In fact, people are so fed up with the river of junk mail pouring through the mail slot that a whole industry has sprung up devoted to helping people get off direct mail lists. What's more, time-crunched consumers are not clipping and redeeming coupons the way they once did, reducing the impact and trackability of many direct marketing campaigns. But despite these problems, many advertisers remain committed to the medium. The key is to find media partners that will extend direct mail's reach and help it lure new customers as readily as it strengthens bonds with existing ones. The medium can potentially reach every household in the market, or at least every consumer the marketer wishes to target, usually through mail-merge systems.
Direct mail is much more effective in reinforcing current customers than attracting new prospects.
In fact, there are many services devoted to helping consumers get their names removed from mailing lists. Direct mail costs are on the rise. Increases in postal rates, production charges, paper costs, and database fees have turned direct mail into one of the least cost-efficient of all media. By augmenting your marketing strategy with Radio to call attention to your mailings and precondition recipients to the benefits of reading and responding to your direct mail offers. Using Radio in tandem with direct mail allows you not only to build sales with current customers, but also to reach prospects, specifically your competitors' customers, who are not likely to open or read your direct mail solicitations.