Should Your Direct Mail Scream?

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 30, 2014
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  Just because your direct mailing lands in someone’s mailbox doesn’t mean that it’s delivered. Sure, it may have arrived at the destination that’s on the address (which, by the way is important), but it hasn’t really accomplished anything, yet. It’s basically just paper and ink sitting in a mailbox. Students of direct mail know that one of the primary functions of a direct mail piece is to get noticed. Your direct mail—whether it’s a letter, a package, a mailer, or a simple card—needs to grab the reader’s attention. Read More

The Difference Between Direct Mail and Mass Mail (and Why it Matters)

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 24, 2014
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  What do you think of when you hear the term “direct mail”? A lot of us envision the huge mailings that credit card and insurance companies send out to the masses. A lot of “old-thinking” marketing was built on reaching as many people as efficiently (and cheaply) as possible. Increased printing, mailing, and postage costs have eliminated the economies of scale that used to exist. But that’s not the only reason mass mailings don’t work for most of us. The fact is that these mailings just aren’t very effective. We call them “direct” mail, but there’s not much direct about them. Read More

5 Ways to Encourage Long-Term Customer Loyalty via Direct Mail

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 23, 2014
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  If you are spending most of your marketing budget trying to attract new customers, your direct marketing strategy could use an overhaul. It costs much more to find a new customer than it does to market to people who are already familiar with your company, which is why your direct mail campaign should target existing customers. Using direct mail will help you turn occasional customers into loyal fans who make repeat purchases and give you high-quality referrals. Read More

6 Reasons Your Direct Marketing Strategy Should Include Coupons

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 20, 2014
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  The right direct marketing strategy will help you build loyal relationships with customers and make it more likely people will turn to your business when they need a product or service you sell. These days, many shoppers are tightening their belts and trying to do more with less money, making coupons and direct marketing a winning combination. Not convinced? Here are just six of the reasons you can't afford to leave coupons out of your direct mail campaigns. Read More

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Customers: Visuals for Direct Mail

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 19, 2014
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  There are many elements that affect the success of a direct mail pitch. Sure, the writing needs to be top-notch and snappy, but one thing often overlooked is a visual component. Why not get the proverbial thousand word value with a picture? Read More

Direct Mail Today: The Lost Art of the Ask

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 18, 2014
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  Dogs are better at one aspect of marketing than many business people. When they want humans to respond, they’re not afraid to ask. Guess what? They usually get what they want. When marketers want humans to respond, they often hem and haw. They don’t want to be perceived as begging. They don’t want to be perceived as being too pushy. And a lot of the time, they simply don’t want to be rejected (something dogs never seem to struggle with). When it comes to marketing—and especially direct mail—asking almost seems to have become a lost art. Read More

AMSP Annual Conference 2014 Takeaways

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 13, 2014
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This year, AMSP hosted our annual conference in Milwaukee.  We had a combination of cool, gorgeous weather and some rain that reminded me of being in Seattle.  The historic Pfister Hotel was a cool place to stay and provided some great rooms for the main speakers and breakout sessions. Read More

How Much Does Every Door Direct Mail Cost?

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 12, 2014
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We’ve mentioned the new “Every Door Direct Mail” service from the USPS a time or two. It’s a great way to reach a specific geographic area with a timely direct mail message. It can be an extremely effective way to reach people who have an affinity for things going on in their neighborhood. It’s also a great way to reach a group of people (i.e. a lunchtime crowd) that you know are going to be in a specific area at a specific time. But what does it cost to “open every door?” That all depends on how many people you want to reach. Here’s an example of how it can work. Read More

What Can You Expect Direct Mail to Do?

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 12, 2014
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  We’ve been involved with direct mail for more than 40 years, and in that time a lot of things have changed. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that we’ll occasionally run across someone who will boldly contend, “Direct mail just doesn’t work!” When we press for specifics (because we really want to know about this) we usually get a response along the lines of, “I tried it once and I didn’t get the results I was hoping for.” It’s pretty hard to argue with that. But when we ask people exactly what their expectations were, they often had no idea what to expect, or their expectations were unrealistic. Read More

6 Tips for Controlling Direct Mail Costs

  • Author: admin
  • Posted on: June 12, 2014
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  It's no secret: print is expensive. In fact, one of the elements that make many businesses shy away from direct mail is the upfront cost. Many other online marketing approaches are far cheaper, particularly when it comes to using visuals. However, it's also no secret that direct mail can be extremely effective when it's executed correctly. Read More