Direct mail advertising is definitely a beneficial form of advertisement to any business if it is handled correctly. It might seem that sending out a letter, coupons, or postcard might be a relatively simple task, but it is actually more involved than you might realize. There is a lot of planning that goes into direct mail advertising. First you have to figure out how exactly you want to market your product or service to the public. After that comes the question of what exactly are you going to send out, letter or postcard? This seems like a really easy question, but in actuality making the wrong choice can be detrimental to a marketing campaign. It might sound a little dramatic, but the difference between successful marketing and unsuccessful marketing can mean a great deal to a business in terms of profit or lack thereof.
Think about it from the perspective of a customer since you yourself are a customer to many other businesses when you purchase a product or service. When you get your mail do you cringe when there is a stack of junk mail tossed in with your bills? How much attention do you really put into looking through all of the different advertisements? Most customers might take a glance here or there, but usually the majority of those advertisements end up in the trash. So how do you go about your direct mail advertising campaign in order to avoid such a fate for your own marketing techniques?
Believe it or not, it is important for you to do your research when starting your direct mail advertising campaign. Being informed is only going to benefit your business and your campaign. First you need to figure out who exactly you wish to target with your advertising. Once you have that figured out you then need to put yourself in their shoes, what is going to grab their attention in terms of an advertisement. Don’t over sell your product or service; try to make your advertisements somewhat personal to your target audience. Next you need to do a little research when putting together your mailing list for your direct mail advertising. Don’t waste your time and money mailing to the wrong target audience. By performing the adequate research needed you will make sure that the people you are mailing are within the age range or have some sort of interest in the product or services that you are advertising.
Make sure that your advertisement is something that is going to catch the customer’s eye. This can be done with interesting headlines and titles. Make sure that you include enough information on the product or service that will gain interest without boring the reader. Once the reader is hooked on the product, include the price and then include a way for the customer to contact the advertiser or location details. After you have included everything, it is time to test it out before you spend a fortune on mass mailing. Once you find something that works for your business, go with it and constantly look for ways to improve.
Many large retailers such as Macy’s or Wal-Mart are using direct mail techniques in order to reach out to their customers. These large companies often mail out sales flyers that highlight what will be on sale in their retail stores that week. Retailers that have special sales often send them out as well.
You may not thing that you can implement direct mail techniques in your own small business, but this can be very effective in your community or trying to reach your target market. It can be used effectively for little money, although it’s not as flashy as advertising on TV, often the cost for acquiring new leads is much less.
You may or may not have noticed, but direct mail techniques have been used for many years. A lot of people ca still get their mail daily, even though they have become accustomed to using email for personal and some business communication. In the past, this method has been used more by larger companies. More profitable companies implement direct mail techniques into their overall marketing strategy and are very successful.
People often ignore both the radio and TV, and they can do so rather easily by blocking out the ads or changing the station or channel. Implementing direct mail techniques is much less invasive and when offers are received they can just place them aside and look at it later.
You should remember that implementing direct mail techniques gives you more say than TV or radio spots if you are selling a product or service. You can print just about anything you want, and you don’t have to cram your information on some tiny 30 second spot ad. You can be sure that your potential customers and clients get all the information they need to make and informed decision.
If you implement direct mail techniques the right way, it can be very effective. People will receive ads and flyers in the mail as long as they still have postal service. You have to determine what strategy of delivery is best for you. Should you use a bulk rate, or a live stamp? That all depends on your target market. Certain direct mail techniques can be applied to one campaign, however not all of them. There’s no “one size fits all” so to speak with direct mail techniques.
You can get all the information you need as to how to effectively run a campaign by going to your local post office and talking to them about specific direct mail techniques relating to postage and laws. They will be able to discuss bulk rates. They could also advise you on which day is the best so mail out your materials and other rules that you may need to know.
You can find a real dream direct marketing mlm company and create tremendous wealth, but you can also wind up with the wrong company and have a horrendous experience. This article will help you choose the right direct marketing mlm company by explaining to you the types of companies out there and by teaching you how to find the right type of company needed to become very successful in this industry.
First it is important to understand that there are four types of direct marketing mlm companies on the market, lets put them into categories:
Category#1: These types of opportunities for lack of a better word and no sense beating around the bush are the scams, the schemes, the pyramid deals, etc! Basically ways to launder money between friends! Yes unfortunately there are bad people running around pretending to be real network marketers!
Once you know what to look for it is actually very easy to spot one of these scams. Here are two quick guidelines:
1. If the company tells you they are going to pay you to recruit someone this is a scam, turn around and run away very quickly! You Can Not get paid to recruit people that is illegal! The only time and I mean the only time you can get paid is when a product or service is provided!
2. If there is no product associated with the opportunity! There must be a real viable product and not just some made up hoax camouflaged to be a product. If the regulators deem that it is not a real viable product they will shut the company down quickly! So when in doubt stay clear!
Category #2: The 2nd type of direct marketing mlm opportunity or company you will find out there are the small party plan companies! We have all seen these. The little companies that recruit you to sell Candles, Tupperware and Kitchen-ware type of products around your kitchen table and your friends kitchen table. Basically a part-time retail business. Nothing wrong with these companies except it is very hard to create any serious income with them. They are more of a part time job type of deal where you could make a few hundred dollars a month if you are very good.
Category #3: The 3rd type of direct marketing mlm opportunity are the big guys! The literal giants of the network marketing, direct selling and mlm industry. These are the guys who have been around for 10, 20, 30 even 60 some years! They have an outstanding track record and do at least a billion dollars in sales each and every year in the direct marketing mlm industry. These are companies such as Amway, Shaklee, Mary Kay, Avon, Xango, Usana, Herbalife, etc! There is actually about 20 of these companies out there on the market!
Now I know what you are thinking, you are saying “thanks Rob, now I am set! All I have to do is go and join one of these companies and I am good to go!” NO NO NO!!! This is where 99% of the people who join the direct marketing mlm industry go wrong! A proven track record of success is actually NOT the way to go! I know that is hard to believe and goes against traditional business sense, however, I can virtually assure you that if you have ever been in this industry before or know of anyone who has and failed or did not have they success they desired, they have been involved with one of the three opportunities I just mentioned!
None of the three of these companies is where wealth is created!! These companies are not wealth creating opportunities anymore! In the direct marketing mlm industry these companies are now simply income generating opportunities, very much like going out and getting a part time job! No freedom there and no wealth to be earned there any longer.
You see with a little bit of research into the direct marketing mlm industry you will see that the wealth has ALWAYS been created in the first 5-10 years of each of the category 3 companies launch!
Makes sense doesn’t it? It is amazing how many people do not consider this!
So that leads to the next one….
Category #4: The 4th type of company really is the holy grail of the direct marketing mlm industry. This is where ALL the wealth is created in this industry. This is where all the incredible “rag to riches” stories in this industry come from. And they only come around about once every 5-10 years.
There are two criteria for a company to be considered a category 4 company:
1. The company must still be in its early stages and have not have hit its exponential growth curb to become one of the 3rd type of companies or one of the giants! This window is typically within the first 5-10 years of launch.
2. The company must have everything in place that the category 3 companies had in place when they launched! You see if you go back and do some homework into this industry you will notice that all the successful companies or the category 3 companies all had certain primary criteria in place at launch!
Here are the primary criteria:
The Company Has Just Launched (first 10 years)
A Sexy Product Story (New Revolutionary Idea)
A Breakthrough Innovation in Comp Plan Design.
A Strong Leadership Line With Documented Success
Strong Financial Backing
International Opportunity (Global)
A Experienced Management Team
That is gang, if you take the time to do your research, instead of falling for the marketing hype that companies spew, you will find the category 4 company in the direct marketing mlm industry. It will happen. Simply make sure that the company you are looking at has ALL of the criteria above in place and you stand a good chance of finding the direct marketing mlm company that will help you create serious wealth & freedom in this incredible industry!
