By Evan Vitale
In today’s world of social media, text messages and cell phone calls, one wonders if businesses have moved beyond (or forgotten) the bygone days of direct marketing and direct mail.
Does it still work? Does a piece of mail still generate a sale?
Yes, definitely!
What’s interesting is that since there is so much emphasis on “now” marketing (instant messaging, Twitter and other online advertising options), it may have slipped by you that the volume of direct mail received at your business or residence has gone down in recent years.
This, my friend, is now a marketer’s gold mine, especially when you think of how much attention your letter; postcard or newsletter might receive in a potential customer’s office. There have been days in which I’ve received so little mail, that I AM paying attention to the sales flyer or glossy postcard in my mailbox. Here are a few tips and tricks that you might try this year in terms of your direct marketing / direct mail campaigns:
- Write and mail a personal sales letter. Keep it short, sweet and to the point. Tell your potential customer how you can go about solving their problem. A friend of mine still sends the same direct mail letter out to prospects every month. Some months, he gets an unheard of 10% direct mail response rate, while most businesses celebrate when they earn a 1% return.
- Postcards are less expensive to mail and can get the point across quickly. Again, solve the problem. Apply a label and a stamp and you can mail any number of postcards at will.
- Newsletters, although a little more expensive to print and mail, can also be an effective direct mail tool.
My letter-writing friend mails all kinds of things to clients and prospects including candy and greeting cards at holidays, announcements of upcoming trade shows in which they are participating and other little gimmicks than earn attention and get potential customers to respond.
Your e-mail message can easily get lost; re-directed to the SPAM folder and instantly deleted. Voice mail messages are sometimes ignored and deleted. However, if you’re having trouble getting through to a prospect, try the “old-fashioned” method of sending them a quick letter. You might be surprised.