Direct mailing services using trigger marketing create impact through relevance
Author: Jenna Weiner
November 13, 2009

Savvy small business owners and marketing professionals know that direct mailing services are important marketing tools, not only for generating sales but also for customer retention, brand building and expanding a client base.

When planning a direct mailing campaign, the first thing for a business to consider is the type of marketing strategy they will use. This question is directly tied to the issues of target audience and campaign goal, both of which should be clearly defined beforehand by the small business owner and marketing department.

A wide-canvassing mailing strategy will likely be the most effective for generating new clients, especially when it involves business cards, brochures or advertisement postcards. One way to tailor this strategy's efficacy for both new and existing clients is the inclusion of coupons, promotions or other discount sale information, as that will interest both target demographics.

Meanwhile, more focused marketing campaigns - such as "trigger marketing"- concentrate on a limited amount of customers, but substitute volume for impact.

Instead of providing unsolicited, unfocused messages to a wide range of people, trigger marketing targets specific consumers with specific needs, and offers them the information or sales that are most relevant to them in that moment.

A successful trigger marketing campaign is developed and executed using customer behavior analysis, as well as demographic and geographic data, to predict which consumers will benefit from a certain message or offer.

Trigger marketing mailing services can be especially useful for the real estate industry, said National Mortgage Professional magazine.

The three categories of trigger marketing - notifications, acquisitions and retention - can all generate different kinds of campaigns, depending on the real estate agent's goal, said the magazine.

Demographic data can be a useful resource - newlywed couples, for example, will likely be interested in new home messages, from information about first-time homebuyers' insurance and taxes to home listings.

Geographic data can help develop mailing campaigns, said the magazine, as homeowners in certain areas may qualify for specific refinancing offers or other location-specific information.

Marketing professionals of any industry are advised to consider trigger marketing campaigns using direct mailing services, as recent research by the Aberdeen Group found that companies using trigger marketing have reported a 200 percent to 400 percent improvement in marketing campaign performance, cited National Mortgage Professional magazine.