Advertisement
 
 

Direct Mail: Dead or Dead On?

April 8, 2010 By Pat Friesen
6
Get the Flash Player to see this rotator.
 
While few direct marketers now rely only on direct mail, it remains alive, well and a key player for targeting prospects and building customer relationships. See if any of this applies to you.
 
How much of your buyer base are you missing if you rely exclusively on email? For example, if your emails to customers have a 15 percent open rate, how are you reaching the other 85 percent? A client of mine who gets a 15 percent open rate tells me that when he makes the same email-proven offer using direct mail and does a match-back, he finds those responding to the mail did not open the email. And both efforts are very profitable.

With direct mail numbers down, now is the time to be in the mail. You've got less mailbox competition and a properly targeted mail piece will get more attention. Last week, for three days straight, I didn't receive a single envelope or postcard addressed to me. First I was disappointed. Then I was angry. Had I become so unimportant that no one wanted to mail me? Seize this opportunity to stay connected!

Direct mail is difficult to ignore because it's tactile and tangible. You can't delete it with a click; you have to hold it in your hands before you can throw it away. Touch is a powerful tool. Use it to your advantage with textured papers, heavier paper stock, even tactile varnishes. How a direct mail piece feels contributes to how readers engage with it.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal told the story of a B-to-B entrepreneur who swapped snail mail for email to save $20,000. Instead, she saw a 25 percent drop in orders compared to the year before. After initially thinking the decrease was due to the economy, she began hearing from customers that they hadn't gotten their usual "reminder" in the mail. Fortunately, a quick postcard mailing recouped the 25 percent loss. 

Direct mail provides immediate gratification. Ever wonder why mailings include return address labels or product samples?  They work! Direct mail that includes an instant free gift or usable product sample provides instant gratification and better direct mail open rates. They also plant the seed of a relationship with new customers and no download is required.
 

Companies Mentioned:
6

MORE ON DIRECT MAIL >>

FROM THE BOOKSTORE

Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i> covers all the bases of email deliverability, including everything from the very basics, to reputation management, as well as coding and design, and the connections between email deliverability and ROI. As any good email marketer today knows, there are a number of obstacles standing between you and your prospect’s inbox. With anti-spam technology becoming more and more powerful and prospects being blitzed by rapidly increasing email volume, an email marketer’s concern isn’t just open rate anymore; it’s getting the email successfully delivered in the first place. <i>Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI </i> features five chapters full of industry-proven best practices to achieve maximum inbox delivery. You’ll also get dozens of surefire tips and methods for improving your deliverability, including: • Developing a trigger email program • Segmenting and reviewing your results by service • Understanding the whitelist/blacklist process • Using different addresses for different segments of your file • Not falling into the whole openers/non-openers/clickers trap • Test mailing at different times of the day • Being smart about timing • Use an ECOA service • Looking into certification, and much more! <b><u>The report also includes four detailed case studies</b></u>, providing practical examples of what email deliverability tactics did and didn’t work for four real-life companies. <b><u>100% Money-Back Guarantee</b></u> Your order is risk-free. If you are not completely delighted with <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i>, notify us within 30 days for a complete credit or refund, no questions asked. <b><u>About DirectMarketingIQ</u></b> The Research Division of the Target Marketing Group, DirectMarketingIQ (www.directmarketingiq.com) is the go-to resource for direct marketers. Publishing books, special reports, case study stockpiles and how-to guides, it opens up a new world for those who seek more information, more ideas and more success stories in order to boost their own marketing efforts. DirectMarketingIQ has unparalleled access to direct marketing data - including the world's most complete library of direct mail as well as a growing library of promotional emails across hundreds of categories - and proudly produces content from the most experienced editors and practitioners in the industry. <b>Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i>, which is in PDF format. </b> Hitting the Email Inbox

Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI Hitting the Email Inbox covers all the bases of email deliverability, including everything from the very basics, to reputation management, as well as coding and design, and...

ORDER NOW

(PDF DOWNLOAD) Who’s not talking about QR codes lately? Since appearing on the US marketing scene two years ago, QR codes have revolutionized the way businesses promote their products and brands. So what exactly is this stamp sized, abstract art-looking module? And how can your business benefit from it? <i>Cracking the QR Code</i> outlines <b>how to seamlessly incorporate QR codes into your marketing campaign</b> by explaining: • How QR codes work and which companies and industries they work for best • How to implement a marketing strategy for QR codes • QR code creative best practices • The future of QR codes and more! Let <i>Cracking the QR Code</i> teach you how to <b>get a passive prospect to take immediate action</b>. See how QR Codes can <b>successfully transform your marketing efforts and increase traffic to your site</b>. Find out how to integrate QR Codes into your marketing campaign and how to track and measure the results. Learn more about the technology that has revolutionized the way businesses promote their products and brands. Read case samples from well-known companies using QR Codes, including: Best Buy, Big Fire Wine, Gap, Calvin Klein, Gap, Home Depot, Time Out New York, World Wildlife Federation, Sibcy Cline Real Estate, and more! <i>Cracking the QR Code</i> helps you navigate your way through this up and coming technology, which has been labeled the <b>“direct link between print and the internet.”</b> In the past year alone, QR codes have skyrocketed in popularity; first quarter 2011 scan rates increased more than 4,500% over first quarter 2010 rates. With numbers like that, it’s difficult to ignore this rising trend in marketing strategy. Don’t get left behind; order your copy of <i>Cracking the QR Code</i> today to learn how you can apply this tool to your business! <u>About DirectMarketingIQ</u> The Research Division of the Target Marketing Group, DirectMarketingIQ (www.directmarketingiq.com) is the marketers’ go-to resource. Publishing books, special reports, case studies and how-to-guides, it opens up a new world to those who seek more information, more ideas and more success stories in order to boost their own marketing efforts. DirectMarketingIQ has unparalleled access to direct marketing data – including the world’s most complete library of direct mail as well as a massive library of promotional emails across hundreds of categories – and producly produces content from the most experienced editors and practitioners in the industry. <b>Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read Cracking the QR Code, which is in PDF format.</b> Cracking the QR Code

(PDF DOWNLOAD) Who’s not talking about QR codes lately? Since appearing on the US marketing scene two years ago, QR codes have revolutionized the way businesses promote their products and brands. So what exactly is this stamp sized, abstract art-looking module? And how can your business benefit from it? Cracking...

ORDER NOW

 

MORE ON EMAIL >>

FROM THE BOOKSTORE

Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i> covers all the bases of email deliverability, including everything from the very basics, to reputation management, as well as coding and design, and the connections between email deliverability and ROI. As any good email marketer today knows, there are a number of obstacles standing between you and your prospect’s inbox. With anti-spam technology becoming more and more powerful and prospects being blitzed by rapidly increasing email volume, an email marketer’s concern isn’t just open rate anymore; it’s getting the email successfully delivered in the first place. <i>Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI </i> features five chapters full of industry-proven best practices to achieve maximum inbox delivery. You’ll also get dozens of surefire tips and methods for improving your deliverability, including: • Developing a trigger email program • Segmenting and reviewing your results by service • Understanding the whitelist/blacklist process • Using different addresses for different segments of your file • Not falling into the whole openers/non-openers/clickers trap • Test mailing at different times of the day • Being smart about timing • Use an ECOA service • Looking into certification, and much more! <b><u>The report also includes four detailed case studies</b></u>, providing practical examples of what email deliverability tactics did and didn’t work for four real-life companies. <b><u>100% Money-Back Guarantee</b></u> Your order is risk-free. If you are not completely delighted with <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i>, notify us within 30 days for a complete credit or refund, no questions asked. <b><u>About DirectMarketingIQ</u></b> The Research Division of the Target Marketing Group, DirectMarketingIQ (www.directmarketingiq.com) is the go-to resource for direct marketers. Publishing books, special reports, case study stockpiles and how-to guides, it opens up a new world for those who seek more information, more ideas and more success stories in order to boost their own marketing efforts. DirectMarketingIQ has unparalleled access to direct marketing data - including the world's most complete library of direct mail as well as a growing library of promotional emails across hundreds of categories - and proudly produces content from the most experienced editors and practitioners in the industry. <b>Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read <i>Hitting the Email Inbox</i>, which is in PDF format. </b> Hitting the Email Inbox

Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI Hitting the Email Inbox covers all the bases of email deliverability, including everything from the very basics, to reputation management, as well as coding and design, and the...

ORDER NOW

PDF FORMAT <i>"Despite news to the contrary — especially from the social media space — reports of the death of email are greatly exaggerated. In fact, as your inboxes most likely show, email is growing and becoming even more sophisticated."</i> -- from <i>The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing</i> It's true. Email marketing is still going strong, and continues to be one of the most important factors in any marketing campaign. From the first six months of 2010 to the first six months of 2011 alone, there was a nearly 21 percent increase in email volume! The average number of emails received per day in the first six months of 2010 was 472, and during the first six months of 2011, the daily average increased to 571. Marketers are having success with their email campaigns and using it more and more. That being the case, your email marketing campaign needs all the attention it can get, and knowing what works and what doesn't is the best way to start. That's where "The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing" comes in. The Guide is brought to you by the email marketing experts at DMIQ and their extensive research into one of the largest email campaign archives in the industry. On top of latest trends, it features 19 best practice chapters from today's email marketing thought leaders. You will learn how to create a relevant email program to nurture leads and drive sales, how to best use call-to-action visuals in your emails, and how to use social email to improve marketing effectiveness. You’ll also learn: • Email Marketing Trends in 2011 • Best Practices in Writing Subject Lines • The Strategy (and Tricks) for Improving Open Rate and Response • 6 Tests to Improve Email Program Results • 5 Best Practices for the Gangbusting Email Campaign • Best Practices for Improving Email Performance • 6 Ways to Make Your Emails Mobile-Ready • Email Branding — The 16 Most Effective Strategies • 11 Best Creative Practices for B-to-B Email Marketing • The Keys to Developing a Successful E-newsletter • How to Determine Your Customers’ Email Content Tolerance • How Email Marketers Can Optimize the Social Media Opportunity • …Just to name a few! This comprehensive report also offers three in-depth case studies, so you can see practical examples of how these methods worked for real-life businesses. "The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing" is an essential tool for any business that ever sends an email. <b><u>100% Money-Back Guarantee</b></u> Your order is risk-free. If you are not completely delighted with “The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing,” notify us within 30 days for a complete credit or refund, no questions asked. <u>About DirectMarketingIQ</u> The Research Division of the Target Marketing Group, DirectMarketingIQ (www.directmarketingiq.com) is the go-to resource for direct marketers. Publishing books, special reports, case study stockpiles and how-to guides, it opens up a new world for those who seek more information, more ideas and more success stories in order to boost their own marketing efforts. DirectMarketingIQ has unparalleled access to direct marketing data - including the world's most complete library of direct mail as well as a growing library of promotional emails across hundreds of categories - and proudly produces content from the most experienced editors and practitioners in the industry. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, which is in PDF format. The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing

PDF FORMAT "Despite news to the contrary — especially from the social media space — reports of the death of email are greatly exaggerated. In fact, as your inboxes most likely show, email is growing and becoming even more sophisticated." -- from The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing It's true. Email...

ORDER NOW

 

COMMENTS

Click here to leave a comment...
Comment *
Most Recent Comments:
Andrew Wilson - Posted on April 22, 2010
@Brian Allen there is just so much wrong with your post. Get yourself a good US consultant to show you how to make it work.
Dan Croxen-John - Posted on April 22, 2010
Hi Pat,

Thanks for the effort in putting together some key points that explain the enduring usage of direct mail.

Although I run a web analytics consultancy, I come from a mail order backgroup and am always interested in this direct mail vs online communication debate.

However, although I don't agree with Brian's sentiment, I do think that cost is an important issue with direct mail. We work with mail order companies that have identified when they can afford to send a catalogue or a piece of DM to a low-responding segment. Many of our clients have used email to still communicate with those segments and re-activate these lapsed customers profitably. So in my view, it's not a case of replacing one with the other, but using DM and email based on CPA thresholds.

But ultimately, as direct marketers we continue to obsess on ROI - and rightly so. This means if your DM campaign appears not to be working then it is because either it really isn't working or you have failed to build in a tracking mechanism.

Having said that one of our clients successfully uses locally-based DM and email campaigns, and I think we forget the value of 'local targeting' at our peril.

Keep up the good work

Dan Croxen-John
Applied Web Analytics



Bruce Colthart (@bccreative) - Posted on April 19, 2010
Thanks for the nicely-articulated list. Too often the "print versus online" argument focuses on publishing only and its sentimental attachments. Your list is exactly the message I want to impress upon my clients – print is a medium; understand it and take advantage of its unique properties as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Blase Ciabaton - Posted on April 11, 2010
Thanks so much for sharing this post, Pat! I've been a direct mail professional for the last 6 years, and not a week goes by where I don' t get first-hand testimonials from clients who switched to an all e-mail communication platform with results similar to what you describe in this post.

Regarding Brian's comment, there is no shortage of direct mail horror stories. Poorly executed campaigns will generate poor results. Mailing to existing clients, like the example given in your post, is a cost-effective & proven strategy for many businesses. For prospect mailings, nothing is more important than targeting the correct list. I recently wrote a blog post titled "Help, Why Did My Last Direct Mail Campaign Fail?" http://bit.ly/biJd4p, which may be of interest to readers of this post.

Finally, I also embrace the concept of using multiple channels when marketing. Even though direct mail is my business, I also have a blog and a Twitter account, and I'm active with both face to face marketing and other forms of social marketing. Thanks again! Blase
Rick Graf - Posted on April 09, 2010
I enjoyed your article, "Direct Mail: Dead or Dead On?"

I wish I had it 4 years ago to present to a former client who dropped direct mail from his marketing to reply only on email.

I've always felt that an independent voice helps to support a point of view, because my clients sometimes see what I say as somewhat self-serving.

Thanks again. Please know that I will be sending it to the next client who wants to replace direct mail with only email marketing.

Rick Graf
Brian Allen - Posted on April 08, 2010
Your article highlights exactly the opposite of what you're trying to promote.

Direct mail marketing for new prospects is completely worthless.

We mailed for over 500 companies last year,400 of whom were mailing to prospects and less than 1 out of 30 ever repeated with us.

Make no mistake about it; direct mailers are dinosaurs with no possible way to justify the cost.
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
Andrew Wilson - Posted on April 22, 2010
@Brian Allen there is just so much wrong with your post. Get yourself a good US consultant to show you how to make it work.
Dan Croxen-John - Posted on April 22, 2010
Hi Pat,

Thanks for the effort in putting together some key points that explain the enduring usage of direct mail.

Although I run a web analytics consultancy, I come from a mail order backgroup and am always interested in this direct mail vs online communication debate.

However, although I don't agree with Brian's sentiment, I do think that cost is an important issue with direct mail. We work with mail order companies that have identified when they can afford to send a catalogue or a piece of DM to a low-responding segment. Many of our clients have used email to still communicate with those segments and re-activate these lapsed customers profitably. So in my view, it's not a case of replacing one with the other, but using DM and email based on CPA thresholds.

But ultimately, as direct marketers we continue to obsess on ROI - and rightly so. This means if your DM campaign appears not to be working then it is because either it really isn't working or you have failed to build in a tracking mechanism.

Having said that one of our clients successfully uses locally-based DM and email campaigns, and I think we forget the value of 'local targeting' at our peril.

Keep up the good work

Dan Croxen-John
Applied Web Analytics



Bruce Colthart (@bccreative) - Posted on April 19, 2010
Thanks for the nicely-articulated list. Too often the "print versus online" argument focuses on publishing only and its sentimental attachments. Your list is exactly the message I want to impress upon my clients – print is a medium; understand it and take advantage of its unique properties as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Blase Ciabaton - Posted on April 11, 2010
Thanks so much for sharing this post, Pat! I've been a direct mail professional for the last 6 years, and not a week goes by where I don' t get first-hand testimonials from clients who switched to an all e-mail communication platform with results similar to what you describe in this post.

Regarding Brian's comment, there is no shortage of direct mail horror stories. Poorly executed campaigns will generate poor results. Mailing to existing clients, like the example given in your post, is a cost-effective & proven strategy for many businesses. For prospect mailings, nothing is more important than targeting the correct list. I recently wrote a blog post titled "Help, Why Did My Last Direct Mail Campaign Fail?" http://bit.ly/biJd4p, which may be of interest to readers of this post.

Finally, I also embrace the concept of using multiple channels when marketing. Even though direct mail is my business, I also have a blog and a Twitter account, and I'm active with both face to face marketing and other forms of social marketing. Thanks again! Blase
Rick Graf - Posted on April 09, 2010
I enjoyed your article, "Direct Mail: Dead or Dead On?"

I wish I had it 4 years ago to present to a former client who dropped direct mail from his marketing to reply only on email.

I've always felt that an independent voice helps to support a point of view, because my clients sometimes see what I say as somewhat self-serving.

Thanks again. Please know that I will be sending it to the next client who wants to replace direct mail with only email marketing.

Rick Graf
Brian Allen - Posted on April 08, 2010
Your article highlights exactly the opposite of what you're trying to promote.

Direct mail marketing for new prospects is completely worthless.

We mailed for over 500 companies last year,400 of whom were mailing to prospects and less than 1 out of 30 ever repeated with us.

Make no mistake about it; direct mailers are dinosaurs with no possible way to justify the cost.