Do you remember when you used to write letters and send printed direct mail in the post?

I know! How quaint!

If you are too young to know what I am talking about, over a decade ago there was a whole world of opportunity which happened through printing marketing messages and images on paper and then sending them through the Royal Mail to prospects and customers. Today you might know this in an equivalent electronic form as email. Yes we really did print things and people, well some of them, picked them up and read them.

Most printed direct mail ended up in the bin; There were the days before the concept of re-cycling. But those who didn’t, and on average 0.5% of recipients, may well have responded to the call to action and picked up the phone to enquire or redeemed a coupon or voucher.

If the idea of traditional marketing is missing from your promotional mix then perhaps today might be a good time to explore tried and tested traditional techniques. If you think about it… let your competitors fight out the electronic space and you cut through the noise by taking a different approach. Whatever you decide. Remember to measure what happens.