What is a direct mail?

Direct mail is one of the more established methods of creating interest in a company’s products and/or services. Direct mail is traditionally used by the B2B sector as the most continuous tool for acquiring prospective clients. The very basic rule of direct mail — or any outflow originating from your company, regardless of its quality — involves the quantity of direct mail letters.

The quantity factor of Direct Mail encompasses both the size of each mailing as well as the longevity of direct mail marketing. The response from direct mail is always marginal.

There are ways of ensuring that your direct mail letters achieve maximum attention and produce optimal response, but in general, the response rate will usually be between 1% and 3%. Direct mailing can be profitable. Its emphasis should be on the qualitative aspects so that the prospects you receive are of high quality. Again, this is where using a company who provide information for direct mail will be advantageous in producing a comprehensive list of direct mail prospects to ensure at least this stage of a campaign is dealt with effectively.

"Forward-looking" companies still have direct mail as a key ingredient in their marketing mix. This is because direct mail still works. The principle behind any marketing campaign is to get Attention, to elicit Interest, generate Desire, and to move a prospect to Action (AIDA).

It is impossible to predict response rates for direct mail campaigns as it is very much dependant on the offer, the creative treatment and the timing of the direct mail.

Direct Mail has a number of key strengths including

-the ability to target key decision makers by name and personalise direct mail communications to them.

-the chance to unleash artistic license and creative flair, with print and production technologies offering far more possibilities than in previous standard direct mail A4 or A5 pack.

-high recall for direct mail pieces that are well produced and a tendency to keep direct mail items of interest for later consideration

-room to explain complex propositions, or guide your direct mail readers through a wide range of available options.

There are also, however some key issues to bare in mind when commencing a direct mail campaign:

-The quality of the data you are intending to use in the direct mail campaign. On average, 20-25% of managers in larger companies’ leaves or change roles every year, so unless you can be confident that your lists are up-to-date, you could be wasting a quarter of your direct mail budget.

-The decision-making process. If your product or service is of particular value to accounts departments, it does not necessarily mean the financial director will be involved in the buying decision. The larger the organisation, the greater the chance the decision will be made by a middle or junior manager and if that is the case do you know who they are to target your direct mail campaign appropriately?

-Head Office personnel. While many direct mail lists focus on head office personnel, the individuals listed will not necessarily be involved in most operational decisions and the operating companies may be in a completely different location.

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Knowledge Base:

1. What is a prospect list? Prospect List

2. How can I create interest in my companies products by using direct mail? Direct Mail

3. What are mailing lists? Mailing Lists

4. What is the purpose of direct marketing? Direct Marketing

5. How do I obtain a good quality sales lead? Sales Lead

6. What are the main functions of a list broker? List Broker

7. How to succeed with database marketing? Database Marketing

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