Direct mail marketing is the act of mailing letters or postcards to a select audience, with the goal of making sales or generating business leads. While this basic definition applies to most direct mail scenarios, there are many ways to use the medium.
Common Uses for Direct Mail
This type of marketing can be used to support many business models. Real estate agents commonly use direct mail marketing to promote their properties and to generate leads from prospective clients. Financial companies (banks, lenders and credit card companies) are another big user of direct mail marketing. Who hasn't received one of those pre-approval letters in the mail?
Direct mail is also popular among local business owners trying to bring foot traffic. I've seen postcards in my mailbox from local dentists, churches, eye doctors, clothing shops and more.
Direct Mail Formats
The concept behind this marketing strategy is to send a specific message to a specific audience. This may be done by using postcards, letters, brochure kits and more. Each format has its pros and cons, so the goals of the direct mail marketing campaign should dictate the format.
What is Direct Mail Marketing? Direct mail is one of the most common forms of direct marketing in use today. Marketers have used direct mail marketing for decades to get their message across. It's a proven, versatile and measurable marketing channel.
What are the Benefits of Direct Mail Marketing? Marketers have been using direct mail for decades, simply because it works. Direct mail marketing is a proven medium with a long history behind it. Because of this, direct mail marketing has its own set of best practices you can learn from. The direct mail marketers who have gone before you experimented with direct mail to find out what works best, and that's what this direct mail marketing website tries to offer.
1. Direct Mail is Flexible Automotive direct mail can support just about any marketing objective. Whether it's a service reminder to existing customers, or a lead generation program for potential customers, automotive direct mail can deliver results. Here are some of the most common uses for automotive direct mail marketing:
- Lead generation campaigns
- New model announcements
- Customer rewards / loyalty programs
- Service reminders
- Inventory updates
These are some of the most common uses for automotive direct mail, but they are by far not the only ways to use the medium. Forward-thinking automotive companies are finding new ways to use direct mail every day. Direct mail is a dynamic, versatile marketing tool.
2. Direct Mail is Cost-Effective Automotive direct mail campaigns can be tailored to any marketing budget. This is due to several factors. For one thing, direct mail can be as simple as a 4" x 6" postcard, or as complex as multi-part brochure kit. So the savvy automotive marketer can use the more affordable pieces for demand generation, while reserving the high-end pieces for current or past customers.
Automotive direct mail is also cost-effective due to volume factors. Most direct mail companies offer price breaks with increased volume — the more you mail, the more you save per piece. Automotive direct mail volumes can be easily scaled up or down to coincide with budget cycles or limitations.
Then there's the ROI factor. When used effectively, direct mail yields favorable ROIs. It has for decades, and it will for many more years. Sure, the strategies have changed with advances in technology, Internet, etc. But the fact remains that automotive direct mail produces results. Why else would 95% of auto manufacturers use direct mail?
3. Direct Mail is Measurable Direct mail is one of the most measurable of all marketing channels. Once you have a response-tracking mechanism in place (like special 800 numbers, web page tracking, or business-reply cards), the rest is simple math. With television or radio advertising, you have no way of knowing how many people saw your ad, even if you can count responses.
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