How to Promote Your Local Business with Direct Mail? | Taradel

Many local business owners believe that the support of their local community is all they need to make a living. However, unfortunately, it takes a bit more effort than merely opening your premises for people to start lining up in front of your business’s doors. 

First, they need to learn about your existence. And for that, you need to build your local brand awareness. The question is - how to do it?

The answer is local marketing.

How to best promote your local business? Well, there are several ways to do that, but if you’re looking for the most effective and, at the same time, affordable strategy, direct mail marketing is your best option. 

Wait, isn’t direct mail outdated? Shouldn’t you focus on online marketing instead? No, and… no. While building your online presence is also important, direct mail marketing can help you reach an even larger audience at a lower cost. 

And in today’s guide, we’ll show you how to do it. 

What Is Direct Mail Marketing?

First things first, what is direct mail marketing? Well, it’s precisely what you think it is, which is printing and mailing marketing materials to your potential and existing customers. 

And sure, considering the increasing importance of online marketing channels, such an advertising strategy might seem a bit outdated. However, it can prove much more effective, especially for smaller and local businesses. 

And it’s not just our speculation. It’s a research-based fact!

For example, according to certain studies, over 73% of respondents prefer brands to contact them via direct mail. That’s not all. Some research also found that even up to 90% of direct mail gets opened compared to only 20-30% of emails. 

Add to that the average 29% return on investment generated by direct mail campaigns, and you’ll start to realize just how superb local direct mail marketing can be. 

We’ll discuss the benefits of direct mail marketing for local businesses later in the article. For now, we want you to understand the enormous potential hidden in a simple direct mail piece. 

Who Can Benefit from Local Direct Mail Marketing?

Direct mail marketing can prove exceptionally effective for small businesses, such as: 

• local stores
• restaurants
• bars
• bakeries
• gyms
• real estate agencies
• car shops
• cafes
• dry cleaners
• etc.

In simple terms, any small business trying to reach its local audience can find direct mail a potent marketing tool. Whether you’re only trying to establish your local market presence and reach new customers or get in touch with your existing clients, sending them a personalized direct mail message is bound to grab their attention. 

For example, suppose you open a restaurant. What would be the best idea to promote it across your local community? How about sending out well-designed direct-mail postcards showcasing your menu? Throw in a coupon with a discount on specific menu items and wait for customers to knock on your restaurant door asking for a table. 

Or, let’s say you are a real estate agent searching for a new local market. Sending out a personalized direct mail piece explaining what you do and how you can help will yield results you couldn’t even imagine. 

Of course, it takes much more than just sending out letters and postcards to random people. If you want your local direct mail marketing campaign to work, you must first take some time designing it. 

And that brings us to the next point, which is… 

How to Promote Your Small Business with Local Direct Mail Advertising?

As great as direct mail marketing can be for any small business, the advertising campaign can only yield results when it’s properly designed. As covered, sending out mail pieces to random people won’t help your business. It will only waste your time and money as you’re left scratching your head, thinking about what went wrong. 

No. If you want your local direct mail campaign to work, you must first learn how to create it from scratch. Here’s a short step-by-step guide on how to do it. 

#1 Define Your Marketing Goals

The first step of designing your direct mail campaign is to ask yourself one simple question: What do I want to achieve with my campaign?

In other words, define your marketing goals. 

Do you want to build your local brand awareness? Perhaps you wish to re-engage with your old customers? Or have you just created a website and want to generate online traffic? 

Whatever your goal is, defining it will help you target the right people and design your direct mail piece accordingly. And speaking of targeting the right consumers…

#2 Know Your Audience

Who is your target audience? Without the answer to that question, how do you intend to reach your potential customers? 

Of course, you can always assume your target audience is the entire local community within a given radius of your business. However, quite frankly, that’s rarely the case, and you will only end up wasting money on printing and sending marketing materials to people who aren’t even interested in your offer. 

Instead of shooting blanks, take some time to think and decide who your target audience is. That will depend on two things - the type of your business and your marketing goal. 

For instance, suppose you’ve just opened a car service. You want to build local brand awareness by sending out direct mail pieces advertising your services. Who is your target audience? Car owners within a given mile radius. 

Here’s your starting point for narrowing down the list of your potential customers and creating a consumer persona. Once you have that, you can create your mailing list, which you will likely need to purchase from a third-party agency, or, which is a much better option, use Taradel's free personalized mailing list builder. 

With your mailing list ready, you can move on to the next step. 

#3 Choose and Design Your Mail Piece

Okay, you know what you want to achieve with your campaign and who your target audience is. Now it’s time to get to work and design the piece to grab the right people’s attention and make them convert. 

First, you need to decide on the format of your direct mail piece. When it comes to that, you can choose between several typical formats - a postcard, letter, catalog, or pamphlet. These four can serve entirely different purposes and target different audiences. 

For example, while a postcard or pamphlet might be an excellent idea for a local bakery or restaurant, a law firm or real estate agency could benefit more from a personalized and formal letter. 

When it comes to designing your marketing piece, think about your goal and audience. Should you use flashy colors and a catchy CTA? Or perhaps a personalized letter might better suit your objectives and the nature of your business? These are essential elements to consider when designing your direct mail piece. 

If you aren’t sure where to start (or wish to save some money), you can always take advantage of tried and trusted design templates.

Finally, think about your costs. The larger and more colorful your direct mail pieces are, the more you can expect to pay for printing. And speaking of printing… 

#4 Print and Send Your Mail

With your design ready, it’s time to print and then send your beautiful marketing pieces. The costs here will depend on the number of your pieces, their size, the quality of paper used, and any additional features you wish to include. 

In general, the rule is simple, the more pieces you print and send, the more cost-effective it becomes. In most instances, you can expect to pay anything between $0.30 and $10 per person for direct mail printing and postage. 

If you aren’t sure how to calculate your direct mail costs, feel free to use our pricing as a reference.

Why Is Direct Mail the Right Choice for Your Local Business Marketing?

When implemented correctly, a local direct mail marketing campaign can help your small business reach its marketing goals and give it the boost it needs to thrive in the local market. But while we already discussed several research-based benefits of direct mail marketing, we still haven’t explained why it can drive such incredible results. 

Well, now is the time. Among the most significant advantages of direct mail marketing for local businesses we can include:

• Direct mail encourages engagement and interaction. Every day, we’re flooded with marketing emails. And let’s face it, 99% of them are left unopened. The case isn’t the same with direct mail, as you need to take the time to actually pick it up and open it to see the message. With that in mind, sending a direct mail piece to a customer at least increases the chance of them looking at it. 

• Lower competition. Although direct mail marketing is still relatively popular, it can’t compete with online advertising methods. And with most businesses trying to utilize online marketing channels, that leaves you with a lower competition when it comes to reaching your audience through direct mail.

• It’s cost-effective. As a small local business, you likely don’t have the bucks to invest in overly extensive marketing campaigns. With an average of 29% ROI, direct mail marketing provides an excellent opportunity to boost your sales and reach your marketing goals at, theoretically, lower costs. 

Wrapping Up

If you’re looking for an effective marketing method to advertise your local business, direct mail marketing can become the answer you were looking for. While some might deem it outdated, direct mail advertising is experiencing a renaissance, with more and more businesses realizing how beneficial it can be. 

That is especially true for small and local businesses trying to reach their local market audiences. With the right marketing plan and direct mail design in place, sending out marketing materials can be the most effective way to expand your business and reach your goals. And Taradel can help. 

By taking advantage of our personalized mail service, you will be able to design, start, and monitor your direct mail marketing campaign. All at cost-effective prices and with the support of a top-quality and experienced marketing team. 

Get started with Taradel today and see how we can help boost your local marketing efforts!