The Essential Guide to Direct Mail

Direct Mail Marketing

In the world of digital marketing, direct mail has become the landline telephone. You don’t use it often, but when it rings you answer it.

Look at direct mail from a different angle and consider the lifetime value. We receive on average 50 emails a day. So your time commitment for considering if you want those shoes on sale is pretty limited. For example, a MyerOne shopping direct mail invite has the potential to sit on a kitchen counter or the fridge for 3 weeks. This gives a lot more brand exposure and allows your customer to think over your offer.

This leads to the second misconception – effectiveness. Some businesses have the notion that mailing is ineffective and inflexible. In a recent study consumers ranked personalise direct mail and unaddressed mail above email marketing, social media and display advertising when considering which channel is more effective. This could be because of mail’s tangibility. Physical mail is more trust worthy, can be referred back to easily and has a higher relevance to consumers. And being more relevant means more engagement, which equals more sales.

With the power of variable data printing (or VDP), literally anything can be personalised. A study by Pitney Bowes shows that a consumer who received a personalised letter is 40% more likely to engage with the marketing message. This could be something as simple as the customer’s name on a letter, or as complex as using data to variable print the consumer’s preferred colours, products and promotions.

But what about the envelope? Are envelopes a barrier between the marketing message and the consumer, or are they another opportunity? Do you ever remember receiving an envelope informing you that your $20 million dollar cheque is enclosed inside? The fact that you do shows how effective marketing messages on envelopes can be. Now pair this with a trust worthy personalised message in full colour, and you’ve just significantly boosted your open rate.

By now you should be thinking about turning that next sales drive into a creative double parallel folded personalised self mailing masterpiece. But how do you measure the results?

Another simple but effective way of mail campaigns is by using an offer or discount. Create a unique code for the mailer and then any sales with that code be allocated to the mail campaign. So when you go home tonight and unwillingly check the mail box for your next Telstra bill, have a think about what other exciting thing could fit in there.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us.