ABSTRACT
Direct Mail-Focused Audience, Precise Messages Targeted direct mail and telemarketing can send out specific messages to a variety of select audiences. For a candidate for governor of Maryland (let’s assume she is a Republican), no direct mail would be sent to ineligible voters: nonresidents, children, long-standing Democrats, and those who had not voted in prior elections. Separate mailings would be sent to a variety of targeted audiences, with messages tailored to each constituency’s interests: thirtyyear-old, college-educated, female, Independent voters; rural families with young children; Maryland members of the National Rifle Association; and a wide variety of other groupings. As direct mail consultants Richard Schlackman and Jamie “Buster” Douglas, observe, when used properly, direct mail is the “most precise weapon in a candidate’s arsenal.”2
