I guess after looking at the post title one might answer that nothing is a sure thing. But the question I am really asking is, Does direct mail really allow for a company to gain new business? Can addressing a post card to the correct person really cause that person to in turn pick up the phone and call you?
I am not sure of the answers to these questions. Our company has done one trial of direct mail pieces. It was to institutional pharmacies, and other pharmacy type businesses. Our goal was to build up the clientele in that area, because we believed our labels and forms could benefit them. The theory behind this choice was that there is a company called Medpass that seems to have the niche market there, and we wanted people to see that they had options. We went the normal route and bought a list that encompassed from Maryland up to Connecticut. We had a graphic designer create a wonderful brochure, we printed it and had a mail house imprint the addresses and mail them out. We were so excited to have phone calls come in! We waited, and waited and NOTHING! To this day we are not sure why not one person wanted to look into our company.
Today, we are a bit gun shy to invest in a practice that showed no return in the past. As printers, we try to get our customers to do direct mail pieces. It’s great for us in that respect. They buy a nice marketing brochure or post card from us, and we get it mailed out for them. Win, win in my opinion.
I am not sure that one try and one failure is reason enough to believe that direct mail is a waste of time and money, so we are leaning towards being open to the idea again. It seems that some peoples careers are based on the art of direct mail, and how to get the most return. Who am I to think that as an expert on the print end that I am also a direct mail expert? For now, I will stick with what I know….PRINTING!
Share some success or failure stories. I’d love to get your feedback as to what worked for you, or didn’t. This practice is working for many, so they have to be doing something right!
