As I sat at my desk this morning I couldn’t decide what to do first. Should I sort through my email, log into Facebook, sort the mail or start making phone calls? I wasn’t quite ready for all the distractions of my computer so I went and grabbed a cup of coffee and began to sort the mail. After I had pulled out the bills and payments, I was left with a stack of advertisements and bulk mail. I was still working on my coffee, so I decided to enjoy looking through some of the bulk mail.
I was excited at what I was finding! My car needed its oil changed so I pulled that coupon, our dog needed to be groomed, so I looked at that flyer, and lastly, my eye caught an advertisement for one of my favorite restaurants offering a buy-one-get-one deal …it was a great mail day!
After sorting the mail, I started to think again about a conversation I had just had with one of our bigger clients. I had mentioned that we offer Direct Mail Services and that it might be a good fit for a promotion he was running. When I did he quickly said, “Snail mail is dead!” He proceeded to explain that he never buys anything from the mail and just can’t see how anyone would enjoy snail mail over email.
I just smiled and asked him if he had a few minutes for me to explain why and how we promote bulk mail and door-to-door direct marketing. Being a loyal customer, he agreed and gave me a few moments to explain my thoughts.
I began by agreeing with him that technology has changed the direct marketing industry. However, it has not replaced or damaged the effectiveness of using snail mail. Direct mail is a great way to get your clients to visit a web page, buy online and offer trackable discounts.
I explained how I felt you just couldn’t get those results with an email. Your customers are reading their email while being distracted by so many other things around them. They have notifications going off, people messaging them through Social Media, and calendar reminders ringing all while your little email is trying to grab their attention.
Just like how I enjoyed reading through the mail this morning I explained regular old-fashion postal mail is often a pleasant reminder of what life was before technology. Many like myself look at mail as a great distraction from electronics and technology.
After my little speech he was coming around to my way of thinking and was open to hearing more of my ideas.
I gave him a few tips on making sure his piece would stand out in the crowd and be successful:
- If using an envelope use a colored one.
- Use handwritten fonts for addresses.
- Use an oversized postcard that stands out just by its size.
- Include a freebie like a coaster, pen or notepad. Lumpy mail has a 100% open rate.
- Create a strong offer that they just can’t pass up.
- Be the consumer. Look at your piece from your customer’s point of view. How would you react to your offer?
- Make the offer time
- Use a “P.S.”–it’s one of the most frequently read parts of the copy.
- And lastly, target the perfect customer.
As I finished up, I told him …”I know direct mail is not as cutting edge as social media but it works, and it remains an important part of any solid marketing campaign.”
Did he go for it? He sure did, and it is one of the jobs on my to-do-list today!
We would love to help you send out the perfect direct mail piece. Call us at 1-800-841-7861 or Request a FREE Quote to get started.
Lori Moroz is President, and CEO of Pine Press Printing, Mailing Marketing & Business Solutions. – On most days you can find her in her office tackling a stack of paperwork while dreaming of flip flops and beach sunsets.
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