Direct Mail Marketing
Direct Mail MarketingDirect-Mail Advertising
As consumers, we are often bombarded with different types of advertisements each day. Whether it’s by television, newspaper, billboards, or the internet, advertising has reached us one way or another. Yet, a majority of the ads that we encounter are often meaningless and uninteresting, because of the fact that these ads are meant to reach a certain target audience.
This perception seems to change, however, when we look inside our mailboxes, pick-up our telephone, and even check our e-mail. We often ponder how marketers know that we have a pet snake, own a certain kind of computer, or even wear 90’s clothing. That is because every time we purchase products such as: electronics, computer software, and other products; direct mail advertising is in the air. Every time we send in warranty cards and registration forms back to the manufacturer; as consumers we are often unaware that we are sending information about ourselves, that will be used as; statistical, personal, and informative data for future marketing purposes. Thus, marketers and advertisers know what kinds of products to target us with.
Although direct mail, or as we call it “junk-mail” somehow finds its way to our homes and businesses.
In order to understand direct-mail advertising, I will be discussing this unique form of advertising in a broad area. Among them are: what direct-mail advertising is, the historical development of the direct-mail advertising, different methods and types of mail, the future of direct-mail advertising, and the internet’s use of and impact on direct-mail advertising.
Direct Mail
Direct-mail advertising is a form of medium used by direct marketers, it is the most personal and selective of all media. Also, this highly specialized mail can be purchased (available among the thousands are lists of various level students, business professionals, college professors, pregnant women, and even vintage car owners), but they can be expensive. Printing and postage fees make the cost of direct mail per person reached quite high compared with other forms of media. However, because direct mail goes only to the people the advertiser wishes to contact, there is no wasted coverage. Reaching the prospect does not, however, ensure that the message is received. Direct mail is pure advertising. Therefore, a direct-mail ad must attract its own readers. This is critical when you consider that the average American home receives more than 10 direct mail pieces a week and that the recipient of ads on average decides within four seconds whether or not to, open it, or throw it out.
Historical Development
During the 1950’s and early 1960’s, computers emerged to be common business tools. Marketers were able to collect, store, and manipulate larger amounts of data to aid marketing decision makers. Out of this capability developed the marketing information system (MKIS)- an ongoing, organized procedure to generate, analyze, distribute, store, and retrieve information for use in making marketing decisions.
Another useful tool that developed for marketers is the decision support system...
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