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GO OUT AND CHASE BUSINESS

83 What is ‘direct mail’ and can you use it?

Direct mail is when you send someone a letter of some
description encouraging them to buy your product. It is a
very commonly used marketing tool and it is very popular
with the larger companies.

Direct mail is a science. There are thousands of books
written about it and it is accepted as a very effective way
to sell a product. Research shows that over 130 million
Americans have made purchases by direct mail. That is
approximately half of the population.

Direct mail basically involves sending a person a cata-
logue or brochure about your products. The customer
responds, normally paying by credit card. Examples of
successful mail-order products include wine clubs, financial
institutions (promoting credit cards), travel packages, cloth-
ing, books, magazine subscriptions, collectables (Franklin
Mint), music and stationery.

The key to running a successful direct mail campaign
is to get people to read your letter. In these modern times
we all receive a lot of direct mail on a daily basis—if it
looks like junk it goes straight in the bin. To overcome this
try the following tips:

• personally address the envelope and the letter;
• handwrite the envelope;
• use an odd-sized envelope;
• include an easy response form (accepting all types of

credit cards); and
• use an accurate database and make sure all contact

details are correct.

A successful direct marketing campaign is one where
you receive a 3–4 per cent response rate. So for every
hundred letters sent out you are hoping for three or four
people to buy your product. This is an important figure to

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