[Alen John]

I can say that direct mailing is much more effective than email marketing as it offers reliable returns with negligible costs. It is highly targeted.

Moreover, if you personalize the direct mail, there is a great chance for people to open it and respond to it thereby the company can increase the ROI. So the advantage of direct mail marketing in developing a business is great.

In the case of emails, there can be spams. So there is no way that you get a good rate of response from the consumers. I think direct mailing is a better option.

If anyone of you use direct mail for your business, just share about how did you deal with it and what about the response from customers?

[Franklin]

Direct mail to Email Comparison


Minimum start up cost to be effective

Direct Mail - $6000 - $10000
Email - $0


Ongoing Costs

Direct Mail - $10,000 - $30,000 min per month for dependable volume
Email - $0 - $5,000 min per month for dependable volume


Targeting

Direct Mail - Target by industry 5 -10 % max mistake rate
Email - Target by industry, 10 - 70% mistake rate


Fastest Response time

Direct Mail - Within a week to 3 weeks
Email - Within 15 minutes


Barriers

Direct Mail - Postage, intrgrity of mailing company
Email - Delivery, clicks, spam, Isp


Saturation

Direct Mail - Well known, can obtain at least a glance at copy
Email - Highly saturated, difficult to stand out


Difficulty level

Direct Mail - Easier to ensure prospect will at least see message. Easier to get eyes on and copy what's working
Email - Difficult to mass target, easier to personalize. Hard to acquire copy that works



Recurring responses over time

Direct Mail - More, from letters stored for later or another set of eyes on letter.
Email -Few, from emails delivered late or discovered in spam.

[Rob Buchanan]

Franklin,

Who's services are these stats based on?

[Franklin]

A couple of different email marketing and direct mail companies, some who've advertised on this forum, as well as my own campaigns.


How do your numbers compare?

[Lenders.Marketing]

If your marketing budget is tight I suggest calling and emailing first to drum up business then reinvesting the cash flow into direct mail.

My Business Loan clients that are having the most success are emailing, calling 'and' sending mailers.

Direct Mail is making a huge comeback in the Lending sector because every thinks it's too expensive so the rich keep getting richer.

[richardjones]

I have been using direct mail marketing for many years now. It works really well and better than email marketing where the existence of spam keeps a lot of people from even opening the email. Direct mail can at least make the person see the mail and if the content is interesting, can make a lead. The integrity of mailing company is an important factor, but if you choose carefully it is not a worrying factor. I myself use direct mail services of a company named Troi Mailing Services in Toronto, who does the job perfectly for last 5 years.