In the modern economy there has been a natural inclination for companies to rely on modern forms of marketing like email and social media. However, these methods have become costly and heavily saturated which means there has been a resurgence in companies adding direct mail back into their marketing strategy. According to the Data & Marketing Association, customer response rates through direct mail have increased year-on-year by 43 percent, and prospect response rates have almost doubled, reporting a 190 percent increase.
There are many benefits to combining your direct mail campaign with your digital marketing strategy in a cost-effective and efficient way. Whatever the aim your campaign sets out to accomplish, from offering a unique offer to a discount code, or a partnership opportunity to an event invitation, using digital methods to follow up on your direct mail messages increases the chance of your total response rate and ultimately can help to a lead in increased sales.
This blog explains the best possible practices to use to integrate your direct mail campaign with your digital marketing strategy.
Why Should You Be Integrating Direct Mail and Digital Marketing?
Although Direct Mail may be one of the oldest marketing methods, today it still remains as one of the most effective means of targeting large groups of prospects and getting results.
The USPS “Household Diary Study” found that people read postcards in greater numbers with a 3.9% YOY rise.
While acknowledging digital platforms like Facebook and Google are undeniably effective methods, being able to integrate direct mail methods like sending out flyers and postcards can result in a much more effective overall digital marketing strategy. How? Using Facebook and Google ads are effective as they possess vast amounts of impressive demographic data about their users and in turn your potential users. Many direct mail lists also provide masses of demographic data, and by combining the two allows marketers to send out highly targeted messages to potential new prospects.
Where does direct mail marketing fit into the digital sales funnel?
Typically, a digital sales funnel uses targeted advertising, usually through Google and Facebook Ads, to drive traffic for a specific campaign. From there, prospective customers would either choose to take action of the marketing message or ignore. However, by introducing a new hybrid funnel, professionals are now using targeted printed marketing materials alongside their Google and Facebook ads to direct more targeted consumers towards a specific campaign landing page.
By using specific and personalised URL and QR codes, marketers are able to track and measure both the digital response and direct mail response traffic and in turn discover total conversion rates. Using personalised URL (PURL) codes is an effective way to trial out new campaigns for custom audiences and remarketing purposes. As direct mail is so cost-effective compared with using channels like Facebook and Google, it is also a great way to bring total campaign spend down, whilst still achieving similar results.
Factors to consider when combining digital marketing and direct mail
To get the most out of combining mail with your digital marketing campaign, it is important to follow a few best practices.
Firstly, before you can start, you need to establish your targeted mailing list. Effective marketing is all about delivering the right message to the right customer or prospect at the right time. Do you have the most current data for mailing and do you need to clean up your existing mailing list? Once you know you have the correct addresses, focus on tracking purchase history and demographics of your audience. The more information you collect, the more you are able to refine your target audience, and the better your response rate is going to be.
Always include a compelling CTA and exclusive offer. If your offer and call to action (CTA) doesn’t resonate with your prospects, they will not buy from you. Targeting the right offers to the right people is critical for your response rates. They also need to be aligned and consistent across all of the marketing channels you choose for the campaign.
Thinking about the design of your printing material is also a key component in a successful campaign. There are many areas where you can get creative in order for you to stand out by choosing the size of paper, the texture, the colours, the images and creatives that have the highest impact. Ultimately, you want to be able to create a memorable moment with a lasting impact that your prospects won’t forget.
And lastly, using a unique and personalised URL (PURL) is key to measuring success and retargeting your direct mail recipients. It may be wise to invest in a suitable tracking software so you can use your results to inform future marketing campaigns. It may also be worthwhile to run an A/B test by using a piece that worked for you great last time against a new piece. This will give you an opportunity to continually create better direct mail throughout the business year.
Ways to follow up on your combined digital and direct mail strategy
In an ideal world, your prospects would automatically respond to your marketing efforts in the way your call to action or offer was directed to them. But in reality, it can take days, weeks, months for many genuinely interested parties to respond no matter how appealing your offer is. This is where your follow up is vital in pushing for that anticipated response. You need to create an overall prospecting attack which is built around your direct mail send-out.
This is where your digital channels can play a huge role. Firstly, engaging with people on Social Media platforms, although a less direct approach, can remind and encourage your prospects to take some sort of action. Secondly, by sending an email to the recipient, you can remind them directly of the proposition in your direct mail and allow them to respond in a way that is convenient for them. You can also tailor your email which allows them to automatically reply with a ‘not interested right now’ or ‘please bear me in mind for future deals’ which will help to give you closure to your results and how you should take next steps.
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Despite the advancement of digital marketing and the variety of available tools and technology in the online world, the power of printing is certainly making a come-back and is becoming a vital component in many companies digital sales funnel.
To see how we could help you make the most of your direct mail marketing, contact us today for a free no obligation quotation. For more information, please use our contact form or call us on 020 8492 5858 and one of our mailing specialists will be in touch soon.