The Many Benefits to Direct Mail Shopping

Direct marketing to consumers takes many forms including mail order catalogs, the famous late night info commercials and even coupons or offers directly targeted to a specific group of consumers. 

Direct marketing has evolved and changed over the years ebbing and flowing with consumer demand and legislation regulations. Telemarketers once targeted consumers with recorded telephone advertising and even faxed advertisements. Both of these practices were curtailed by consumer protest and legislation action to stop. 

While consumers objected to direct marketing campaigns that they deemed invasive and annoying, other practices to target consumers directly such as internet side ads have barely registered with consumer complaint groups.
But despite the changes in how the consumer is targeted with new marketing methods placing a larger emphasis on technology as a tool of delivery, direct mail marketing campaigns are still a successful delivery method to attract consumers.

Do you ever wonder how you get targeted in the first place for certain types of catalogs or offers? Usually the information that puts you on a targeted mailing list comes from a familiar source- you. If you subscribe to a magazine or book club for example your name is automatically put on a list by that company and that list of clients is subject to being sold to other companies that may offer a similar product that you may be interested in. 

Think about it, if you buy custom made dog dishes, subscribe to bird magazines and shop for clothes mail order you are probably not on any mail listings for Goth Living or receiving catalogs for leather accessories and clothing. The benefit to being on a direct mail list is you are probably receiving offers for products and services that you would actually want to purchase.

This targeted marketing method works for both the consumer and the company selling the product. Printing and mailing catalogs isn’t cheap and for companies that operate as mail order business, this is a large part of doing business. But why waste resources on consumers who are not likely to buy your product?

Targeted mailing list, allow companies to be frugal with their resources and make the most of their opportunity to be seen by the right consumer. Plus direct mail is a way to shop effectively and shop green, which most Americans agree is changing way of life spurred in part by high gas prices.

Seventy percent of Americans have admitted that direct mail is their mode of choice for shopping, at least for certain items. Brick and mortar stores won’t be disappearing anytime soon but they may start taking a back seat to this more effective method of shopping.

On the downside to this marketing method, if you find your mail box full of offers for products and services you don’t want, you can stop the paper trail madness by contacting the Direct Marketing Association for help on how to censor your direct mail offers to products you are more likely to use than not.