“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain

Many marketers 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 fact, direct mail is experiencing a renaissance.

Why?

Because of two factors:

#1: Advanced Data Modeling and the Transactional Data Matrix (TDM) 

Direct mail has been changed forever, thanks to advanced data modeling.

With advanced data modeling based upon transactional data, direct mailers have been able to see a dramatic increase in response.

But besides their increase in response, they have seen an increase in their prospect universe.

With advanced data modeling – what we call Transactional Data Matrix (TDM) – we’re able to identify the perfect prospect as never before, all based upon their transactional history.

Response rates are up, mailings are up, and it’s pretty significant.

#2: Multichannel, Integrated Marketing 

The second explosive new factor that is helping direct mail rates to skyrocket is multichannel, integrated marketing.

Multichannel, integrated marketing combines direct mail with digital marketing – email, Facebook, a landing page, pre-roll videos, banner ads, and more – to drive up response.

That means your direct mail recipients also see your offer advertised in their email inboxes, Facebook newsfeeds, and more.

It’s a powerful way to drive up response to your direct mail piece.

Using these two strategies, direct mail can get you incredible response and return on investment (ROI).

Many marketers reject direct mail because they say it is too expensive. But on a cost-per-lead or cost-per-sale basis, direct mail will often cost you less than other types of marketing.

Let me give you a few examples.

• I mailed over 2 million direct mail pieces for Independent Living in the last year.
• We have mailed several million direct mail pieces for a Medicare product.
• A company that is generating leads for a sales team have been put on a monthly direct mail campaign and their budget is now shifting from digital/electronic to direct mail.
• For another client with a consumer product, we have mailed over 100,000 pieces.
• I mailed 1.2 million mailings for Health Alert in December.
• 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.
• Over 45 million pieces were mailed as an online product.
• A while 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.

With all of the different clients that I have had, I have found that direct mail has been reliably successful.

That’s why we mailed large quantities.

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 if direct mail is right for you.

Call 615-814-6633 for more information.