Direct Mail Marketing For Baby Boomers - An Old School Method Could Spark Your Internet Business
Direct mail marketing is certainly not new. By some counts and it has been around for nearly 100 years. Successful offline businesses have used it as part of their marketing strategy for decades.
So as a baby boomer studying the ways of the Web and why use it with your twenty-first century internet business?
The answer is simple. It's a great idea and it works.
Email Overload Sets Up a Big Win for Direct Mail
As establishing an internet presence has become a necessity for business and offline or ON, email has rapidly become a useful communication tool. It is certainly a staple of internet marketing. This has its ups and downs.
The Upside of Email
Fast and cheap and available 24 hours a day.
The Downside of Email
We have become inundated with emails.
What are we doing with all of those emails? See if any of these possibilities fit you:
You received an email.
With an offer that you intended to respond to and never did.
That you noticed, wanted to read later and then couldn't find it.
That contained valuable information and then you just forgot about it.
I'm not knocking email. It's highly useful and serves a purpose and has become central to the way we work. Yet its drawbacks can open another marketing DOOR.
We don't need something to replace email and we need something to complement it.
A Card in the Mail is Golden
When is the last time you received a card in the mail?
Maybe it was last month, last week and or even yesterday. Chances are, however and you did not receive 10 and 20 or 30 cards last week and or even last month. Communicating via postal mail has become so rare, that when you do receive a card in the mail and you take notice. In fact, you are likely to keep the card and read it again.
Even if the internet is your primary marketing venue and you may want to consider adding cards and postcards - direct mail marketing - to your overall strategy. Here are 3 good reasons why:
1. Inexpensive and Cost Effective
When you use an automated system for creating and sending your direct mail messages and the cost is much less than you might think. And the response can be far greater than you may imagine.
2. Builds - and Keeps - Relationships
Just as you do not want to send spam via the internet and use direct mail marketing to target those who have responded to you in the past. Send a card to thank someone for their business and or for a referral you received. The use of a card or postcard can be an excellent and rewarding retention strategy.
3. A Hint of the Past and A Touch in the Present
There is something about receiving a card in the mail that tugs at our memories. For baby boomers and it calls to mind other cards and other times. The effect of a physical card and held in someone's hand is far greater than the card itself. Its very presence may cause us to pause for just a moment and consider the message it contains.
Can Direct Mail Marketing Work for Your Online Business?
Try it and see. The response - and results - may surprise you.
Learn more about the POWER of direct mail marketing:
http://www.boomershomebusinessmarketing.com/
Jan Probst is an Internet Entrepreneur who uses the consultative approach to educate other baby boomers about the financial possibilities of the Internet. You can find her online at:
http://www.boomers-working-from-home.com
