Direct Mail Best Practices

Here are a few ideas to get the most out of your direct mail efforts.

• Announce New Products or Services. You don't have to wait for your new catalog to come out. Send a quick product sheet or post card with a link to your website to unveil your new wares.
• Generate Sales Leads. Put an offer on your direct mail piece for a catalog, information packet, or newsletter. Pass off the responses to your sales department to fulfill requests and follow up.
• Offer Demos and Samples. Nothing is more convincing for prospects to buy your product than if they see or try it for themselves. It's the perfect way to overcome objections, erase doubts, and allow people to become familiar with what you have to offer.
• Conduct Surveys and Research. Collect data on trends, opinions, benchmarks, and other issues. Put your survey directly on your mailing or connect them to a page on your website. Reward each respondent with a small gift, a coupon, or a sweepstakes entry.
• Send Direct Mail Offers. Sell via direct mail. Promote special pricing for responding to the offer. Products and services that are lower in cost are good candidates for direct sales. Products that your customers are familiar with work well, too. You can also use an offer to upgrade or cross-sell existing customers.
• Educate Customers and Prospects. Send postcards with short tips and insights into your area of expertise, send invitations to online tutorials, write a review on a new product or technology. These are just a few of the endless educational possibilities you can offer your audience.

For more tips, request your free copy of The Advanstar Guide to Business-to-Business Direct Marketing Success.

Is Technology Making Direct Mail Obsolete?

With technology offering marketers so many options to reach customers, it leaves the question — is direct mail still effective or is it passé?

Pat Friesen in her article "Still in Style" for Target Marketing has good news for traditionalists. When married with a high quality and targeted list, direct mail is still an effective channel in an integrated marketing campaign.

She explains why direct mail is still relevant.

• It's tangible. People need to look at it, touch it, and read a small portion (or more) of it before they decide whether or not to throw it away. It's more engaging and memorable than deleting a message from an inbox.
• It's hand-delivered to your recipient by a government employee. This is where important mail comes from. Direct mail is seen as more important and personal because of the means in which it is delivered.
• A creative direct mail piece stands out. It stands out more in a stack of mail than a uniform e-mail message in an inbox. With color, shape, size and paper elements, your direct mail has the power to catch the eye.
• The recipient feels in control of the advertising, not interrupted. Whereas a person's inbox may be considered sacred and personal, direct mail is not as intrusive. They can file the piece away, pass it along to a colleague, or set it aside to look at when they have time.