tising, newspapers and television have been the most widely used medium, based on total advertising dollars spent. However, their share has declined, as the amount of dollars spent for direct-mail advertising has increased. The Direct Marketing Association estimates that national advertisers spent more than $27 billion on direct mail in 1994, thats nearly 20 percent of all the ad dollars spent in the United States. Thus, making direct-mail advertising the third ranked advertising medium used today, surpassed only by television and newspapers. The Development of Direct Mail in the InternetThe future of direct-mail advertising has developed side by side with the technology development of the World Wide Web. Through the Internet, conventional ways of direct-mail advertising is transformed in many ways through the advances of the developments of computer technology.Direct-mail advertising now uses the World Wide Web extensively to target their specified markets. One meaningful contribution of the Internet to direct-mail advertising is the process of selective binding. This innovative technique enables the advertiser to build unique versions of each type of direct-mail ad to reach their intended target audience more efficiently through the Internet.Another innovative use of direct-mail advertising through the Internet is again, the database. This form of technology is widely used by direct marketers, who maintain lists of their specific consumers and web-surfers. Through the use of the database, marketers can now maintain an informative list of their consumers. However, marketers are often reluctant to maintain their databases in the Internet, because they claim that it is too complicated and time consuming.Types of Direct-Mail ListsThe nucleus of any direct-mail program is the mailing list. Marketers and advertisers use 3 unique lists that will assist them to promote their products, services, or ideas. 1)House Lists: This is the marketers o...
