Small Business Direct Marketing

Small Business Direct Marketing is when you send a personalized communication in the form of a letter, an email, by telephone to an existing customer or to a potential customer from your mailing list.

Direct mail generally has a higher success rate than other forms of marketing (like letter box drops or news-print or radio advertising). A personally addressed letter is far more likely to be read by the intended recipient than unsolicited junk mail, and is far more targeted than advertising.

Creating a Mailing List

Mailing lists can be purchased from a commercial mailing house or broker, or you can build one yourself.

A good source of information about potential business customers is the local yellow pages. To fill out your contact details for the businesses you select for your list, all you have to do is give them a ring and ask for the owner/managers name. Most will be happy to provide you with the information, and you will be able to personalize your mailings.

Another method is to add a section to any letterbox drops, newsletters or other promotional materials, which asks for the contact details of anyone interested in receiving more information about your business.

And of course you should grab any and all business cards that you are offered by other business people, and if appropriate, add their details to you mailing list.

Designing a Small Business Direct Marketing Sales Letter

Your direct marketing letter should be reasonably short, definitely not longer than two pages and have a clear message.

As with most types of communication, the basic format for a direct marketing sales letter is:

• Tell them what you going to tell them,
• Elaborate on what you want to tell them,
• Summarize what you have told them, and
• Tell them what to do in response.

A P.S. at the end of the letter can be used to highlight a one of the features of your offer, remind the prospect of a time limit or prompt them to take action now.

Once you have developed your sales letter you should address each one to an individual rather than to a business or the household as people are far more likely to open a letter that has been personalized.

You should use language that the reader will understand and relate to, and you should make it as easy as possible for them to respond to your offer.

If you feel that you need more help to develop your sales letters Strategic Business Letters and E-mail is one of the books I have found particularly helpful.

Need Other Promotional Ideas?

If direct market sales letters are not quite right for your small business, you might want to check out some of the other pages on promotional materials, such as flyers or brochures, newsletters or business cards.

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