Profiting in a Recession with Direct Mail
Remember how much direct mail you used to receive? It took a considerable amount of time to sort through it, see what was interesting or relevant, and select the envelopes you wanted to open.
The USPS® admits that volume is down 20% – but the decrease could actually be much higher. You will notice in your own mail that fewer and fewer companies are investing in direct mail marketing including larger size or dimensional packages.
What does all this mean? It means that now is a great time for you to send out direct mail!
It is a great time for direct mail marketing because…there’s less competition, less clutter in the mailbox, and it is less likely for your direct mail piece to be lost in the shuffle.
But what about the expense, you ask?
A classic example from history shows us what happens when businesses choose to forge ahead and “power through” despite economic circumstances. In a recent article in The New Yorker, James Suroweicki wrote about the real recession.
“In the late nineteen twenties, two companies – Kellogg and Post – dominated the market for packaged cereal. When the Depression hit, no one knew what would happen to consumer demand.
“Post did the predictable thing: it reigned in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies.
“By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty percent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.”
2010 is your opportunity to be the “Kellogg’s” of your industry. Use direct mail to reach more prospects, gain more customers, and get a better response than ever before.