According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2005, companies spent an estimated $161 billion on direct marketing in the United States. This advertising expenditure increased sales by an estimated $1.85 trillion. Although many consumers claim they throw away all their "junk mail," clearly, direct mail can be an effective way to promote and grow your business.

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Three elements are key to a direct mail campaign
that gets results.

  First Element
You need to mail to the right group of people. In other words, you need the right mailing list. It stands to reason that the interests of 40-year old male farmers in Iowa are going to be different from those of 15-year old female high school students in New York City.

  Second Element
You need to come up with a package and an offer that motivates your selected audience to take action.

  Third Element
Your direct mail piece has to get past all the postal and societal obstacles to get into the intended recipient's hands. If the address is wrong or a secretary screens out your piece, your marketing opportunity is lost.

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You can use direct mail for both acquiring customers and maintaining relationships with existing ones. It's always easier to sell to existing customers than it is to find new ones. Smart companies use direct mail for everything from newsletters to sale and new product announcements. Those customers who are contacted regularly tend to buy more over time and remain customers longer.

Unlike other areas of graphic design, with direct mail, the only thing that matters is the response rate. Because printing and mailing costs add up, savvy businesses keep track of how much each mailing contributes to the bottom line. In the direct marketing world, profitability means more than aesthetics. Ostensibly "ugly" designs often out-perform "pretty" direct mail pieces.

We've all seen the Publisher's Clearinghouse mailings, for example. The way they look is the result of years and years of testing. What you receive might not be beautiful, but it generated the largest number of responses, winning the opportunity to end up in your mailbox.

When used wisely, direct mail can be a powerful marketing medium for businesses of almost any size. Because you can measure the results, you can continually refine your designs so they give you the most "bang for your buck."