Rising Postal Rates? Don’t Cut Down The
Direct Mail
Joy Gendusa 112623 - 07/27/2005
The United States Post Office
in the past had some trouble with its finances and their solution
was to raise the
postal rates.
Whether or not you agree with this approach to trying to
stay in business, like the weather and government in general,
it’s
something you have to live with.
Many companies have used this as a reason to
send out fewer or smaller mailings in an attempt to keep their
costs down. Here’s
a quote from an issue of Direct Marketing News:
“Despite a string of healthy annual increases, the growth
of direct mail expenditures is expected to slow over the next
four years. Direct mail continued to grow in 2001 but slowed
because of the anthrax scare”, the study said.
The study also said, "Direct mail will
continue to expand during the forecast period but at a slower
pace than in the past
because of the emergence of e-mail marketing and postal rate
hikes, which will force marketers to limit mailings."
The question is: should you agree with this
and follow the trend, or should you turn it to your advantage?
Just think, with fewer
mailing pieces arriving in your customers’ or prospects’ mailboxes,
your glossy, full-color postcards are going to stand out even
more and have a greater chance of producing the desired response.
When you start looking at what you have to gain
by increasing the amount of direct mail marketing you do and
what you have
to lose by cutting back, there really isn’t a question
as to which way to go.
Of course you should be smart about your mailings. Make sure
they are really well targeted and put a little more thought into
the design and content so as to make sure they impinge. That
just makes sense.
So while others are cutting their own throats by cutting back
on direct mailing, you can benefit by increasing yours and sending
your postcards into a less heavily glutted marketplace where
they will receive more attention. Win-win.
About The Author: Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998,
her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2004 the company did
$9 million in sales and employed over 60 people. She attributes
her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff
and her innate marketing savvy. Visit
http://www.postcardmania.com
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