Is direct mail still effective when marketing to evaluators and buyers of technology products within large corporateion?
Of course it does. The trick is writng an effective letter, in addition to finding a reliable list. The latter is why I don't mess with direct mail.
The game has changed. In addition to IM I own an industrial company. Since I walk both sides of the street I can tell you that direct mail is still very effective. I know this from a customer point of view and from a vendor point of view in the offline world. As a simple and common example in small or closely held companies; purchasing agents, business owners and those responsible for buying whether it is technology or widgets, like to Google it before picking up the phone if they don't have a ready source Direct mail works if the list is ultra targeted (that's the hard part) and has web resources for the solution you are presenting. So you better have a great buyer website. Secondly, if you use an outside sales force or a distributor network to back up your direct marketing they better be nimble. For large companies I think direct mail could be a waste unless as I said above, your list is ultra targeted. You better know exactly who it needs to get to. If you were asking the question thinking of blasting something out to a list your bought....hah! That probably never worked anyway.
I agree with steelhead. Direct mail is still safer than email marketing to a list that is not your own opt-in. With emails, people can hit the spam buttons and can ruin your domain's reputation, but they can't dothat with direct mail. Also, direct mail has a better presentation because it is real. Direct mail newsletters sit around in my house for days or weeks, and an email gets deleted usually within the same day. That means direct mail also has a better shelf-life.
And if you are interested in direct mailing then get hold of Dan Kennedy's stuff, he's the master of direct marketing. I've learned a lot from him before i embarked on the direct marketing in my line of business.
Automotive direct mail can support any marketing goal. Whether it's a lead generation program for potential customers, or a service reminder to existing customers, automotive direct mail can produce results.