Direct Mail Advertising is a great option to develop your restaurant business. Unlike newspapers, radio or TV, direct mail business enables you to put your advertising dollars exactly where your potential customers live. You may aim geographically by neighborhood or demographically by age, income, ethnicity, etc., or a combination of both.

Direct mail advertising also enables you to rule your budget, by the size of your mailings (the quantity of pieces) and the frequency of your mailings.

There are a plenty of other benefits, here are just a few:

1. It’s personal, between you and your prospect

2. It’s not as public as different media, your competitors won’t have access to your coupons and special offers as they do in newspapers and other media.

3. It’s limited to one mail piece per household, which means peculiar suggestions will not be abused, for instance, by prospects purchasing more than one newspaper and clipping multiple coupons

4. Response is simple to track

5. You can compare results by neighborhoods and determine your best market area.

Concerning this, you might be asking yourself, if direct mail business is so efficient, why isn’t each restaurant in town doing it?

Indeed, direct mail can play a key role in growing your restaurant business, however, it is going to take some effort when you send out cards and, of course a budget. It’s not just a matter of putting your menu or a few coupons together and mailing them out. A beneficial campaign is a bit more complicated than that. To gain some insight into the process, Isuggest reading blogs and online articles like this one, which contains ideas and tips on design, mailing lists, direct mail strategies etc.

Of course, everyone wants to hit a home run the first time at bat, but prepared for some hits and misses. Each mailing is essential and gives a chance for you to know more about your market area. Results will vary, even if no one responds, that is still a result (obviously not what you were expecting) and the result, that no one or few people responded, can be used to make a course correction.

So, if you have decided to start a direct mail campaign, start with a mailing that is large enough to establish a base line of results, usually about 2000 to 3000 pieces. Don’t be enticed to save money on printing by ordering large quantities to be used in future mailings. What if your suggestions fall flat and don’t function.

Direct mail advertising functions. It may work for you. But, unless you are ready to stick with it, you may be wasting your time and money. It is going to take some trial and error. The good news is, that over time, with experience, results will become predictable. That’s when you may expand your efforts, and direct mail advertising won’t be costing you money, it will generate you money.