Direct mail typically fails because people tend to mail as if they were dropping leaflets out of a plane, and they mail the same piece to different types of prospects.

For example, imagine the ROI of a direct mail piece about US Prime beef to addresses in a community in India. Extreme example, but it makes the point.

Radio requires a knowledgeable rep and a business owner who knows how to choose a rep as well as someone who knows their clientele and is willing to choose their air time carefully. Remainder time isnt always a good deal.

In both cases, segmentation is critical to success.

Yellow page ads are an art form. Testing is impossible due to the annual nature of the ads, but if you use it - direct response concepts are a must. DO NOT blindly follow the ad salesperson’s advice. They dont own businesses, they dont track ad performance, they sell ads.

Mark

Direct mail has dismal returns unless you can throw incredible money resources at it. New small business would have a hard time justifying the costs of direct mail and even yellow pages.

Radio is also bleak in terms of showing a return on the investment. Again, I am looking at this from a small or startup business point of view.

You might as well include classified advertising, and handbills (flyers) in with your list to make it complete.

This makes me stand out from the crowd and more people are likely to ring me. Brilliant! I also got Nectar points just for taking out the ad.