The "A" or "B" Pile

Will your direct mail piece escape the circular file?

Direct mail is a great way to market your products and services by allowing you to target leads by specific demographics.  Based on what you already know about your target audience, you can purchase a laser-focused mailing list of contacts who bear a higher likelihood of becoming customers because you have already pre-qualified them.

So, you’ve got your direct mail list and it’s time to decide on what to send your prospects.  Before you do, it’s important to understand that we are all inundated each day with countless marketing messages and advertisements.  This has conditioned us to be very selective on what and where we choose to focus our attention.  We’ve learned to block out much of the information we are exposed to each day.  Of course, this provides an obstacle for a business trying to communicate the value of its product or service to prospects.  This daily flood of messages has created something that is sometimes referred to as a marketing principle called The “A” or “B” Pile.

The principle of The “A” or “B” Pile says that when people get their mail, they will create two piles… an “A” and “B” pile.  Pile “A” is for all the mail they intend to open and read.  This is the pile that gets their attention to one degree or another.  Then there’s the dreaded “B” pile.  This is the pile of mail that gets tossed, unopened, directly into the trash.  This is the pile they choose not to give their attention and is definitely the pile to stay out of with your marketing correspondence.

There are several ways to help get your marketing message into the “A” pile.  One method is to use postcards for your mailer.  Postcards act like mini-billboards and are very hard to ignore.  Keep in mind that just because your message is hard to ignore, doesn’t mean it won’t be dismissed to the “B” pile if it’s not written well or does a poor job of communicating the benefits of your product or service.

Create a quality direct mail postcard that effectively communicates the benefits of your product or service and you’ll be sure to make your prospective client’s “A” pile and get your message read!