The Nuts and Bolts of Direct Marketing and Direct Mail

BOHEMIA, N.Y. - April 17, 2013 - PRLog -- After a slowdown from a holiday season in retail or hitting a speed bump in business-to-business sales, there is an opportunity to review the past advertising campaigns. The results may lead one back to review the basics in marketing planning and communications.

Some businesses use a slowdown to work on their business and be ready for the next growth spurt. Many company CEO’s use a downturn to re-examine their company marketing strategy and goals.

This is a great time to look at the financials and begin defining a new set of business goals and objectives based on where the industry may be heading in the next year or two. The present marketing strategy may need a tweak or two.

It’s advantageous to periodically review some of the marketing fundamentals when using direct mail and other traditional tactics and the new untraditional communication channels of social media.

Marketing fundamentals are there for a reason — they work when they are properly integrated into your direct marketing and mail. As an added bonus, they are critical marketing components to the success of your marketing and sales functions.

The following are the four marketing fundamentals of direct marketing and mail that we know can help you maintain or reach your ROI in unsure economic periods and even a better ROI during a seasonal business period of slower sales.

First, never underestimate the value of the list containing your direct mail contacts for a mailing assignment. Most industry experts say the list is the single most important element in your communications. Get the mailing list to us early in the campaign providing enough time to optimize your list. The cost of today’s postage can affect the ROI of any mailing when postal regulations are taken advantage of, such as the use of Standard Mail to meet delivery deadlines.

Second, any successful direct marketing and mail program must be consistent. This means for email, landing pages and any of the social media channels.

Your direct mail copy and design must leave an impression in the contact’s mind. It’s an impression about your company that will be reinforced in subsequent communications, particularly in the use of the supporting communication channels you select with direct mail.

One benefit of using direct mail is to get the reader’s attention. It could be as simple as equating your brand to the fulfillment of one of their needs, and therefore expanding your brand’s mind share for your customer or prospect. Then when the recipient reads your compelling offer, it causes the recipient to stop, consider the offer, and respond.

Third is the marketing basic of relevancy. When you look at the design and copy of your direct marketing and mail programs do you look with “relevant eyes”? For example, a direct mail piece from a tire replacement or auto repair chain that arrives in the mail box of someone who owns a recently purchased new vehicle is perhaps a wasted mailing.

If a recipient of the same mailing whose car warranty just expired, the information on tire replacement and other automobile repair is possibly relevant.

The fourth and final one is frequency. Not because it’s overlooked, but because more times than not, it is hard to maintain using just direct mail. Everyone knows there is a value when the frequency is maintained in a direct mail campaign.

Frequency is always high on the direct mailer’s to-do list, sometimes unfortunately, ahead of the mailing list. However, after much effort is spent on getting the right direct mail message with the right look on the right schedule, and eventually taking more time to accomplish, frequency is quickly forgotten.

If this is an issue, consider using other direct marketing channels such as email, landing pages and social media. Start collecting this contact information to make future campaigns more frequent and eventually, a better ROI.

If your analysis shows that a planned direct mail campaign is used in conjunction with multi-channels and the campaign adheres to the other marketing fundamentals, you will more than likely reach or exceed your goals.

The next time you find yourself backed into a campaign dilemma, stop and remember the direct marketing and mail’s fundamentals.

They’ll get you back on track and back into a successful direct marketing campaign. There are many fundamentals in direct marketing and mail that we can add, and we did. Visit www.sendreport.net and request, “The Brass Tacks of Direct Marketing and Mail You Shall Never Forget,” and add the order number of DMS526cc. Or simply call us today at 631-699-0100 to get your free copy delivered today.

MVS Mailers, Inc.
31 Crossways East
Bohemia, NY 11716

www.MVSmailers.com