Direct mail marketing is fairly easy to understand. It dates back in time in Europe to the inventing of the printing press, and in the U.S. to around the time the typewriter was invented. Essentially, direct mail marketing uses a consumer list of names and printed materials that are mailed, or otherwise delivered, to those persons on the list. Today, a similar form takes place electronically with email solicitations, and by telemarketing.
The consumer list can be ordered up by various demographics, such as age, zip code, political affiliation, gender, income, and so on. Some lists are so detailed it is possible to select people who have purchased certain items in the past and who therefore may be prime targets for future sales of similar items. The consumer list can also be created by a business from its previous and current customers.
Direct mail organization are like an advertising agency if they offer “full service.” They will have typists to create the target list, and people to package the items and prepare them for mailing or distribution. The company can also take care of the actual mailings. Direct mailings are completely unsolicited, and frequently this type of mail is called “junk mail” by consumers. A telemarketing agency will have banks of phones manned by persons who then call up the people on the list. They usually have some type of scripted message to follow, which flows according to the answers that the persons called provide.
Direct mail materials are given directly to the consumer who will become a customer if they then purchase or make a call about the items offered. Some direct mail includes a return order card, or information about a toll free telephone number for ordering. These types of direct mail response materials move the direct mail over to a new category of advertising called “direct response” advertising.
There are several benefits to using direct mail solicitations. The package or postcards can be personalized, and the consumer list can be honed according to responses and non-responses. It is easy to gauge the response from direct mail by the sales generated. Samples and larger packages can be distributed by using door hanger bags, and these do not have to have an address or personalization. Special, reduced postal rates are offered for direct mail, but the company doing the mailing may need to pre-sort the items by zip codes.
