In a world of online marketing, emails, social media, and virtual reality, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no longer a place for the humble letter. However, direct mail marketing can still effectively engage with your customers and motivate them to take specific actions, with the assistance of business mailers.
Direct mail might seem like something that has become a relic of the past along with home phones and dial-up internet, but the truth is that it can still be highly effective in 2022 if it is used in the correct way. With most people only expecting things like bills through the mail these days, direct mail can actually become an ideal way for your company to stand out and make a good impression on your customers.
How Effective is Direct Mail Marketing?
At first glance, it might seem like direct mail isn’t going to be very effective. And sometimes, it isn’t. Flyers in the mailbox often get thrown straight in the trash without a second thought and if care isn’t taken, it could make customers feel intruded upon in their home. However, when it is done correctly, statistics show that direct mail effectiveness can be very high. When it comes to figuring out just how effective your direct mail campaign is, Lob advises starting with these metrics.
The ROI, response rate, and revenue generated from your campaign can all be indicators of your sending reputation and whether it is a success or whether changes and improvements need to be made. Lob provides a range of tools that you can use to simplify the process of setting up and running your direct mail campaign with automation.
1. Choosing the Right Mail Type
One of the first things to consider when setting up a direct mail advertising campaign is the mail type you are going to use. Postcards, for example, are a popular choice since they are cheap and can be very effective for advertising things like a new product or a new store opening.
They don’t require customers to open an envelope, so are more likely to grab attention. On the other hand, a letter in an envelope might be a better choice if you want to further personalize your direct mail Marketing campaign. Statistics show that this is one of the most effective types of direct mail with an average response rate of higher than 4%. The larger the envelope, the better the response. When it comes to mail marketing, choosing the right envelope is crucial, and using bulk digital window envelopes can help showcase your branding and message while ensuring efficient and cost-effective delivery.
2. Know Your Target Audience
Of course, it’s important to choose the right mail type to send – but to finalize your decision, you will need to have a solid understanding of your target audience to better determine the type of mail that they are going to respond best to. Just like any other type of marketing campaign, direct mail marketing requires you to get to know the people that you are advertising to. By spending time researching and getting familiar with your target audience, you can come up with better direct mail Marketing campaigns that engage them and meet their needs.
3. Set Your Goals
Once you have your target audience in mind and know what kind of mail you want to send them, it’s time to think about your goals for the campaign. It’s impossible to run a successful campaign without setting goals and objectives, so this should be one of the first things that you do. Consider what you want your target customers to do when they receive your letter or postcard in the mail. Do you want them to visit your store? Head to your website? Buy a product online? Sign up for something? Join your email newsletter? Clear goals and objectives will drive your campaign in the right direction and help you measure its success in the future.
4. Set Your Budget
It’s important to set a budget and then build your direct mail campaign around it. When it comes to what you are spending, most brands don’t have the option to splash out huge amounts of money, which is why being realistic about what you can afford to do with your direct mail marketing campaign is crucial.
Before setting your budget, consider the goals and objectives that you want to achieve with the campaign, and what expenses will be necessary to get there. It is also worth bearing in mind that there are often more costs involved with direct mail marketing compared to other popular marketing campaign types like email. You’ll need to pay for things like paper, postage, and ink, the cost of which might surprise you if you are used to digital marketing where these things are not necessary.
5. Check Your Data
Before you start sending out direct mail to your customers, cleaning your data is important. Just like sending marketing emails, you don’t want to send direct mail marketing material to the wrong house or send the same customer two of the same letters – it’s just an unprofessional look that is only going to frustrate your customers and target audience rather than engage them. Data hygiene should be an essential first step, allowing you to eliminate any old or outdated data, make sure that names and addresses are spelled correctly, and that there are no duplicate records.
6. Create Quality Content
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because direct mail Marketing is not as popular as online marketing, you don’t have to put as much effort into your content. If anything, you need to pay even more attention to the content that you include in your direct mail marketing campaigns as it will not be as easy for your customer or target to complete the actions that you want them to. They need to be captivated by the copy and encouraged to take further actions that might require some more work on their part compared to clicking on a link in an email, for example.
Direct mail marketing might not be the first type of marketing that you think of when it comes to reaching out to customers. But it can be a breath of fresh air, getting back to basics in a world where our online activity is often bombarded with ads.
