By
Marcia
Ming
Keeping Marketing
Costs Down
With the economy in a tailspin, smart business
marketers are
looking for low-cost, high impact ways to promote their products and
services. Even
with the Internet, direct mail remains one of the most reliable ways to
get
your message out to the prospects most likely to buy what you are
selling.
Direct mail marketing in the
21st century is an excellent way to
keep costs down because you only market to prospects that match the
demographic, geographic and lifestyle traits research has shown to work
for
your business. It works especially well for main street businesses when
used in
tandem with other strategies like tele-marketing or follow-up email
marketing.
Branding Is Out
Most 21st century businesses can not afford to
spend money on image ads to build a brand. Only giant corporations like
Nike
have the budgets to blast expensive commercials at anyone who happens
to be
watching. If your budget is tight, you need to reach the prospects most
likely
to buy your product or service. With a good direct mail list, you can
identify
just the right prospects and send your message often enough to gain
their
trust.
Use Direct Mail to Drive Traffic to Your Website
One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is
getting traffic to their websites. Many of the available online
strategies
generate traffic, but it may not always be the most targeted traffic
for your
small business. Smart marketers often use direct mail to generate leads
that
can be integrated with their online marketing strategies. One such
strategy is
to send postcard mailers to a targeted list of prospects, directing
them to visit
your website for more information, coupons or special offers. Blending
direct
mail with online strategies can be a great way to ultimately cut costs
by using
the most powerful tools to identify new prospects.
Collect Email Addresses at the your Website
It is not a good idea to buy or rent lists of email addresses
online – it leads to spamming which is against the law. However, it is
perfectly acceptable to rent mailing lists offline and drive that
traffic to
your website. Once prospects visit your website, you can offer a free
gift or
newsletter inviting them to join your email list.
Follow-up Email and Direct Marketing
In many ways, follow-up email marketing has a lot in common
with 21st century direct mail. Both are direct marketing
techniques.
Once you have identified your ideal prospects and gotten their
attention with
an effective direct-mail piece, you can use follow-up email marketing
to stay
in touch. Blending direct mail with follow-up email is a highly
effective
direct marketing strategy for the 21st century.
Marcia Ming is a web content writer and small business
marketing consultant. Visit her website,
http://www.savvymarketingsecrets.com
to get a free ebook filled with effective ways to drive traffic to
your
website.
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endorse or claim any of the content in the above article to be factual.