Mass mailings have always been a tricky business — so why do businesses of all sizes keep at it, year after year? The answer is simple: When done right, sending a message directly to hundreds or thousands of people is an effective way to promote a business, product or service. If there were no history of tangible gains, the mass mailing business would have ended long ago.
Today we have two types of mass mailing: Email and direct mail. Understandably, many businesses have poured more energy and resources into email campaigns in recent years. It’s a relatively cheap way to market your business, and you can literally reach millions of people through a single mailing — that is, if you have a good email list with millions of people who might actually be interested in what you have to say.
This brings us to a very important point: When it comes to email marketing, the quality of the mailing list is supremely important. Having a quality email list that reflects your demographic and geographical target area is going to make the difference between real business gains and whole lot of wasted effort. You might design an amazing product with effective branding, and you might have a very exciting promotion to share with people — but if you’re not reaching people who might actually take action, you’re only going to succeed in annoying the people you do reach, or getting caught up in spam filters.
When it comes to direct mail, i.e. physical mailings in which businesses attempt to reach past, present or future customers, a quality mailing list is even more important. If you spend some time developing an email campaign, and pay a consultant for an email list, you’ll lose some money if the mailing doesn’t work. But if your spend time developing a direct mail campaign, pay for a physical mailing list, and pay a specialist to actually print and mail your message to physical mailboxes throughout a certain geographical area or demographic, the stakes are considerably higher.
The bottom line is that it takes more time and effort to reach customers through a physical medium than through a virtual one. That’s also part of the reason why so many businesses have shifted their focus to digital marketing and email campaigns.
And yet, as the world’s email inboxes have become more inundated with enterprising marketers, direct mail marketing has remained squarely on the radar of any business who wants to make an impact.
This means that if you decide to go for a direct mail campaign, it’s vitally important to work with a reputable company will be able to provide quality mailing lists that are valid and on-point with respect to the demographic you’re trying to reach, and the results you’re trying to achieve. There are many companies out there who are happy to take your money and put a mailing list in your hands, but the list itself may look more impressive than it actually is. Focusing on reputable direct mail and print companies, with long track records of successful direct mail campaigns, is a good place to start.