Category: Mailing

Many of us have now switched the majority of our bills to paperless billing which is great as it all helps towards saving the environment. Many companies have saved a small fortune by stopping sending out paper statements and bills and some have passed a small percentage of this saving on to us.

Although paperless billing is becoming increasingly popular, I have recently discovered a few issues with some companies operating this system which could jeopardise the whole situation. With many of these companies you are given a login to a website where you can visit and see a list of past transactions and download bills or receipts. This is vital, especially for businesses that need to keep records. Some companies will only hold bills on the system for 6 or 12 months meaning after this time you may not have the opportunity to get them again and with many businesses only looking to obtain copies of invoices when they come to do tax returns, can prove problematic.

With umpteen ways of communicating with each other now, is postal mail really necessary? Often when you ring up a company or take out an insurance policy for example, they will ask you if you want a copy sending in the post or if you are happy for them to read it to you, or for you to print it off at home. This also happens when booking tickets for concerts or football matches etc. Not only does this allow the company to save on costs but also means you can often get your tickets or paperwork quicker than having to wait for 1st or 2nd class mail.

Not only is it saving money but it is also helping towards saving the environment. Some companies actually charge you if you want documents to be posted out now as they offer an alternative with is often free. Even many shops have started emailing receipts rather than printing them in store.

For some companies they still prefer to use postal services for gathering and sending information. It may be that you have been sent a form that needs to be completed and then returned to a company to be processed. Relying on the post can be a nightmare and cause unnecessary delays. It can mean that a form takes over a week to be received by client and then back by the sending company before it can start to be processed.

Many companies have moved forward with the times and actually allow forms to be completed online or printed, scanned and emailed back to them to speed up the process. Unbelievably, companies such as HM revenue and customs still do many processes by paper and their deadline are extremely vague because of using the postal service. They do state that it can take 2 weeks for a form to be printed and posted out to someone. Not only does this method of postage add unnecessary time to a claim but also adds cost for the claimant and HMRC.

Drones delivering mail has always been seen as a thing of the very distance future but recently certain companies have claimed that the use of them could be closer than we think. Amazon made a statement back in 2013 stating that they would hope to have drones delivering parcels to our doors within 30 mins possibly within the next four to five years.

The Australian Post (Postal service owned by the Australian Government) have also stated that they too will be looking to use drones in the near future to deliver letters and small goods. In April this year, the Australian Post confirmed that they are trailing the drones as part of a two week program in Melbourne to see how it goes and whether it is feasible to start to introduce this across the rest of the country. The use of drones will need to be tightly regulated to ensure that not only are the parcels safe and secure but also that the drones do not interfere with airplanes and helicopters etc.

Marketing through direct mail is one of the most effective yet undervalued marketing techniques. When done correctly, it can turn your business around in no time. So, are you ready to embrace this marketing technique and set your business on a new path to success?

This blog post outlines the steps that are involved in conducting a successful direct mail marketing campaign. Please read along if you wish to discover more.

1. Create Mailing List

Prior to creating your mailing list, you should be aware of your clients if you are looking to conduct a successful direct mail marketing campaign. No matter the criterion that you will use to come up with your mailing list, it is important that it includes those that you are targeting. If you just create a mailing list that includes everyone, then your marketing campaign won’t be as effective as you intend it to be.

2. Clearly Pass Your Message

Ensure that you clearly highlight and explain the benefits of your products or services to your clients. Convince them that they require your products or services. Also include how the target audience can access your products or services so that they can purchase them without making much effort. When you pass such critical information to your target audience clearly and repeatedly, your audience will be happy and will without doubt purchase your products. When passing your message, don’t forget to format your mails accordingly and include appealing graphics to draw your readers’ attention to key messages. Use catchy titles and different font sizes to highlight the key message that you are passing in your marketing campaigns.

3. Give Incentives

Ensure that you offer your clients incentives to encourage them to purchase more of your products or services during each direct mail marketing campaign. For instance, you can offer a 40% off discount to all clients who purchase your products or services. By offering the discount you will be able to generate a wonderful response rate within a short period. Be careful so that you don’t end up offering too much to your clients. You might do more harm to your business than good.

4. Call to Action

People use direct mail to market their products or services with the intention to boost sales. You can only succeed in boosting your sales by clearly pointing out what you want your target audience to do. Do you want them to contact you for more information about your products or services? Do you need them to fill out an application form? Being very clear is the only way to help your clients make a sound decision with regards to your products or services.

5. Mail Frequently

For you to market your products or services through direct mail, you have to mail your clients frequently. You can mail your clients 3 or 4 times within a month. Your target audience has to view your message twice or thrice to understand and internalize it enough to consider your products or services.

6. Track Results

Come up with accurate measures to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. For instance, you can make use of coupons or promotion codes to track the number of clients that have responded positively to your direct mail marketing campaigns.

Wrap Up:

If you have been struggling to market your services or products using direct mail, then it’s time to start considering these 6 steps. By implementing them, you will start the journey of marketing your products or services through direct mail on the right foot.