I received two extremely expensive direct marketing pieces in the mail today. You may ask, what makes these flyers so expensive? Easy, they are really nice looking mail items. One is a glossy full colour postcard from the business form people, and the second a typical 1 page newsprint “special” from a retail store (I think they are in the area). They must have cost a ton to print and then add in the delivery cost from Canada Post etc. Expensive… right?

These two items jumped out at me though. Not because they caught my eye with a fancy headline that evoked my emotions, not because of the high quality of the content and not because of the great deals they offered. They didn’t jump out because I recognized their branding as a trusted supplier. They jumped out at me because the postcard is 100% in French, and the Market flyer has no address, map or phone number on it. I haven’t even heard of them before… too bad, they have some great deals this week.

I prefer to receive my junk mail in English. I may have missed the point of an all French post card in central Calgary, maybe it’s one of those “test and measure” things that marketing people do?

Direct mail can be expensive, but expense is relative to the return on your investment. If you spend money on direct mail items to the community, please make sure that you put your address, phone number and a little map on your flyer.

What types of direct marketing or mail does your business send out? By the way, Nebbs has a great offer this week – Dites-nous ce qui vous preoccupe… Remplissez notre court sondage et courez la chance de gagner un iPod(r) de 80G. Un Tirage Chaquie mois. …until 31 Dec 2007.