Eight Reasons Why Direct Mail Is So Powerful

This is an article that was posted by SCORE - a great business organization for small businesses. When you own a printing and direct mail company - its pretty easy to think your great. I like when it comes from an independent source and here it is....

Eight Reasons Why Direct Mail Is So Powerful
By David Frey, Marketing Best Practices, Inc

Direct mail is perhaps, one of the most powerful marketing mediums in use today. Few other marketing tools can deliver your message with exact precision at such a low cost. The amount of mail in your mailbox everyday attests to the effectiveness of this medium (If it didn't work, your mailbox would be empty!). Here are eight reasons why I believe direct mail is still king of the marketing mediums:

Reason # 1: It works when you're not
Like the old saying goes, "In rain, sleet, or snow" the mail arrives. Whether you're sleeping, vacationing, working, or walking, your direct mail is working for you. It gives your best sales presentation over and over again without you having to be present.

Reason # 2: It leverages your efforts
Do you want to know how to waste your time? Give your best sales presentation to one person at a time. If you do this, you'll only sell one widget at a time. Send out thousands of letters and your best sales pitch is being presented to thousands of people simultaneously. That's called "leverage!"

Reason # 3: Allows you to target with precision
Instead of "spraying and praying" your message to people who may or may not be interested or even qualified to take advantage of your offer, direct mail allows you to pinpoint the people who fit your psychographic, demographic, and geographic profile.

Reason # 4: You get an immediate response
Once you send out your direct mail piece it doesn't take long to get a response. Within one to two weeks you'll receive about 80 percent to 90 percent of all those who are going to respond. If your campaign works, you'll know about it quickly. If it's a bomb, you'll that quickly as well.

Reason # 5: It's easy to track your return on investment
If you're a small business owner you can't afford to waste a single penny on wasteful marketing. With direct mail marketing you can code your mail pieces to determine the exact number of responses you received from each campaign. And as I said before, the results of your direct mail campaign come back fast, so once you know what worked and what didn't, you can immediately start to "tweak" your mail piece to increase your response and hold your marketing dollars accountable.

Reason # 6: It's relatively inexpensive
With just $.29 (at the time of this writing) you can send out a direct mail piece that includes your full marketing message. This means you can reach 100 target prospects for only $$29. Comparatively speaking, that's a bargain!

Reason # 7: It gets one-on-one attention
One of the best things about direct mail is that it gets one-on-one attention from your target prospect. Unlike billboards or radio and television commercials that get your attention while two to three other things also have your attention. Direct mail is opened one piece at a time and read one piece at a time. It gives you the best chance of catching your prospect's attention and keeping it for a period of time.

Reason # 8: It's something you can touch and feel—it hangs around
Direct mail is something that you have to hold in your hand. It's not made of electrons that can be deleted with the twitch of a finger. It's not a radio frequency signal that is here and then gone a moment later. It is physical. It is something that can hang around for a period of time. It has "lingering" marketing effects.

All these reasons I've mentioned make direct mail a very powerful marketing medium that, if done right, can have a very high return on your marketing dollar.

David Frey, President of Marketing Best Practices Inc., a Houston-based small business marketing consulting firm. and is the senior editor of the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter featuring small business marketing best practices. www.MarketingBestPractices.comDavid@MarketingBestPractices.com