When it comes to marketing strategies, some people think direct mail marketing is a thing of the past. And while we may we live in a digital world, people still respond to traditional marketing positively and even remember direct mail messages better than what they read online. Direct mail marketing is a great way to connect with high-intent customers, spread brand awareness, and focus your resources where they are most likely to yield results.

Not sure this kind of marketing is worth the effort? In this article, we'll cover the importance of direct marketing, its effectiveness, and why your business needs to invest in it.

 

What is Direct Marketing?

Direct marketing is a form of advertising that involves sending information about your company, product, or services to potential or existing customers without the use of an advertising middleman. An effective direct marketing campaign usually uses a strong call-to-action to get interested customers to act on a message or an offering.

There are many different forms of direct marketing that a company can use to reach customers effectively. By utilizing the right strategy for your company, you can increase awareness and drive customers to take action. Here are a few common forms of direct marketing mediums:

  • Brochures
  • Telemarketing
  • Newsletters
  • Catalogs
  • Postcards
  • Coupons
  • Targeted display ads
  • Text messages

Regardless of its form, a direct marketing campaign sole goal is to persuade the recipient to take action. Driving sales may be the most significant objective, but site visits, customer calls, and other forms of customer engagement are also important metrics of success.

Why You Need Direct Mail Marketing

Technology may be evolving, but direct mail is still incredibly impactful. Here are the six powerful reasons why you need to invest in direct mail marketing strategies:

1. It's More Visible Than Email Marketing

Over 200 billion emails are sent each day, but the recipient opens only 34.1% of those emails. Given that potential customers are already overwhelmed with an inbox full of emails, there's a significant chance that they won't open your email, regardless of how relevant or personalized it is.

Direct mailing lists have a much higher delivery rate and open rate than email campaigns. And 77% of people sort through their physical mail as soon as they get it.

Direct mail is inherently more visible than email communication because it is tangible. By sending it, you can get around email fatigue and get your message in front of high-intent customers.

2. It Lets You Effectively Target Ideal Customers

This form of marketing allows you to target customer groups with specific, tailored messages. By taking some time to identify which customers would most likely need or want your product or services, you can streamline your marketing efforts and invest resources where you're most likely to be successful.

By marketing directly, you can leverage data to segment audiences by things like location, household income, and buying habits. This will allow you to send messages to only relevant, high-intent customers, which will save your business time and money.

3. It Establishes Trust With Customers

Only 22% of customers trust emails from companies or brands.

Customers often think company emails are spam or phishing scams, so they're less likely to open them or trust the content inside of them. 90% of people between the ages 25 to 35 find direct mail reliable, which means this marketing strategy is more likely to build trust with customers than online marketing.

What's better is that direct mail marketing offers you opportunities to personalize your package and make it feel like more a gift than an offering. By putting your message in an exciting or visually appealing envelope, you can encourage customers to open it. And by including freebies with your package, you can promote your brand and keep it in the top of the prospect's mind.

By embracing direct marketing techniques, you can create a personalized mail that will feel genuinely unique to customers. This personalization will make customers believe you're caring and attentive, which will make them more trusting and willing to take whatever action you want them to take.

4. It's More Cost-Effective

This form of marketing saves you money by targeting high-intent customers as opposed to trying to market to everyone, which leads to a much higher return on investment.

What's great is that you can also run mailing tests to find the best combination of audience, offering, and design before distributing it in a broader level.

While the shelf-life of an email offer may only be seconds, a direct mail piece can be put on the fridge or left on a coffee shelf for an extended period. A customer is much more likely to come back to a piece of direct mail than they are to an email.

5. It Benefits Other Marketing Strategies

If you're engaging in multi-channel marketing strategies, direct marketing can help you reinforce your messaging efforts and convince customers to take action.

By sending direct mail out after an email, or vice-versa, you can drive brand recall. You can also generate a higher response rate for your emails if you send them out after a digital display ad.

By using direct marketing, you can speak to customers on multiple channels with a cohesive message.

6. It's Easy

Direct mail marketing is easy for both companies and customers. Direct mail doesn't require a significant investment in digital infrastructure or in-depth knowledge of anything tech. It's also easy to measure the success of your campaign, whether it's counting the numbers of coupons redeemed, landing pages views or simply tracking each piece to through the USPS® Informed Visisbility®, ask your direct mail services provider about their mail tracking capabilities. Knowing this information makes it easy to update your marketing approach to target customers more efficiently.

Direct mail is also easier for customers. Studies show it's easier for customers to digest the information in a direct mail piece than a digital ad.

In fact, your brand and your call to action are 21% more effective with direct mail. By taking advantage of direct mail, you can easily craft a message that your recipients will understand and respond to.

Direct Marketing for Your Next Campaign

If you haven't started investing in direct marketing, it's time to start! By doing so, you can increase brand awareness, more effectively reach your target audiences, and drive sales!

Have questions or eager to begin your next campaign? If you're ready to start a campaign or need consulting, contact us! We're your one-stop solution for all your marketing needs.

Technology may be evolving, but direct mail is still incredibly impactful.
US Presort Team
US Presort is a full service direct marketing company, located in Staten Island, New York
US Presort | 3801 Victory Blvd., Suite 1 - Staten Island, NY 10314 | P : 718.980.6556