BNET Business Dictionary
Business Definition for: Direct Mail
- the sending by mail, fax, or e-mail of advertising communications addressed to specific prospective customers. Direct mail is one tool that can be used as part of a marketing strategy. The use of direct mail is often administered by third-party companies that own databases containing not only names and addresses, but also social, economic, and lifestyle information. It is sometimes seen as an invasion of personal privacy, and there is some public resentment of this form of advertising. This is particularly true of e-mailed direct mail, known derogatively as spam. By enabling advertisers to target a specific type of potential customer, however, direct mail can be more cost-efficient than other advertising media. It is frequently used as part of a relationship marketing strategy.
Additional Resources
- Encouraging a Better Response to Direct Mail Campaigns
- Direct mail offers the advantage of a simple and immediate measure of success: the response rate. Another advantage of direct mail is that you can test the variables before committing all your resources to a particular approach. You can aim for realistic results while you keep your expenses within your...
- Articles 2007-02-15
- Turn Up The Volume With Direct-Mail Advertising
- Direct mail continues to attract more marketing dollars than all other forms of advertising combined. Direct-mail campaigns can be tailored to almost any budget. They can even pass through the Web rather than the U.S. Postal Service, reducing costs to the barest essentials of message creation and mail-list management. Using...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- Direct Mail 101: A Weaponry That Works
- Direct mail is the most misunderstood, and most neglected, marketing tool among today's independent professionals. Most people do direct mail all wrong, and then they cry about it all year. If the peers have declared that "direct mail fails," a person may face failure or boring, intimidating or indistinguishable direct...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- The 10 Big Bad Ugly Mistakes In Direct Mail
- The concept of ‘direct mail marketing' has proved to be a boon for corporate world. With the help of direct mail marketing, companies can reach out to their customers more conveniently. Today, people can avail and buy whole new range of services and products at a click of a mouse....
- White papers 2003-01-01
- 25 Ways to Do Direct Mail Better
- Direct mail can be one of the most efficient, cost-effective marketing vehicles available today. Even in this age of e-commerce, every marketing plan should include a direct-mail component to communicate a company's message. If a person wants proof of the power of direct mail, notice how Internet companies rely on...
- White papers 2002-10-29
- Don't Dump Your Direct Mail Efforts!
- Don't Dump Your Direct Mail Efforts! An August 1999 Pitney Bowes study titled "The Role of Direct Mail in E-Commerce" shows the significant role direct mail plays in building long-term ... ...
- Research articles 2000-03-01
- Direct Mail...Costly But Personalized, Direct Promotion
- One of the most important and expensive promotional tools of marketing is direct mail. Direct mail marketing eases the tedious process of marketing by reaching out directly to target customers. But, many companies feel that direct mail is a costly affair. Hence, experts suggest that before resorting to the benefits...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- 28 Ways to Optimize Direct Mail Design
- Marketing throughdirect mail has a number of advantages over branding and other less targeted mediums.With enhancment techniques applied to quality lists, direct mail can be very targeted . Mail that is timely and relevant can be a very component in a well sequenced multi-touch campaign. Well designed direct mail can...
- White papers 2002-01-01
- Best Software Announces Direct Mail on Demand Program for Business Partners
- Best Software announced today the launch of its Direct Mail on Demand program for Mid-Market Division MMD business partners, an innovative, yet simple program to help business partners maximize their return-on-investment ROI for direct mail marketing initiatives. The new direct mail program uses online automation to simplify the process of...
- Research articles 2005-03-22
- Direct Mail Becomes Top Marketing Tack
- Direct mail has made steady gains in recent years while flashier efforts like print, TV and radio advertising and other marketing tools have been showing little to stagnant growth. According to a Direct Marketing Association, direct mail accounts for nearly 46 percent of all general advertising efforts. It's the second-biggest...
- White papers 2003-01-06
- Three Cost-Effective Ways To Use Direct Mail
- Direct mail strategies can put to work to achieve better, more profitable results. The two benefits of direct mail are its pinpoint targeting ability, its ability to deliver a full and complete sales presentation of any length. This article explains some direct mail marketing strategies (as opposed to single-shot mailing...
- White papers 2002-01-01
- An Ode To Direct Mail
- Direct mail is the medium everyone loves to hate. As long as direct mailers don't abuse customers' privacy - a big "if" indeed in the laissez faire U.S.- the only really bad thing about direct mail is its environmental impact. And, blessedly, direct mail packages are lighter and thinner than...
- White papers 2002-04-01
- 5 Steps To Hitting Your Direct Mail Targets
- E-mail and Internet marketing may be attracting buzz, but there are still strong incentives to send printed messages directly to customers whom you select. Direct mail gives you complete control over who sees your marketing, in contrast to advertising in print, online-mail, Web sites, or television. The latest electronic tools...
- White papers
- 7 Secrets to Winning the Direct Mail Game
- This article explains some secrets to win direct mail game like always look at your direct mail as your recipient will look at it, remenber your primary objective etc. To create successful direct mail you need to talk with your customer. To create successful direct mail you need to talk...
- White papers 2002-01-01
- The 12 Most Common Direct Mail Mistakes
- Successful direct mail does not depend on fancy, four-color design or "creative" copy. The article elaborates the 12 most common direct mail mistakes: ignoring the most important factor in direct-mail success, not testing, not using a letter in the mailing package, features vs. benefits, not having an offer, etc. To...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- 5 Tips for Improving Direct Mail Fundraising Efforts
- From the executive summary: ‘Direct mail provides the lifeline for any non-profit organization and can be the difference between a successful fundraising campaign and one that achieves a lackluster response. Even in today's world of ever-changing technologies, direct mail is still the key medium for fundraising. However, numerous marketers fail...
- White papers 2004-02-03
- Direct-Mail Tips For Sophisticated Marketers
- From the executive summary: ‘The latest electronic databases and slice-and-dice psychographics have transformed old fashioned direct-mail methods. With appropriate lists and laser-targeted customers, direct mail is very effective. Its reach and credibility yields results that differ from other marketing efforts.' Hence, direct mail is proving to be the most useful...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- Piecing a delivery network together: how McGraw-Hill mails millions of direct mail packages and magazines overseas.
- HOW MCGRAW-HILL MAILS MILLIONS OF DIRECT MAIL PACKAGES AND MAGAZINES OVERSEAS The numbers are staggering. Each year, publishing giant The McGraw-Hill Companies mails millions of magazines and direct mail packages around the globe, spending an est HOW MCGRAW-HILL MAILS MILLIONS OF DIRECT...
- Research articles 1997-08-01
- Timecold direct mail was finally junked? With esponse rates as low as 0.5 per cent, and a high annoyance factor, no wonder Toyota has rethought its mailing strategy. (News Analysis).
- The phrase "junk mail" sets direct marketers' blood boiling. However, a sizeable proportion of the UK's direct mail consists of communication never actively sought by the receiver. And it's a sizeable proportion of a large number--according to the D The phrase "junk mail" sets direct...
- Research articles 2002-10-10
- Getting help with DM campaigns. (direct mail)
- Because not every direct marketer wants to venture into the mail alone, American Express has created a menu of services for its clients called the Cooperative Marketing Program. Specifically, the direct mail service enables marketers to make offe Because not every direct...
- Research articles 1996-01-01
