Retro or Smart Marketing: Selling Biz Books via Direct Mail
By Roberta Rosenberg on Jun 16, 2009 in Just Thinking
I nearly fainted at the post office this morning. There, in my sparsely populated of late mail box, was something I hadn’t seen in ages.
I used to see these things all the time. Hell, I even wrote and produced these things all the time. (Man, I miss my printing mark-ups. That was some kinda nice income stream.)
Here it is. A slim-jim, tri-fold, 2-color (PMS & k), selfmailer from Aspen Publishers offering me a business book on a 30-day risk-free trial. It’s not spectacularly written or designed as you can see. Still …
I hadn’t realized how much I missed direct mail until this promotion arrived. This isn’t a fancy piece, just a great example of workhorse direct mail that used to be the lifeblood of traditional business publishing — and the mainstay of my business not so many years ago.
I get all misty just thinking about it.
I’m also thinking I wouldn’t be waxing poetic if there had been the usual big pile of Monday direct mail I remember from the olden days. But there wasn’t. Just a few items and this little bit of gold from direct mail past. Lots of copy, plain jane gray-scale cover art, and bullet points galore. Yum.
I’m thinking Aspen is running a test. Comparing the response rates between direct mail prospecting (I’ve bought from the publisher before but not on this topic) and electronic media. I’d love to know the stats. Even with the high price of postage and trees sacrificed, as marketers it’s hard to argue with 100% deliverability.
Compare that to the dismal >50% of email and you can see why B2B publishers may again be flirting with traditional direct mail promotions.
What do you think? A trend or a wistful remembrance of book marketing past?
TC/Copywriter Underground | Jun 16, 2009 | Reply
I’m on the record as saying that as direct mail marketing fades, the few pieces people still get might actually perform better.
It’s pure conjecture, but I do remember a conversation with a guy who ran the last Amiga dealership/computer shop in the Silicon Valley, and how he said it was a nice, profitable gig – until the day that sales simply dried up.
TC/Copywriter Underground’s last blog post..An Underground Replay: “Pay The Damned Writer”
Roberta Rosenberg | Jun 16, 2009 | Reply
I think what surprised me the most was how old-fashioned the piece looked. I could have written, designed, printed and mailed this in 1985.
Greg | Jun 16, 2009 | Reply
I was once the Sales Director for Aspen Publishers. I handled all sales EXCEPT direct mail. DM was the major channel of distribution. I had the much larger sales increases primarily in telesales and in specialty book sales.
But to show you how things change, Aspen was a medical publisher then, 1991, and located in Gaithersberg, MD.
It is now a business publisher in New York, NY. Different company completely.
The DM shows looks typical of the DM that we did at Reston publishing and Prentice Hall about 1980. It worked.
I get almost no DM today. I got a political piece that had me on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum from where I am. How did I get on that list?
Roberta Rosenberg | Jun 16, 2009 | Reply
@Greg – you and I are PH almuni, Greg. I worked at Robert J Brady Co (Bowie, MD) from 1979-1984. I certain remember the Reston pub name. I, too, remember when Aspen was medical and a MD company. Thanks for your share!
James Hipkin | Jun 16, 2009 | Reply
I’m with TC/Copywriter underground, as the mail box clutter subsides a well designed package can break through and be successful.
We know and accept that everyone isn’t responsive to direct mail. I find it curious that marketers don’t transfer this basic bit of knowledge to other channels. Email is effective with some consumers, but not all. Search, the same. I think a smart marketer can make direct mail work while everyone else is off chasing the shiny new thing.
James Hipkin’s last blog post..Relationship Marketing’s 5th Principle — Relationships at Risk
David Jace | Jun 21, 2009 | Reply
Yet most of the rest of the world wishes it would all just go away, paper junk mail as well as e-mail spam.
Now, granted, maybe I’m misunderstanding the technical term “direct mail” so that we aren’t talking about what the rest of us consider “spam,” but most of the e-mail spam and paper junk mail I get has no relation to me at all, and goes virtually unlooked at, into the trashcan.
I see from the post and other comments that this is apparently effective, but I can’t imagine how. People really check their mail, read the junk mail and then order? If something caught my eye and I liked the product, I think I’d be more likely to go find it with a company that didn’t spam my mailbox to buy it!
Roberta Rosenberg | Jun 21, 2009 | Reply
@David – any offer/message you receive – paper or electronic – that is off the mark should be considered junk. But, and this is a big but, if the offer/message is of interest – so much so that you’re intrigued to learn more about – isn’t junk to my mind. It’s about providing information about potentially useful product/service to a receptive audience. As a copywriter, I take pride in what I do. Not only do I connect customers with products/services, I also assist organizations support their various causes. At the end of the day I generally feel pretty good about the work I do and the companies I work with. I also like making a pretty fair living as a writer.
Thanks for your comments. They’re appreciated.
David Jace | Jun 21, 2009 | Reply
Roberta,
You absolutely /should/ take pride in what you do! If you can’t, then you shouldn’t be doing it. I hope I didn’t phrase my words offensively, I just almost never receive an ad about something that actually applies to me. Are there ways of targeting these ads? Do advertisers use those ways?
For instance, I sometimes see the garbage can by the mailboxes full of discarded ads for a mortgage company, carpeters, or roofers: I live in an apartment complex. No one in the complex is going to be a target for those ads.
Basically, I’m not trying to harp on this marketing technique, I’m just wondering if it can/ is done better than the examples I tend to see in my own mailbox.
By the way, loved the CraigsList video, and I couldn’t believe the Work for Free post. Thanks for the great blog.
Roberta Rosenberg | Jun 21, 2009 | Reply
@David, Quality marketing companies DO target and spend huge dollars on technology to do just that. Email, however, is super cheap so any spammer can afford to send out milles ‘o crap. The discarded mail you see at your apt building is unfortunate and wasteful on so many levels. Those companies could do so much better by using the geo-targeting technology that’s available.
Thanks for the clarification of your post and your kind words about my blog.