Pop quiz: What’s the definition of junk mail? Mail that people don’t want or need. It is too easy to conclude that direct mail marketing is just “junk mail,” and that in the Internet age no one will look at it or care. Therefore, it must be a waste of money, right? Wrong. Direct mail can be done well or poorly, but trust us, if you do it right it is well worth the cost and effort.

Although many of us look at flyers we get in the mail as useless or unnecessary, that’s only the case when that mail doesn’t meet a need of ours. Luckily, you can meet customer needs through physical mail quite easily … you just need to do your research. Direct mail, judiciously used, can create demand for your products and services by reaching the right people with the right message, without requiring a lot of time or money from you. Below we’ll explore what direct mail marketing is, how you use it to reach the right audience for you, and what different types of direct mail exist.

What Is Direct Mail Marketing?

In a nutshell, direct mail marketing is marketing that happens through snail mail. Flyers, pamphlets, brochures, coupons and other pieces of mail that people receive through their physical mailboxes – whether home or business – all qualify as direct mail marketing. By sending mail to qualified leads, you put your business name and your products and services in front of the very people who are most likely to buy them. The best part? Someone else does all the hard delivering for you!

Reach Your Ideal Audience

Of course, that’s only if the people who receive your direct mail are actually likely to use your products and services. So how do you ensure that? You can use several tactics. You can, for instance, use a consumer list that is based on a newly achieved status: your target may be new parents if you are a diaper service, for instance, or new homeowners if you’re a landscaper. Or you could create a list based on a characteristic, such as people in a certain income bracket if you sell life insurance. You can also create a list that mimics the characteristics of your current customers, on the assumption that those qualities result in good sales traction for you.

What Is EDDM?

You may have heard of every door direct mail, but been unsure how it applies to your business. Let this be your primer. Every door direct mail means that instead of basing your mailings on a specific trait or category, you base them on a specific location or radius. For local businesses especially, every door direct mail can be extremely valuable.

Granted, many people who receive your flyer won’t use your product or service, but many people will. Because your local business is right where these people live and work, you are reaching exactly the people who would walk in your door if only they knew about you. And despite the name, you don’t actually have to deliver to every door within a certain radius; you can choose individual routes that wind through the areas most likely to result in sales for you.

So How Do You Get Started?

Launching a direct mail campaign isn’t any more difficult than other types of marketing, but just as with other types, the startup process can be tricky. You’ve got to decide what to send, who to send it to, how to divvy up your different mailings amongst your different audiences, and how to track what works and what doesn’t so you’re not just throwing money down the drain. Well, MarketBlazer can help with all of that. Get in touch to talk to one of our experts today, and build a direct mail plan that will knock your socks off … and your customers’!