Last time I talked about Direct Mail, a passion of mine and a marketing tactic some think is dying. 

Despite record postage and the state of the economy, direct mail is still extremely effective.   How do I know?  Hundreds of AccuData customers as well as the direct mail I personally recieve tell me so.  If you are reading this and thinking, “not mine” then it’s time to think hard about how your company funds, develops and executes your direct mail.  It’s time to look inward, not outward at the economy or the USPS.

I recently received a direct mail piece from one of the nation’s largest insurance companies.  To my amazement, I could see through the outer envelope, could see the offer through the paper.  I wondered at the time if this was intentional, after all this company is a large, sophisticated marketer.  Surely every aspect of their direct mail must be tested thoroughly.  Well maybe this was, but I don’t think so.  This was an attempt to shave a fraction of a cent from each mail piece.  Paper is expensive right?  Let’s save some money by reducing paper weight! 

“Boss, maybe we should move our budget to pay per click, direct mail isn’t working anymore!”  As my good English friend and marketing guru Doug Bewsher might say “Bollock”!

First things first - what is the purpose of an outer envelope?  To convince the recipient to open it of course!  Now I have received mailers that were designed to be see-through and a few of them were fantastic.  Not this piece.  This was just lazy.  If I can see through the outer envelope to the content within, if I can see the offer then I don’t have to open the package.  I won’t read the letter, won’t read the brochure,  won’t give the company a chance - particularly if the offer is just so-so.

Large insurance company - you know who you are.  Put on some weight please.  I like em’ heavy!

What a time for marketers, huh? Most would say, this is a gloom and doom time for us—budgets are slashed, responses are down, and what are we going to do but ride out the wave?

Absolutely not. I see a lot of editorial and industry advertising out there urging marketers to spend more during this downturn to take advantage of weaker competitors – and I agree. I see literally thousands of unique customer transactions per month and I’m seeing three distinct groups.

One group is in the process of throwing in the towel. They are getting beaten by their competitors. Another group is hunkering down, perhaps emphasizing “core” businesses at the expense of new ventures, but keeping their marketing alive. Another group is “leaning-in” and marketing more, by getting more mail in the stream, increasing email activity, and putting more advertising out there – but they are doing it smarter with sharper targeting, the application of predictive models and good offers. “Doing more with less” is no longer a platitude. It’s now survival.

AccuData is in the third camp. We are leaning-in. Last week AccuData launched our new B2B campaign and blog to dedicate and memorialize to our clients and colleagues the great opportunity we see. I’m excited about 2009.