Did you know most Americans trust direct mail offers more than emailed version of the same offer or those they see online?
A survey conducted by Marketing Sherpa found that 76 percent of people trust offers directly mailed to them. And who can blame them? The average American is bombarded with over 120 emails a day.
You should start considering what really appeals to your prospective customers before you spam them with offers.
Of course, emails can yield better ROI because they are cheaper to produce and send, but that’s part of why they get a bad reputation. Printed mail piece, when personalized, gives the recipient a feeling of care and effort someone spent reaching them.
Here are some reasons why you should consider direct mail marketing for your business:
- People enjoy receiving physical mail
- You get better response rates compared to email
- Direct mail is highly targeted to households and individuals making it more effective
- Consumers read their direct mail.
- Direct mail is not spammy like pop-ups or emails
- Direct mail influences purchasing behavior
The benefits of direct mail marketing are obvious to professionals who have tried different approaches in their marketing.
Everyone knows digital ads are easier and cheaper to set up and are likely to be ignored.
When you do something that clearly shows you have gone the extra mile, people notice and they definitely take a mental note.
Plus, having a physical reminder of your business in front of people will keep your business in their mind.
Direct Marketing Who?
This type of marketing refers to any physical correspondence that business owners send to their prospective customers, people they believe are likely to purchase their products or services.
The aim is to get them to respond positively which usually means – contact you for information, leading up to a purchase.
Direct Marketing is used to reach both consumers and other businesses, hence called “B2B” (business to business) and “B2C” (business to consumers), respectively.
As a business owner, all you need to have to do is generate an appealing call to action (aka “CTA”) and of course a means of contact. The rest lies in the quality of your mailing list.
Why Mailing List Quality Counts?
Remember, that as a business owner, you control the narrative. That is you get to tell your story.
What’s unique about you that makes you more appealing than your competitor?
Maybe it’s your personal care and treatment of customers, maybe it’s how long you’ve been in business which gives you credibility, maybe you have the cheapest prices and maybe you’re prices are not cheap but they reflect the highest quality, when compared to the rest.
Either way, you control the story you tell, and the offer you make (CTA). You believe that if people read your “elevator pitch” and see “the special offer” – then the call to action will work and they will respond.
But, what you don’t control, is “who gets it”.
Sure, you can mail your existing customers, in hope to get them to buy more, or upgrade their purchase (to higher service level for example), but that is called “retention”. Retention is actually well-served using email. The people receiving it know you already.
Direct mail is uniquely effective for bringing in new customers, people who do not know you yet. This is called “acquisition”.
How do you reach people you don’t know? How do you make sure that when you send a postcard or a flyer, you send it to a person who is likely to make a purchase.
Well, the basics hold true here as anywhere; you want people who can afford to pay. Then you want people who are likely to look for your service or product.
There is a unique population (aka “target audience”) who makes a great candidate for both; New Homeowners.
Why New Homeowners?
Anyone who moves, usually needs to find new providers and places to shop for the basics they require. But not all new movers are new homeowners. Many new movers are renters, people who have limited ability to impact their residence, because they are not allowed to change it much.
New Homeowners however, have unique traits that make them very desirable to businesses:
- The typical relocation is 15 miles or more apart from the previous location. This means most common services including shopping, pet care, child care and family activities, eating out, basic home maintenance service providers – those and more are now too far away to walk or even drive and these people are looking for new places to get what they need
- Most home buyers finance via mortgages, which mean their finances are good enough for financial institutions to trust their ability to pay, their credit score. This makes them your best possible prospects – they have more to lose by not paying than any customer who has no property or collateral
- Finally, homeowners have need for making improvements in their new place, but unlike renters, are allowed to make most of these changes; from building a deck, to furnishing gardens and homes and install better appliances or remodel whole sections of their new home.
In short, as a business owner, you do not want to spend time becoming a marketing expert. Save time by reaching the right audience at the right time. You will also save a ton of money by NOT sending offers to people who are not likely to buy.
So How Should I Create My First Mail Piece ?
Be creative but ensure that the gist of the message reaches your customers.
You can use the following common forms of direct mail:
- Catalog
- Brochure
- Flyer
-
Coupon envelope
- Postcard
- Business cards
Direct Mail Really Works
A study about Direct Mail Marketing performed by Epilson (a known marketing company) found that 59% of consumers said that they enjoyed receiving mail with offers and information regarding new products.
This attests to the fact that physical mail caters to the human need for connection through the 5 senses.
Feeling and touching a mail piece, makes the engagement all that more real and credible, subconsciously.
Your Direct Mail Marketing strategy should incorporate creative ways of connecting to the human senses and so the visuals (sight), texture (touch) and where possible even the smell should cater to this.
You can get over email fatigue by targeting high-intent customers with creative and personal direct mail.
Add that to a good mailing list – and you’re on a roll.
Your business will see results in influx of new customers.
Not sure yet? Ask big companies, even Google, the “queen of online” who still use postcards to attract business.
If you have any questions or concerns, our team is always here to answer and support you.