Direct mail is still regarded as one of the most effective and personable ways with which to conduct marketing campaigns. Unfortunately, in a world where email marketing and social media are just a click away, this treasured form of communication has developed a reputation of being somewhat cumbersome to administer.
The main reason for this is that direct mail campaigning requires time, skill and experience in order to make it effective. Few businesses have the resources available to develop those three attributes which is why mailing houses can prove to be something of a revelation for firms wishing to communicate directly with their customers.
The concept is simple enough. Businesses can outsource their direct mail campaign to a company which produces and sends it for them. Simple. But how does the business in question benefit from such a service?
Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, mailing houses offer a serious time saving benefit for their clients. Printing, packing and sending even the smallest of mailouts is a job for which few businesses have specific staff available, and those that do undertake it are likely to do so begrudgingly. As a result, they can be done in a hurry and risk damaging the company’s brand with a substandard mailout.
For example, if a company sells conservatories, it should be focussing on convincing potential customers of the benefits such a purchase would bring. It doesn’t need staff folding fliers and licking envelopes.
Mailing houses also offer a very real cost saving. Printers capable of producing customer-ready fliers and leaflets aren’t cheap, and nor are the running costs for keeping them topped up with ink and high quality paper. Staff need paying too, and if they are spending more time franking envelopes than getting on with the task for which they are employed, overheads can become significantly distorted.
Perhaps most importantly, direct mail marketing isn’t easy. At AMS, we have over ten years experience printing, packing, delivering, database managing and handling responses. For any marketing campaign to be truly effective and to offer a satisfying return on investment, it needs care and attention and the ability to bring all of those elements together. The end result of outsourcing direct mail will ensure the recipients are presented with professional and engaging mailings which will encourage them to become paying customers.