Hitting the Bullseye with Direct Mail Marketing

Does it ever seem that you are trying to hit a moving target when it comes to advertising your business?

There are so many ways to advertise your business—television, radio, magazines, direct mail, the Internet not to mention newspaper billboards. A person cannot even go to the bathroom in peace anymore without bathroom ads on the wall.

For my money, the best way to advertise is through the medium that offers the least amount of distraction for the user in the form of competition and that allows me the ability to target exactly whom I want; a medium that is easy to track my return on my investment and one that I know that I can easily make myself stand out.

Direct mail marketing for a small business is such a medium and postcard marketing is one of the most effective and economical ways to achieve a response and increase sales. Every American has a mailbox and the United States Postal Service delivers the mail regularly and reliably every day. There are no spam filters on the mailbox and there is less competition than with other forms of advertising for a small business.

People are busier and more mobile than ever before. They are, in fact, moving targets for an advertiser. One thing is constant with almost everyone and that is eventually they all go home, they get their mail and they read their mail.

There are just two things to consider for direct mail marketing, one, the list, and two, the message. The right mailing list is comprised of a targeted audience combined with a postcard ad that is targeted to that audience, with a good offer and you boost your lead ratio and drive sales through the roof.

Postcards are just one form of direct mail marketing. Postcards work for most businesses, but it is also a good idea to mix the types of direct mail you use.

The basic types of direct mail are:

• Postcard Marketing: 100% for sure open rate. Everyone you mail to will see your ad. Design becomes vital because you have 3 seconds to get the prospect’s interest.
• Sales Letter: can be very effective but the emphasis here is on copywriting. Sales letters can be very effective for business-to-business advertising wherein you are trying to reach professionals who may not get mail directly. Copywriting is a skilled craft that combines literacy, with product knowledge and can present the information in the point of view of the reader.
• Note Card Mailers: allow a high level of creativity. They can be made to look like an invitation, which generates a very high open rate. We even have developed a handwritten note card that is very effective.
• Holiday Cards: this is one of the most overlooked opportunities out there. Every year, holidays come and go. Holiday cards offer an excellent vehicle to reach out to existing customers and generate more sales. We have chiropractors and dentists use note cards as a patient recovery tool. Very high response rate.
• Check Mailers: Not for every business type but they do have a very high open rate and response is around 2% to 5%. We have found that by combining a sales letter with a check mailer we can really drive response.
• Self-Mailing Brochure: These are good to mail as a follow-up and they save you money on envelopes. With special die-cut shapes and designs, they can be extremely effective attention-getters.
• Newsletters: very effective means of building loyalty and generating sales. Newsletters allow you to educate, inform and entertain your customers and prospects.

You will Drive Traffic to Your Website. Postcard-to-website marketing has recently been shown to be the single most effective direct marketing technique in the nation. In fact, online marketing techniques often pale in comparison to the response achieved by postcard marketing.

Here is how a prospect receives your postcard in the mail. Your postcard generates an interest and the prospect wants more information but does not want to talk to you yet. Your postcard directs them to a specific landing page the prospect goes to in order to check you out. While online marketing can produce a volume of traffic, postcard marketing produces targeted visitor traffic that already wants what you’re selling. Send a postcard with a great offer and a special URL to visit or a special coupon code to use to redeem the offer. QR codes are easy to use and take advantage of smartphone technology to drive traffic to your website. By doing so, you’re not only able to drive response, you’re able to track it as well.

Wilson Print Marketing USA can help you determine which direct mail marketing campaign would be best for your business.

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