1. Work with a high quality direct mail service. You want to make sure that you’re getting high-quality, appropriately targeted, up-to-date direct mailing lists which you’re only going to get if you’re working with a good service.
2. Know your customer demographics. If you don’t know who you’re trying to target then you’re not going to be too successful with direct marketing. Figure out who you want your customers to be and target them specifically.
3. Make it personal. Use today’s computer technology to generate direct mail that’s personalized with the individual’s name. Be as personal as possible if you want a good response.
4. Offer a deal. Everyone wants to save money so use your direct marketing campaign to offer people the deals that they want. Campaigns that include coupons are often highly successful.
5. Track your response rate. This will allow you to do an even better job of targeting the right people for your next direct mail marketing campaign.

You can always do more to improve your marketing!

Non-writers (and non-marketers) may not be aware of it, but there is a bit of a battle going on between the traditional and online marketing industries.

Traditional marketing includes things like newspaper ads, postcards and other mailings, etc.  Online marketing is what it sounds like — ads and other marketing efforts, all done online.  But in addition, online marketing also means optimising web pages for targeted keywords, in order to help draw search engine traffic to you.

However, there is a lot of disparity between the writers who work in these related but different industries.  Traditional marketing copywriters have always been paid top dollar, and that is still more or less true today.  But the global market tends to drive down rates for online marketing copywriters.  The resulting difference in pay often tends to make traditional marketing copywriters look down on online marketing copywriters, even though the work is similar and equally as important.

However, the lower rates for online copywriting may have actually helped those of us who work in the industry.  With the recession, many people have started looking into search engine optimisation in London as an alternative to more expensive traditional marketing.  Therefore, companies and freelancers who offer online marketing services haven’t experienced as much of a slowdown with the  economy as traditional marketing copywriters — in fact, for some of us business is downright booming.

When it comes down to it, I don’t know if you can really say which is better — traditional or online marketing.  It’s like comparing ducks to geese — they may swim in the same lake, but they are totally different creatures.  However, I think it IS true that business is depending more and more on the Internet, which is making online marketing more important.  Traditional marketing still has its uses, of course,  but I anticipate prices will go down eventually as the industry tries to compete with the relatively cheaper, more convenient, and more results-driven online marketing.