SMS VS Direct Mail Coupons

I used to be into SMS marketing but now I am looking deeply into direct mail marketing. They are both very similar but each have pros and cons. That being said, let's weigh them out.

SMS is definitely much more affordable. For less than $300 a month you can secure a system and then each text ad that you sell pays for itself and then some; creating your actual profit.

Direct mail, though, requires no initial investment. Everything is paid for by the clientele before you acquire any expenses other than time. Once all funds have been collected (that cover cost to you as well as your profit) is when the work actually begins and you take on expenses.

SMS is virtually instant. Secure payment > send the coupon/message via SMS. No waiting. With direct mail marketing, it is a long and drawn out process. You can't just sell one and send; you must sell all the spots on the postcard before you can make anything happen. Once you do sell all ad spaces, you must then design the postcard, have it printed in mass, shipped, bundled, taken to the post office, do the paperwork, then wait a day or two (max) for them to be mailed. So SMS definitely wins on terms of being easy.

SMS deals are usually very limited time offers. They usually expire at the end of the day. This means that if a potential customer just isn't interested in your product that day then he/she would rather just miss out on the deal. Postcard coupons usually expire 30 to 90 days after being received, so they may not bring in such a mass of customers in one day, but definitely can compare in the long run.

I, personally, praise direct mail. I used to think that SMS was the ****, but now I see that direct mail is much more powerful. Furthermore; direct mail coupon marketing eliminates the subscription process.

This is a main reason that my current interest lies in direct mail.

With SMS you must build a list of subscribers. But if you have no deals to send out then you won't be able to grow very many subscribers and if you have no subscribers you won't be able to sell the service. Getting SMS off the ground is much more difficult. Using direct mail (EDDM), the subscription process is eliminated and you are automatically subscribed just by owning a mail box.



These are just some things you should all consider if you are looking at SMS or direct mail. I've taken an in depth look at both forms and this is what I see. Got anything to add?


(Thanks would be appreciated!)