Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One

Written by Alan Sharpe


Continued from page 1

Dimensional mailer Do you need to reach C-level executives in Fortune 500 companies? Executives who have mailroom staff and executive secretaries who screen their mail? Then a dimensional mailer may berepparttar most effective way to reach their desk with your sales message. One firm recently mailed a portable DVD player in a high-end box, and enclosed a sales letter explaining thatrepparttar 147198 executive could getrepparttar 147199 remote control unit (without whichrepparttar 147200 player did not work) by meeting with a sales rep fromrepparttar 147201 company who mailedrepparttar 147202 package. The response rate was high.

Catalog Do you have a lot to sell? Do you need to showrepparttar 147203 color, shape or quality of your product? Mail a catalog.

Unaddressed flyer Do you have a message that needs to reach everyone in a given geographic area, such as a business park, forrepparttar 147204 least amount of money? Consider mailing a simple 8 ˝ x 11 sheet with copy and design on one or both sides.

Email Do you have a short sales message for your existing customers? Send them an email (with their permission, of course).

Buckslip Do you have a short announcement for your existing customers? Do you need to remind them about something? Include a buckslip in your next mailing. A buckslip is a slip of paperrepparttar 147205 size of a dollar bill, with copy and graphics on one or both sides, that is enclosed in a mailing envelope with other materials).

Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter, lead generation specialist and publisher of “Sharpe & Direct: The B2B direct mail marketing e-newsletter.” Receive a free report when you sign up at www.sharpecopy.com.


New customers and where to find them.

Written by Alan Sharpe


Continued from page 1

List brokers List brokers are specialists who help one company userepparttar list of another company. Their services include research, selection and recommendation of lists. A list broker, for example, would search on your behalf for lists that meet your unique criteria. There is a Hospitality/Travel Professionals list. And a Firefighters Bookstore list (people who have purchased from Firefighters Bookstore). And a Federal Student Aid Schools list (28,994 schools that provide federally financed aid to their attendees).

House list Your best source of new business is your database of current and lapsed customers, otherwise known as your house list. Getting business from a current customer is always less expensive than getting business from a new customer.

Government For some products and services, another excellent source of potential clients isrepparttar 147052 government. I have a number of clients who buy mailing lists from their state governments and use them to mail offers to businesses that are in their target audience. One client buysrepparttar 147053 names of dentists and dental hygienists whose licenses are about to expire, and mails those prospects a direct mail piece that promotesrepparttar 147054 client’s continuing education courses (which prospects need to take and pass to renew their licenses). Another client buysrepparttar 147055 names of garages in his state who conduct state-mandated vehicle safety inspections. He mails them direct mail pieces that promote his software product, which is designed specifically for these inspection stations.

Keep in mind thatrepparttar 147056 most important part of any business-to-business direct mail lead generation campaign isrepparttar 147057 list. You can have a great product, a terrific offer andrepparttar 147058 best timing, but if you mail torepparttar 147059 wrong people, well, you know what happens. So make sure you getrepparttar 147060 best list you can.

—Alan Sharpe is a B2B direct mail copywriter and publisher of “Sharpe & Direct: The B2B direct mail marketing e-newsletter.” Receive a free report when you sign up. Alan can be reached at 1 877 SHARPE COPY or at www.sharpecopy.com.


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