Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Mail

sunandaC

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Advantages include the following...

I must admit that of all advertising methods, I prefer direct mail. In 1996, U.S. mail order sales hit $290 billion ($151.3 billion in consumer sales, $78.4 billion in business-to-business sales and $60.3 billion in nonprofit donations). According to Robert Coen of McCann-Erickson, expenditures for all forms of advertising in 1997 should top $109 billion, with direct mail leading the pack with almost $36.6 billion in expenditures (compared to $31 billion for television ads).

Why do companies spend so much on direct mail? Here are just a few of the advantages of direct mail:

 It is quicker to produce. You can prepare and mail a small promotion within days or weeks rather than months. Hence, it is perfect for testing prices, titles, offers, and potential audiences. More elaborate and carefully targeted promotions do take longer to prepare, but even then they usually require a shorter lead time than most other media.


 Response is quicker. Not only is a direct mail quicker to prepare, but response time to direct mail is usually quicker as well. Thus you can project the final results of a mailing more quickly and accurately than you can with most other advertising.


 It can be cheaper, especially for smaller tests. Using computer to generate the sales letters, I have done personalized first-class mailings to lists as large as 500 for only the cost of paper, envelopes, and postage (about 40¢ per piece).


 It does not require as much design time. A standardized direct mail format (letter, response card, folder or brochure, and return envelope) is much easier to design and produce than a magazine advertisement or television commercial.


 It can be highly targeted. If you choose lists carefully, you can target your mailings more selectively than you can with most other media. You can reach almost any market segment, buyer profile, or area of the country you feel is most appropriate for each book.


 It allows you to target hard-to-reach consumers. Direct mail allows you to reach audiences you might not be able to reach through any other method. Rodale Press has sold over a million copies of their book Stocking Up sine its 1977 publication. Only 10% of those sales were made through bookstores. Indeed, of Rodale’s $250 million in 1996 book
sales, $212 million were the result of their direct marketing efforts.


 It is more flexible. After testing a promotion, you can change almost anything right away without waiting. You have complete control over the media, the audience, and your offer.


 It can offer more details. You can pack alot of information into one envelope, far more than you can on a full-page magazine or newspaper ad, or in two minutes or even a half hour on radio or TV.


 There is less competition. Your advertising message does not have to compete with other advertising messages or editorial matter. At least, it doesn’t have to compete once the envelope is opened.


 Direct mail can be more personal. Not only can letters be personalized via mail-merging techniques, but you can use more informal language in writing your letter and can direct your letter to the specific interest of the reader.


 It is easier to respond to. The inclusion of an order card and return envelope makes it easier for the consumer to respond to direct mail as compared to magazine ads (unless you include a bind-in card opposite the advertisement or include a toll-free order number).


 It is easier to keep. A direct mail piece is more likely to be retained for future reference than a magazine ad since many readers find it inconvenient to tear an advertisement out of a magazine or will be reluctant to do so. Other forms of advertising (radio, TV, and telemarketing) offer noting to retain.


 It can be used to test. You can build an advertising campaign with more confidence by testing small lists, then building to larger lists, and then rolling out to a full list or lists. Strawberry Hill Press turned to direct mail after selling only 3,000 copies of Stephen Chang’s The Book of Internal Exercises.


They started small with a four-page direct mail letter to a list of 10,000 proven buyers of health books. When that mailing pulled a 9% response for a net profit of $9,000, they tested a variety of other lists which, in turn, produced a net profit of $40,000. When they finally rolled out to larger lists, they sold almost 100,000 copies of the book within a year (for a net profit of $150,000).



 It can build a list of loyal customers. Direct mail allows you to build and maintain an in-house list of prime prospects for your future books (and backlist books). Furthermore, you can make money renting the list. Strawberry Hill Press, in the example noted above, also had over $20,000 worth of list rental income in that same year.


 Direct mail helps bookstore sales. When Rudolf Flesch’s The Art of Plain Talk was first published, it sold 1,800 copies through bookstore in two years. Not happy with these results, Flesch persuaded his publisher to test a direct mail campaign. Within seven months, the publisher sold 40,000 copies via direct mail. But the really good news was that they also sold 45,000 copies through bookstores (with no other marketing efforts of any kind).

Disadvantages include...
 Cost - The cost per thousand will be higher than almost any other form of mass promotion (although the wastage rate may be much lower).

 Waste - Large quantities of paper are thrown away (see below).

 Alienation - Some recipients resent direct marketing being "forced" upon them, and boycott companies that do so. Moreover, they may obtain Prohibitory Orders against companies whose direct marketing mail they find offensive.
 
Advantages include the following...

I must admit that of all advertising methods, I prefer direct mail. In 1996, U.S. mail order sales hit $290 billion ($151.3 billion in consumer sales, $78.4 billion in business-to-business sales and $60.3 billion in nonprofit donations). According to Robert Coen of McCann-Erickson, expenditures for all forms of advertising in 1997 should top $109 billion, with direct mail leading the pack with almost $36.6 billion in expenditures (compared to $31 billion for television ads).

Why do companies spend so much on direct mail? Here are just a few of the advantages of direct mail:

 It is quicker to produce. You can prepare and mail a small promotion within days or weeks rather than months. Hence, it is perfect for testing prices, titles, offers, and potential audiences. More elaborate and carefully targeted promotions do take longer to prepare, but even then they usually require a shorter lead time than most other media.


 Response is quicker. Not only is a direct mail quicker to prepare, but response time to direct mail is usually quicker as well. Thus you can project the final results of a mailing more quickly and accurately than you can with most other advertising.


 It can be cheaper, especially for smaller tests. Using computer to generate the sales letters, I have done personalized first-class mailings to lists as large as 500 for only the cost of paper, envelopes, and postage (about 40¢ per piece).


 It does not require as much design time. A standardized direct mail format (letter, response card, folder or brochure, and return envelope) is much easier to design and produce than a magazine advertisement or television commercial.


 It can be highly targeted. If you choose lists carefully, you can target your mailings more selectively than you can with most other media. You can reach almost any market segment, buyer profile, or area of the country you feel is most appropriate for each book.


 It allows you to target hard-to-reach consumers. Direct mail allows you to reach audiences you might not be able to reach through any other method. Rodale Press has sold over a million copies of their book Stocking Up sine its 1977 publication. Only 10% of those sales were made through bookstores. Indeed, of Rodale’s $250 million in 1996 book
sales, $212 million were the result of their direct marketing efforts.


 It is more flexible. After testing a promotion, you can change almost anything right away without waiting. You have complete control over the media, the audience, and your offer.


 It can offer more details. You can pack alot of information into one envelope, far more than you can on a full-page magazine or newspaper ad, or in two minutes or even a half hour on radio or TV.


 There is less competition. Your advertising message does not have to compete with other advertising messages or editorial matter. At least, it doesn’t have to compete once the envelope is opened.


 Direct mail can be more personal. Not only can letters be personalized via mail-merging techniques, but you can use more informal language in writing your letter and can direct your letter to the specific interest of the reader.


 It is easier to respond to. The inclusion of an order card and return envelope makes it easier for the consumer to respond to direct mail as compared to magazine ads (unless you include a bind-in card opposite the advertisement or include a toll-free order number).


 It is easier to keep. A direct mail piece is more likely to be retained for future reference than a magazine ad since many readers find it inconvenient to tear an advertisement out of a magazine or will be reluctant to do so. Other forms of advertising (radio, TV, and telemarketing) offer noting to retain.


 It can be used to test. You can build an advertising campaign with more confidence by testing small lists, then building to larger lists, and then rolling out to a full list or lists. Strawberry Hill Press turned to direct mail after selling only 3,000 copies of Stephen Chang’s The Book of Internal Exercises.


They started small with a four-page direct mail letter to a list of 10,000 proven buyers of health books. When that mailing pulled a 9% response for a net profit of $9,000, they tested a variety of other lists which, in turn, produced a net profit of $40,000. When they finally rolled out to larger lists, they sold almost 100,000 copies of the book within a year (for a net profit of $150,000).



 It can build a list of loyal customers. Direct mail allows you to build and maintain an in-house list of prime prospects for your future books (and backlist books). Furthermore, you can make money renting the list. Strawberry Hill Press, in the example noted above, also had over $20,000 worth of list rental income in that same year.


 Direct mail helps bookstore sales. When Rudolf Flesch’s The Art of Plain Talk was first published, it sold 1,800 copies through bookstore in two years. Not happy with these results, Flesch persuaded his publisher to test a direct mail campaign. Within seven months, the publisher sold 40,000 copies via direct mail. But the really good news was that they also sold 45,000 copies through bookstores (with no other marketing efforts of any kind).

Disadvantages include...
 Cost - The cost per thousand will be higher than almost any other form of mass promotion (although the wastage rate may be much lower).

 Waste - Large quantities of paper are thrown away (see below).

 Alienation - Some recipients resent direct marketing being "forced" upon them, and boycott companies that do so. Moreover, they may obtain Prohibitory Orders against companies whose direct marketing mail they find offensive.

Hey sunanda, as we all know that just as every coin has two sides in the same way everything has some advantages and disadvantages. Well, i am uploading a document which would explain you the advantages and disadvantages of direct mail.
 

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