An impactful addition to your marketing strategy as any, direct mail has proven to significantly boost response rates, return on investment (ROI), and overall engagement.
According to a report produced by Data & Marketing Association (DMA), an industry trade organization, direct mail yields higher response rates for house lists (9%) and prospects (5%) than email, which has an average click-through rate of less than 2%.
Recent research demonstrates the leading value of direct mail campaigns in driving ROI. According to the 2022 Response Rate Report from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), letter-sized envelope campaigns generated 112% ROI, compared to SMS (102%), email (93%), paid search (88%), social media advertising (81%), and digital display advertising (79%).
Even with direct mail’s enduring success, it’s important for businesses and marketers to evolve their strategies as technology continues to improve.
Here are seven keys to a successful direct mail marketing campaign in 2023.
The average consumer wants personalized information that is tailored and relevant to them, and with today’s modern printing technology, your business can make this a reality.
According to a report from media company SG360° titled “The Future of Direct Mail: An Opportunity for Unified Marketing Strategy,” 72% of surveyed consumers “feel positive about receiving direct mail,” with the leading reason being that it was “relevant to their needs.” The majority of the 28% of respondents who said they do not enjoy receiving direct mail, stated they “don’t find marketing mail useful.”
What’s clear is that the best way to maximize the effectiveness of direct mail is by focusing on personalization.
This goes beyond simply putting the recipient’s name at the top of a postcard. Marketers today must utilize the sophisticated data and technology available to tailor mailpieces to consumers’ unique needs, appropriate time deliveries, implement head-turning graphics, and more.
In modern marketing, it is key to engage users over multiple platforms, otherwise known as omnichannel communication. Direct mail should support a multi-faceted campaign that includes social media, blogging, and other marketing techniques.
In communicating across platforms, you can ensure that consumers receive and engage with your content in a way that’s most convenient for them.
In its 2022 Promotions Calendar, the United States Postal Service (USPS) encourages direct mail organizations and marketers to leverage new technology and print techniques to drive engagement, ROI, and response rates.
Incentivizing discounts for organizations that do so, the USPS advocated for modern mailpieces to contain tactile, sensory, and interactive elements of engagement. This can include textured paper, scent-infused mailpieces, or mail that incorporates special holographic effects—or as the agency puts it, anything that “excite[s] customers’ senses.”
Simply put, color captures attention and increases consumer brand recognition.
According to a Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science study titled “Exciting red and competent blue: the importance of color in marketing,” color “plays an important part in driving brand perceptions such as brand personality.”
The USPS also advocated for marketers to utilize color to make messages memorable, in everything from dynamic variable print to bill statement personalizations.
Cutting-edge printing technology such as the HP PageWide Web Press T250 HD is revolutionizing such personalization capabilities. With game-changing updates to Color Vision, HP Brilliant Inks, post-coating, and more, this unparalleled press is equipped to make your vibrant designs stand out in the mailbox.
As of August 29, 2021, the USPS officially announced that 9” x 6” postcards would be eligible for first-class mail rates for presorted postcards.
With more space for copy, graphics, QR codes, and much more, marketers should utilize larger postcards to make an impactful statement and claim more real estate in the mailbox.
Since 2020, online shopping has skyrocketed.
According to a survey by consumer and market data firm Statista, online ordering during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reached unprecedented levels, with people purchasing clothing (61%), food and drinks (52%), and books, movies, and games (40%), among other products, more than ever before.
To conveniently connect between direct mail and the web, the USPS encourages organizations to integrate technologies that support mobile shopping, especially during the 2022 holiday season. These can include Quick Response (QR) Codes, snap tags, watermarks, and more.
All of these technologies streamline the user experience, effortlessly bridging print solutions with online shopping.
Savvy marketers can learn about areas of improvement and opportunity through A/B testing.
Imagine you want to test the effectiveness of a content offer, copy, or direct mail graphic. To use this technique, you would send one segment of consumers the edited content and the other half the unedited version.
Response rates, offer utilization, or other results would inform you about the effectiveness of your desired change, empowering you to optimize your campaign accordingly using tested evidence.
Whatever your direct mail needs, our team of experts possesses the experience and innovation to help make your next marketing campaign a success. Contact us today to request a quote for your upcoming project.