Direct mail is dead, social networking and technology has killed traditional direct mail. Don’t bet the farm on it, or your business! Direct mail and new media and technologies have always worked hand in hand. Direct mail was one of the primary ways that we heard about the Internet. (Remember those CD mailers from various online companies?) There is a reason that direct mail is still around, IT WORKS!
Combined with QR codes and/or PURL’s, direct mail sky rockets in return rates. People are connecting and buying in new and different ways. This requires that you think creatively when designing your direct mail pieces. Ethan Goller, of Structural Graphics, shares the following concerning direct mail, “Engaging marketing done through an integrated campaign, with multiple touch points and dimensional media, tends to be a very effective opening statement for marketers.” For a great example of this, check out a recent solution of the week: Magnapop. It is ideas like these that create interest and get responses.
In a recent direct mail piece that we did for a local tranportation company, our client sent out one direct mail piece that was tied very closely to his website and other marketing pieces resulting in a doubling of his ridership in just one mailing. This done in the middle of the recession when unemployment was at its highest. Direct mail works! It does require planning and creative thinking. It also requires coordination with other marketing vehicles. Direct mail and media work great together and bring returns that neither can produce alone. It takes a multi-touch, coordinated effort that is well thought out.
Here are some key ideas that will help keep things fresh
- Redesign
Make sure that every piece of communication that comes from you is easily identifiable with you. Take the opportunity to include marketing messages, frequently asked questions and answers, and include any social media platforms that you use on bills, invoices, mailers, business cards and fliers. - Information
Enhance dialog by adding information. You may be stuck for what you might possibly add, but consider what you might say to a new employee. Another great tactic is to review your emails or talk with CSR’s or call center employees. What questions are people asking? This makes great content that is relevant. - Targeted Educational Content
Engage customers personal interests on bills, websites, social media sites, and more by sharing content that is conversational and not “pitchy”. Give them something interesting without the hard sell. - Cross Promotion
This is where the creative mail pieces come in. Because of the multitude of marketing pieces coming at consumers these days, your piece has to stand out. That is nothing new. Consider using dimensional, lumpy, mail pieces that tie in with a website or PURL. Dimensional mail has a much higher rate of return and gets peoples attention. - Reengage
Take some time to get to know your customers. Consider who your customers are and how they relate with you. This may take looking for some new data on the people that you serve. Look at your own wallet to get an idea of the opportunity: if you have several accounts – credit, bank, insurance – you have customer profiles with each. Do you look the same to each of those organizations?
