The Advantages Of Direct Mail As A Marketing Tool
Direct mail is a marketing technique in which the seller sends marketing messages directly to the buyer. Direct mail is a unique blend of advertising and sales. It is sometimes referred to as direct marketing or direct response marketing. Direct mail is, as the term implies, a marketing message that’s delivered to prospects by mail. It is opened one piece at a time and read one piece at a time.
Direct mail is a way of advertising in which advertisers mail printed ads, letters or other solicitations to large groups of consumers. It is used in many different situations, limited primarily by the imagination of the advertiser. The term direct marketing is believed to have been first used in 1961 in a speech by Lester Wunderman, who pioneered direct marketing techniques with brands such as American Express and Columbia Records.
There are two main definitional characteristics which distinguish direct mail from other types of marketing or advertising. This involves commercial communication (direct mail, e-mail, tele-marketing) with consumers or businesses, usually unsolicited. This aspect of direct marketing involves an emphasis on traceable, measurable positive responses from consumers regardless of medium.
The most common form of direct marketing is direct mail sometimes called junk mail, used by advertisers who send paper mail to all postal customers in an area or to all customers on a list. While many marketers like this form of marketing, some direct marketing efforts using particular media have been criticized for generating unwanted solicitations.
Some consumers are demanding an end to direct marketing for privacy and environmental reasons, which direct marketers, are able to provide by using “opt out” lists, variable printing and more targeted mailing lists.
Direct mail is one of the most measurable methods of marketing. It is attractive to many marketers, because in many cases its positive effect can be measured directly. Yet since the start of the Internet-age the challenge of Marketing Executives is tracking direct marketing responses and measuring results. Response rates are generally higher when the response device is separate from, rather than part of, the brochure or letter. Response rates to prospects (non-customers) average around 1%.
One of the most important parts of your direct mail piece is the response mechanism. For example, if a marketer sends out one million solicitations by mail, and ten thousand customers can be tracked as having responded to the promotion, the marketer can say with some confidence that the campaign led directly to the responses.
By contrast, measurement of other media must often be indirect, since there is no direct response from a consumer. With direct mail marketing you can code your mail pieces to determine the exact number of responses you received from each campaign.
Direct mail is one of the most common forms of direct marketing in use today. Direct mail is a dynamic, versatile marketing tool and is the most heavily used direct marketing medium, and its popularity continues to grow despite postage increases.
Bob Withers is a professional sales and marketing person with over twenty years in the field. He has also turned his sights on Affiliate Marketing to apply his trade. Bob changed career paths four years ago when both he and his wife began working with Autistic adults in the US, which along with his Home Business and Affiliate Marketing, is his focus right now. If you want to get in touch with Bob or learn more about Affiliate Marketing and Home Business opportunities please visit:
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This is my new Blog and having been away from it for a couple of years it’s great to be back because I really enjoy it. Just to tell you something about myself, my wife and I are currently working with Autistic adults in the state of Maine and we love it. Although we’re from Canada, originally from Newfoundland, this is our second stint working in Maine and the two men we are working with this time around are great. We’ve become very attached to these young men and we consider ourselves to be a family. Actually our job title is that of Therapeutic Foster Parents and of course we take it very seriously. One of the main reasons we take it so seriously is that we are advocates for these young men because at times they can’t speak for themselves.
The sad part about our job here in Maine is that we have to leave the country after 18 months. The reason for this being the company who hired us and sponsored us into the US could only get us into the country by way of a Training Visa with the main condition being we have to leave after 18 months. We were here under the same circumstances in 2007 and had to leave the guys we were caring for at that time at the end of 2008.
This of course was very difficult for the three men we were working with and living with at the time and it was also very difficult for us because we became very attached and as I mentioned earlier we became a family. One of the main benefits of coming back is that we get to see the guys we worked with on our first visit and we also get to do what we enjoy which is caring for and helping these young men.
Because of our love for what we do and for the people we work with I will be dedicating a Page on this website to Autism and to the people who live with it on a daily basis. I’m hoping this will help educate people who aren’t familiar with what is fast becoming a global concern and help to raise funds for research.
The other objective of this website is to offer Home Business advice and present opportunities to people who are interested in making a legitimate living by working from home.
I’m hoping to have a great deal of relevant content added soon and I hope people will make it a point to visit often. Thank you for visiting and for taking the time to read this information.
The following two videos should give you some idea of the majestic beauty of Newfoundland:
I’ve added a video below, one of which is actually an advertisement by a local brewery located in St. John’s, Newfoundland which is where I’m from. But it contains some great shots of the area and I like to think portrays what we, as Newfoundlanders, are all about: People who care about people, who work hard and play hard but aren’t afraid to laugh at ourselves. In the following videos you will see many examples of this outlook on life as portrayed by local entertainers performing at what we call “Kitchen Parties”.
These are events where neighbours come together to have a few drinks and entertain one another through song and dance. Please take the time to have a look.