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Billions of direct
mail solicitations are delivered to mailboxes across the country every
year. This marketing medium is ubiquitous for a simple reason—it
works. Called “junk mail” by some detractors, direct mail is—for those
smart about using it—more gold than fool’s gold. Many a major business
has been created by this so-called “junk,” including Sears Roebuck, L.L.
Bean and The Sharper Image.
Direct
mail is essentially a call to action. Its goal: motivate the
prospect
to buy right then and there, or take other action such as requesting a
catalog. More conventional forms of advertising, including television
and much of print, primarily build awareness of a business or product
(think of the advertising for Coca-Cola or a Hollywood movie). While
it’s not impossible for direct mail to do the same, its primary purpose
is to get prospects moving.
Direct
mail is also, in some ways, less creative than other advertising media.
The success of a mailing is largely independent of how attractively
designed is the letter or brochure, or how snazzy is the writing.
Other, more prosaic, elements are far more important, as covered below.
For the entrepreneur, this is a plus—the little guy doesn’t have to
worry about lacking the creative talents found at large ad agencies that
cater to big and more affluent companies.
Be
warned, however: If you don’t know what you’re doing, direct mail
marketing can make off with your money fast. Bill Harrison has a
writing service, Harrison Consulting Group. He finds sales letters that
list a number of services—writing of proposals, policy manuals,
brochures, advertisements—pull better than those lacking specifics. By
identifying what’s offered, he’s appealing to the prospect’s needs.
Where are they
located? If you sell a house cleaning service, you probably want to
target higher income neighborhoods. Not every service or product sells
as well in every location, or you may not be able to service customers
from a distance. Harrison’s writing service operates in Washington
D.C., and Los Angeles, and when he mails to target groups, which include
associations, health care and marketing communications companies, he
rents lists of prospects only from those two metropolitan areas.
Are buyers
reachable? Do mailing lists exist of prospects in your target
market? Tom Vitelli of Salt Lake City tried marketing a genealogy book
to Vitellis around the country, only to find that while he was able to
get addresses of people with his surname, no lists existed that told him
if these prospects bought by mail or were interested in genealogy. Bartel
once tried to market a newsletter that used an innovative cash flow apan
the most adept pickpocket—but it is not.
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