Small Business Marketing – Nothing Beats Direct Mail For Results

Direct mail is one of the staples that should be in any small businesses marketing mix. IT is one of the most effective and easiest ways to promote your products or services to your local area quickly and actually see results in a short amount if time.

Most small businesses think of sending a huge mailing when sending direct mail to new prospects and get overwhelmed with the thought and costs involved. Though this is the way that the big boys do it, it isn't the way that a small business needs to market. As a small business owner, you can start with a small list and mail to 10 – 100 prospects a week instead of having to mail to 10,000 all at once. Keep it small if your budget is limited.

There are two main important things to keep in mind with any marketing mailing that will increase the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.

First, mail to a targeted list.

You need to make sure that your list is mailed to people that would be interested in your service. It doesn't do any good to mail to a thousand people when only ten percent of the people would ever be interested in your product. Try to get your lists as targeted as possible.

Next, be consistent.

One mailer isn't likely to get their attention right away. Remember that it takes six to ten times before a prospect actually pays attention to your message and knows who you are.

The first mailing will get the potential customers that need your product right now. But, not everyone will need your product the day that they see your mailer. That's why repetition is important. I've sent postcard campaigns and seen 2-3 times the response on the second or third mailing than the first. Why? Because the first time they didn't need what we offered. The second time, they had been thinking about it and remembered the first mailer we sent them. By the third time, we are now in their mind and they are ready to move forward.

I've also done four letter campaigns to very small lists get 1-2 calls from the first mailing but on the fourth mailer we'd get eight or nine calls. All from the same small list of about 25 people. As long as your list if very targeted, you can easily get higher results form more mailings. Even if your list is small.

So, remember, don't think that you have to have a large list in order to have a successful direct mail campaign in your marketing mix. You can start small and increase the size as your budget allows.