You'll make more money in direct mail by selling to
fewer people.
The Sears and Roebuck direct mail catalog made
money by selling everything to everybody until niche
marketers arrived. Today, if you want to buy a parka
for that trip to Peru, you shop from the L. L. Bean
mail order catalog. If you want a quality vacuum
cleaner, you mail the order form and your check to
Oreck, not General Electric. Direct mail is a niche
game. Your success
depends on narrowing your focus.
You can't hope to dominate 100 percent of any
market. So you should decide on the slice of the
market you want to dominate, and go after it.
Amazon used to be the world's biggest bookstore.
Now they sell everything to everyone. Clothes.
Lipstick. Cameras. Groceries. Industrial tools.
Jewellery. Music. Toys.
Amazon took years to turn a profit selling just books.
They stand no chance selling against tightly
focussed competitors (where would you go to buy
toys, for example, Amazon or Toys R Us?). Success
in direct mail marketing goes to the specialists, not
the generalists.
You will make more money over the long term by
narrowing your focus to one type of customer
(female CEOs, let's say), one product line
(women's business suits, for example) or one
customer problem (working mothers, for
example).
Narrowing your product line makes you more
memorable in the mail. The Scrubs & Beyond catalog
catches the attention of hospital administrators
because it carries a complete line of scrubs, uniforms
and accessories for nursing and medical
professionals. The House of Cans catalog stands out
in a cluttered marketplace because it features
square, oblong and paint cans.
Even businesses who use direct mail to generate
sales leads can stand out in the mailbox by narrowing
their focus. One of my clients, for example, helps
franchises conduct personality tests on potential
franchisees. A general management consultant can't
hope to take away any market share from this
specialist.
Another client of mine specializes in helping hospital
emergency department staff deliver better
emergency care experiences to children and families.
A paediatrician with a general practice can't hope to
compete against this niche consultant who
specializes in paediatric emergency medicine and
teaches at a medical school.
So go ahead. Be brave. Narrow your focus. Mail
fewer pieces. Make more money.
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