Page 180 - Duct Tape Marketing

Direct Mail Is an Ideal Target Medium

Donald Levin of Levin Public Relations in Larchmont, New
York, uses what he calls the “Levin 10 Letters a Week” method to gain
new business. First, he researches ten companies for whom he thinks
he can provide profitable service—profitable to the company and
profitable to his business. He studies their Web sites and calls them
to confirm the single best person to write to. Next, he writes all ten
a concise letter that explains exactly what he can offer them and how
and why they’ll benefit. He closes the letter by saying when he will
call to arrange a meeting. Then he makes the calls. If he can’t arrange
a meeting, he finds out when he should call back (three months, six
months, etc.). He keeps this information in a database and acts on
it. The following Monday, he starts the whole process again (www
.levinpr.com).

The List
While I have spent considerable time going on about the virtues

of direct mail combined with the effective elements of an ad, I need to
point out that one of the primary factors in the success or failure of a
direct-mail campaign is the list of recipients. We’ve already learned a lot
about developing the right message, but if you mail the right message
to the wrong people, your campaign is doomed to fail.

It is safe to say that you can purchase just about any mailing list
or set of qualifications for a list that you could imagine. To develop
your ideal mailing list, you should start by taking the work you did in
developing your ideal target client and determine if you can buy a list
of prospects that match that profile. The thought here is that if you do
a good job of defining those who make up your ideal client, then you
simply try to find more of them.

Mailing lists generally fall into two categories: (1) lists compiled
from public records and (2) lists of subscribers or enthusiasts. And you
are going to go list shopping for both.

Simple list “selects,” such as companies in a certain metropolitan

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