Myth 1− Big business consumer direct mail marketing and small business B2B direct mail marketing are the same.
Reality − They are not the same. Big business direct marketers have a completely different set of marketplace fundamentals at work on how they approach direct mail marketing that have no relationship to small business marketing at all.
First, big businesses have established brand names. American Express, Capital One etc. No one knows a small businesses name.
Second, big businesses have millions of potential customers. Small businesses may have 5,000 to 10,000 maximum. The size of your potential customer base is a crucial difference because big business counts on the law of averages in making direct marketing successful for them and it works because of their large customer base. Small businesses cannot rely on the law of averages because their customer base is too small.
Third, big businesses have large marketing budgets and small businesses do not. This allows big business to take advantage of the law of averages and stay in the game long enough to achieve a return on its investment. Small businesses will mail 5,000 people and then be unable to repeat the mailing again when they get no response.