Direct Mail: An Old School Marketing Tactic Making a Comeback

Direct mail is affordable, puts your advertising in a potential client’s hand, and it is a campaign you can learn to put together yourself. It’s also considered an old school marketing tactic that, for a while, had seemed to be played out. Too much direct mail in too many mail boxes was making it easy for people to ignore their direct mail without looking at it.

Making Your Marketing Stand Out

Today, putting something tactile in a potential customer’s hand has more value than it did ten years ago. Customers spend more time on their phones. They are scrolling past digital advertising every day. While there is still value in digital marketing, of course, there is also value in diversifying by reaching your potential customers with targeted direct mailer campaigns.

One of the things making direct mail marketing cool again is how online tools have made it easier to create targeted campaigns.

A smartly targeted campaign will have the right message going to the right customers. For example, if a real estate agent wanted to target home sellers in a particular neighborhood, there are now online tools where you can target a specific zip code. You can then create a mailer with a message written for the customer you’re trying to reach. This will include smart ad copy about selling your home.

A direct, simple, and targeted message can be extremely effective.

Another area where your direct mail campaign can benefit is from selecting a high quality material for your mailer. A large glossy postcard with a simple design that catches the eye and paper that has some weight to it is most likely to stand out when someone is going through their mailbox. A professional design will also speak well of your business and make a great first impression.

Avoid This Mistake With Direct Mail

While direct mail can be a great way to reach your customer, it’s important to do it well to be effective. This is true of any type of marketing.

With direct mail, many marketers lose sight of their targeting. This leads them to send out a generic campaign to a large area. They believe they are being effective by getting their message to as many people as possible.

This is the kind of advertising you would see by putting up a billboard on a highway or a television commercial. There is value in this widespread advertising. However, what has made digital marketing so great for small businesses is that they can afford to advertise by running campaigns that are targeted toward their ideal customer. When they pay to get eyes on their message, they’re putting it in front of people more likely to be interested.

The same is now true of smartly run direct mail campaigns. Send the right message to the right people and you can see the results you’re after.

Apply this rule to selecting the right list and sending the right message to them. Write a smart headline and use branding that speaks to your ideal customer.