Continued from page 1
5. Predictable One advantage of knowing success rates of your past mailings is that you can predict success of future mailing. If you mail same package with same offer to a similar group of prospects at same time of year, you can predict how many responses you will receive, and how many of those will translate into sales.
6. Can be improved through testing Because you can measure your direct mail results, you can also test your mailings. Test one package against another, one list against another, one offer against another, and you’ll discover what works and what fails. That way you’ll spend your marketing dollars where they are most effective (without relying on guess work or hunches).
7. Immediate General advertising builds brand awareness. Sales brochures inform. But a direct mail letter asks for action now. So if you need to generate sales leads, and don’t have time to wait for your ad to appear in “IT Buyers Quarterly,” send a direct mail letter and wait a week or so for a response.
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter, sales lead consultant and owner of www.sharpecopy.com. Alan helps businesses attract qualified prospects using creative, compelling, cost-effective direct mail marketing.