All Freelance Writing has a post today by Chris Bilbey asking, “Is direct marketing dead or alive?” Internet marketing is so big now, does direct mail still work?

Chris decided to find out whether direct mail still worked.  He sent out 2,000 postcards to local businesses. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but he’s already gotten nine reply calls, six emails and three brand-new clients.

And, it’s still early.

Does direct mail work?

Yes, it does. It even sometimes sneaks into a phone booth, spins around really fast, and emerges (in a burst of light and pixels) as… internet marketing. Shhh, don’t tell.

Direct marketing is really internet marketing’s secret identity. It works the same way.  The principles are the same.  Find an audience.  Create products or services to help them.  Tell them about it.  Rinse and repeat. The only difference is that you’re writing a postcard that sells (instead of an email).

And direct mail won’t eat your computer.

Refine the results

Now that Chris has some data, he can review his results and refine future campaigns to get even better results.  Maybe he got a better response from a particular type of business. Or, his results might have been stronger from companies that are within 5 miles away.  Or, he might try a different headline.

Have you tested direct mail? Sent any postcards?  What happened?