Create Direct Mail campaigns with Royal Mail’s Mailshots Online

Direct mail can be a very cost-effective way for small businesses to reach new customers and to build stronger relationships with existing clients. It can be used by virtually any type of company – from accountants to window cleaners - to drum up business and increase profits.

In 2005, a total of £2.37 billion was spent in the UK on direct mail, and it’s estimated that consumer direct mail generates over £27 billion of business every year*. With numbers like this it’s clear that direct mail is a great tool for companies looking to generate more business.

To help small businesses to take advantage of the potential of direct mail, the Royal Mail has launched Mailshots Online - an online service that allows small businesses to put together an entire direct mail campaign in just 60 minutes.

Many small businesses find that well-targeted mailshots are one of the best ways to promote their business and win more customers. However, traditionally, one of the drawbacks for small businesses looking to use direct mail is the relatively high cost of having a mailshot professionally designed. But Mailshots Online removes this cost by giving you a range of ready-made, attractive designs to choose from.

A direct mail campaign in 60 minutes

Even if you’ve never used direct mail before Mailshots Online makes it easy for you to quickly put together a direct marketing campaign. All the resources you need are on the website. There’s advice on how to combine a mail pack with a well-chosen mailing list, a step-by-step guide to designing your own items, an online demo that guides you through the entire process from start to finish and a handy ‘Pricing Indicator’ that quickly calculates for you what the total cost of your chosen direct mail campaign would be.

Once you’ve registered with Mailshots Online you can create as many campaigns as you like free of charge - there are no design charges - you only pay for printing and postage.

Mailshots Online gives you the flexibility to send your mailshot to a mailing list that you already have or you can buy a suitable mailing within the system. If you’re using your own mailing list, the site even lets you use the Royal Mail ListCleaner program to ‘clean’ your list. Running your database through this program will remove any out-of-date records from your list and therefore help to make your direct mail campaign more effective.

Claim a complimentary copy of Direct Mail for Dummies

When you visit the site, you can even claim a free copy of Direct Mail for Dummies**. The book tells you all you need to know about direct marketing, with a range of useful tips and techniques to really help you to get the most from your direct mail campaigns.

To find out more about how Mailshots Online could help you to create, great-looking and cost-effective direct mail campaigns visit the Mailshots Online website.

* Source: DMIS
** Subject to availability