What Is Direct Mail Advertising?

Direct mail is everywhere. Simply open your mailbox, and you'll most likely see a piece or two of direct mail advertisements. They are the pieces of unsolicited mail from miscellaneous businesses packed full of information or coupons. While direct mail advertisements can be a high profit, low cost advertising medium, receivers of direct mail pieces tend to appreciate or hate these informative and sometimes cost-saving mail advertisements.

History

The term "direct mail" is believed to have been first coined in 1961 but the practice of mail order selling began long before 1961. The birth of direct mail advertisements as we know it today essentially began in the United States with the invention of the typewriter. In Europe, direct marketing dates back to the fifteenth century.

Function

Direct mail advertising remains a popular method of generating leads and increasing revenue. Primarily used for promoting a new business or a new product or service, companies like direct mail advertisements because they produce measurable results. Companies can focus on the positive response from consumers to determine the success of the direct mailer. Politicians even use direct mail advertisements to target groups of voters in hopes of swaying their vote.

Types

Direct mail pieces come in various shapes and sizes. Primarily, direct mail advertisements come in the form of catalogs, fliers, letters, postcards, pre-approved credit card applications, blind mailers, free CDs and advertising circulars.

Size

Ranging from only a couple inches to a couple feet, direct mail advertisements vary significantly in size. Generally, direct mail pieces range from postcard to letter size so they can easily fit into a mail box.

Considerations

While there are considerable benefits to using direct mail advertising, there are also a few considerations one should take into account before using this popular advertising medium. Depending upon the geographic location, amount of needed pieces, postage costs and whether it is an individual piece or part of a group advertisement, the cost of using direct mail can be pricey. Direct mail also wastes large amounts of paper and is seen by some as junk mail. One of the primary concerns of direct mail advertisements is the inability to focus on the individual consumer's specific needs.

Benefits

Direct mail advertising remains a main medium for advertising because it is a cost-effective way to generate interest and awareness for a business or product, especially if it has a coupon attached. While direct mail may not be able to target each individual's needs, direct mail advertisements are packed full of information and can be targeted to select ZIP codes or individuals if using a customer mailing list. Since it is a measurable advertising method, direct mail can be optimized to find the best mailing list, best offer, best timing and best design. Plus, bulk mailing allows for statistical analysis of consumer response rate. For most companies, especially small businesses, direct mail advertisements are an ideal advertising medium to generate new leads.