Is direct mail marketing still effective? Varied answers to this question have been put forward. For this discussion, however, the belief is that its still an effective marketing tool. Here are some pointers for maximizing the use of direct mail in marketing.

Know your audience

This is always the number one bit of advice from experts know your audience well. Who is your audience? If somebody is likely to get interested in you and your products/services, hes a part of your audience.

This is basic in marketing: not everyone should be put on your list. Purge your list to the point that there is no room for doubt about the remaining names. If thats hard for you to accomplish, seek help from marketing services, but beware of scams. Read reviews before talking to leads service companies.

Add value

Give your audience a reason why they should buy your products now. The way to do that is to offer them good value in return for their effort, time and money. Your promotions should include bonuses, rebates, discounts, sales and anything that can make your products compete with other products.

Make your offerings time-limited. It can prod your audience to make an urgent decision and allow you to do a quick, short-term performance evaluation of your campaign. Those ends Saturday night at midnight, last day and ends today phrases have worked miracles for many.

Make an impression on paper

You can establish a good level of credibility by the way you present your product through paper. Create impressive designs that will make you stand out. Study the basic designs but dont limit yourself to just the basics. Learn to be creative and different.

Do that for all your campaigns, always thinking that each is an opportunity to make a statement about your brand and your company.

Pick the right medium

Part of knowing your audience is to know the marketing material they best respond to. Is it to a brochure, a postcard, or a greeting card?

Be personal when sending greeting cards. You can send Christmas cards or other holiday-related cards, but go the extra mile by sending cards with congratulatory messages for a milestone achieved in the business or for a new baby in the family.

Brochures are great mediums for self-introduction. Your potential customers would like to know you better before they even have the chance to meet you in person. Such a strategy may encourage them to make a thorough check on you by conducting research.

If your records are clean, theyll put their trust in you without you having to personally speak for yourself.

Aside from those mentioned above, tools you can use for direct-mail are stickers, business cards, envelopes, magnets and letters. Get free sample kits from marketing service companies. From these kits, youll get more ideas on how you can shine and make meaningful connections with your mail.