20 Reasons to Use Direct Mail
Direct mail isn’t some shiny new ground breaking method of marketing. It is a battle-tested tactic sheathed snuggly in every marketer’s arsenal. If you’re a small business owner looking to spread the word about your company, or a large organization with millions of customers, direct mail is a marketing go-to for leads, sales, and more. If you’re still on the fence about it, here are 20 reasons to employ direct mail in your marketing efforts.
Reason 1: Build Brand Awareness
Best results occur when a prospect gets multiple mailers over a period of time, thus building a customer’s familiarity with your company. Once they learn about you and your services you are the first company they think of.
Reason 2: Tangible
Direct mail pieces often contain offers and discounts, as well as the address or a map to the storefront location. Having something to hold gives the recipient a certain relationship with your material, especially when exchanging it for goods at a reduced cost.
Reason 3: Cost Effective
According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), in 2014 every dollar spent on direct marketing advertising resulted in $12.61 in direct marketing-driven sales, on average. See more at: https://printinthemix.com/Fastfacts/Show/414#sthash.rb076k0n.dpuf. From development to implementation and tracking, direct mail is among the most cost effective ways to get the word out.
Reason 4: Targeted
Unlike other marketing channels such as radio and television spots, direct mail can be used to give organizations the choice to target smaller groups of more qualified leads at a much reduced cost.
Reason 5: Easy to Track or Measure
A well-executed direct mail campaign can illustrate ROI by showing how many potential customers responded to a call-to-action. If a marketer sends out 1,000 pieces by mail and 100 respond to the offer, you can see that the campaign resulted in 10% direct responses.
Reason 6: Personalized
While targeting gets the offer in the hands of someone likely to buy, personalized means you’re acknowledging the actual customer, perhaps to thank them for their recent purchase from you, to give them a special offer (maybe for their birthday), or acknowledge their anniversary with you.
Reason 7: Diverse
While the most important information lies in your offer, your vehicle of choice (postcards, letters, flyers, flats, etc.) can be the difference between the recycling bin and a prompt interaction. Being creative with the design and how you intend recipients to interact with your direct mail pieces speaks volumes for your brand. Check out this post to learn about direct mail medium options and USPS discounts.
Reason 8: Familiar/Trusted
In a world filled with email offers, studies have shown that consumers trust direct mail offers more than their electronic counterparts.
Reason 9: Timing
Not only is direct mail relatively easy to launch, but it can be implemented quickly too. When thinking of timing, you can leverage yearly holiday schedules and seasonal trends to plan your marketing efforts.
Reason 10: Proven
Direct mail has been put to use by marketers for over 100 years. Google, who is one of the largest proponents of online advertising, allocates a large part of its marketing budget to direct mail.
Reason 11: Quicker Response Time
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of consumers will act immediately as a result of direct mail, as opposed to 45% of consumers who say they’d act on email right away.
Reason 12: Higher Open Rate
Direct mail, being tangible, typically gets at least a glance. The recipient may not read every word, but your company name/brand will gain much more awareness with direct mail than emails that get deleted or routed to Spam automatically.
Reason 13: Catch All
Just as you’re able to target individuals based on their purchase history, you can send direct mail on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, especially in neighborhoods where your target demographic resides. Sometimes people who you didn’t expect to respond to your mailer will surprise you.
Reason 14: Local Success
Direct mail is the preferred channel for receiving marketing from local shops and banks.
Reason 15: Discounts
The United States postal service offers lower rates for buyers of bulk mail. Stay updated with the USPS’ promotions and incentives here.
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Reason 16: Johnson Box
This direct mail secret weapon draws the reader’s attention to a small box prominently displayed to deliver the core message. Mastery of mixing the message and the prominent display can mean more responses.
Reason 17: Communicate with Other Businesses
Seventy-nine percent of marketers in the business to business sector consider direct mail either “effective” or “very effective.”
Reason 18: Source Leads for Your Sales Force
Creatively entice your target audience to return a survey (or other lead gen form) and your sales force will have a field day.
Reason 19: Increase Call Volume
You define success; if your goal is to increase call volume, direct mail will help elicit responses from your target customers.
Reason 20: Fewer competitors
Email has come to represent the junk mail majority. Sending direct mail can mean your company is the only organization speaking to target customers in this space.
There you have it! If you would like assistance with any stage of your direct mailing efforts call us today at (561) 393-4722.
