Direct Mail Advertising Advantages
Direct Mail Advertising Advantages have been recognized in the USA for well over 150 years. Today it remains the most affordable method of promotion and lead generation for small businesses. When deciding where to spend your advertising dollars take these facts into consideration.
1. Direct Mail Compared To Other Media
Direct mail advertising advantages are obvious. Everyone gets their mail, everyday. No other media is guaranteed to reach your prospect. When was the last time you used a telephone book? How many homes still get a daily newspaper delivered? Count the number of local TV or radio ads you can remember seeing yesterday. Even the internet cannot compete with direct mail advertising. The average response rate for direct mail is 4.4% compared to 0.12% for email. That’s up to 30 time higher than email and it’s even higher when compared to online display ads.
2. Less Competition
Chances are you won’t be competing inside a prospect’s mailbox with similar businesses. When you advertise in a directory, newspaper or even online, your ad will probably appear next to a number of your competitors.
3. Longer Shelf Life
Direct Mail is physical and folks will hold on to a postcard that interests them. A postcard hung on a refrigerator door or some other prominent place in a home will be a constant reminder to the prospect.
4. Easy to Refine Your Audience
To get the most from your advertising dollars, you must place your advertising in front of the best prospects for your product or service. Placement begins with geographic targeting which is easy to do using U.S. Post Office mail carrier route selections. Once your geographic marketing area is defined, create a mailing list using specific demographics to precisely target your best prospects.
5. Common Mistake When Comparing Advertising Costs
Once again, Direct Mailing Postcards wins the cost comparison when compared to other media. Don’t make the mistake of comparing distribution costs. For example dividing the cost of your promotion by the distribution numbers claimed by newspapers or other media. That number is meaningless. It’s not about how many people you distribute to. More important is who receives your ad. Are they within your market area and do they match your customer profile? The way to determine true advertising costs is to divide the cost of the promotion with the number of prospects responding – in other words “cost per lead”. Direct Mail Advertising offers a variety of pricing options and prices will usually be lower the more you mail.
6. Measuring Results
Postcards are one of the easiest advertising methods to track results. Here are a few examples. Businesses that advertise locally can require the postcard be returned in person to qualify for a special offer. Offers can be split run to test effectiveness. Stronger offers or incentives can be used to lure prospects outside of a primary market area.
