Direct Mail

Direct mail refers to a mass mailing to one of your audiences, whether it's the entire community, a part of the community, or just your church roll. Normally, direct mail implies prospecting, or looking for new people. It's a good way to make people in your community aware of your church.

Parts of a Mailing

Outer envelope. What's printed on the envelope often determines whether recipients open it to see what's inside. If they don't get past that barrier, your money is wasted. If you're spending a lot of money on a mass mailing, you might as well spend a bit more and print a "teaser" or promise on the envelope.
Letter. The letter explains why you're writing to them and how you want them to respond. Most are 2-4 pages long. The letter should be the first thing people see when they open the envelope. It should be written in a personal style, and should focus on the benefits to the reader of whatever you're writing about--guidance with everyday problems, fellowship with caring people, practical Bible knowledge, inspirational worship.... Explain how you want the reader to respond.
Brochure. The brochure typically presents what's in the letter, but in a more attractive way--color, graphics, etc. The brochure uses visuals, whereas the letter uses words.
Response card. You need to give people a tangible way to respond to your mailing. It might be simply a request for more information. The card could be a self-mailer, so all they need to do is stick it in the mail. Otherwise, you'll need a--
Reply envelope.

Advantages of Direct Mail

Direct mail has high response rate per thousand people reached compared to other types of promotion.
It's easy to measure the results to determine if a mailing was effective.
If you have a good mailing list, direct mail enables you to target your mail to specific kinds of people.
Mail doesn't intimidate people or intrude on them. They can read it at their leisure--or throw it away. No salesperson confronts them, so it's easy to say no.
The Post Office might sell you a mailing list for the specific carrier route you'd like to mail to.

Disadvantages of Direct Mail

While the response rate is considered comparatively high, it's still not very high Researcher George Barna says the return is about 1 percent. So if you mail 5000 pieces of mail, don't expect more than 50 people to respond.
The Post Office makes no promises about delivery on third class mail. Your mail may arrive several days after an event which the mailing announced.
Direct mail can be very expensive, when you consider printing, postage, and labor (for stuffing envelopes).

You Can Use Direct Mail to Send:

Your flagship brochure.
Flyers.
Information on your daycare center.
Sign-up forms for Vacation Bible School.
A Christmas greeting to everyone in your community.

Try Just a Postcard

An oversized postcard can provide plenty of information, and eliminates the barrier of the envelope. Plus, it saves you some money and the time it would take to stuff envelopes.

A Trend

Because of the increasing cost of third-class mail, many organizations are sending mail only to persons they've identified as interested or potentially interested. They may be considered interested because--

They attended a special event.
They requested information in some way.
They have children who would benefit from one of your programs.
Or merely because they live near the church.