Even now, direct mail marketing can be useful and attract more customers when done properly. Marketing over the internet is generally cheaper, but many do not read email newsletters or click ads. Others may not use computers very often. Still others may feel more comfortable buying in person, over the phone, or through the mail. Using direct mail marketing in addition to other ways of advertising may be what you need to increase your sale and reach as many customers as possible. 

Whether you are printing catalogs or postcards or sending newsletters, you should always find the clearest, most direct way to tell your customers about your products and services. Emphasize the best features of your product. Don’t just list its features, but also highlight why these features are helpful. A simple list of your product’s attributes may bore the customer; instead, make your product seem exciting. Tell them how it will make their life better or easier, or why your product is the best deal. Use lively language, and easy to read typefaces. Photographs also add interest and can give an idea of what you are offering before the customer even begins to read the text.

The more your mail looks impersonal and mass-produced, the less likely your customer is to pay attention to it. Make it look less like “junk mail” and more like something personal and useful. A sales letter can be reproduced so that signature is printed in blue ink, which makes it look more like it was signed personally on each copy. Stamps and personalized addresses can also make it more likely for your customer to open your envelope or take a closer look at your postcard. 

Deadlines can add a sense of urgency about getting the best possible deal. If you’re offering a special promotion, tell the customer exactly when it begins and ends. This may make them put your mail out in the open so they’ll remember to take advantage of the promotion in time; whereas without deadlines, even if they are interested, they may stash the mail away and forget about it. Offering limited-time promotions may generate the interest you need to make a sale.

When you rent a mailing list, you want to make sure you get the right one. You want a list of people with high response rates to offers like yours. If you are marketing to the wrong audience, you will only be wasting money, not reaching new customers. Likewise, if customers repeatedly fail to respond, you should take them off your mailing list. It may be that they are not interested or have moved. Many catalogs stop mailing to those who fail to make a purchase from the last catalog or two they sent. Printing catalogs and mailing them costs money; if they are not generating the sales you need, you need to try mailing them to someone else.