What Are Two Types of Direct Mail Advertising?
Direct mail advertising is a great way to promote a new product, generate new business, or expand your target audience beyond your normal customer base. It also allows you to test different sales messages with different audiences and determine the best market for a new product. Here’s a brief overview of the two major types of direct mail advertising: house lists and purchased lists.
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House lists and purchased lists
House lists are made up of the names and addresses of people who have shown an interest in your product or service. These lists can be very valuable if you want to reach new consumers or keep in touch with current customers. However, they are not as effective as purchased lists, so if you are considering purchasing a list for your direct mail campaign, it’s important to understand the differences between the two types of mailing lists.
House lists are great for reaching existing customers, while purchased lists are ideal for generating a pool of new prospects. The quality of your mailing list is crucial to the success of your marketing campaign.
Self-mailers
Self-mailers and direct mail advertising are excellent choices for businesses looking to connect with consumers in their homes. Self-mailers are generally smaller than a postcard, which gives you more space to organize and share your content. You can use self-mailers to share a story or explain a problem or promote a sale.
Self-mailers are a great cost-effective way to reach consumers and generate leads. They can generate more revenue than email. You can also target the audience using specific demographic and psychographic data. Self-mailers are typically delivered directly to mailboxes, which means that they don’t require an envelope.
Postcards
Postcards and direct mail advertising are both great options for businesses to reach out to a large number of consumers. Since they don’t require opening, consumers are more likely to read them. Moreover, this form of advertising is also highly customizable, thanks to variable data printing. This allows businesses to customize the message and content for each postcard. This is especially useful when a company wants to direct potential customers to its website or brick-and-mortar store.
The best direct mail postcards should contain a clear call-to-action that is easy to understand. It should make prospects curious about what your company has to offer and motivate them to make a purchase. However, too many calls to action may look spammy to some readers. Moreover, postcards should be designed to be visually appealing and befitting your brand. This is why a clean, simple design is essential.
Catalogs
Although the advent of e-commerce and other direct mail offerings may have weakened catalogs’ prominence, they remain an effective way to reach consumers and increase sales. The catalog may not have the same reach as traditional forms of advertising, but its role in direct mail and experiential marketing remains unchanged. Consumers still enjoy flipping through the pages and browsing through a company’s inventory.
Direct mail advertising and catalogs have several similarities, and both rely on the same principles. The first is that they both focus on delivering the right information to the right audience at the right time. The second is that both print marketing and catalogs should be designed to convey branded information visually. A well-designed catalog has a higher retention rate than any other form of print marketing. This means that prospective customers will keep it for years to come.
Inserts
Inserts and direct mail advertising often go hand-in-hand. The main difference between the two is that inserts cost less, on average than direct mail. Inserts cost only PS60 per thousand pieces, while direct mail costs more than ten times that amount. That makes inserts a much better investment, even when you take into account the fact that direct mail is less effective.
Inserts can boost response rates, but you must take some steps to make them as effective as possible. First, you need to ensure that the headline is attention-grabbing and that the offer contains very little fine print. Then, you need to make it easy for the receiver to take action. For instance, you can include a URL, phone number, or QR code to allow recipients to obtain further information on the product or service.
