Whilst looking for printer cartridges in the back of a drawer, I came across a stash of stamps that were purchased just before the Royal Mail increased the prices back in 2012. Bonus I thought, but where is the black ink cartridge I need ? ah ha, found it.

Dilemma time!

Now what do I do with the all those stamps ? – I know, I’ll do a mail shot – yes you read that correctly, an actual letter, printed on paper, sent out in an addressed envelope along with some product information to a named recipient.

Like most people, I am not a fan of the un named blanket mail out. But a specific message to a targeted audience is a different kettle of fish altogether.
To a lot of people, this would be deemed terribly old fashioned and out dated, not to mention costly. But I am old school, and when I started out in the world of work, a mouse was something the cat brought home, and a mobile phone was the size of a breeze block.

Royal Mail or electronic mail ?

Almost everywhere you turn these days, it seems that people are promoting the virtues of social media as the way forward to market and promote your business, not forgetting the ever increasing number of email marketing platforms such as MailChimp for instance.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against this “new” form of marketing, and agree that it probably is the future.
However, despite the evolution of social media, it is my belief that there is still a place for a personal letter if it is interesting and captivating enough. You also have the option to include a little something extra in the envelope should you wish to do so.

For example, one particular group of hospitals that buy our chairs, have decided to standardise their colour scheme. The obvious course of action when writing to them, was to include a small sample of material in “their” colour. Immediate result was 3 new orders.

Does snail mail work ?

Past mail shots we have sent out have resulted in people contacting us within days or weeks of receiving their letter, and of course there will always be lots that end up in the round filing cabinet on the floor, or rubbish bin as it is otherwise known.

However we sometimes get that surprise, unexpected call.
Like back in 2013 when we had an enquiry from someone that contacted us having found our flyer. It turned out that this was posted to them almost 12 months prior to making their enquiry.
And earlier this year a lady called us, having received our flyer in June of last year.
Both of which subsequently placed orders with us, and have been in touch since for other quotes. These are just two examples stick in my mind.

So what’s the future of marketing as far as Work Area Ltd is concerned ?

More typed letters and targeted mail shots obviously.
Although I suppose I had better get onto a few more courses and training sessions in an attempt to try and get my head around this wonderfully exciting, and bottomless pit that is also known as social media.
After all, having a Google +, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MailChimp account set up, is all well and good, but it’s a bit like having a box of printed flyers on the shelf – not really a lot of point if you don’t do anything with them.