Direct Mail in 2018 - Come On, Really?

Why are people still sending out direct mail in 2018? I mean, come on, didn't direct mail go out of style in the 1990's? In the age of internet, social media, smartphones and complex technology, why send out pieces of paper in the mail? 

Those are very important questions that needs to be answered. Business owners and marketing managers are finding that not all direct mail projects are created equal. It takes a few key elements to make a direct mail campaign successful and profitable. The most important thing to consider, in my opinion, is your ROI or return on investment when sending out a direct mail campaign. Let's consider the following example:

Integrity Roofing Company decides to send out a postcard with the intent to gain brand new customers. They decide to purchase a targeted mailing list to find homes older than 10 years old, since homes built in the past 10 years probably don't need a complete re-roof yet. They use a postcard printed full color on both sides and offer a discount of 15% off. They send out 10,000 of these cards using Presort Standard postage rates. Here's their breakdown:

Out of 10,000 cards mailed, they receive 81 calls for roofing estimates. Out of those 81 calls, they end up getting 21 new sales. The average sale of a re-roof is $12,500. This results in $262,500 in new sales from their postcard mailing!

The cost to mail out this card is as follows:
Mail list - $300
Postcard printing - $850
Postage - $2,400
TOTAL - $3,550

So in this example, Integrity Roofing Company experienced a 98% ROI! In other words, for every $1 spent on marketing, they received $98 in sales. Truly amazing when you consider this reality. 

So if it's this easy, why doesn't every marketer and business owner do it? It's because the first step is the hardest. It's scary to spend the first $3,550 on a direct mail postcard. So how do you overcome this fear? Start small. We used 10,000 in this example, but maybe your budget only allow for 1,000 to start with. Use the new sales from your test campaign to fuel your next mailing. It's how small companies become big company. Slowly but surely. Step by step.

I hope this example is helpful for you. Contact PLS Print today and we'll guide you through the entire process of starting with direct mail. We'll design, print, and mail your campaign for you.