You know what is making a big comeback? Snail mail. Here’s the thing about direct mail marketing. It’s starting to come back in a big way. You may wonder if this isn’t the same old junk mail that we always used to toss into the trash. In one sense it is, but in another sense, it most certainly isn’t.
To tackle the latter, things have changed for direct mail marketing. E-mail is so effortless, it makes regular old mail look better — more thoughtful, more caring. When someone takes the time to send us a letter or a postcard we are more likely to notice it.
Lower Postal Rates
As well, lower postal rates are allowing us to deliver the mail to every home or business in an area at a fraction of the cost we paid only a couple of years ago. The cost to mail a letter is still going up — as always — but post offices give direct mailing businesses discounts, meaning that the cost has come down for us.
Still, the vast majority of people who receive your letter will still throw it out. So why are we even suggesting it?
The answer lies in the big numbers. The old rule of thumb states that you’ll get a 1% rate of return with direct mail marketing. Unfortunately, the truth is worse.
Keeping in mind that miracles do happen (we once got a 2% rate of return on a direct mail piece), our own rule of thumb is to say that direct mail marketing only gets a quarter of a percent rate of return or 0.25%.
Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail marketing works in large numbers. You won’t test it to see if it works by sending out 1,000 pieces. We need a bigger mailing to see the results so let’s use 50,000 pieces. When we multiply that number by 0.25%, we get 125 for our expected number of clients who call us based on our postcard.
Now we would look at the value of the average customer and see if direct mail marketing will work for your business. For example, let’s say you own a store and your average customer is worth a $500.00 profit. Then let’s say a 50,000 piece mailing will get you 125 new customers. This means you will make $62,500.00 profit minus the cost of the mailing.
We have mailing programs that include design, print and delivery of 50,000 pieces for under $0.10 per piece. That’s why we love direct mail marketing, for the right business.
With such a great reach for such a low cost, it’s clear that direct mail marketing has the potential for a lot of businesses. But it works best for two sorts of businesses: those that want to mail coupons, and those that want to reach customers at home when they’re away from the computer.
For those businesses, you’re going to want to work with a group that understands this type of advertising, for a number of reasons. First off, we get the aforementioned deal that means we can deliver direct mail more cheaply than you’d be able to with normal post office prices.
Advertising Services
More than that, we handle every aspect of the direct mail marketing campaign. We don’t just design and print the postcards. For instance, we develop a campaign based on your advertising budget. Additionally, we handle it all from creating the message, designing, and printing, addressing the postcards and delivering them to the post office.
You’ll never have to make a trip to the post office with boxes full of cards, because we’ve got your covered.