There is a tested and proven way to reach more potential customers, directly communicating with your target market and making you stand out against your competition. It is not through the use of digital methods such as social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. What is this unusual method? Quite amazingly, it is through the long tested method of using the U.S. Post Office.
Why Direct Mail is Not Dead
At this point, it is best to ignore what you have been hearing these days. Direct mail is certainly not dead. The stories came as a result of social media fanatics, online marketers and web designers pushing the idea that direct mail is dead. However, facts don’t lie. According to certain studies, about $45 billion was actually spent on direct mail campaigns last year, which shows an increase from expenditures the year before.
One of the biggest platforms for online advertising today, Google, still consistently uses direct mail in promoting their online advertising services. The power and beauty of direct mail lies in the fact that it is highly scalable. This means that the lists and contacts are available readily, and the prospects are more attracted to your products and services. It also allows you to establish a one-on-one communication with your target prospects. When this strategy is done appropriately, it is like having a band of salespeople working for you round the clock, all year long.
How to Excel at Using It
With the introduction of online marketing strategies, there surely is a temptation to simply push aside the use of direct mail as a way to reduce spending. That can turn out to be more persuasive when you are using a false comparison without really looking at the numbers. The fact remains that nobody would really care to download a received email and display it in on the refrigerator with a magnet where they are able to look at it throughout the day until they end up calling. That can only be made possible through direct mail where well-designed postcards or letters are personally received.
Here are some tips on how to excel at using it for your business:
—Make it unique
Regardless of the media that you are planning to use, you need to stand out from the rest of the crowd. This means that you need to make your strategy unique so as not to look just like everybody else. With direct mail strategies, you have a lot of options to choose from in order to come up with a unique concept. For instance, you can decide to send personalized mail, oversized postcards, bulky mail, monthly newsletters or packages. Your options are limitless.
—Present it in an interesting way
Aside from making it stand out, you also need to make it very interesting to your target audience. Keep in mind that your potential audience will only think of one thing–what’s in it for them. When your target audience is reading what you sent them, they are always thinking of this. Therefore, you can make good use of some imaginative strategies and insert your personality to your piece.
— Give a good reason to respond
By far, failing to place a call to action is one of the biggest errors that marketing and advertising pieces can have. Providing information is not enough. You need to get a response from the people you are sending the direct mail to. Unless you provide a valid reason for them to respond, they will ignore it. By ignoring it, you are on the losing end.
It is very important to evaluate what you actually know about direct mail strategies. Forget the concept about ‘snail mail’. Do not judge the results according to response. It is very important to make sure that you take the time to dig deeper, possibly comparing customer value through different means. Cost cutting is good, definitely, but without risk, you may eventually run out of costs that you need to cut. Take time to consider how companies have been successful in using direct mail. You may notice that instead of reducing it, they are actually increasing their usage of it.
Alive and Kicking
Just because we observe that direct mail is no longer the newest technique in our toolbox does not mean it is no longer relevant. As a matter of fact, it can actually turn out to be the most fantastic way you can possibly reach your audience in a way that a simple email never can. For instance, this applies if you are reaching a target audience who may not have the time, or the knowledge, to access emails. For all you know, there are a lot of people who apply filters in order to block spam emails. There are also people who really don’t appreciate getting emails.
True, online marketing strategies may have turned the world upside down, the world with all its interesting tactics and strategies, but make sure you do not forget that direct mail remains a very reliable way to deliver encouraging messages on a personal level. Altogether, online marketing and direct mail can provide the best way in which you can possibly turn your people into customers who will stay with you.