Are you wondering whether your business should use direct mail advertising? Not sure how direct mail works in practice?
If you want to grow your business, you should make sure to use every marketing and advertising tool at your disposal. One of the best ways to market your business, even in the modern age, is to use direct mail advertising.
In this guide, we’ll tell you how direct mail advertising works and how you can put it into practice in your small business.
What is Direct Mail Advertising?
Direct mail marketing is a type of traditional marketing in which physical correspondence will be sent to potential customers.
These direct mailers could include postcards, letters, catalogs, coupons, and more. This direct mail will also include calls to action (CTAs) and contact information.
Does Direct Mail Marketing Still Work?
Many marketers see direct mail as a thing of the past and have moved on to digital marketing techniques. However, the truth is that traditional types of advertising such as direct mail still work well and can be a great choice for marketing a business.
Perhaps because so much marketing is done online these days, direct mail can help a business to stand out and grab the attention of a potential customer in an effective way. Customers will physically touch a mailer and this tangibility can make it more memorable to them when compared to an online ad. Direct mail can also reach audiences that aren’t easily reached online, such as older demographics or people who don’t use social media often.
How to Use Direct Mail Advertising in Practice
There are several key steps to follow to launch a direct mail campaign. Here are some of the main things that you’ll need to do.
1. Build a Mailing List
One of the first steps to take to launch a direct mail campaign is to build a mailing list. You need to build a list of people that you will mail your direct mailers to who may be interested in the goods or services that you have to offer.
One of the best things to do is to send mail to existing customers by collecting their addresses when they visit your website or make a purchase. You can also get targeted lists in other ways as well such as by using a direct mail company to buy lists of people in a demographic that you’re targeting.
2. Choose a Type of Direct Mail to Send
When creating a direct mail campaign, you need to consider what type of direct mail you want to send. Postcards, catalogs, and letters are some of the most common types of direct mail that you can send but there are others as well. You should consider the costs of each type of mail as it will vary quite a bit based on printing costs, postage costs, and more.
You’ll need to think carefully about the design of any type of direct mail that you want to send to ensure that it grabs the attention of those who receive it. Make sure that you use clear marketing messages and CTAs that will command attention and make it likely that they will respond or take the next action with your business. Also, be sure that the design aligns with your brand and that you think carefully about which fonts, images, and colors you use.
3. Print and Send Your Mail
Once you have a mailing list and you have designed your direct mailing, it’s time to send your mail out. It can be incredibly helpful to work with a reliable print shop that can help you to create the mailings, particularly if you have 100 or more to send.
You need to find a good company to handle fulfillment. Be sure to check out TEAM Concept Printing if you’re looking for a great option.
If you decide to create and send out mailers in-house, make sure that you prepare for the undertaking. If you’re not well-equipped then it can be difficult to do it on your own.
4. Track Advertising Results
When creating a direct mail campaign, you should make sure that you have a method to track your results and see what actions customers have taken as a result.
Using custom landing page links or adding unique coupon codes, for example, are some ways that you can track your results and find out if your direct mailing efforts are worth it or not. Make sure that you think carefully about the data and plan your next steps accordingly.
5. Follow Up
In many cases, one direct mailing alone won’t be enough to get a customer to take an action. It may be necessary to follow up and send additional direct mailings to the same customer after some time has passed.
While overdoing it can be a mistake, if used in moderation, sending additional follow-up mailings can be a great help for getting results with your direct mailing campaign.
Additionally, it may be a good idea to combine direct mailings with email mailings as well. Consider sending both physical mail and emails to a customer to get the best results.
Using Direct Mail Marketing As a Small Business Owner
If you want to run a smart business and make use of direct mail advertising, you should make sure that you understand what it’s all about. Be sure that you use the tips and steps above if you want to start a direct mail campaign for your business.
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