While direct mail marketing has been replaced by and large with bulk emails the same principles of marketing apply for both forms of direct communications. The objective of all direct marketing is to create a favourable first impression which draws the target into spending time absorbing the information provided which if correctly structured offers a series of logical reasons why the offer you are making should be considered.What is fascinating is that those companies which also add promotional merchandise to the package they are using to lure people into engaging with their message have a proven effectiveness which is 500% greater than those simple messages which are offered without accompanying merchandise.

Imagine for instance that your company was offering a new financial investment scheme to an established list of customers. We all know how much clutter fills both electronic and physical letter boxes these days so it is a simple matter for most people to discard anything which they see which is not immediately recognisable or does not hold the hope of providing something relevant or entertaining. When people sight your promotional offering, even something as humble as a pen or a notepad they are far less likely to ignore it or immediately dispose of it and indeed while they may toss out anything which accompanies the gift they will certainly hold onto the gift item inside. If that item then carries relevant details of the offer and your company contact details there is an excellent chance that something will still come of the offer your are making.

Simple matters like sending out printed invoices to your clients can also be made more streamlined and effective by adding a cheap branded promotional item to the mail out. Say for instance you add a small packet of confectionery to the envelope by way of a "thank you" gift to the recipients. People will obviously look more favourably upon your financial demands than they will otherwise and even the most difficult situation can be eased with the effective addition of the right piece of branded merchandise. Not only does the simple gift make people feel happier abut the less pleasant aspects of the communication they have received but the right promo item included can ensure that the next time the same service or product you have provided is required you will be the first person on the list to be offered the opportunity to quote.

Consider the example of a company which is wanting to reactivate a stale list of addresses and get people top respond so that the contact list can be updated and used more effectively to generate sales in the future. Often people will simply ignore any request like this and indeed people will go out of their way not to respond or deny having received anything if they are questioned as they do not wish to feel any pressure in future to do do business with the sender. Adding a response form which promises the offer of a small but well chosen promotional gift is a great way to get a far higher response rate. Say your offer is that people who send back the coupon or reply to your email will receive a custom branded pen which looks like a much more expensive brand. One of the great advantages of promotional merchandise based marketing is that you can leverage the apparent value of an item on offer compared to a much lower actual cost to your company. Not only do people respond better to your marketing activities, they are primed to be better prospect sin the future when you once again are in a position top make them an offer.