Direct Mail or Email Marketing?

Author: Steven Sellwood

It's an emerging debate that looks set to become more widespread in the future - which direct marketing method is most effective: traditional direct mail campaigns, or new generation email marketing?


Direct mail is sent to businesses and consumers every day and is used by a very wide range of organisations and industries. A mailing in the post, often accompanied by a letter, has become a proven and accepted way of targeting your audience, with consistent conversion rates of about 1-5%. However in recent years direct mail has attracted criticism over the environmental impact it can have, and the annoyance caused by misdirected mailings.


Email marketing using opt in data is less widely used at the moment, but is growing more rapidly in popularity than almost any other direct marketing tool. A growing range of good quality opt in, and in some cases double opt in lists are becoming available, as are a wide range of email broadcast services. But this new marketing medium has already been tainted by abuse and association with the practice of spamming or junk mailing.


So what are the relative merits of each of these contrasting direct marketing methods?


The Benefits of Email Marketing

Email marketing is direct marketing at its most impactful. Your message lands directly in the inbox of your recipient, your message can be personalised, and even targeted to individual recipients.

Email marketing can be timed not just to the day, but to the hour and minute, in order to reach consumers just when they are likely to make a buying decision. Email marketing can also be tracked in detail, even to the amount of people who open and read your email, or who forward it to a friend.

Because it is solely a digital medium, email marketing is more environmentally friendly, and has a far lower carbon footprint than other marketing methods.

Email marketing can be very cost effective as it does not need costly mailing houses, production, postage and so on. However data costs can be higher that traditional list rental for direct mail, and email campaigns also require the use of a broadcasting partner.

Email marketing is highly effective in growing online sales for e-commerce sites - in just a few clicks the recipient can act on impulse and buy from your site. It can also be used to drive traffic to b2b sites that aim to collect leads and enquiries.


The Benefits of Direct Mail

Direct mailshots are a tangible and physical representative of your brand, which can be held in the recipient's hands. A mailer with high production values can say much about your brand, just through its size, feel and texture.

Direct mail is well established and proven as a marketing tool. Consumers and businesses are used to sending and receiving marketing messages in the post, and are receptive to the messages they convey.

Direct mail can also be used to increase your online sales from your website - increasing numbers of mail order companies are finding that their offline catalogues sent in the post are becoming increasingly effective at driving consumers online to order, instead of by mail or phone.

Quality direct mail data is generally more affordable and more widespread, and does not come with fixed broadcast costs and fewer issues over the opt in procedure. The direct mail industry is also far more mature with a wider range of lists and suppliers available.

Direct mail does not have to fight its way through complex spam and junk mail filters used in many email programs.


One fact is universal - any direct marketing campaign using direct mail, email marketing, or for that matter telemarketing, needs great quality data that is accurate and well targeted.

Article Source: www.articlesbase.com

About the Author:
Steve Sellwood is from selectabase.co.uk , leading UK suppliers of quality direct marketing lists for all uses, and for both business-to-business, and business-to-consumer campaigns. Selectabase also provide a range of affordable list cleaning services to keep your in house lists up to date and ready to use.

How Can Direct Mail be Used With Other Marketing Tools?

Author: Steven Sellwood

Direct mail is sent to businesses and consumers every day and is used by a very wide range of organisations and industries.


A mailing, often accompanied by a letter, in the post has become a proven and accepted way of targeting your audience, with consistent conversion rates of about 1-5%.


However many direct mail users don't realise just how much of a friend it can be to many other marketing methods and tools. And combining more than one marketing tool together in the same campaign can also reap bigger benefits and increased response rates.


The experts might call it ‘Integration' but to everyone else its just common sense - marketing activities work best when they are used to support and complement each other. Carried out in isolation, marketing activities just don't have the same impact or resonance with the target audience.


Here are just a few examples of how you could use direct mail alongside, before or after other marketing communication activities:


Before you exhibit at an event or exhibition, send out targeted invites to your stand to your own list of contacts, prospects and existing customer. Or rent and mail a mailing list of previous visitors from the event organisers to attract plenty of new business, especially if the mailing is combined with an offer or incentive.


After you return from exhibiting at an event or exhibition, use a direct mailshot to follow up on your new list of stand visitors, leads and prospects about a week or so later. Thank them for visiting your stand and ask if there's anything else you can help them with


Push new traffic to your website by mailing a list of prospects. One big advantage of this technique is that you can increase direct traffic to your site without having to worry about losing potential visitors to natural or paid search activity by your competitors. This strategy works equally well for gaining b2b leads online as it does for gaining b2c ecommerce sales.


Use direct mail to follow up on telephone or coupon enquiries you may have received as a result of above the line promotional activities such as press advertising, radio advertising, competitions or public relations. You may need to mail these lists several times over a period of time before getting a response.


When you are running a sales promotion or incentive campaign, perhaps in your own outlets or in retailers, make sure you also promote it with a mailing to potential or previous contacts and customers as well. This will help drive traffic to stores and ensure the success of your merchandising campaign.


Before you start a field sales or telemarketing campaign, do a mailing first to soften up your prospects and open doors. Depending on your market, you may also want to give recipients a chance to decline receiving a sales call in advance.


Likewise, after your telemarketing or direct selling campaign is over, follow up on your lukewarm prospects with another mailing - often it can take several contacts using different forms of media before a lead turns into a customer.

Article Source: www.articlesbase.com

About the Author:
Steve Sellwood is from selectabase.co.uk , leading UK suppliers of quality direct marketing lists for all uses, and for both business-to-business, and business-to-consumer campaigns. Selectabase also provide a range of affordable list cleaning services to keep your in house lists up to date and ready to use.