These days, we all receive mail from various businesses. Some of these are unsolicited advertisements, while others are catalogs and offers from stores we frequent and have subscribed to. Regardless of how you feel about direct mail advertisements, it is clear that they are a major part of advertising today. What began with an advertisement for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 has escalated into a huge industry. Today, 90 billion pieces of direct mail marketing go out every year in the United States alone.
Direct mail can work a number of ways. Sometimes direct mail advertisements simply seek to inform recipients about a business, product or service. Other times direct mail campaigns seek to push recipients to perform a specific action, such as asking the customer to call a telephone number or visit a website.
Given advancements in technology, like email and social media, these so called pieces of “junk mail” may seem antiquated and unnecessary. Some might even argue they are bad for the environment. However, businesses continue to send out these kinds of traditional advertisements because they work. Studies have shown that people prefer to receive marketing offers through traditional postal mail rather than through online alternatives. This observation holds true even for younger consumers who are more used to using computers and technology.
Another reason for the success of direct mail marketing might be the psychological effect it has on recipients. According to global research agency Millward Brown, traditional direct mail has the effect of leaving a “deeper footprint” in the brain than nontraditional mail.
Today, there are many direct mail marketing companies who can help other businesses with direct mail advertising ideas. Many of these companies offer direct mail postcard templates. These direct mail postcard templates allow businesses without expertise in design or advertising to launch professional looking direct mail advertisement campaigns. Direct mailing companies may also offer other services vital to a company’s marketing strategies. More on this topic: www.quantumpostcards.com