Understanding How Direct Mail WorksDirect mail is the most common medium for direct marketing. Direct marketing is the process of sending messages about products and services directly to consumers without using any intervening media. Direct mail is the process where marketers send paper mail to all customers in a certain area or customers whose addresses are listed in the database of a company. Another form of direct marketing is telemarketing where marketers call selected or random telephone numbers to offer products and services to customers. Email marketing, which includes spam, is also another form of direct marketing. Broadcast faxing is another direct marketing strategy which is not as popular as the others. Lester Wunderman is credited to be the person who pioneered the use of direct marketing techniques in 1961 to bring American Express and Columbia Records closer to their target clients. Direct mail as an advertising strategy in the United States can be traced as far back as 1867. The Direct Mail Advertising Association was established in 1917 to monitor the fledgling industry employing this direct marketing strategy.
In direct mail, marketing communications are sent to the homes of consumers through ordinary postal service. These communications often take the form of advertising circulars, free trial CDs, pre-approved credit card applications and other invitations delivered to homes and business offices. These are also referred to as junk mail especially if the items received are not relevant to the customer. Other terms used for this kind of direct marketing are bulk mail and admail. One of the factors that contributed to the increasing popularity of direct mail is the lowered bulk postal rates for marketers in developed countries such as in the United States and the United Kingdom. Companies can design their marketing communications using different formats when employing direct mail as a principal advertising strategy. In fact, many companies also cater to the needs of companies that use this direct marketing strategy. Among the most common formats for direct mail are catalogs, self-mailers, postcards, envelope mailers where marketing materials are placed, snap mailers and dimension mailers like small boxes. Envelope mailers with more than one advertiser are called marriage mails. These mails may also be unaddressed and are immediately delivered to letterboxes through postal service, independent delivery companies and local newspaper publishers. These mails are also called "direct mails without the stamp." However, in the United States, this is considered illegal and prohibited by the United States Postal Service. Fines can range from $5,000 to $10,000. Direct mail is favored by many businesses as with proper implementation; it can lead to increased sales, increased profits, increased customer awareness of advertised products and services, and increased number of customers. Moreover, it is an effective tool in raising funds, promoting new products, and conducting market research and analysis. When targeting a specific market niche, the mailing list could be narrowed down using specific criteria. However, this kind of direct marketing has its critics and among them are environmental protection groups which contend that large quantities of paper are wasted due to this direct marketing method. They further argued that millions of trees had to be destroyed every year to produce these mails. |