… and its top 5 benefits
Direct mail marketing is one of the available vehicles of the Direct Marketing discipline. It is a marketing medium that involves sending printed promotional material to a list of predetermined recipients, also known as “the audience”.
The “direct” portion of “direct mail marketing”, comes from the manner in which the marketing message is disseminated. Unlike ads on billboards, or radio ads available to all seeing/listening, direct mail is targeting only specified prospects, selected in advance.
Why only those “selected ones”? That has to do with why and how mailing lists are constructed.
The majority of direct mail marketing goes through the US Postal Service. They deliver promotional printed material to the target audience which can be Business to Consumer or Business to Business.
Types of direct mail include postcards, catalogs, newsletters, sales letters, and brochures.
In general, executing a direct mail marketing campaign means:
- Buying a mailing list that reflects the audience they want to reach. Focusing on demographics, geographical area & how recent and accurate the data is, can be critical to the success of such campaign.
- Designing a mail piece that fits the format they want to use (postcard smaller than flyer etc.) where the emphasis is on personable message (e.g. “Dear Abigail, I am writing to you….” etc.) and graphic design that supports and empowers the message, focuses it.
- Mailing it – where one has to choose the appropriate means of mailing it that balances budget with speed and class of delivery. There are methods like presorting applied to bulk quantities that can lower the cost of campaigns, but require the help of a mailing house or broker / agent.
What Are The Benefits of Direct Mail Marketing
The 5 essential benefits of effective direct mail marketing are:
- Flexible
- Efficient
- Personal – Helps you really connect with recipients
- Gets you noticed and promotes your brand’s credibility
- Supports additional marketing KPIs
Continue reading to discover in elaborate details what potential each of these benefits holds. Oh, and by the way, KPI is acronym for “Key Performance Indicator“
Although technology is shifting towards more digital marketing, direct mail is still the best marketing mean for businesses to hit a target market with a marketing piece specific to the recipient.
Over 56% of consumers who received direct mail went online and visited an online retailer. Of those who responded to direct mail, 62% of shoppers made a purchase online. Today, most businesses think email, social media, and digital marketing are the most effective. What they don’t realize is that direct mail is the perfect complement to their digital marketing and nets a high response rate. Want to know more about effective direct mail marketing?
And now – the 5 benefits – in all their glory (and gory) details…
Direct Mail is Flexible
Direct mail marketing can serve different marketing goals. First, it promotes upcoming products. Second, it acts as an invitation or a promotional tool where your potential customers can redeem it for coupons.
Direct mail is also a perfect tool for educating your target audience. This helps to create long-lasting relationships. A good example is a newsletter that gives updates on current happenings in your industry.
Don’t forget that direct mail can help your business gather useful information by driving them to a specific website or landing page. Information that includes email addresses and phone numbers.
Targeted Direct Mail is Efficient
Over 47% of millennials check their physical mailbox every day. This is great news to businesses considering that millennials spend a lot of time online. As a marketer, you can incorporate extra elements such as QR codes and scannable coupons to your direct mail piece which will help increase response rates.
By doing so, you provide a well-rounded approach not only to millennials but to the Gen Xers too. This helps to leverage their multichannel interests.
Helps Your Brand Connect with Prospects
Personalizing your direct mail evokes emotions from your target audience. This gives your brand the power to connect with your target audience. In fact, including the person’s full name increases the response rate by 50%.
What you need to know is that direct mail can connect with people from all generations. The reason for this is that it leaves a positive impression and also makes the customer feel valued.
Gets Your Brand Noticed
Direct mail such as brochures put your brand’s name, and message right in front of your target audience face. Compared to email where most marketing messages go to the spam folder and remain unopened, direct mail success rate is higher.
Want to ensure that your brand stands out? Be sure to use postcards, brochures and newsletters that have an eye-catching design. Include a call to action, and use personalization. Calling your prospect by name rather than a generic “hey you” will help you get noticed!
Supports Marketing KPIs
Direct mail does not support sales only but extra marketing key performance indicators. For instance, if you send a postcard or catalog to your target audience, they will take action.
That is, to browse and shop from your online shop. In fact, over 92% of customers have ended up shopping online as a result of direct mail.
Effective Direct Mail Marketing Strategy for Your Business
Want to take advantage of effective direct mail marketing?
Go after the right people, make sure your message is clear and easy to read.
We are here to help you achieve that goal of finding new customers each week, using Direct mail marketing and in most cases you can do it yourself without putting more than an hour a week into it.
Call us or contact us for more details. We’d be happy to provide you with samples and advice and even a free list to get started.