In today’s digital age, it’s easy to assume that traditional marketing techniques like direct mail are a waste of time and money. That’s not actually true, though.
In fact, direct mail has a higher response rate and offers better returns than most email marketing campaigns.
There are a lot of benefits that come with executing a good direct mail campaign in 2019.
Read on to learn more about these benefits and get some tips on how you can put one together for your business.
What Is Direct Mail?
If you’re a new business owner or someone who hasn’t spent a lot of time in the marketing realm, you might not know for sure what direct mail is.
Put simply, direct mail is a marketing technique that involves sending printed materials to current and potential customers through the mail.
Lots of different businesses and organizations use direct mail.
It’s common among restaurants, grocery stores, and local businesses. Politicians also often use direct mail as part of their campaign, as do a variety of charitable and non-profit organizations.
Nearly anyone, even those who run online companies, can benefit from direct mail.
Direct Mail Benefits
There are lots of perks that direct mail has to offer. The following are some of the most well-known reasons why a business might want to invest in a direct mail campaign:
Better Brand Recognition
One of the greatest benefits of direct mail is the fact that it can help to increase brand recognition.
Customers are more likely to remember a company if they’ve held a piece of mail in their hands that features that company’s name and logo. It has a much stronger impact than email alone.
Highly Cost-Effective
Direct mail is actually a very cost-effective marketing strategy. As long as you know your audience and are sending mail to people who are most likely to buy your products or pay for your services, you’ll likely see a return on your investment right away.
Pairs Well with Digital Marketing
You don’t have to choose either digital or direct mail marketing. You can use both to reach a wider audience and get your business in front of more pairs of eyes.
Easier Process
Many people find that they process information more quickly when it’s delivered to them through the mail than when they receive it via email.
This might have to do with the fact that people receive so many emails every day, but paper mail is becoming less common.
Easy to Execute
It’s fairly easy to execute a direct mail campaign, too. Once you have a mailing list ready to go, you can start putting together mailing pieces that fit your audience’s needs and preferences and get them shipped out right away.
More Creative Opportunities
Direct mail allows you to flex your creative muscles, too. There are lots of ways to have fun with direct mailing pieces and make them stand out.
Executing a Direct Mail Campaign
Clearly, there are plenty of reasons why someone might want to include a direct mail campaign in their marketing plan.
In order to experience these benefits, though, you need to be smart about how you put together your campaign. The following are some tips to help you make sure you do it the right way:
Know Your Audience
The first step to making sure your direct mail campaign is a success is to know your audience. Figure out what kinds of people you’re going to target with your campaign and make sure you design mailing pieces that are likely to appeal to them.
It’s a good idea to invest in a mailing list so that you reach people who are already interested in products or services like yours. This increases your returns better than just sending out mail to everybody in a particular area.
Work with a Professional Printer
If you’re going to send out printed mailing pieces to current and potential customers, you need to make sure they’re of the highest quality.
The best way to ensure this is to work with a professional printer. They have access to top-notch equipment to make sure your mailing pieces are clear and easy to read.
Many printers also offer design services.
Write High-Quality Copy
Your direct mailing pieces need to look nice, but they also need to say something meaningful, too.
When you’re writing the copy for the mailing pieces, make sure that it’s clear and straight to the point.
Don’t include a lot of fluff. Make sure that there aren’t any spelling or grammatical errors, either.
Keep It Simple
As far as copy and design are considered, the simpler, the better.
Don’t overwhelm readers with a ton of images or text. Make it clear what you’re offering and why they should work with you, but avoid going overboard.
Don’t be afraid of whitespace, either. It makes your text and images pop more, and it makes your mailing pieces more aesthetically pleasing.
Provide Value
Make sure you’re providing some kind of value in your direct mailing pieces, too. It could be a coupon or a discount code for shopping online. If you’re shipping with UPS, you could even send a free sample of a product.
Find Ways to Stand Out
While you don’t want your mailing pieces to be too cluttered or distracting, there are still ways to make them stand out.
Consider using die-cuts instead of traditional mailing pieces, or use unique folds to catch people’s eye and get them interested in what you have to offer.
Learn More Marketing Techniques
As you can see, direct mail is definitely not dead.
If you’re ready to start using a direct mail campaign for your business, keep these tips in mind to ensure you see the greatest return on it.
Do you want to learn about other ways to market your business? If so, we’ve got plenty of helpful articles available on our website.
Start with this one on low-cost marketing ideas for small business and startups.
It’s full of great solutions for anyone who’s working with a limited budget but still wants to get their business out there for the world to see.
