“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain
For many marketers, they think direct mail is dead.
Presidents of companies and even Marketing Directors are making a tragic, strategic and tactical mistake.
Direct mail is still a powerful lead or sales tool for marketing to both consumers and business-to-business.
In the online world today, many Marketing Directors don’t consider direct mail as a viable option. They say it costs too much. But they are wrong.
The post office doesn’t make direct mail any easier; there is constant instability and the impending threat of increased rates.
Maybe some marketers forgot to look at the ROI. Cost per lead or cost per sales shows direct mail is more than viable. So much so, direct mail can’t be ignored.
In fact, direct mail is sometimes less expensive than banner ads, TV, email, radio and other media on a cost per lead/sales analysis.
And in the rare cases it may not produce the best return on investment, it usually is good enough to include as a part of the marketing budget portfolio.
Let me give you a few examples.

• I mailed 1.2 million mailings for Health Alert in December. (In the last 12 months, we have mailed out almost 10 million pieces.)
• And we have just completed a mailing of about 40,000 pieces for a TV personality and the launch of their product… 80% of the budget is direct mail.
• For another client we are mailing a test of 100,000 pieces for an “academic” product for consumers.
• And we recently mailed 50,000 pieces for a fundraising client to compare it to the online efforts.
• And we completed recently 1.2 million mailing pieces for a mobile application project.

If I take a look at different clients that we have had, we would find that their direct mail has been a success. That’s why we mailed large quantities.

• Over 45 million pieces were mailed as an online product.
• Awhile back, over 62 million pieces were mailed for an investment service, plus another 2 million pieces for their investment, insurance products and other ancillary products.
• For nutrition marketers, we mailed over 40 million pieces.

Direct mail will always start off with a small test, say 50,000-100,000. In some cases with a smaller universe, maybe 1,000-50,000 (see our video briefing on 3-D mailing, appropriate for small audiences).
And based upon the results, we move up to a higher quality. Whether you are business-to-business or a consumer marketer, whether you are generating leads or sales, you need direct mail to be part of your overall mix.
Not sure if it will work for you? Give us a call. We would be glad to help you evaluate it.

Call 310-212-5727 or email [email protected] for more information.