MARKETING INSIGHTS
10 Reasons Why
You Should Be Using Direct Mail Now
In 1923 , advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins wrote the perennial bestseller “ Scientific Advertising ,” putting forth the radical concept that advertising should be measured and evaluated with facts , mathematics , and reason over emotion and opinions .
This is the very foundation of all the marketing and sales strategies I teach : The ultimate measure of success for any campaign is based on sales generated and the ROI , not on fans , followers , likes , hashtags , SEO rankings , clicks , or what is cheap and easy . I always have been , and will continue to be , media-agnostic and believe you actually need a combination of both online and offline strategies to get the highest and best response and results .
So , when I start talking about direct mail , I know a lot of ears flop over . It doesn ’ t work in my area , with my clients . It ’ s too expensive . It ’ s too slow , too difficult . But if you ’ re a serious student and a “ scientific ” advertiser , you ’ d be foolish to not incorporate it into your marketing arsenal . Here are 10 reasons why .
1 .
Direct mail is the only opt-OUT media . This is a very important point , given that most businesses do not have a good list of qualified prospects when they first seek out our advice on marketing . Unlike email and text messages , you can freely and legally mail someone until they tell you to stop . Yes , many of you ignore this and spam people anyway , but that rarely leads to happy , productive new clients , and it usually does more damage than good . In addition to this , most people aren ’ t as grumpy about getting an advertiser ’ s postcard or letter as they are about getting a text message or email that ’ s trying to sell them something when they haven ’ t given direct permission .
2 .
You can direct 100 % of your efforts and marketing dollars to only the prospects you truly want to get access to . When I send a letter , I can decide in advance who I want as a client , then send a message directly to them . If I run a radio ad , invest in SEO , pay-per-click , trade shows , or generic social media advertising ( not custom audiences ), I cannot always control who sees my message ; therefore , a lot of my advertising dollars are wasted on people who are not qualified .
3 . privacy is dead and there are countless nefarious
Getting someone ’ s accurate mailing address is far easier than getting their email address . Yes ,
ways to get someone ’ s personal email and cellphone number . But most companies have their mailing address directly displayed on their websites , making it easy to find .
4 .
Studies from the Direct Marketing Institute and the Direct Mail Association all point to direct mail delivering more qualified leads and higher ROI than digital lead generation marketing . I believe that ’ s for a few reasons . First , anyone doing direct mail consistently is paying far more attention to copy , offers , and list segmentation because of the cost . For this reason , direct mail marketers are far more careful about what they put in the mail than what they put in an email . Second , it ’ s more “ difficult ” to respond to direct mail than it is to click on a link . Because of that , the person tends to be a more serious buyer . Yes , you may get fewer leads , but those you get will be more qualified , allowing you to avoid the work of sifting and sorting through a bunch of semi- to nonqualified leads to find the one that is good .
5 .
Direct mail lives on far longer than email or other digital campaigns . It ’ s very common for a prospect to tell me they kept one of my mail pieces on their desk for a few months ( even years !) before they called . This is also a common situation for my clients who send out the unusual direct mail campaigns I give them in our toolkit . I have not had that happen with an email or a Facebook post .
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