You may have heard that direct mail is dying, but it’s still a powerful marketing tool that can help you reach your target audience in a very personal way. Here are just a few of the reasons why direct mail should be an essential part of your marketing strategy:
Offers Tangible and Physical Marketing Approach
Direct mail is tangible and physical, so it can’t be easily ignored. This is in stark contrast to emails, which can be easily deleted. Your target audience is more likely to pay attention to a piece of mail that’s addressed specifically to them, and they’re more likely to keep it around and refer back to it later.
A Personalized Touch
In a world where so much marketing is done electronically, it’s more important than ever to stand out from the crowd. A personalized direct mail campaign is the perfect way to do just that. You can include a specific message to each recipient, making them feel like you took the time to address them personally. This type of personalization is one of the main reasons direct mail still works so well.
Generates Leads
Another reason to consider using direct mail as part of your marketing strategy is its ability to generate leads. Besides being tangible, direct mail also gets to the right people, and that’s a critical point in lead generation. When you continually get to your target audience by a physical letter, they’ll at least consider what you have to offer, increasing the chances of lead conversion.
Compliments Other Efforts
Adding direct mail to your marketing mix also compliments other efforts nicely. For example, if most of your promotions are done online, using direct mail can give your offline campaigns a boost. The same is true if you’re mainly doing TV or radio ads; adding direct mail can give your overall marketing mix a better-rounded and complete appearance.
Highly Flexible
If you think of flexibility as something that can give your business a competitive edge, then direct mail is something you must consider. You can target a particular audience with it or cast a wider net to reach more people. Additionally, the content of your mailing can be very flexible, too; you’re not limited to just text-based communications. You can add photos, videos (CDs, flash disks, or tapes), and even interactive content to make your mailing more engaging and exciting.
This flexibility also extends to timing; you can choose to send your mailing at any time, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. For example, if you want to generate leads, you might send a mailing out close to the beginning of the month when people generally think about their new goals for the year. If you’re looking to boost sales, you might send a mailing when people think about their holiday shopping plans at the end of the month.
Long Lifespan
Direct mail is more likely to be read and acted upon by your target audience than a digital marketing campaign. This is because it is tangible and easier to keep within reach for further considerations and final decision-making.
In the digital age, it’s easy to forget about the effectiveness of good old-fashioned direct mail. When you look at all the reasons it still matters, it becomes pretty clear that this old-school tactic is something you should be using in your marketing mix.
With that said, it’s still important that you check the results of each marketing strategy that you’re currently using — may it be direct mail or social media. You can use a technique called media mix modeling to have a better grasp of how your marketing strategies impact your business. You might be thinking “What is media mix modeling?” Simply put, it’s an analysis technique that will allow you to evaluate how your marketing campaigns contribute to your business goals.
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