Why Do You Need a Direct Mail Marketing Strategy to Generate Leads?
The market is moving steadily towards digital communication, social media, and promotional videos. However, a large portion of consumers still prefer human engagement from companies.
Canadian businesses often struggle to drive conversions in the age of cutthroat competition. A direct mail marketing strategy can save your advertising efforts from failing. People favour receiving physical marketing material instead of consuming overwhelming digital information.
The human touch builds trust and loyalty among customers for your brand. Many marketers have misconceptions about the price of direct marketing campaigns. However, modern tools optimize strategies and increase conversion rates with automation capabilities.
Expert marketing professionals implement omnichannel advertising to add multiple touchpoints in the customer journey. This blog will enlighten you on how to build an effective direct mail marketing strategy.
What is Direct Mail Marketing?
It refers to the marketing practices that involve sending physical advertising materials. Marketers need an effective direct mail marketing strategy to promote a business and beat the competition.
It is an age-old method for business promotion worldwide. A direct mail campaign is still an effective type of targeted advertising available for marketers. Physical letters, packages, mailers, postcards, brochures, and booklets are standard collateral formats.
B2C and B2B businesses use this approach to reach households and engage people. The tactical characteristic of a direct mail campaign creates a more professional appeal than digital content. However, marketers must infuse creativity and get accurate mailing lists to see positive results.
Also Read: Healthcare Mailing ListTop Four Reasons to Consider Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns for Your Brand
Why should you include a direct mail campaign in your marketing plan? Do we have any convincing reasons to make this big step? Marketers enjoy multiple benefits with the proper implementation of physical mail campaigns.
Direct Mail Can Stand Out from Other Communications
Digital communication can sometimes be too overwhelming for users. People read and see many emails, social media ads, blog posts, and paid ads. That’s the opportunity to take advantage of a robust direct mail strategy.
People love receiving mail in their mailboxes. It creates a sense of nostalgia and novelty factor. In comparison, there’s an overabundance of direct communication material. You have your phone, laptop, desktop, smartwatch, and television to consume digital information.
The physical nature adds a novelty factor to direct mail communication. Your business can get the perfect opportunity to make a solid first impression with direct mailers. Add a bit of personalization, and you have the ideal recipe to engage prospects.
Always remember that people get hundreds of digital ads per day in comparison to only a few physical mailers. There’s a remarkable opportunity to implement the power of a direct mail marketing strategy. You can instantly grab your prospect’s interest with creative collateral.
Also Read: Advantages of Using Digital PrintingIt has a Longer Lifespan
Do you ever reread your email? You will only reread vital communication from a colleague or company. People don’t explore the same marketing email again. However, you are likely to keep a direct mailer if it has some coupon or discount code.
The physical element makes people less likely to throw away a mailer. In contrast, we often ignore or delete marketing emails in the first go. You can go more creative with your direct mail marketing strategy by sending postcards and brochures.
People will keep them for several weeks. Brands can reach multiple people with a single direct mail piece. Meanwhile, digital communication goes away in the ocean of information.
Direct mailers can constantly motivate people to make a purchase.
Direct Provides Better Results Than Email
Email marketing is the primary source of lead generation for many businesses. It can provide a decent response if you put enough effort into creativity and targeting. However, the same efforts on a consistent direct mail campaign can boost your response rate by a significant margin.
Physical mail pieces are more visible and reliable than marketing emails. People will keep your mailers for weeks if you include a relevant offer.
Many marketers combine email with direct mail to generate more qualified leads and higher response rates. You also get the chance to target people who don’t use email communication.
Physical Mailers are Shareable
Email will only reach a single individual at a time. In contrast, a direct mail piece engages the entire household at once. It gives a greater reach to influence people in their purchase decisions. People can share your mail pieces if you add something valuable and relevant.
For example, many businesses send educational guides to their prospects. It adds value and serves as the perfect medium for spreading brand awareness.
A True Asset for Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Campaigns
Businesses run ABM campaigns to create personalized experiences for valuable accounts. It requires vast contribution and collaboration.
Digital communication, like email and text messaging, requires initial permission to reach prospects. Marketers need to take good care of GDPR compliance while running digital campaigns.
You can still reach with a personal experience with direct mail if you are unable to reach customers by email. It is an amazing opportunity for businesses that want to hyper-personalize their marketing efforts.
Different Formats to Implement a Direct Mail Marketing Strategy
The choice of collateral format can also significantly impact the performance of your direct mail marketing strategy. It also depends on your company and its specific campaign.
Here are some formats;
Postcards
Marketers consider them to be the most effective collateral because of their size and form factor. You don’t need to fold them or include any inserts. It only requires some additional postage to complete the job. It is possible to print on both sides to increase your marketing effectiveness.
Folded Self-Mailers
Folded self-mailers refer to a single sheet of paper you already fold into panels. There’s no need for a separate envelope. Every piece of information is present on the paper. Businesses can use this medium to include engaging messages and eye-catching visuals.
Brochures
Do you have a significant product line to promote? Brochures and booklets provide the best marketing landscape for sharing product catalogues.
These collaterals often influence purchasing decisions with the power of immersive storytelling. The printing cost and time could be, but you will surely get better returns on these brochures.
Also Read: A Breakdown of Direct Mail Marketing CostHow Can You Blend a Digital and Direct Mail Marketing Strategy?
Marketers are finally understanding the importance of blending direct mail and digital marketing. Even Forbes claims omnichannel marketing campaigns can increase purchase rates by 287%.
You only need to identify your target market to launch effective campaigns. Successful companies often blend offline and online marketing practices into their direct mail strategy.
Digital resources are vital to finding demographic information of your target audience. Marketers can create immersive customer experiences with multiple touchpoints.
Include Quick Response (QR) codes or custom URLs to track users effectively from a digital dashboard. Special offers are often enticing to influence people to sign up on your website. Canadian marketers can create the perfect blend of a digital and direct mail marketing strategy.
You can also motivate people to visit your Facebook, Instagram, and X profiles by including relevant CTAs in mailers.
Build a Consistent Direct Mail Marketing Strategy from Scratch
How can you build a successful direct mail marketing strategy that ensures results? There’s no fixed formula to win the target audience in a single attempt. Effective advertising requires in-depth market research and constant engagement efforts.
Here’s a step-by-step plan to build your consistent direct mail marketing plan;
Who’s Your Target Market?
Who will be the recipient of your direct mailers? Identifying your target solves a lot of problems. You know what content and offers will engage your customers. Start by dividing your prospects by demographics like sex, age, income group, ethnicity, marital status, location, and occupation.
It gives you the brilliant opportunity to boost sales and brand loyalty. Customers love brands that care about their preferences and pain points. You can customize each mail piece without compromising your brand’s culture and messaging.
Update Your Mailing List with High Accuracy
It is pointless to send mailers to obsolete or incorrect addresses. You will only waste time and marketing budget on pointless campaigns. Marketing teams must update their mailing to increase the effectiveness of their direct mail marketing strategy.
Invalid or duplicate addresses can become an expensive mistake for a brand. Try to keep up with the latest National Change of Address (NCOA) for each direct mail marketing strategy.
Also Read: Address Verification & Validation SoftwarePull Data from Your CRM to Personalize Mailers
CRM data plays a vital role in tailoring your direct marketing campaigns. You need customer data to personalize mailers with the highest accuracy. Marketers grab maximum attention when their mail pieces are relevant to consumer’s preferences.
Draft Engaging Messaging and Design Appealing Mailers
Email marketing provides limited opportunities with the subject line. Direct mail lets you experiment with various colours, text, collateral types, and messaging. You can design your mailers according to your consumer’s mindset.
Some direct mail software provides built-in editors to customize mailers with unique characteristics. Marketers also include personalized URLs to increase their effectiveness.
Attention to detail always motivates people to take action on marketing pieces. Use this direct mail marketing material, especially during the holiday season.
Include a Motivating Call to Action
You need to provide proper direction once you get your customer’s attention. Get the appropriate CTA in your direct mailer to tell what to do next.
A concise and relevant CTA motivates people to take necessary action, like visiting your website, buying a product, signing up, donating, etc. Many businesses provide their address to help consumers visit their locations.
Also Read: What is Address Autocomplete?Test Your Market
A single direct mail marketing strategy cannot penetrate the entire market. You need to install testing mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of your upcoming campaigns.
A/B testing is the most popular approach among marketers. They often test the campaign with a more targeted audience. You can also send 100 letters or postcards to observe your audience’s reaction.
After careful analysis, you can optimize the upcoming campaigns to grow better. Professional can also streamline their marketing budgets.
Also Read: Direct to Patient MarketingWhy is PostGrid the First Step for an Automated Direct Mail Marketing Strategy?
A direct mail strategy requires precision and creativity. Traditional physical marketing is inefficient in today’s dynamic, competitive, and digital environment.
PostGrid direct mail API could be your perfect solution to automate your direct mail marketing strategy. Canadian marketers can comply with regulatory requirements and track their campaigns.
Reasons to Prefer PostGrid for Your Direct Mail Marketing Strategy
- Data Analytics and Reports: Our API lets you track campaign performance from a unified dashboard. Gather critical marketing insights directly from your campaigns.
- Personalization Options: We provide a built-in template editor to personalize your mail pieces with unique design, layout, and content.
- Secure Data Handling: Don’t worry; your data isn’t going anywhere. We host data on highly secure Amazon web servers.
- Highly Scalable Solutions: The print and mail API works flawlessly with campaigns of any size. Integrate our direct mail API into your CRM or marketing automation tool for perfect synchronization.
Sign up now to improve your direct mail marketing strategy.
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