I’m on vacation this week in the Dominican Republic, a great country with extremely warm, friendly people who enjoy life and laugh easily.
But somehow the concept of direct mail marketing seems to have missed them. There’s no great mail service to speak of here. (Not like our great Postal Service, he said facetiously). Bills come by mail, but not much else. And you can forget about catalogs. They don’t have them here.
The more affluent order online and have their items shipped via FedEx or United Postal Service. Some actually have P.O. boxes in the states — mostly Miami. They have their catalogs shipped to Miami, too, or to friends’ homes, who in turn overnight said catalogs here.
We come here often as we have friends and family here. We get a lot of catalog merchandise shipped to our house … Somewhere I see an opportunity in all of this. Internet use is rising here.
Keeping it short this week. Back to new ways to acquire new customers next week.
Got comments? Post them below.
Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.
And You Thought the USPS Needed Help!
I’m on vacation this week in the Dominican Republic, a great country with extremely warm, friendly people who enjoy life and laugh easily.
But somehow the concept of direct mail marketing seems to have missed them. There’s no great mail service to speak of here. (Not like our great Postal Service, he said facetiously). Bills come by mail, but not much else. And you can forget about catalogs. They don’t have them here.
The more affluent order online and have their items shipped via FedEx or United Postal Service. Some actually have P.O. boxes in the states — mostly Miami. They have their catalogs shipped to Miami, too, or to friends’ homes, who in turn overnight said catalogs here.
We come here often as we have friends and family here. We get a lot of catalog merchandise shipped to our house … Somewhere I see an opportunity in all of this. Internet use is rising here.
Keeping it short this week. Back to new ways to acquire new customers next week.
Got comments? Post them below.
Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing Inc., a full-service catalog and direct marketing agency. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at www.linkedin.com/in/jimwgilbert or you can post a comment here or e-mail him at jimdirect@aol.com.
Jim Gilbert has been creating direct marketing programs that drive superior ROI for almost 30 years. Fluent in consumer or B-to-B, creative, operations, and analytics, he marries the strategic and tactical sides of direct and social media marketing in a seamless fashion that gets results. He's CEO of a multidiscipline direct marketing agency, Gilbert Direct Marketing, Inc., which focuses on direct mail, catalogs, DRTV, telemarketing, print, alternative direct marketing media and social media marketing. Jim has been involved in start-ups, expansions and turnarounds, and is an expert in helping multichannel marketers get to the "next level." He's a former adjunct professor, teaching direct marketing at Miami International University, and is President of the Board of Directors of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. Jim loves to talk direct marketing, and has done many lectures on direct and social media marketing.