Direct Mail Advertising Company Says “Mail Fewer Pieces, Make More Money”

You’ll make more money in direct mail by selling to fewer people.

The Sears and Roebuck direct mail catalog made money by selling everything to everybody until niche marketers arrived. Today, if you want to buy a parka for that trip to Peru, you shop from the L. L. Bean mail order catalog. If you want a quality vacuum cleaner, you mail the order form and your check to Oreck, not General Electric. Direct mail is a niche game. Your success depends on narrowing your focus.

You can’t hope to dominate 100 percent of any market. So you should decide on the slice of the market you want to dominate, and go after it. Amazon used to be the world’s biggest bookstore. Now they sell everything to everyone. Clothes. Lipstick. Cameras. Groceries. Industrial tools. Jewellery. Music. Toys.

Amazon took years to turn a profit selling just books. They stand no chance selling against tightly focussed competitors (where would you go to buy toys, for example, Amazon or Toys R Us?). Success in direct mail marketing goes to the specialists, not the generalists.

You will make more money over the long term by narrowing your focus to one type of customer (female CEOs, let’s say), one product line (women’s business suits, for example) or one customer problem (working mothers, for example).

Narrowing your product line makes you more memorable in the mail. The Scrubs & Beyond catalog catches the attention of hospital administrators because it carries a complete line of scrubs, uniforms and accessories for nursing and medical professionals. The House of Cans catalog stands out in a cluttered marketplace because it features square, oblong and paint cans.

Even businesses who use direct mail to generate sales leads can stand out in the mailbox by narrowing their focus. One of my clients, for example, helps franchises conduct personality tests on potential franchisees. A general management consultant can’t hope to take away any market share from this specialist.

Another client of mine specializes in helping hospital emergency department staff deliver better emergency care experiences to children and families. A paediatrician with a general practice can’t hope to compete against this niche consultant who specializes in paediatric emergency medicine and teaches at a medical school.

So go ahead. Be brave. Narrow your focus. Mail fewer pieces. Make more money.