Direct Mail Advertising… adpack Newsletter
Direct Mail is NOT a Dinosaur Tactic! Here’s Why…
Not every consumer uses the internet. A large percentage of those who do have little trust in what they find online. On-line catalogs simply do not have the same effect as paper!
As consumers become more concerned over identity theft and marketing scams, you are probably wondering if direct mail advertising will continue to work for your business – or if you should even consider the technique at all. Well, much like everything else the answer remains “it depends”. While this may not be the answer for which you were looking, the success and effectiveness of direct mailing depends on the return on investment at the end of the campaign.
As a business owner, you most likely already know that any marketing campaign which does not return at least 5% on your investment is simply not effective. Does this mean that one unsuccessful campaign should deter you from trying again? Probably not. However, here are some factors that you will want to consider when putting together your next direct mail campaign.
Remember that once you find a technique that works, you should definitely keep using it until it’s no longer effective!
Reply Postcards are NOT a thing of the past…
Believe it or not, direct mail specialists claim that prepaid reply postcards are still more effective than an 800 number, and definitely get more response than asking the recipient to visit a website!
When you ask a recipient to complete and return a postcard, they can do it on their time. A telephone line that is answered with a voice recording will prompt callers to quickly hang up on you. And, unless the offer was something I couldn’t refuse, I wouldn’t call back either!
So, consider tossing a prepaid postcard in your next direct mail campaign, possibly in addition to another option for response – and TRACK the responses in order to determine which is a more effective technique for you.
FREE Sweepstakes and Contest Offers Burden Enough Landfills…
In case you didn’t get that – don’t waste your time and money on a campaign that is designed to mislead people into thinking that they will WIN something in exchange for a phone call, website registration or telephone call. If you want to GIVE something away – then GIVE SOMETHING AWAY. In the past, these types of offers were well received. Remember what I said about identity theft concerns? Put yourself in the position of the recipient and answer the following question.
“Would I complete this form in exchange for a contest entry?”
Don’t worry! There are still plenty of direct mail techniques that ARE effective.
Conversation Can Form a Connection!
If you think that all conversations need to be two-sided, you’re wrong! Conversational sales letters are one of the hottest trends in marketing campaigns right now. Why?
Because they are WORKING!
If you read the information above, you already know that return on investment is the most effective way to measure success. If SO many other marketers are taking this approach, there must be something to it.
Do your Research!
You cannot just simply write out a one-sided conversation when using this technique. Instead, you might want to get your hands on a book called Web Copy that Sells by Maria Veloso. This book provides simple and effective tools for creating excellent conversational sales letters. Yes, the book refers to website copy, but the same technique can be applied to postal mail marketing as well.
Say what?!
Would you believe that a company in the Netherlands has actually planted Bluetooth devices in grocery stores in order to grab the attention of shoppers and to direct them to the company’s products? “Go-Tan” has taken a completely new approach to supermarket advertising, in the hopes of attracting “well-connected” shoppers.
See http://www.adverblog.com/archives/002827.htm for more information.
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