Business Tips

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.

We know creating and sustaining a small business isn't easy, so we hope this inspires you to keep your chin up and keep following your dreams.

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?

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.

From failing to double-check your copy before printing your postcards (and sending out thousands of cards with misspelled headings as a result) to ineffective targeting, every direct mail marketer makes a mistake at some point in their career.

While some direct mail mistakes can seriously affect your campaign, others are easy to avoid with the right preparation. Read on to learn about five common postcard marketing mistakes and how you can avoid making them.

Today’s small businesses have a huge amount of choice when it comes to marketing channels. There’s online, print, radio, television and a huge range of other options to choose from, even for the smallest or newest of businesses.

While other marketing methods may be more glamorous or trendy, one of the most effective ways to raise awareness for your business, create action, and generate real results is by delivering direct mail postcards to your target audience.

From prompt delivery and an immediate impact to value for money, read on to learn how direct mail – and in particular, direct mail postcards – can give your business a steady flow of leads, sales, and loyal customers.

Is your direct mail postcard as effective as it could be? One of the biggest problems many marketers face is optimization. If your postcard already produces profits and drives responses, what reason is there to optimize further?

Optimization is what separates good campaigns from great ones. A careful process of optimization can double, triple or quadruple your campaign’s response rate and result in a massive increase in your return on investment.

That is, if you optimize at all. Far too many marketers, content with any degree of profitability, start expanding their campaign as soon as it’s in the black, leaving an incredible amount of extra potential sales still on the table.

Learn how you can test your direct mail postcard’s key elements – from headlines to calls to action – to increase your response rate and generate an improved return on investment from your marketing budget.