As email marketing and digital advertising took off in the early-to-mid 2000s, one belief was repeated almost endlessly by digital marketing evangelists: that the old fashioned forms of direct marketing – print and direct mail – were “over.” New data from New York-based consulting company the Winterberry Group shows that this prediction couldn’t have been more wrong. In 2015, direct mail spending is projected to grow to an astounding $45.7 billion in total. Even more impressive, direct mail is viewed by a growing number of marketers as a more effective, higher impact marketing channel than the digital marketing options that have previously dominated most marketing discussion.
For our entrepreneur friends, we put together the inspiring rags-to-riches stories behind five U.S. brands that started from nothing and became wildly successful. Despite humble beginnings, most of these brands have made it on the Fortune 500 list with big payoffs for the entrepreneurs who risked everything to see them succeed. This infographic highlights the ups and downs of the founders who ventured to create Whole Foods, Dell, Starbucks, Forever 21, and Walmart. The men and women behind these brands eventually found fortune but only after risking it all, failing at previous ventures, or starting from the bottom.
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Would you like to increase sales and create attention for your retail boutique? The most successful retailers don’t wait for customers to come to them – instead, they use marketing channels like direct mail to communicate with their customers. When used effectively, direct mail can be an extremely profitable marketing channel for your retail boutique. The key to a successful campaign is a compelling offer that gives recipients a reason to become interested in your store. From exclusive discounts to a brand new collection, a wide range of offers can help your direct mail postcard campaign achieve its goals. Read on to discover four ideas for your retail boutique’s next direct mail marketing campaign.
Are you sabotaging your direct mail campaign without realizing it? If your business isn’t getting the results you expected to from direct mail, it could be due to a simple mistake that’s preventing your campaign from becoming profitable.
From the images you use in your creative to the specific choice of words that make up your call to action, seemingly small mistakes can sabotage even the best direct mail campaigns.
Luckily, most of these mistakes are easy to fix. Read on to discover five surprisingly common ways you could be sabotaging your direct mail campaign, along with easy ways to fix these common issues.
Each and every day, the average American views, hears, and reads more than 2,000 different advertisements. Is it any wonder that, given the chance, most people tune out to advertising instead of paying attention?
As a business, standing out as an engaging, interesting signal amongst the constant noise of other advertisers is difficult. With all that noise, how can you ensure your target audience hears your message?
More so, how can you reach out to your target audience and make it clear that your message is worth their time?
While direct mail may no longer be the dominant direct marketing channel, it still remains a power player alongside mobile, search, email, social and many other online options. The name of the game today is “integrated channel” marketing.
Businesses are now using multiple channels to reach customers, prospects and generate leads. What’s true for any channel, however, are three simple marketing basics:
- Do we know our prospect and have the right list? (List)
- Does the deal or offer we present tempt the prospect to take action? (Offer)
- Does the marketing copy and design catch attention, set an impression and prompt action? (Creative/Design)
Have you ever prepared a brilliant postcard design, spent days writing the perfect marketing message, and taken every step to ensure your targeting is as relevant as possible, only to have the campaign fail to make an impact?
It’s time for some hard truth, marketing style. Your prospects primarily care about themselves. They care about their wants, needs, and interests. They do not, however, care about you, your company, or your objectives.
When a prospect pulls your direct mail postcard or flyer out from their mailbox, he or she will ask a series of questions:
- What is being advertised?
- Is it something I need?
- If it’s something I need, who is offering it?
The last question – who is offering it? – brings your credibility into the spotlight and makes your reputation essential. It’s also a double edged sword – you need to reveal just the right amount of information, all without wasting valuable space.
If you’ve studied copywriting or marketing in any respect, you’ve heard the phrase “focus on the benefits, not the features.”
While the benefits of your product or service can have a huge positive effect on the success of any marketing campaign, it’s important not to forget about the immense effects that a product or service’s features can also have.
Benefits are crucial – no doubt about it. Your prospects will only sign on the dotted line once they’ve understood how your products or services can benefit them. But the details and features of your product or service are important, too.
Ask a successful Business to Consumer (B2C) marketer for their favorite marketing channels and it’s likely you’ll hear direct mail mentioned. From cost to effectiveness, direct mail’s benefits make it a natural fit for B2C businesses like retailers, cafés, and restaurants.
While the huge value of direct mail is very well known among B2C marketers, many Business to Business (B2B) marketers and salespeople are unaware of the immense amount of value that a successful direct mail postcards campaign can generate.
With the right combination of messaging, targeting, and a great offer, postcards can be an extremely powerful tool for B2B businesses interested in generating new sales leads and increasing interest in their products or services.
Has your B2B business considered using direct mail postcards to generate leads and fuel growth? Read on to learn three ways your business can use direct mail to create new opportunities, find new customers, and build new client relationships.
