Tools for Direct-Mail Marketing
When it comes to how dive stores can maintain contact with their customers, a lot has changed in the last ten years. Although the Internet existed in 1994, its use was limited. This meant stores could not communicate effectively by having a website or using e-mail. In those days, direct mail was all that was available to us. It was expensive and time consuming.
Now fast-forward to today:
- Your store’s website provides customers with a perpetually up-to-date catalog of everything you offer.
- E-mail enables you to send out periodic newsletters, personalized messages and special-event notices without spending a dime on printing or postage (if you missed our series on e-mail marketing, be sure to check out Parts I and II).
So, today, direct-mail is dead…right? Not quite.
- If yours is like most stores, you have valid mailing addresses for over 90 percent of your customer base — but e-mail addresses for less than a third.
- Just because you have a customer’s e-mail address doesn’t mean this is an effective way to reach him or her. Some people never seem to check their e-mail. For others, your message is lost among a sea of spam.
- Customers are more likely to respond to coupons and similar items if they are pre-printed. (Yes, you can theoretically print out a coupon if it arrives by e-mail; however, few people seem inclined to do so.)
What this means is that, while having a website and sending out e-mail newsletters and promotions can reduce the amount of direct mail you need to do, it cannot eliminate it.
In this issue of DiveRetailing.com, we’ll look at some of the tools available to you for direct-mail promotion and how to use them.
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