Directing mail marketing involves a marketing channel where prospective or existing clients receive printed or promotional materials through the postal service. The ultimate goal is to earn a customer’s business or expand an already ongoing relationship with them. Besides direct mail, other popular direct marketing methods include email, telemarketing, short message service (SMS), infomercials, and events.
How Does Direct Mail Marketing Work?
Direct mail marketing seems like a simple process on the surface. The truth is that a lot of strategic planning is involved before rolling out a successful direct mail campaign. There are well-thought-out plans that must be followed before releasing marketing pieces to realize maximum results. Direct mail marketing primarily comprises three main components, as discussed below.
1. Targeted List
If you want marketing campaigns to bear fruits, the target audience must be interested in the product or service being offered. Better results are more likely to happen with a direct response list and not a list from other sources. The chances of getting a good response are boosted when the list is more targeted. As such, the quality of the mail list is a huge determinant of the outcomes. You can choose a targeted list based on different criteria.
- Interests
- Area of residence
- Income bracket
- Gender
- Age
- Hobbies
- Occupation
- Promotional Offers
After setting the list, the focus shifts to the offer and not the product or service on sale. This way, you increase the chances of closing a sale by concentrating on the steps that result in a sale and not the sale itself. Examples of popular offers are discounts, free trials, free gifts, BOGO, limited time, etc.
3. Compelling Creative
A well-crafted direct mail guarantees a better response. To catch attention at first glance, make sure that the outside of the envelope has color and copy. Once the targeted individual opens it, follow up with an easy and obvious message outside the envelope to improve the chances of a quick response.
Why Direct Mail Marketing Works
One major contributor to direct mail marketing success is that it taps into the positive psychology of getting a physical gift. A marketing campaign is not complete without incorporating direct mail marketing. Below are a few details about direct mail marketing that make it right for any business.
It Is Memorable, With A Better Response Rate
Direct mail marketing is memorable because of the human touch. A personally chosen item or a handwritten note provides a positive connection more than a corporate gift will. Due to this personalized approach, direct mail marketing has an impressive response rate—up to 30 times higher than other digital marketing channels, including emails. Integrating direct mail marketing into the marketing campaign can raise a business’ return on investment (ROI) by 20%.
Less Competition with More Ways to Be Creative
Few companies are now budgeting for tactile marketing, making direct mail marketing a rare type of marketing. It stands out from the rest, and you are assured of results when you incorporate it into your marketing campaigns. It also offers limitless ways to impress targeted audience compared to other digital alternatives. Look for a reliable sending platform to deliver various creatively presented items, such as personalized gifts, eGift cards, handwritten cards, sweets and treats, experience tickets, and so much more.
It Is Cost-Effective and Highly Tractable
Compared to other digital campaigns that require a significant investment to realize a meaningful ROI, direct mail is very budget-friendly. Besides simple execution, it is cost-effective and can fit any budget. Monitoring direct mail may not seem easy, but there are techniques available to measure their performance. One effective way for monitoring and tracking is through custom phone numbers. These numbers are created to forward and document calls to the current numbers, enabling you to see what marketing methods yield better results. Exclusive offers also go along away when created for direct mail.
It Pairs Well with Digital Marketing
The fact that online advertising has a low response rate does not disqualify it entirely because customers still want to read online reviews or follow social media pages. Direct mail marketing offers the best of both worlds with offline access to customers while still allowing them to connect online. This can be achieved by including online-only offers, QR Codes, and social media links on direct mail. Great campaign results are assured when you combine offline and online direct marketing strategies to reach prospective buyers.
Direct Mail Marketing Costs
Direct mail marketing costs vary depending on the budget. While considerable attention is directed to sourcing a suitable item, the overall cost goes beyond that. Other marketing components to keep in mind during the campaign are costs of:
- Printing personalized printed items
- Design of the printed items
- Packaging and shipping, and
- Human capital invested while manually shipping, tracking, and following up.
Automating the direct mail process with a sending platform is a commendable way to get the best out of the marketing campaign with less manual labor and team hours. It can save up to 40 hours of a campaign.
Things to Avoid in Direct Mail Marketing
Although direct mail marketing presents hallmarks of success, there are pitfalls and mistakes to avoid. First, it is senseless to run a direct mail campaign without a clear goal. Without careful consideration in the campaign’s planning stage, you may end up delivering items to people incapable of taking action or benefiting from our offer. Failure to follow up after shipment delivery and responses will significantly water down the campaign’s efforts. It is always essential to have a follow-up plan before packages are delivered to the targeted individuals.
Manually packing boxes consumes precious time that can be utilized for other productive and revenue-generating activities. A more effective and time-saving method is using a sending platform to reach clients. Another major disservice to avoid is forgetting to track packages and tying them to your campaigns. Sending campaigns are maximized when you track package deliveries, tie them to the campaigns, and track responses. A sending platform can help streamline this section of the campaign.
Conclusion
Now that you are abreast with all the details about direct mail marketing, start embracing it to build customer loyalty and refine your bottom-line results. It is more effective when integrated with other direct marketing techniques.
