But it costs too much.
There’s the cost of the copywriter, and the designer. Then you add in printing and production costs, the cost of the list and of course the postage… Oh my god, the postage!
For people who really don’t understand direct Mail, this is a very familiar refrain.
I heard this exact same song about 10 days ago. A friend of mine has a client with a web site. He sells health items. The client wants try Direct Mail, but thinks it’s just too expensive for his tiny budget.
BUT WAIT!
“Your client already does Direct Mail… just very poorly,” I told my friend.
The marketer sends out product, purchased online by his customers by, get ready… DIRECT MAIL! But, he does not send any sales letter with the product!
DIRECT MAIL RULE #21: Never send out something to a customer or prospect without a way for them to order something!
So I told my friend to suggest this to his client:
1. You will write up a simple letter/order form that goes in the packaging with every product shipped out the door.
2. The letter will confirm the product enclosed (like a packing slip) and offer the customer a great product that complements the one enclosed.
3. The Order Form – it can either be a simple “Go to this web page” or it can be a mail back form, or both – will offer a great discount (say 20%) if the customer makes the purchase within 2 days.
Happy customer – the ones who actually get the product they ordered online – will jump at the chance to buy more stuff. (That’s why hotline names in the list business sell for a premium price; the hotter the name, the better the response.)
What’s the cost to the marketer? Well, maybe $1,000 for the copy and 10 cents for each letter he adds to the packaging.
(Oh, and this works for any product that you have to ship: from books to bicycles, from candy to credit cards!)
When the marketer discovers all that extra money coming in from these new sales, he will have to try a real direct mail promotion – an acquisition one, or maybe a mailing to his existing customers with a special “seasonal” offer.
Direct mail works, and it does not take hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it right!
Thanks… and keep up the DM work!
Peter T. Britton
Idea Generator, Wordsmith, Resultant
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