If you watch the news, it seems like every day we hear more and more about how the “cyber police” are censoring content or telling you what you can and cannot do. What and how you post to online social media is also under attack. You have Google and Facebook censoring conservative or “offensive content.” Recently a dentist was banned from Facebook because his ad showing before and after pictures of teeth violated their advertising policy. You are not supposed to show before and after pictures of body parts for any type of ad. Isn’t that the whole point? Making bad teeth look good? If you can’t show your work, how are you supposed to get anyone’s attention? Maybe advertise on a billboard, although that is often regulated by local jurisdictions. Telemarketing is also being regulated more and more. Can’t use certain words or your emails go to a spam filter. Can’t send unsolicited emails. Can’t send unsolicited texts. What is a marketer to do?
Answer: Put a piece of paper with your offer in a sealed envelope and send it to that metal box at the curb, or better yet deliver it to the front door of your prospect’s home. It’s called “direct mail.” It is about the last bastion of advertising that you can use to present your message exactly the way you want to present it, with no one telling you that you cannot do it. As of now, there is no direct mail police. (Of course, if you are ripping people off, you can get into trouble no matter how you advertise, but we are talking about legitimate offers here.)
It’s not sexy. It’s not cool. It’s not trendy. Can’t like it or share it on your phone. No emojis. You don’t need to bid on keywords, or screw with Facebook Live, Instagram, LinkedIn, Yelp, Google Plus, or whatever new and improved digital marketing tool that comes out. And you don’t need to change it every time the digital police change the rules.
What it does do is get delivered exactly the way you want it to be. You can target the exact person you want to read it. You don’t need a computer to save it. It just sits on a desk and stays there until a person actually picks it up to call you or throws it away. And if you design a campaign that works, chances are it will work next week, month, year, maybe even decade. There are direct mail campaigns that have been working for over 20 years with the exact same copy.
Think about it…