E-commerce has not replaced direct mail. It does not mean that it will not ever replace it, but in this lifetime it is important to simply look at the facts to help you make the best decisions. What you really want is proven methods that can guarantee business growth.
There are millions of computer savvy people that read email, but are not ready to open each and every email. People are so inundated with spam that they are focused on finding the few email messages that are important to them. When in doubt, most people become annoyed, glance at an email message for three seconds, and then dump it without really absorbing anything.
Statistics show that the main demographic that purchases services from the spa, medi-spa, skin industry are between the ages of 35 to 65. They respond well to direct mail offerings and catalog approaches. They are impressed with your investment in quality, and with your efforts to promote a personal relationship with them. They respect the financial investment associated with direct mail marketing.
It’s not that emails do not work. Emails can be effective, but they are not a replacement for direct mail, only a supplement.
It is a proven fact that when people go to their mail boxes, they have no choice but to look at every item before it is thrown away. Statistics also show that , more than ever, Baby Boomers and Gen Xer’s at middle and upper income levels have a 92% likelihood of reading direct mail related to health, beauty and/or anti-aging. That is 40% higher than the chances of the same group reading an email advertisement.
This demographic is also willing to spend more money on your related services, and they will spend it now if you can reach them.
Comparing email to direct mail is the same as comparing one product to another in our industry. For example, products in the beauty industry have advanced more in the last ten years than in the previous 40 years. However, that does not mean that when an antioxidant or firming creme is developed that it should replace a cleanser or toner. You can’t substitute a tummy tuck for a face lift, just like you can’t replace direct mail with email.
Also the rumor is out that companies in the beauty industry are surveying their existing clients to find which marketing techniques they prefer. If companies that make millions of dollars per year took surveys on which marketing their potential clients would prefer, there would be NO multi-million dollar companies.
Thirty years ago, their clients would likely have said, “get rid of the television commercials.” But without television commercials there would be no multi-million dollar companies. The same goes for all marketing and advertising. Those are the questions you don’t leave up to your customers, because you won’t have many left if you do.
Most people don’t want to be bothered at all. But it is proven that reminders make those same people come to you more often, and spend more money when they do. Large, successful companies use anywhere from 100 to up to 1200 different marketing techniques at the same time. We have shown over and over that the minimum number of marketing techniques for small businesses is just six. Yet, one-third of the small businesses in the beauty industry take advantage of only one technique at a time. Some use none at all.
You have to get your name out over and over again, and the best and most effective way to do that is by utilizing several marketing methods. Wise up and make success easy buy using direct mail and e-newsletters at the same time.
The old adage says, “You have to spend money to make money.” The old adage is correct, and applies even if you only have a limited marketing budget. You can’t replace email with direct mail, and you can’t replace direct mail with email; but you can combine them higher increase in growth rate.
