The service provides an extensive array of information and advice and will no doubt be useful to the media and entertainment companies that spent a total of £85.5 million on DM campaigns last year (not to mention the financial service companies that spent a total of £387 million).

The point of the website is to remind businesses of the benefits that a well managed direct mail marketing campaign can bring. The site is free to use, user friendly and provides advice, tips and information to enable companies to execute a professional direct marketing campaign from start to finish.

Among the most important areas are the ‘getting it right’ and ‘tools and resources’ sections. The former of these is divided up into further sections titled ‘ a guide to DM’, ‘practical tips’, ‘sample mailshots’, ‘legal issues’ and ‘case studies’, all of which offer an extensive amount of very practical information. The latter section delves into what it calls ‘the real nuts and bolts of the process’, providing a list of direct mail and other marketing related agencies.

Media companies interested in getting an introduction to the DM world to discover what does and what doesn’t work – or just keen on brushing up their DM skills – can find the site at www.royalmail.com/insight-engine.

See also: Direct mail marketing tips – Direct mail can be a very cost-effective way for small businesses to reach new customers and to build stronger relationships with existing clients.