing is used for general promotions. Services or products that can be promoted more effectively by a more graphical presentation are a great choice for postcard advertising. For instance restaurants, health clubs or real estate agents.

· Newsletter marketing is a soft-sell approach to generate business by notifying the recipient of new information, products or services that is available in their relative industry.

One of the great advantages of direct mail advertising is its ability to test the market in smaller quantities before investing larger amounts on mass mailings. Naturally the larger the test, the more accurate your results will be. Generally a 1,000 piece mailing will produce fairly accurate results. But do keep in mind that results can fluctuate greatly for certain types of products or services based on season or the current situation.
One of the biggest advantages of direct mail marketing versus other forms of advertising is the ability to address your potential customer directly by their individual name and to reference some specific fact about them or their situation. Using this type of technique will gain more trust and credibility with the client versus a mass TV/radio/internet advertising; as long as your mail piece is created with care.
Direct mail marketing allows you to physically place your message in the hands of your client. Unlike TV or radio advertising where the client only hears or sees your message, with direct mail advertising your message is seen and can be kept for future reference; to create an even greater lasting impression you can include additional material such as coupons etc.
Direct mail marketing campaigns are easy to track. There are many different techniques that can be used to track the results of your direct mail campaign; using different promotion numbers or names, different phone numbers to call and much more. Tracking is extremely crucial in any advertising campaign. Any smart marketer will closely monitor results of any advertising campaign and make any necessary adjustments to fine tune the program to increase the overall response rates.