Technology Tip

Promoting Your Small Business With Direct Mail

Promoting Your Small Business With Direct Mail

With digital marketing attracting most of the attention among small business owners looking to promote their company, direct mail remains a cost-effective strategy that can provide valuable benefits in reaching a targeted audience.

Common direct mail formats including postcards, letters and brochures allow you to send a promotional message to prospects who share targeted characteristics such as specific neighborhoods, have experienced a life event, or have other things in common.

Although direct mail should not replace your digital marketing efforts, the reverse is true as well. Blending digital and direct marketing efforts can help you reach prospects while standing out from the digital clutter on their screens and inboxes.

Direct mail is a powerful way to send incentives such as coupons, rebates, first-time customer discounts, or other promotional offers to prospects. You can send a mailing to highlight your products, services, a new location for your business, or an upcoming event.

Direct mail messages are often timed to specific seasons. For example, a landscaper may wish to expand its customer base before the spring and fall busy seasons, or a florist may wish to send a coupon before Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or other important holidays.

Whatever your goal, it’s important to make the call to action - whatever you’d like the prospect to do - obvious. Unlike with social media posts, there’s no need to worry about a direct mail piece being perceived as overly promotional because, at its heart, it’s conveying a promotional message.

Varying Formats

The most common formats for direct mail pieces include:

  • Postcards. These are great for simple messages with a straightforward offer.
  • Letters provide more space to explain your offerings and the benefits of working with you.
  • Self-mailers such as brochures and leaflets that don’t require an envelope.

Direct Mail Benefits

Direct mail offers a number of potential benefits to small business owners, including:

  • Enhanced targeting. Depending on the prospects you are contacting (usually existing customers, people on a rented list, or a combination of both), you can identify very specific demographic characteristics or interests before sending your offer. Common characteristics include where prospects live, how much they make, if they have children, their marital status, hobbies and a range of other distinguishing factors that make prospects right for your company to target.
  • Your message will likely stand out from digital clutter. Everyone gets too much email and is bombarded by too many online ads, but most people still check their mail throughout the week and at least glance at whatever mail shows up.
  • Your message may be saved. If your offer aligns with someone’s interest or potential need, they’re likely to file the direct mail for future reference. Someone thinking about repairing or replacing their home’s roof for instance, will probably save mailers from local roofing companies to get prices in the months before they hire someone for the job.
  • Effective monitoring. By setting up specific email addresses, landing pages and virtual phone numbers to track specific direct mail campaigns, it’s easy to track which messages are resonating and how many contacts each message generates.

Some small business owners may wish to enlist outside support with the design, writing, printing and physical mailing of their direct mail piece. Each of these services is available separately or as a package from a variety of local and national providers.

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